While We’re On the Subject of U2

Recently, I realized more than ever before that part of the brilliance of U2 is the degree to which each member of the band brings something to the music.  For many a U2 song, take out any one of the band members–Bono, The Edge, Larry, or Adam–and the song is just not the same.  Each truly adds to the complexity of the composition.  Perhaps this is no more apparent than in U2’s rendition of the Bob Dylan classic (though many know it through Jimi Hendrix) “All Along the Watchtower” from Rattle and Hum.  Indeed, for as significant as The Edge is to the catalog of U2 music, there’s a case to be made that he’s the most subdued performer on this track.  There may be no finer example of the combination of the past and what in the late 1980s was the present of rock in a song showcasing all performers than this song.