When “With or Without You,” 1987, was released in advance of The Joshua Tree, several years after this lesser known, 1985, Wide Awake in America, gem, longtime U2 fans derided “With or Without You” as a mere reworking of this, supposedly superior, song. Because The Joshua Tree and “With or Without You” went on to dwarf and minimize all that came before, superceded thoughts of the primacy of this song seem nonsensical and impossible to reconfigure 23 years later. Nonetheless, this tune still rings true, resounding with Adam Clayton’s irresistible force bass and the Edge’s immovable object guitar playing.
Steve Stav describes “Love Comes Tumbling” thusly: ”On this fairly obscure B-side, Bono the Pretentious takes a turn as Bono the Brooding Romantic — and the result is hauntingly beautiful. A subdued rhythm and The Edge’s hypnotic noodling back some truly remarkable lyrics, sung by a frontman whose passion was still unbridled and uncontrived.” The complete article can found here.
More from Steve Stav: “I was just pondering Wide Awake in America a week or so ago… I played it to death, wore the tape out. Then the vinyl. I think the most noticeable and important thing missing from U2’s catalog of the last 20 years, with few (and admittedly striking) exceptions, is emotion. Or rather, really effective emotion-stirring. The Edge is probably the most emotive guitarist of our generation, but U2, in their prime, was more than the sum of parts. Lately they especially seem to be going through the motions. I saw Bono and the Edge on Elvis Costello’s show recently, and Bono lamented that, with all the trappings of stardom and his various humanitarian efforts, he has had relatively little time for songwriting over the years. It shows.”
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