U2 - Go Home, Live From Slane Castle
U2, the biggest band on the planet that are still making music. The band have been around since at least 1979 and are still making good music. On Septemver 1st 1981, U2 played their first show at Slane Castle in Ireland. In 2001, on the same day, U2 came back to Slane. Many different things occured to insure that the Slane show was a highly emotionally charged show. The band had been faced with many issues, such as the death of Bono's father. The band had many emotional moments throught the night, such as their sadness and anger about the loss at Bloody Sunday, Bono's feelings about third world countries, a song dedicated to Bono and Edge's fathers or Bono's love for his wife.
The DVD is amazing. 19 songs from U2, you already know it's going to be special, but after watching it, I was lost for words and I think most of you will be too. Bono does such things with the crowd as putting on Irish flags that are thrown at them or leading them in prayer. This DVD is one of the most special things I have ever seen. A tie for the best music DVD I have ever seen in my life. I have two words: THE EDGE. Watch this and you'll understand.
The DVD has 19 songs, plus a bonus song ("Mysterious Ways"). Then you get the Documentary
The Band
Bono - Vocals and Guitar
The Edge - Guitar, Piano and Keyboards
Adam Clayton - Bass
Larry Mullen - Drums
The Music
Elevation - Starts out with some footage of the band walking onto the stage. Then you see the band starting the song. The crowd, band and lights all explode at once. The song basically plays like the album version, Bono sings his high parts very well, The Edge plays like a genius and the rhythm section are tight. This song was the best choice for an opener, the whole show goes off.
4/5
Beautiful Day - The second you hear that piano intro, you know what's coming. Edge does some cool harmonics on his guitar at the start, and does his backing vocals which are awesome. This is like the album version as well, but so much more passionate. The verse is very cool, but the chorus is just amazing...Larry smacks the hell out of his drums, Edge plays it really loud and heavy and the lights absolutely explode. I won't even start on the crowd. Bono gets right into it and his vocals are brilliant. Simply amazing. This song is easily the best U2 have made this decade/century. Edge's outro is wonderful.
5/5
Until The End Of The World - Out of all the tracks on the disc, this one probably rocks the most. Edge's guitar riff is amazing. The crowd jump around to the song I'm doing it right along with them. Edge is simply a genius in this song. Amazing lighting, expecially during Edge's big part. At the end, Edge and Bono pretend to fight each other at the front of the stage. It ends by Bono kicking the crap out of Edge's guitar and making noise with it. Kinda funny.
4.5
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Bono and The Edge's "fight"
New Year's Day - Starts out with that ever recognisable bass riff and shaker. Then that amazing piano riff comes in. Edge plays piano and guitar both in the same song, and it's woah. Then in the chorus he does backing vocals for Bono which are really good. Bono has very good singing in this with his trademark "out of tune" style. At the end of the song, Bono finds an Irish flag on the stage and wraps it around himself, the crowd go nuts when he does it, the timing of the song couldn't be more perfect for it as well. This song is so good, it's by far the best song off "War". One of the biggest highlights of the DVD. It's one of the best things I've ever seen.
5/5
Out Of Control - Great song. Bono pretends that it is the start of the band's careear, as this is their first single. Bono introduces the band in it and there is a soft part where Edge does some cool stuff. Towards the end of the song Bono talks about how he got 500 pounds from his Dad and the rest of the band got 500 pounds from their familes to start the band. Bono thanks all of those people and then the crowd for buying his record. The end of the song is amazing after his little speech and the crowd love it.
4.8/5
Sunday Bloody Sunday - Edge plays that riff at the start. This is the second best song from "War". Edge and Bono's harmonies are amazing. The song runs as usual execpt the band put so much more into it. Edge sings the chorus of it so darn good. Bono yells out a chant about terroism in Ireland. At the end, Bono leads the crowd in prayer...then he yells out the names of the people who died at bloody Sunday. Incredible.
5/5
Wake Up Dead Man - A quiet song, very intimate. Bono sits on the edge of the stage to sing it. A lot of the crowd get out their lighters for this one. Really good, but too short. The only thing besides Bono in this song is a quiet guitar part.
4/5
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Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of - The album version of this song is garbage in my opinion. But this version works well, it's nice and the lyrics are good. Some cool effects in the background. The chorus is probably the worst part though. The end is the best part where some brass parts come in and Edge sings it in falsetto.
4/5
Kite - Bono plays acoustic for this song. At the start he tells a funny story about his and Edge's fathers. Then those real nice strings come in. Bono's acoustic part is simple but nice. The chorus is amazing lyrically, musically and vocally. Bono is the real star of this song and it's amazing. Hear it, or see it now. Edge's lead parts are wonderful. Bono dedicated this song to his Dad and it shows.
5/5
Angel Of Harlem - Great song. Everything is top notch. Edge and Bono do it at the front of the stage and share a mic. The crowd don't really go crazy but it's great nonetheless.
3/5
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The stage
Desire - One of those classics. The band all go down the front and play it. Larry plays the whole song on a tom. w00t. The guitar riff is awesome and Bono and Edge have good vocals and the crowd just love it. Bono does some harmonica at the end as well and it's cool. The band just chill and then they go back up to the main stage. Bono grabs a beach ball off one of the people in the crowd and boots it off. Cool stuff.
4.8/5
Staring At The Sun - An acoustic song. It's nice. Bono and Edge are the only ones in it. Good song. *worst song review ever*
4/5
All I Want Is You - Amazing. Bono dedicates it to his wife and sings it very well. The guitars, bass and drums are amazing and Bono's lyrics are beautiful. This song is so becautiful both musically and lyrically. The song is most amzing when it is loud and the guitar is distorted. The drumming is so good. Just a nice love song, not trying to be anything that it's not.
5/5
Where The Streets Have No Name - The best song ever just got better. The Edge's guitar is wonderful. I don't know about anyone else, but I find it hard to beleive that this song was written by human beings. The intro alone is probably my number musical moment ever. This song is just the best thing ever. The guitar with the bass and drums are one of the most amazing things ever. Add Bono to it and you have something so awesome that it's impossible to describe. All of you who are reading this, go listen to some version of the song right now. To say that it isn't one of the Top 5 songs ever written is just untrue. There is literally nothing bad about this song. The crowd go so insane in the song and I'm doing it right along with them. The Edge is the hero of this song, he is just brilliant, especially that intro. I only wish I was there to see it. If I ever am someday, I will probably faint.
6/5 (only song I've ever given a 6/5)
Pride (In The Name Of Love) - No song can manage to be amazing after WTSHNN, but Pride comes close. It's a great song, but I don't think the lyrics are that great in the verses. The song is well done and most of the crowd get into it. Edge's solo is very sweet. The band work the song well. I like it. Bono thanks the crowd for coming along to the concert and for their support.
4/5
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Bono and Adam
Bullet The Blue Sky - Sinead O Connor sings in opening chant. The guitars rock in this song, with wah soaked riffs. Edge sings some backing vocals in the chorus. The bass in this song is very good and the drumming is extremely madcore. Just a great, great song. One of the bset off it's album too. It's a very political song and it opens with some information on screens.
4.5/5
With Or Without You - The bassline comes in and Edge does his feedback thing. Bono sings so well in this song. The lights project some cool stuff onto the stage. The best part of the song is when Bono sings the line "You give yourself away", especially when Edge brings his guitar in the song. This song is only a little lesser than "Where The Streets Have No Name". Simply put, it's amazing. It'll make you cry, if you are that kind of person. The crowd get their lighters out for this. It's just too good. This is the last song before the encore. It would have been the perfect closer, but the other song works totally as a closer. At the end, Bono starts singing about "one heart", it's so amazing.
5/5
One - The tied best song off Achtung Baby. Bono pulls out a guitar for this track and thanks all the people who have helped the band with their tour. The guitar in the song is awesome along with the drumming. The vocals are the best part though, Bono's lyrics are so good and just very...Bono. The tied best parts are the bridge of the song, lyrically and musically and Edge's guitar solo. The solo is just a really nice, fitting solo, one of my favourite solos ever. This song was rated best song ever by Q magazine and deserves it so much. Amazing. This song would have also been perfect to end the concert wish and I kinda wish they had.
5/5
Walk On - The third best song off "All That You Can't Leave Behind". The music is amazing and the lyrics are also good. One of those songs that says "you've had some hard times, but you can get through it". Everything about this song is amazing. It's a very good choice to close the album. The DVD ends with the last note on this song, the screen just blacks out. Kind of weak for something so amazing, but it doesn't matter too much.
5/5
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The menu
Bonus Track:
Mysterious Ways - A great funky song. Edge's guitar is the best part. The tied best song off "Achtung Baby". Bono's lyrics are very good also. The live footage isn't all that great though. The extra part at the start is pretty cool though. The song is still king. The lighting is very cool and at the end, there is some random person dancing on the stage.
5/5
Extras
The extras are cool. They consist of some standard things, like Wallpapers and screensavers, but then they have the coolest thing ever. They have about four songs with a special camera thing where you can literally look anywhere on the stage and in the crowd. It's very, very cool, but not really as good as just chillaxing and watching the footage from the original live video. The best part of the extras is the Unforgettable Fire Documentary. It's a documentary about the making of U2's album "The Unforgettable Fire". It shows footage from the parts of it they recorded in Slane Castle. You even get to see Bono playing bass and most of the band with mullets. Good stuff.
Overall
This DVD is the tied best music DVD I have ever seen. If you have even a vague interest in U2, buy it straight away. Actually, just stop reading this and go buy it. It's worth it. It has 19 amazing songs, an awesome documentary, some good extra stuff for your computer and the coolest thing ever. It even has cool menus.
Final Rating - 5/5
