{"id":118968,"date":"2023-12-09T13:22:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-09T17:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=118968"},"modified":"2023-12-12T15:55:42","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T19:55:42","slug":"what-genre-is-u2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/","title":{"rendered":"What Genre is U2? From Zoo TV to Pop and Electronica"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What genre is U2? How has their genre changed over the years?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>U2\u2019s genre is a mixture of pop and electronica, and it developed from an absurdist reaction to garage band-style punk and heavy metal. Bono discussed how and why they kept changing their sound in his book <em>Surrender.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s take a look at how U2\u2019s genre changed over time and where it settled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-understanding-u2-s-sound\">Understanding U2\u2019s Sound<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In his memoir, <em>Surrender<\/em>, Bono admits his obsession with constantly reinventing U2 and its music, in part to avoid becoming a band that only recycles its old greatest hits. As examples of his quest for reinvention, he brings up the stress of finding a new sound for the \u201990s, the absurdist stage show that followed as a result, and the back-to-basics approach U2 adopted in the 2000s. So when answering the question, &#8220;What genre is U2?&#8221; you need to take a look at its history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bono writes that <strong>making the album <\/strong><strong><em>Achtung, Baby<\/em><\/strong><strong> was a particularly difficult time for the band.<\/strong> To record it, they arrived in Berlin exactly one year after the Berlin Wall came down. They had nothing written except some vague ideas and a wish to shed the ponderous seriousness that had come to define them and their music. Bono wanted to experiment with new musical arrangements and technological effects, but the process of improvising an album turned out to be much harder than expected. Bono takes responsibility for straining his relationship with the band, but the end product was an album they\u2019re all proud of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: The wall dividing Communist-controlled East Berlin and the capitalist city of West Berlin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/history\/article\/why-berlin-wall-built-fell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">was built in 1961<\/a> during the height of the Cold War. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecollector.com\/gorbachev-moscow-spring-fall-of-communism-eastern-europe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tensions between the East and West relaxed<\/a>, the wall was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/cold-war\/berlin-wall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">opened for unrestricted travel between the cities on November 9, 1989<\/a>. U2\u2019s arrival date that Bono refers to was nearly a year later, when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/this-day-in-history\/east-and-west-germany-reunite-after-45-years\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">East and West Germany were politically reunited<\/a>. Despite the difficulties Bono describes with writing and recording <em>Achtung, Baby<\/em>, the album is remembered both as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.slantmagazine.com\/music\/u2-achtung-baby-retrospective-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">one of U2\u2019s best<\/a> and also as <a href=\"https:\/\/pitchfork.com\/reviews\/albums\/16022-achtung-baby-super-deluxe-edition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a complete reworking of their sound<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though <em>Achtung, Baby<\/em> became a touchstone of the \u201990s, <strong>the tour that went with it was a reaction against the garage-band aesthetic of the grunge movement.<\/strong> Though Bono enjoyed and appreciated grunge, its drab and serious undertones weren\u2019t what U2 needed at the time. Dubbed \u201cZoo TV,\u201d the <em>Achtung, Baby<\/em> tour featured a giant television with real-time channel surfing, and Bono adopted what he considers his most clownish stage persona ever. As part of his act, during every concert, Bono would crank-call the White House and ask to speak to President George H.W. Bush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/art\/grunge-music\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">grunge movement<\/a> that Bono says he played against with the Zoo TV tour was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterclass.com\/articles\/grunge-music-guide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a fusion of punk rock and heavy metal<\/a> that rose from the Seattle music community in the late 1980s. Though relatively <a href=\"https:\/\/rockintersection.com\/grunge-is-dead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">short-lived as a musical style<\/a>, grunge had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.udiscovermusic.com\/stories\/grunge-music-90s-rock\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a heavy influence on mainstream rock music<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rebelsmarket.com\/blog\/posts\/grunge-fashion-where-did-it-come-from-and-why-is-it-back\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fashion in the 1990s<\/a>. While not latching onto U2\u2019s anti-grunge reaction, critics recognized the Zoo TV tour as <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/visualrhetoric\/2016\/05\/08\/u2s-zoo-tv-tour-a-sincere-parody\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a mockery of the excessive rock n\u2019 roll lifestyle<\/a>. In recompense for repeatedly annoying White House telephone operators with his on-stage calls, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com\/ongoing-history-dialy-bonos-phone-calls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bono invited them to be guests at a concert<\/a>, flown there at U2\u2019s expense.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-changing-style\">A Changing Style<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout the \u201990s, U2 would veer even more heavily toward electronic music and pop, to limited critical and commercial success. In the early 2000s, the band returned to its roots, in part because of the death of Bono\u2019s father. Bono writes that <strong>while dealing with his father\u2019s illness, he stopped pushing the band in new directions<\/strong> so they could relax and find their most authentic sound. Doing so brought U2 a new wave of acclaim with the album <em>All That You Can\u2019t Leave Behind<\/em>, including songs (such as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/co6WMzDOh1o?si=bSBcYMDlgf2D3l7B\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Beautiful Day<\/a>\u201d) about finding joy amid heartache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: While critics recognized U2\u2019s new album as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.ie\/life\/it-was-20-years-ago-today-when-bono-took-an-axe-to-the-concept-of-cool\/39690303.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a return to their classic form<\/a>, it was also their first in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/joshwilson\/2022\/09\/14\/the-age-of-digital-music-executive-reacts-to-the-impact-of-digitalization-in-the-music-industry\/?sh=71adf2e2537b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the digital music era<\/a>. At the time, the music industry was hurting from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/music\/2019\/may\/31\/napster-twenty-years-music-revolution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a wave of music piracy<\/a> enabled by the file-sharing app Napster, and two weeks prior to their album\u2019s release, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.u2songs.com\/discography\/u2_all_that_you_cant_leave_behind_album_original_release\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">U2\u2019s new songs were leaked online<\/a>. As he describes in his memoir, Bono\u2019s lyrics about navigating loss were inspired by his dealing with his father\u2019s mortality, but <a href=\"https:\/\/ultimateclassicrock.com\/u2-all-that-you-cant-leave-behind\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the album took on new meaning for fans<\/a> after the terror attacks of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/news\/topics\/9-11-anniversary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">9\/11<\/a>. <em>All That You Can\u2019t Leave Behind<\/em>\u2019s hopeful undertones <a href=\"https:\/\/joelfrancis.com\/2009\/09\/11\/stuck-in-a-moment-911-and-u2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">served as a light for some listeners<\/a> during that period, as did <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/4VcBsqOYhYo?feature=shared\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">U2\u2019s tribute to the 9\/11 victims<\/a> during the 2002 Super Bowl championship of the US\u2019s National Football League.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>U2 made a splash with new fans when they offered their 2004 single \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/nljs4kzpebU?si=9U2NuEYOZDKIx_58\">Vertigo<\/a>\u201d to be used in a video promoting the iPod music player, the first use of <em>any <\/em>of their songs in a commercial. While the song and the iPod were hits, their next collaboration with Apple didn\u2019t go so well. <strong>To promote 2014\u2019s <\/strong><strong><em>Songs of Innocence<\/em><\/strong><strong>, they made a deal to give the album for free to all iPod users.<\/strong> Bono says they thought people would see it as a gift, but instead they sparked a wave of angry customers whose devices now contained a product they hadn\u2019t ordered, crossing a line of digital privacy. While Bono regrets the decision, Apple shrugged it off as a worthy, if failed, musical experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: While Bono accepts the blame for the free album debacle, he doesn\u2019t go into the reasons why it angered Apple customers. Many felt that having content they didn\u2019t purchase automatically downloaded to their devices was <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tunedglobal.com\/u2-apple-forced-songs-of-innocence-itunes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">an invasion of privacy<\/a>\u2014U2\u2019s album may have been much more welcome had users been given the <em>option <\/em>to download it. The free album also highlighted the control that tech companies have over digital content, much like Amazon did in 2009 when it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/07\/18\/technology\/companies\/18amazon.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suddenly removed digital copies of George Orwell\u2019s <em>1984 <\/em>and <em>Animal Farm<\/em><\/a> from Kindle ebook readers. These incidents with Apple and Amazon sparked a growing concern with tech giants\u2019 power <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/media\/reinventing-history-experts-warn-end-physical-media-tech-giants-greater-control\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to control and potentially censor digital art and information<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What genre is U2? How has their genre changed over the years? U2\u2019s genre is a mixture of pop and electronica, and it developed from an absurdist reaction to garage band-style punk and heavy metal. Bono discussed how and why they kept changing their sound in his book Surrender. Let\u2019s take a look at how U2\u2019s genre changed over time and where it settled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":119016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[586],"tags":[1340],"class_list":["post-118968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-surrender","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Genre is U2? From Zoo TV to Pop and Electronica - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What genre is U2, and how did they develop their sound? Learn how U2 defined themselves as something different in an era of punk rock music.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Genre is U2? From Zoo TV to Pop and Electronica\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What genre is U2, and how did they develop their sound? Learn how U2 defined themselves as something different in an era of punk rock music.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-09T17:22:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-12T19:55:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/the-band-u2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1095\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"649\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Becca King\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Becca King\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Becca King\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a98d1f6c931222c11a5c5d087f3376fe\"},\"headline\":\"What Genre is U2? From Zoo TV to Pop and Electronica\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-09T17:22:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-12T19:55:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/\"},\"wordCount\":1058,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/the-band-u2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Surrender\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Entertainment\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/\",\"name\":\"What Genre is U2? From Zoo TV to Pop and Electronica - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/the-band-u2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-09T17:22:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-12T19:55:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"What genre is U2, and how did they develop their sound? Learn how U2 defined themselves as something different in an era of punk rock music.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/the-band-u2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/the-band-u2.jpg\",\"width\":1095,\"height\":649},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Genre is U2? From Zoo TV to Pop and Electronica\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a98d1f6c931222c11a5c5d087f3376fe\",\"name\":\"Becca King\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ab8ccaa06da85a3a10dc25619d2bcb4408d48fee053d0eddb8a646960874c9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ab8ccaa06da85a3a10dc25619d2bcb4408d48fee053d0eddb8a646960874c9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Becca King\"},\"description\":\"Becca\u2019s love for reading began with mysteries and historical fiction, and it grew into a love for nonfiction history and more. Becca studied journalism as a graduate student at Ohio University while getting their feet wet writing at local newspapers, and now enjoys blogging about all things nonfiction, from science to history to practical advice for daily living.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/becca-king\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Genre is U2? From Zoo TV to Pop and Electronica - Shortform Books","description":"What genre is U2, and how did they develop their sound? Learn how U2 defined themselves as something different in an era of punk rock music.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Genre is U2? From Zoo TV to Pop and Electronica","og_description":"What genre is U2, and how did they develop their sound? Learn how U2 defined themselves as something different in an era of punk rock music.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2023-12-09T17:22:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-12-12T19:55:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1095,"height":649,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/the-band-u2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Becca King","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Becca King","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/"},"author":{"name":"Becca King","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a98d1f6c931222c11a5c5d087f3376fe"},"headline":"What Genre is U2? From Zoo TV to Pop and Electronica","datePublished":"2023-12-09T17:22:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-12T19:55:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/"},"wordCount":1058,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/the-band-u2.jpg","keywords":["Surrender"],"articleSection":["Entertainment"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/","name":"What Genre is U2? From Zoo TV to Pop and Electronica - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/the-band-u2.jpg","datePublished":"2023-12-09T17:22:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-12T19:55:42+00:00","description":"What genre is U2, and how did they develop their sound? Learn how U2 defined themselves as something different in an era of punk rock music.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/the-band-u2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/the-band-u2.jpg","width":1095,"height":649},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-genre-is-u2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Genre is U2? From Zoo TV to Pop and Electronica"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a98d1f6c931222c11a5c5d087f3376fe","name":"Becca King","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ab8ccaa06da85a3a10dc25619d2bcb4408d48fee053d0eddb8a646960874c9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ab8ccaa06da85a3a10dc25619d2bcb4408d48fee053d0eddb8a646960874c9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Becca King"},"description":"Becca\u2019s love for reading began with mysteries and historical fiction, and it grew into a love for nonfiction history and more. Becca studied journalism as a graduate student at Ohio University while getting their feet wet writing at local newspapers, and now enjoys blogging about all things nonfiction, from science to history to practical advice for daily living.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/becca-king\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/the-band-u2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118968"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119029,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118968\/revisions\/119029"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}