Customer Reviews

U2: Into the Heart: The Stories Behind Every Song

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First Negatives, then positives:

Negatives:

1. Not all of the songs have interpretations of the lyrics. Most, but not all. The stories told in each song's profile follow no formula or criteria - some cover lyrics, some music, some production, some inspiration, etc. Those stories are great and I like their inclusion, but I much prefer that every song had a lyrical explanation.

2. The author at times seems to marginalize the amount of Christian reference in U2's music. It just doesn't come up in proportion to how big it has been throughout U2's history.

3. Where is "Holy Joe" ? Other B-Sides are covered!

4. At times it's difficult to determine which points are the author's speculation and which are his conveyances of U2's thoughts and ideas. He admits in the introduction that some editorial speculation and interpretation - but I'd like some clarity about which is which, because I'm more interested in what U2 has to say than reading Stoke's brainstorming about his take.

As for the positives:

1. The book is very comprehensive (except for Holy Joe!) and very well organized - chronologically by album with a section in the back covering B-Sides, and other stuff not on albums. It gives a 2 or 3 page 'profile' on each song with several nice color pictures.

2. Despite my crticism above about not offering a lyric interpretation or explanation of every song, Stokes did a great job of finding some very interestings stories on other aspects of how songs came together.

3. And the last thing is that there don't seem to be any, or at least not many other books like this out there. I know there are others on this topic (covering U2 song by song) but the ones I've seen don't do as good of a job. In fact, the others I've seen actually make the line between editorializing and describing U2 by their own words - even more unclear. So if there are better works of this sort on U2 out there - I haven't seen them.

Enjoy the book!

"Into the Heart" takes equal turns being thick-headed and cheesy. It purports to be "the stories" behind the songs but it regularly is nothing of the kind. Instead it focuses at great length on how the songs were mixed-something probably interesting to somebody but not me. His greatest weakness is that Stokes seems to have no concept of the spiritual dimension of the band-a fact that strikes most critics as crucial to understanding U2's music. Though he has clearly interviewed Bono, the quotes that the author uses often seem ripped from their likely context to support whatever Stokes already believes about the songs. The photo captions are howlingly hideous-the type of joke your three year old would tell and you only laugh because you love. I love my three year old. I hate this book. Save your hard-earned cash. Shoot, save the cash you find in the cushions of your sofa!

If you're after a book that will tell you exactly what each song on every U2 album was written about, this isn't it and it isn't supposed to be. In fact there isn't any book that can tell you exactly what each song is about because there are a number of U2 songs where the lyrics are highly personal to Bono and even he won't disclose the full meaning of them.

If, however, you are looking for a book that gives information on how certain songs came together with some lesser known facts thrown in and, in some cases, the meaning of the lyrics then this book will make interesting reading.

The main bulk of the book covers all the songs on every U2 studio Album from Boy to How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (including Rattle & Hum) and briefly touches on B-Sides, Passengers, Edge's Captive soundtrack, The Million Dollar Hotel Project and a number of other 'side projects' undertaken by band members over the years. Interesting comments from producers, people who worked with the band and of course all the band members themselves, gives quite a facinating insight at times to how certain songs came about.

Niall Stokes has known U2 ever since they were a young up and coming Dublin band and has therefore been lucky enough to get plenty of access to the band over a 25+ year period and he's not done a bad job. The title is as it suggests, 'Stories Behind Every U2 Song' and not 'What The Lyrics To Every U2 Song Are About.' If you're a big U2 fan like me, some of the pictures and some of the stories are already familiar but there is enough in here that I didn't know that kept me from putting the book down and so it gets a 4 star review.

Maybe it was more like buyer beware, I was really disapointed in how superficial and extrapolated the content of the subject was. I don't consider this a an essential piece for any serious u2 fan, it leaves you with way too much ambuguity.

Not what I expected. I like the concept and was really looking forward to reading some insight from the guys on their inspirations for the songs, what motivated them at the time...where they were in their lives...Instead we get dribs and drabs about their producers fiddling with the songs....personally, I don't care about that.

You can get better insight into songs/albums by going thru U2 interviews on YouTube. At least it's from "the horses' mouth" instead of thru irresponsible writers who use quotes out of context (as in the case of this author). Note: read the excerpt on "All Because of You" - just plain stupid. There is a lot more to that song than what the author "chose" to include in his book, which resembles a badly written term paper, along with unwitty photo captions.

U2 is much more profound than this book leads you to believe. The author also completely leaves out the spiritual aspects of the band and their songs - obviously he has no understanding of the topic, and almost mocks it.

This book gives great back story and insight into every song of every album by U2, including B-sides and the Passenger's album. It's interesting to see the inspirations behind some of their biggest hits. This book is not for the casual fan. Would also recommend "U2 At the End of the World" by Bill Flanagan.

This otherwise readable book is so fraught with typos and poor grammar that it is almost embarrassing. "Running To Stands Still?" "Freedom has a scent/ Like the top of a new born babies head?" Honestly, it is like reading a first daft by an unskilled writer.

I don't want to be redundant with the other reviewers, but I too was disappointed with the content of this book. Stokes seemed to harvest much of his information from old friends and old interviews - with very little analysis or insight from the band. His speculations seem banal and quite shallow with no understanding of the theological, spiritual and political power and depth of the messages found in the music. U2 deserves better and the definitive analysis of their songs has yet to be written.

This is a great book that explains the stories behind U2's songs, through the album "Vertigo". It explains that the late Joey Rammone, really liked the songs in the "What you Can't take With YOU" CD. Also in this cd, there are songs like "In a Little While", and "Kite", and it explains that these songs are about "letting go" of someone you love. Sometime during this period, Bono's daddy died, so you can really feel the emotion, U2 puts into these songs. Also, the song "Stuck in a Moment, You Can't Get Out Off", refers to the late, lead singer of INXS, Michael Hutchencel. It explains he got stuck in a moment he couldn't get out of, and he commited suicide. So, don't get Stuck in a Moment You Can't get out of. Also, it explains that a lot of U2's songs are related to the gospel message in the Bible. Anyway, this is a great book, for any U2 fan. Thanks

alaround great coverage of all U2 songs done in thier career every song has a story to it the write up on all of there b side songs is also great too!!!!