If there was ever an artist I reviewed that needs no introduction, it's U2. You don't have to be a music historian to figure out that the Irish quartet has had a more significant and enduring impact on popular music worldwide than any other artist from the '80s; bands that showed similar promise have either since ended their career or watched their fanbase dwindle with time. It's all too appropriate to rank U2 with the greatest rock bands of all time: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd, Queen, and Genesis to name a few. Like those bands, U2 has become a benchmark artist with a unique sound to which other acts are compared. They're the "tastes-like-chicken" of anthemic modern rock. As the title explains, The Best of 1990-2000 is the band's second greatest-hits project, chronicling their all-important second decade of music. 1987's
Isn't it fascinating then that on top of all that success, U2 has such close ties to the Christian faith? To be clear, they eschew the term "Christian artist," though it certainly applies if you intend the term for any artist with a sincere Christian faith. Lead singer Bono, guitarist The Edge, and drummer Larry Mullen actually joined forces as a band in a small group Bible study, although bassist Adam Clayton isn't a believer. They are, however, among the most respected musicians in the world today, particularly Bono's dynamic, passionate vocals and The Edge's incomparable atmospheric guitars. It surely infuriates many listeners when they try to reconcile the excessive celebrity antics of Bono and the band with their spiritually themed lyrics or their publicized charity work to reduce third-world debt and relieve victims of the AIDS virus in Africa. In his
