Gen U2: "'The Eagles and the Rolling Stones, I respect them, but they seem like they're from a different time. U2 might have gotten big in 1980, but they're very much in the current right now. They haven't gone downhill one bit.'
Paul Peterson, music director for the Valley's KDKB-FM (93.3), says drive and creativity keep U2, which has sold 120 million albums, relevant with both new and longtime followers.
'They have reinvented themselves, and some of the reinvention has been more successful than others, but it keeps putting them out where there's interest.'
U2's latest phase finds it mixing some of the straight-ahead rock that bought early fame with slick synthesizer and ever-more-atmospheric guitar work by the Edge (born David Evans) on November's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb album.
It's a sound that, like such older hits as I Will Follow, With or Without You and Pride (In the Name of Love), appeals to any rock fan who is young at heart.
The two young children of longtime fans Greg and Julia Reeve of Scottsdale already are familiar with U2's music.
'The energy that they (U2) have hits little kids right at their core,' says Greg Reeve, 41. 'There's something pure about it. The kids start jumping around when (the 2001 single) Elevation starts. It's just classic.' Five-year-old Matthew sings that song when riding in the car, while 7-year-old Mia sings the current single, Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own, inspired by the death of Bono's father.
'When my little daughter sings that part, I almost want to start crying,' Reeve says."
Yeah, I love it when AGC sings "Ber-digo".