On the Facebook page I recently said that I felt like I was focusing too much on one set scene or genre of music; the whole idea of this blog was to cover any and every aspect and genre of music, however admittedly I have been focusing more on getting people I wanted to interview and writing and reviews items I wanted to as opposed to maybe music that people that read this blog were interested in.
So this was an idea me and a friend came up with where every week a new track review would be put up, and from there I came up with the idea of furthering this and hopefully at somepoint this would become a piece where different people would review a different track that they thought was great. I wanted to, and still want to explore the entirety of music, and not pigeon-hole Ghostchant into the metalcore scene, or the industrial metal scene, or the punk scene or whatever.
To start this weekly piece off I wanted to go differently, which is why I went with the 1995 track, “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” by U2. Still staying in the rock music vein, it’s all I know and am interested in; it’s obviously less heavy and more commercial than anything I’ve really done for Ghostchant before.
So right, this song is most notable for being the main theme for the massive comic book movie Batman Forever from the same year. The film was a huge departure from the previous darker, more serious in tone Batman movies; this one was more about fun, more like a comic book, and this song suits this change so much.
Being specifically written for the soundtrack, this was during the infamous PopMart Tour and era of U2, where they, like this movie, had reinvented themselves into a more ‘fun’ band and less serious band. Its assumed that this was written during the sessions for the 1997 album ‘Pop’, which ended up being somewhat of a failure which ended up prompting another massive change in 2000, but at this time, U2 were the biggest band in the world, they literally toured the globe with a show that was so much more than just a rock concert; the PopMart Tour of the mid-90’s was an experience!
During this period for U2 they were experimenting a lot, trading in the guitar rock of ‘The Joshua Tree’ and ‘Achtung Baby!’ in favour of more synth and electronica sounds, however “Hold Me…” sounds very different, it doesn’t follow this routine and experimental side, frankly its one damn awesome rocking track!!
It showcases something that had been missing on the 1993 album ‘Zooropa’, the rock element and what the Edge can bring to the table in that department. Sure there are some synths in the background; the main driving force of the track is Edge’s guitar and Bono’s voice.
Lyrically this song talks about the pressures of fame, and how people perceive you once you have become ‘famous’ which is certainly something Bono and U2 had been experiencing almost 24/7 for the last decade by this point. The vocals are the typical Bono shriek-like wails mixed with a hint of arrogance, which actually goes to help strengthen the track and make it seem more ‘real’, getting the message across easier.
This song went on to become a major hit and actually garnered somewhat of a cult following among U2 fans, with fans having begged for it to be played live since the end of the PopMart Tour. During the 360o Tour they did dust it off and play it live during the European leg with it being greeted by the fans with open arms.
Personally, to me this track is one of my favourites, and was on the first CD that I ever got, the Batman Forever: Soundtrack, and I’ve been told that it was actually the first song that I liked, so I suppose I can attribute my taste in metalcore and whole enjoyment of rock music to this one song.
Though during this point U2 were trying out different things, and going with a different sound, for some reason, whether it was because of the exposure it was to get or it was an old track or whatever, U2 pulled out the big guns and went back to what they do best; which is melding rock with pop and adding in Bono’s arrogance in vocals and lyrics.
Below is the link to buy the track from iTunes, also be sure to check out the different covers of it; namely the Ad Astra cover, giving the track more of a more hard-rock feel.
If anyone is interested in taking the reigns for next week or any week, hit me up on the Facebook page.
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