Even for a critically-acclaimed, award-winning band such as U2, there are often questionable choices in who gets awards at ceremonies like the Grammys. This year was one such year, with U2’s most critically-acclaimed album of the decade, No Line on the Horizon, being snubbed by the Grammy Awards.
The difference between the (lack of) awards granted to No Line and the overabundance of awards granted to the band’s 2004 album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, lies in simple mathematics. No Line didn’t sell well, while Bomb did; both were very well received by critics.
Bomb was deemed Album of the Year by several publications, and No Line was called U2’s “best, in its textural exploration and tenacious melodic grip, since 1991’s Achtung Baby” by Rolling Stone and “an eclectic and electrifying winner, one that speaks to the zeitgeist the way only U2 can and dare to do” by Entertainment Weekly, who gave the album an A- rating.
Yet, despite its overwhelmingly positive reviews, No Line and U2 went home with no Grammys this year, after stealing the show at the 2005 and 2006 Grammys, taking home all nine Grammys Bomb was nominated for, including Album of the Year.
Fans and the band themselves both recognize the discrepancies between critical acclaim and awards given. Common reactions from fans watching the Grammy Awards this year included that it wasn’t surprising U2 won nothing, considering the past few years had been a hotspot for the band with both Bomb and All That You Can’t Leave Behind winning a substantial amount of awards. Fans also pointed out similarities between the snubbing Achtung Baby was given and No Line’s lack of awards: both albums have been hailed as huge steps forward in the band’s musical progression and experimentation.
As for U2, as Bono notes, winning awards wasn’t their focus with No Line, instead wishing to make an “album,” a dying art these days: “We weren’t really in that mindset. We felt that the ‘album’ is almost an extinct species, and we [tried to] create a mood and feeling, and a beginning, middle, and an end. And I suppose we’ve made a work that is a bit challenging for people who have grown up on a diet of pop stars.”
—Cassie Traun, Editor
Link to full article on Interference