Tvad-I agree that U2 did their best work in the 80's though Achtung Baby is sometimes regarded as their best.
I did like them a lot at the time,their success was clearly based on very straight forward rock dynamics and I realised at the time of the Red Rocks gig they were going to be massive.
REM had much less of the classic rock dynamic but I don't know why despite prefering U2 at the time (I always liked both) I would now rather listen to a REM record than a U2 one.
The point I guess for me,as time has went on and I've heard a lot more music and I'm much more aware of their influences I'm not so sure U2 were that important or indeed creative in comparison to either REM or The Smiths.
What they did do at the time was put energy back into rock music when it was kind of lost in the post-punk fall out and more visual era of the 80's.
They were a classic rock band hence their massive success in the States.
Weirdly having seen both live in the 80's REM destroyed U2 but I would guess on their day U2 took their live performance to a different level maybe I was unlucky the time I saw them(U2).
The Police were a good to great pop rock band but if you are interested in the history of popular music or in terms of influence they are ultimately not of great importance.
Great musicians with a guy who developed into a great songwriter and near the top in 80's terms but even as a guy who bought all their records I couldn't argue they were the best.
I loved Prince at the time and Sign O' The Times would still be in my top 25 albums.
But hey we're on an Audio forum not one for music fans...
:-)
