10.21.2010

Fact checkers of the U2 world, go out for a pint now

My Google alerts sent this article from a Christianity Today blog to me this evening (New U2 Album Just Months Away?), and I have to say it is moments like this that make me understand why some people just won't read Christian media. The post is a mishmash of outdated information with recent promoBono blurbs, producing a kind of whiplash effect if you've been following any original sources for any time. Greatest hits: "North Star" is still tied to CCM superstar Michael W. Smith and identified with his "a tribute to the unwavering faith of Johnny Cash" comment even though we can now hear and see the song itself; the "surging anthem" line about "Every Breaking Wave" is inserted despite, again, all evidence to the contrary from the actual song; a 3 year old fan-made YouTube cut of the pre-HTDAAB unreleased draft of "Mercy" under some Vertigo Tour footage is described as if it were the official video (and several Christian-y moments that have been removed are cited in the post as if they were still part of the song).... For all three of these, individuals' sketchy, preliminary guesses at lyrics are linked without any caveats. And the putative 2011 album, which in keeping with articles from the past 2 days is said to be in progress with Danger Mouse, is equated with the pre-360 Tour plans for a NLOTH companion album titled Songs of Ascent and thus called "reportedly U2's most directly worshipful album yet" (I don't recognize that phrase, so I'm not sure where it came from). Golly. If it were a generic music gossip site or something, OK. But wouldn't you hope a Christian site might be more, not less, careful about disseminating accurate information?

2 comments:

Derek said...

I might have misjudged this, but I reckon you're not entirely impressed, Beth :o)

Grace & Peace

Tim said...

Bottom line (again) for me: Never trust Bono when he's talking about the release of a new album (or a rescheduled tour). It gets confusing. But I agree with your assessment of a Christian subculture rag. At least they could have had you write the article ;-)