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November 9th will mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.  The short (six-songs) U2 concert that took place at the Brandenburg Gate yesterday ran into some trouble after — no lie — a huge wall was constructed to keep non-ticket holders from watching the free concert.

Controversy aside, Jay-Z does little but his presence adds a certain amount of swagger to this already swaggering song.  It’s easy to hate on U2 — the conventional argument is that the band hasn’t done anything worthwhile in nearly 1.5 decades.  But that’s bound to happen to any band that’s been together and still playing after 30 years.  It’s impossible, I say, to watch the above clip and not get goose-pimples, to not marvel at just how huge U2 and Jay-Z are as cultural ambassadors.

This was broadcast live on Sunday, but I held off on posting it, mostly because the idea of a U2 concert alone doesn’t seem all that note worthy.  But, they’ve since released two new (but old) tracks for the 25th anniversary of The Unforgettable Fire.

“Yoshini Blossom” is a dark instrumental with spry bass and an atmospheric sound that immediately evokes the collection without Bono uttering a syllable. His voice is very present on “Disappearing Act,” a moody anthem that reminds us “there is only one thing you need to own / and that is hunger.”

No one’s gonna argue that U2’s latest album was a disappointment both commercially and artistically.  It was released into the wild and landed on the doorstop with the dull thud of a UPS package.  People justifiedly treated it indifferently as well. 

Even schilling for Blackberry can’t help the Irish lads.  Still, this song and video were one of the album’s bright spots.  Relatively, speaking of course.  It’s a not bad song with clunky/awkward lyrics.  So there ya go.

Bono and the Edge are composing music and lyrics for Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, opening on Broadway 2/18/10.  Seems like an unusual choice for Julie Taymor’s $30 million extravaganza.  According to Hollywood Reporter, Taymor will reunite her Across the Universe stars: Evan Rachel Wood is going to be Mary Jane and Jim Sturgess will play the titular Peter Parker.

Curious to see if U2’s new album No Line on the Horizon will be any better than first single “Get On Your Boots?”  Now’s your chance to listen to the whole thing at their Myspace.  I’m sad to report that it’s no Joshua Tree, it might not even be as good as How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.  Still, it’s U2 right?  Right.  I’m going to talk myself into loving this album.

As a means to promote the upcoming release of No Line on the Horizon, U2 will be performing on late-night television each night for an entire week. Only instead of Conan O’Brien, like the White Stripes did before them, Bono, Edge and the gang have chosen The Late Show With David Letterman as the place they’ll pump out the bombast from March 2–6. We can only hope that they won’t be doing “Get on Your Boots” for all five nights.  That’s not a very good song. [Rock & Roll Daily/Rolling Stone]

When done right, this blistering song has no comparison. It is so amazing that it lends itself to interpretation over and over again.  Yes, Dylan may have recorded it originally and Hendrix may have perfected it, but there have been so many other great covers.

Enjoy renditions from some of the greats. Perhaps the most enjoyable thing is to see how all these great musicians interpret this Bob Dylan song.

Jimi Hendrix

Anyone who tells you that Hendrix’s version of this song isn’t the definitive version of this song is just lying to themselves.

Here he is at the Isle of Wright in 1970.

Neil Young

His version isn’t that bad.  It’s almost what you’d expect.  Very grungy, full of energy, and just straight nasty.

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In memory of the late Tom Snyder.

He interviews the only rock band that ever mattered.

Here he takes up with Billy Corgan around their Adore album.

Um, chatting with Johnny Rotten and Keith Levene. Love Mr. Rotten’s sinister grin at the end.

Remember when U2 was cool? So do we and it was in 1981. 26 years later it is confirmed that Bono needs an enema.

The KISS Army rolls on and we’re happy to oblige.