TOMORROW NIGHT ON THE CATHOLIC CHANNEL: U2 "ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND"

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, about once a month I go on SIRIUS XM’s The Catholic Channel’s Busted Halo show to talk about music. Tune in at about 7:20 pm ET on SIRIUS channel 159 and XM channel 117. Thursday nights are “Faith & Culture Thursdays” and we usually talk about a certain artist. We've talked about Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Cliff and even Black Sabbath before. Tonight, we're revisiting U2, who we've talked about once.

There are lots of other artists who I want to discuss on the show... so why am I going back to U2? Well, this week, Team Busted Halo is celebrating Father Dave Dwyer's ten year anniversary as a Man of The Cloth, and many of the topics that they are discussing this week are on that topic.  So, in 2000 when a (very) young Dave Dwyer was ordained -- obviously a huge transition in his life -- U2 released an album that marked a transition for them, the classic (and in my opinion, their last classic), All That You Can't Leave Behind. After the busy sounding, dark, disco-y, decadent, dense, cynical albums of the '90s (all of which, I must say, I loved), ATYCLB marked a return, musically and philosophically, to the U2 of yore, circa Unforgettable Fire, Rattle and Hum and especially The Joshua Tree. It's an album that resonates with me in a big way, a decade later, and I hope it does with you as well.  It meant a lot to me the day it came out, and seemed eerily prescient post-9/11.

I'll "dedicate" my appearance on this show to my good friend, fellow U2 fan, singer-songwriter and documentary maker, Benjamin Wagner, who will become a Dad any day now (to clarify, He will be A Father Named Ben, but not "Father Ben") .  He's gone through some decadence in his day too. But if there's anything in these dark days to inspire optimism, it's the fact that such a great guy and his lovely wife are bringing a new life to this troubled planet. Or as Bono might say, an "original of the species." While I'm on the "shout out tip," I'll also send this one out to Bono himself: as most people now know, U2 is postponing their US tour to 2011 due to Bono's back surgery. As (I thnk) Questlove once said, I'd rather have it right than right now. I want Bono to be at 100% when I see U2! Anyway, this should give Ben and Abbi time to book a babysitter!