Negativland - U2

All Music Guide

You know the saying: if you keep sticking your hand into the fire, sooner or later you're going to get burned. This release had "lawsuit" written all over it in so many ways: a mercilessly insolent take on the U2 single "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," wholesale and reckless sampling from the original song, and unrelenting profanity (both from the airwaves and from potentially illegal outtakes of Casey Kasem ranting on the set of America's Top Forty). Although each of these things would have been enough to get lawyers sniffing around, what finally did the band in was the cover art, which Island Records claimed could be mistaken for the upcoming and eagerly anticipated U2 release. The legal writs started to fly, eventually causing a nasty legal battle between the band and their own record label, SST. Ultimately, copies of the single were recalled and destroyed, making the remaining copies tasty little collector's items. What often gets lost in all the controversy over the s...ingle is that it was actually one of the best works the group had done to date, with great editing and a great sense of humor...unless you happen to be Casey Kasem. - Sean Carruthers, All Music Guide Read more Less