Painstakingly researched and lovingly compiled, as only a passionate fan like author Matt McGee could, "U2 A Diary" is a thorough, comprehensive look at the history of one of the biggest bands in the world.

As the title indicates, the book is organized in diary form, and it trudges through the mountains of U2 minutiae with the nimble, sure-footed nature of a Sherpa. Incredibly detailed, and brimming with insights, "U2 A Diary" is a book to get lost in, as it traces the majestic trajectory of one of the few bands that still matter today.

The true story behind key events in the band's history is revealed here, and McGee was good enough to participate in a recent e-mail interview about his new book. More of the interview will be published in an upcoming issue of Goldmine and in this space. But, for now, here's a little taste, as McGee tells why U2 had such difficulty recording its troublesome 1997 Pop album.

"I think they pretty much lost their sense of identity and their sense of direction," says McGee. "There's a quote in the book where Bono says the band 'went out a lot' while they were trying to record Pop, that they spent a lot of time out on the town — 'living it large' is the phrase Bono uses. They've always been a band that absorbs the things around them, but I think in this case they went overboard. And then making it worse, Universal/Polygram was desperate for the record to come out in time to save their 1996 financials. It was very tense. In the book, Marc Marot, an Island Records guy since the 1980s who was part of Universal/Polygram, says he was 'under enormous pressure from above to get the record out.' But he couldn't force U2 to do it without ruining his longtime friendship with them."

Gold nuggets of information like that can be found throughout "U2 A Diary." To learn more about McGee and the book, as well as the blog that yielded much of the material for McGee's work, visit www.u2diary.com, and stay tuned for more from McGee in Goldmine.