How Much of Their Sound do U2 Owe To Lanois?

[Chill Mike D]

I've been a fan of Daniel Lanois' albums for years, and I know he's pointed out from time to time that he "stole" Edge's guitar sound, but I think he's being a bit gracious there. I've also been listening to other people's albums he's produced, namely Teatro by Willie Nelson and Wrecking Ball by Emmylou Harris, and both of those are amazing albums.

Wrecking Ball in particular, in my opinion, easily holds its own along with any album Lanois has been involved with including all of his U2 albums. That one is amazing.

Hearing it though, I hear plenty of signature sounds and general approaches that I've heard before on U2 albums, and as I hear these things pop up on album after album that Lanois has been involved with, I wonder if they owe far more to him than he owes to them.

I would post a link to "Going Back to Harlan" by Emmylou Harris, but the only Youtube videos seem to be live versions.

 

[powerhour24]

I think working together with Lanois has no doubt influenced Edge's exploration for atmospheric effects (though they've definitely influenced one another), but I wouldn't say Edge got his sound from Lanois, the building blocks for his sounds on TUF and TJT are there on the early albums, and AB was clearly new territory for both of them. The biggest influence I would say the Lanois has on all of them is his song-writing formats, much of their work with him is more focused than compared with their early work and some of their non Lanois albums. Danny's talent as a songwriter, and the band's comments/writings in their book is why I think of him as the one having more of an influence on U2's actual writing, whereas the soundscapes are more of an Eno influence, no knock on them as a team but Eno gets most of the credit and looking at them as musicians, Lanois' more in line with them.

And hell yes to being a huge fan of his production on other albums (love his Bob Dylan albums like Time Out of Mind) and his own work, I'm so pumped for his new band.

 

[65980]

I'm not so sure about Eno being more responsible for the soundscapes. When Lanois did Dylan's Oh Mercy (1989) everyone talked about how it suddenly sounded like U2...

But to Lanois's credit, he was the main producer of Achtung Baby, and it clearly doesn't have the "Lanois signature sound" (ie., echo, reverb, a warm sonic soup under the surface).

 

[powerhour24]

Yeah, like I said Edge, Bono and Lanois were clearly digging into new territory on AB.

 

[nathan1977]

But to Lanois's credit, he was the main producer of Achtung Baby, and it clearly doesn't have the "Lanois signature sound" (ie., echo, reverb, a warm sonic soup under the surface).

That was due however to Bono and Edge pushing Lanois away from his comfort zone. Flanagan's book talks about Lanois taking "Down All The Days" and trying to make it sounds like ethereal U2, a sound they weren't interested in pursuing. The 2 hour fight that Lanois and Bono had has become the stuff of legend. It was when they were at an impasse that they called in Eno, who took them into new sonic landscapes.

 

[65980]

Yes, I'm sure you're right. Still, do we really know how much input Eno had into the Achtung Baby finished sound? My memory of his article about the sessions was that he himself said he had minimal input -- they just flew him in to give them some fresh perspectives.

Nevertheless, every time you read a soundbyte about this or any U2 album, it's always "produced by Brian Eno", which kind of annoys me, but never mind.

 

[The Sad Punk]

11.8%

 

[Registered Dude]

he brings a certain sound to all records he produces.. the emphasis is not only on the atmosphere or "feel" but the bottom end as well, bass & rhythm.. Still Haven't Found is a great example.

but I think he brings out the best in the artists he's working with. so while yeah, a large part of what makes albums like JT and NLOTH great is his influence, he's getting great material to work with from the band

 

[corianderstem]

Wrecking Ball in particular, in my opinion, easily holds its own along with any album Lanois has been involved with including all of his U2 albums. That one is amazing.

This, times 1,000,000.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

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