The Unbearable Blanket of U2

[Dr. Lemonseed]

I've been thinking that there is a whole lot riding on this album... The U2 brand is so huge, so mythological in proportion, that they are right on the verge of becoming (if not past) as ridiculously cliched as the Stones, if not more so. I think in general, people are so exhausted of anything about them... no matter how good their songs are, how much charity work he does, its like the sponge has been squeezed totally dry.

I don't even necessarily think its any fault in particular, just a fact.

That's why I say, they had better take a more humble position on this album, and rediscover some musical authenticity, and get out of their own way, or else I will definitely think they should hang it up. In other words, I hope they try to shrink their own proportions...

Your thoughts?

 

[bram]

Good post, but it should probably be in the new album thread.

I think you're right on--but I'm guessing the songs will still be a version of what they are on every album (some big, big tunes) but with a little more album cohesiveness and musical/rythmic experimentation.

 

[last unicorn]

U2 have always been a big band, no need to make yourself smaller than you are. I don't know about people being "exhausted" about them, I think it's mostly the fans' view because WE tend to become fed up waiting for the new album. No worries, the sponge will be very wet again when the new album is released.

 

[BVS]

I've been thinking that there is a whole lot riding on this album... The U2 brand is so huge, so mythological in proportion, that they are right on the verge of becoming (if not past) as ridiculously cliched as the Stones, if not more so. I think in general, people are so exhausted of anything about them... no matter how good their songs are, how much charity work he does, its like the sponge has been squeezed totally dry.

I don't even necessarily think its any fault in particular, just a fact.

That's why I say, they had better take a more humble position on this album, and rediscover some musical authenticity, and get out of their own way, or else I will definitely think they should hang it up. In other words, I hope they try to shrink their own proportions...

Your thoughts?

There are those that have and always will hate U2 due to their size or "preachiness". Nothing will change that. A new direction, no matter what will lose fans and gain others; it happen with AB, Pop, and ATYCLB. Outside this little microcosm of U2 fans I think good tunes will be enough, it's only inside these strange subcultures where all the other things matter.

My point is, I don't think this album is any different than any other album after AB as far as significance. I don't think there's any U2 exhaustion, what has there been to get exhausted over in the past 3 years?

Good tunes will be enough, period.

 

[Purplereign]

U2 have always been a big band, no need to make yourself smaller than you are. I don't know about people being "exhausted" about them, I think it's mostly the fans' view because WE tend to become fed up waiting for the new album. No worries, the sponge will be very wet again when the new album is released.

Good tunes will be enough, period.

 

[Utoo]

I wouldn't necessarily say that it's the music that has some people "exhausted" with regard to the band. I that it's just that the band has become so very oversaturated. Just think of their exposure over the last 4 years:

iPod commercial
Album
Tour
U2:18 Singles
U2 by U2 book
U2:3D movie
Remastered JT
Remastered Boy, October, War at the same time
Remastered UABRS
Live 8
Bono's media prominence in 2005 for his Africa work

That's just in the last 4 years. Moreover, the only "original" band work in that time were the album and tour----most of the rest could be seen as "cash grabs" by non-fans and even some fans.

I'm not tired of U2, but looking at that list, I can very easily see how people can get turned off from seeing U2 all over the place all the time.

If the music on the new album is fantastic, all that oversaturation will be in the past & people will focus on how awesome the music is. But if it's just "good," AND there's the Spider-Man musical, AND there are more remasters.....the oversaturation will continue...

 

[Chill Mike D]

The thing about that list is that the only these three were even blips on the pop culture radar:

iPod commercial
Album
Tour

The iPod commercial being by far the most exposed one.

 

[Dr. Lemonseed]

Did anyone read the pitchfork review of HTDAAB? This is basically what I'm getting at in this post. A couple quick quotes from it:

"Maybe the biggest problem with Atomic Bomb is just that it sounds so much like U2, and their semi-absurd, totally unparalleled ubiquity has left all of us just a tiny bit tired of listening to things that sound like U2."

"But maybe U2's immortality is also their biggest curse-- and now they're forced to wallow in superstardom, forever perpetuating their own colossal myth."

In other words, its the good friend who has spend a few nights too long at your house. You want to tell them "just go away for a while. You don't need my attention any more" or something like that.

Admittedly I'm being a bit prodding in this post, but I'm really trying to get at the essence of who U2 is NOW. Not who they HAVE BEEN.

In the end, this makes me all the more interested to see what this new album is like... Can they turn the zeitgeist and stay ahead of it, or have they been swallowed by their own wave?

 

[asr]

Dr. Lemonseed, I thoroughly understand and agree with your points. In the early 00's, I was so happy for, and proud of, my favorite band bouncing back in a HUGE way after suffering the punches for Pop/Popmart[the album and tour that I love]. ATYCLB/Elevation was the most admirable comeback
of any band I've ever seen. Then eventually, between the time of the Superbowl and HTDAAB, I got so sick of thier ubiquity to the point where I was contemplating on ending my fandom. One of the many things that were great about U2 was that they were "the biggest cult band in the world." In other words, even during the U2mania year of 1987 they were still able to maintain a sense of mystery. But I don't necessarily fault the band members or even Paul McGuiness for this. The current multi-media age has taken the joy and excitement out of being a fan of someone's music-no matter how great it may be.

 

[last unicorn]

Why are fans complaining instead of being glad that they get to see and hear so much of their favourite band? Right now fans are complaining because they don't see anything and have to wait so long for something new. Whatever U2 does, it never seems right. There is hardly an in-between. When they come back, the media exposure will be huge again, simply because they are a huge band, everything else would be strange. It's the same with other bands, like with Coldplay this year. I also don't think that the "general public" sees it this way, it's basically a fan's view, because we follow U2 so closely and thus get the impression that they are everywhere. If you talk to casual music fans they don't really know about all this stuff. Most of them don't even know when U2 released their last album or were on tour. There are some people who critisize Bono for being in the media so much with his campaigning, but not U2 as a band. I see not over-saturation outside the fan community. People are more fed up with today's chart music that is constantly played on the radio. At least here where I live you don't even hear much U2 on the radio when they have an album or singles out.

 

[Dr. Lemonseed]

I think that's a fair point. Most people really are in the dark about what U2 is up to these days, and we all here follow pretty closely. I also forget that, e.g. on tour, most people who see a show probably have no idea what the setlists have been and are happy with them.

It's interesting, it seems the way of the huge monster band is basically a thing of the past, and this probably contributes to what I said in earlier comments. At least where I live, even going for a band like Arcade Fire is now "last year" or something-- in other words, everyone knows who they are, etc.

Additionally, people are already suffocated by the Killers, who are only 3 albums deep into a career.

Anyway, my ultimate point still stands, I'd say. I'm very excited about the new album, let's just hope they have read the tea leaves. The whole motivation of "living up to their own mythology" frustrates me, and hopefully they can relax a little...

 

[roy]

U2 have always been a big band, no need to make yourself smaller than you are. I don't know about people being "exhausted" about them, I think it's mostly the fans' view because WE tend to become fed up waiting for the new album. No worries, the sponge will be very wet again when the new album is released.

Well said.

 

[Utoo]

Why are fans complaining instead of being glad that they get to see and hear so much of their favourite band? Right now fans are complaining because they don't see anything and have to wait so long for something new. Whatever U2 does, it never seems right.

Sorry, but while there is some truth in that, I don't think that's always the case. Search my posts or those of several others & you'll see that many of us have argued several times that the band are over-exposed. I also prefer hearing little about the album ahead of time---I dig the little videos that don't give any clues, as well as the lack of interviews by anyone but Lanois and a hairstylist or two. Mystery builds more anticipation and coolness than dozens of quotes do. I don't complain about the material---I own all those things that I listed or went to see all of them. But in general, they've spent much of the last 4 years too 'everywhere.' I don't see an issue with buying all of their stuff without buying into all of their stuff. When it got to the point of them re-marketing so much old material (U2:18, 5 remasters, etc.) without even being retired---all in the absence of new material---I dunno, even those of us who have been their biggest defenders raise an eyebrow now and then. At times, it feels like they might as well have a tv show like the Monkees.

I think the issue is this: Over the last 4 1/2 years, U2 have made an effort to "stay relevant" by re-releasing and repackaging a huge amount of old material. That's what retired bands do. Current, "relevant" bands? They stay relevant by releasing new material.

Like I said, I'm not really complaining about the material that's been put out. I love the remasters, I liked U2 by U2, and I thought U2:3D was great. But I don't really think that any of the releases in the last 4.5 years were 100% just for the fans. They were to keep U2 on the tips of music listeners' tongues in a world where someone with a hit single is forgotten 6 months later, all in the midst of working on new album material with no clear deadline or goal.

To satisfy the fans and to stay relevant, they only needed to release two things: 1) the remastered JT for the fans, and 2) U2:3D to stay cutting-edge and relevant.

Everything else was oversaturation.

 

[last unicorn]

Anyway, my ultimate point still stands, I'd say. I'm very excited about the new album, let's just hope they have read the tea leaves. The whole motivation of "living up to their own mythology" frustrates me, and hopefully they can relax a little...

I totally see where you're coming from. It's impossible for a band like U2 to live up to their own mythology. The only way they could really do that is by breaking up or if one of the band members (heaven beware) dies. The mythology is made by the people, not by the band itself. I don't think it's possible for U2 to just release something and make music without feeding into the mythology, because they cannot erase their history. I have no idea what it feels like to have that pressure, or maybe we are over-analyzing this and the band themselves just think about making new music without caring about all this stuff. I hope they do, because otherwise I imagine it will be hard to really be creative.

I didn't have a problem with the remasters that came out this year and last year, I also think the general public, the casual music fan isn't even aware of those. But when I heard about the new remastered albums planned for next year, along with a new U2 album and all the promotion surrounding it and a possible U2 tour I immediately thought: It's too much.

 

[popmartvegas]

May I put just a few points out there. For thought (read this while you eat or something, it's nothing big).

First, a FACT: U2 is, and has for many a decade, been regarded as one of the modern epitomes of the word “mainstream”. Even before the crazy dance-a-thon of the 90’s, which is definitely the last time they had a huge creative kick.

I'll shoot off some words of wisdom [to the band, in spirit, like they're watching us]:

DON’T RUN OUT AND TRY TO BE EVERYWHERE! You don't need to do a song with Green Day, or Fall Out Boy, or Paramore or some crap just to show you're still down with the youth like a couple old gangstas. Especially these days, when most of the kids who discover music do it on MySpace and YouTube, with bands who can’t even afford radio play and are better than U2’s last album by far.

DON’T MAKE THE ALBUM FOR AN AUDIENCE, EVEN IF THAT MEANS IT’S FOR US! The only way to impress us is to give us something we don't expect. At all. eg: Radiohead - Kid A / Amnesiac. Give us something that YOU GUYS (U2) want to hear. What's the music like in your heads? Don't follow the same songs-for-radio-play structure if you don't want, give us something that sounds cool and perfect to you.

Why the hell does the biggest band on earth need to be on a commercial, or even a poster to sell their new album? That’s something for the BIGGEST band to do, not the BEST. If you don’t want, don’t do any interviews. Don’t make any posters. If people like the music, as they do in indie music of all capacities, rap, pop, rock, techno, dance, etc. the fans will come to you. And you have like a thousand billion fans.

Prove you care about the music more than what tone of sepia Anton is gonna tint the next pictures he takes of you. That’s why in 10-15 years U2 will be the Rolling Stones, bringing their version of Voodoo Lounge to the 2022 version of “90210”, when all the new characters go sneak into a U2 concert to experience old guys playing their already overplayed “classic rock” hits, and nothing new.

What they do next makes or breaks them. And the way they do it.

 

[last unicorn]

What they do next makes or breaks them. And the way they do it.

I disagree. Nothing can so easily "make or break" them. People said that before their last two albums as well. Fans should stop to be so dramatic and apocalyptic. U2 will do what they feel is right, and if they feel like giving interviews and appearing on a TV show, it's fine. After all, it's good for the fans as well. U2 have always said that they want to reach out to as many people as possible. They are the most universal band on the planet, not some underground act. People who want an underground act without much media presence are totally wrong in the U2 fan zone. I've never seen them as that. And at this particular point in their carreer it's hard to be anything else than they are. There are a lot of other bands and artists out there that are more over-exposed than U2. They haven't released an album in almost 5 years, they haven't been on tour for years, I don't know they public is so much aware of them being around, it's only the hardcore fans who follow every step the band is doing.

 

[An Cat Gav]

There are those that have and always will hate U2 due to their size or "preachiness". Nothing will change that. A new direction, no matter what will lose fans and gain others; it happen with AB, Pop, and ATYCLB. Outside this little microcosm of U2 fans I think good tunes will be enough, it's only inside these strange subcultures where all the other things matter.

My point is, I don't think this album is any different than any other album after AB as far as significance. I don't think there's any U2 exhaustion, what has there been to get exhausted over in the past 3 years?

Good tunes will be enough, period.

Quite right, it's good tunes which have made a nonsense of the Rolling Stones comparisons on the last couple of tours.
If U2 release a great album full of great tunes then they will be able to do whatever they want.

 

[Salome]

DON’T MAKE THE ALBUM FOR AN AUDIENCE, EVEN IF THAT MEANS IT’S FOR US! The only way to impress us is to give us something we don't expect. At all. eg: Radiohead - Kid A / Amnesiac. Give us something that YOU GUYS (U2) want to hear. What's the music like in your heads? Don't follow the same songs-for-radio-play structure if you don't want, give us something that sounds cool and perfect to you.

and this is where we fans start to become real hypocrites

you start off stating that even if the music they make is not what we/you want it is still good as long as it is what the band wants to do
but then you go off pretending to know that what the band has been doing on the last couple of albums is catering to a specific audience instead of following their own musical instincts
(I wonder how many 80s fans were begging U2 to be 'true to themselves' again after Achtung Baby)
what about the possibility they have been doing exactly (sometimes more successful than other times) what they want to do?


I don't think there's anything wrong with prefering 1 style of the band over the other
but it's beyond presumptious (and actually slightly insulting) to imply that when you don't like a certain style this must be because the band has not been true to itself

 

[BVS]

and this is where we fans start to become real hypocrites

you start off stating that even if the music they make is not what we/you want it is still good as long as it is what the band wants to do
but then you go off pretending to know that what the band has been doing on the last couple of albums is catering to a specific audience instead of following their own musical instincts
(I wonder how many 80s fans were begging U2 to be 'true to themselves' again after Achtung Baby)
what about the possibility they have been doing exactly (sometimes more successful than other times) what they want to do?

Absolutely!!!