Larry speaks about new album

[YBORCITY]

You're forgetting Bono's talk about relevance. It's not enough for the band to find 10 "worthy" songs - they have to find 10 worthy songs that they feel will resonate with the public for years to come. And on the whole, be cohesive. I assume they're trying to find another JT/AB (whatever your feelings on this may be), not another NLOTH. This was probably why they were unsatisfied with this last album, and, in their minds, probably why it didn't sell well. There are plenty of highly rated albums out there that are not as successful as they could/should have been, and vice versa, and I think Bono believes it boils down to relevance.

GOYB = relevance and will resonate for years to come? Not even close!

Whomever decided to put that steaming pile of shiite on the album and then said "Hey, lets put this out as lead single" should be banned from making any music or business decisions going forward, in fact maybe he should be banned from listening to any music at all.

 

[bonocomet]

GOYB = relevance and will resonate for years to come? Not even close!

Whomever decided to put that steaming pile of shiite on the album and then said "Hey, lets put this out as lead single" should be banned from making any music or business decisions going forward, in fact maybe he should be banned from listening to any music at all.

So you're saying Bono, Edge, Larry, and Adam should be banned from making any music or business decisions going forward, in fact maybe should be banned from listening to any music at all?

 

[U2girl]

 

[U2girl]

I just wonder what the fuck has gone on in the studio over the last two years.
I am almost as interested in those stories as I am in new music.

Really, the idea that it takes 2+ years for seasoned vets like U2 to find 10 worthy songs for an album is beyond preposterous. And this on top of all the material that existed before they even started with Danger Mouse.

And once again, we have two different messages from the two conflicting camps.
Bono = we're 60% on the way to finishing the album.
Larry = we're looking at two albums.

When over a year ago, they were saying the exact opposite. Bono was talking about 2, 3, 4 projects and Adam/Edge (and thus Larry) were essentially talking about one album.

Methinks Bono is doing his typical politicking. He was told not to 'hype' too much or whatever and so, perhaps he didn't even want to talk about 'two releases'. While Larry is certainly going to be closer to reality. The way I read this is, one project with Danger Mouse is a cohesive album unto itself, worked on exclusively with Burton (including rewrites of previous material) and it's this album that is '60%' completed and due for release around Sept/Oct.

And the other project is probably some kind of 'best of' the rest or whatever.
Maybe even including elements of SOA, as a quiet Zooropa-like mid-tour release.

That, or they've combined everything, rewrote the stuff (leftovers from prior to 2011) that still had legs, recorded and finished 12-14 (or so) songs already with DM and are trying to see if they can actually fill enough material for two separate releases. In other words, 60% finished with a 'two album' goal. And considering Bono is the one that alluded to '60%' with his '10 reason to exist and we have 6'...it may be closer to 50%. And if this is the case, I'd bet SOA sits apart from this altogether.

It's taking long because, evidently, there's lots of material. Danger Mouse, SOA, the Spiderman reworking, Will.I.Am/Guetta (dance album, assuming they're serious about that) and who knows what else that's popped up in the sessions. While Danger Mouse - and we can assume DM record is the stuff Bono referred to with his "6 songs/ten reasons to exist" talk because Larry did emphasize they're working with him - is the constant and the obvious winner for the next real U2 album, they have several projects going on. One of them, by their own admission, could have been released mid tour during 360 but Spiderman got in the way.

Certainly enough recording material for Larry, of all members, to be talking about 2 releases. Could just as easy be 2 EPs - one of more direct rock sounds before the tour and another, perhaps more mellow, to be relased during the tour.

Wonder if Larry will get the "lord of lies" treatment if we end up with one album in November, though.

 

[JamietheEdgefan]

It's taking long because, evidently, there's lots of material. Danger Mouse, SOA, the Spiderman reworking, Will.I.Am/Guetta (dance album, assuming they're serious about that) and who knows what else that's popped up in the sessions. While Danger Mouse - and we can assume DM record is the stuff Bono referred to with his "6 songs/ten reasons to exist" talk because Larry did emphasize they're working with him - is the constant and the obvious winner for the next real U2 album, they have several projects going on. One of them, by their own admission, could have been released mid tour during 360 but Spiderman got in the way.

Yeah, it's certainly possible the large amount of material larry mentioned was referring to multiple projects (he even said songs of ascent still existed).

However, at the same time, Larry specifically said that they are not working with will.i.am (and early in 2012 adam mentioned the RedOne sessions had not 'worked'), and i seriously doubt u2 as a band will release spiderman material.

Whilst at the same time, they have been working with danger mouse since 2010, and still are, so that makes me think if they have enough material for 2 albums (and it's stuff they're specifically recording now, so that they don't have to go back to it later and it can be a quick re-release - and the only person they're working with now is danger mouse, not will.i.am etc), it'll just be two danger mouse albums.

One might be different from the other, one might even be a songs of ascent (albeit revamped), but i think it's more than likely - given who they're working with now, and their plans to only record now so they don't have to later - that they'll just use danger mouse material.

 

[YBORCITY]

So you're saying Bono, Edge, Larry, and Adam should be banned from making any music or business decisions going forward, in fact maybe should be banned from listening to any music at all?

Yes of course.....

Nah just saying that while stating they wanna be relevant and have songs resonate for the masses and remembered years to come they gotta do something better than Boots, which from an old, back in the day U2 fan was cringeworthy. And makes my argument that maybe they have lost a bit of touch, because if they thought that was a good marketing plan by putting that song out first just doesn't make sense then or now, at least to me.

So yes SACK them ALL!!!!

Also Hello BonoComet , it's been quite awhile, I guess when old timers like me start showing up there has to be some good news about some new music on the horizon.

 

[bonocomet]

We can hope.

 

[last unicorn]

So you're saying Bono, Edge, Larry, and Adam should be banned from making any music or business decisions going forward, in fact maybe should be banned from listening to any music at all?

Yep, throw them into the bunker. No more music outside of U2 for the rest of their creative lives.

IF they did GOYB to be "relevant", they really failed. I am not a fan of that song but I love the live version. When I first heard it I thought: That won't bring them into mainstream radio and that's exactly what happened. I don't think GOYB is a song for "relevance". If they thought so, it's a case of bad judgement, but the song surely isn't that radio friendly. There's more radio friendly stuff on NLOTH, but nothing that, IMO, realls resonates with today's young radio audience. And it's good that way.

Anyone here who really thinks U2 listen to popular artists in order to sound like them and stay "relevant" doesn't know much about the band. I think it's a shame that we don't trust them enough. Personally I'm quite looking forward to whatever new sound Danger Mouse as the new producer brings out in them and their music.

 

[Vlaco]

I think it's a shame that we don't trust them enough.

I'm a bit sceptical. After No Line, which I like, all their musical output fluctuated from mediocre to bad in my opinion. (Soon was the only positive exception).

 

[U2girl]

Yeah, it's certainly possible the large amount of material larry mentioned was referring to multiple projects (he even said songs of ascent still existed).

However, at the same time, Larry specifically said that they are not working with will.i.am (and early in 2012 adam mentioned the RedOne sessions had not 'worked'), and i seriously doubt u2 as a band will release spiderman material.

Whilst at the same time, they have been working with danger mouse since 2010, and still are, so that makes me think if they have enough material for 2 albums (and it's stuff they're specifically recording now, so that they don't have to go back to it later and it can be a quick re-release - and the only person they're working with now is danger mouse, not will.i.am etc), it'll just be two danger mouse albums.

One might be different from the other, one might even be a songs of ascent (albeit revamped), but i think it's more than likely - given who they're working with now, and their plans to only record now so they don't have to later - that they'll just use danger mouse material.

2 albums worth of all new material with Mouse since mid 2010 ? I will be impressed if that is the case.

 

[U2DMfan]

I am thinking there will be ONE big next new album, totally produced by and recored with Danger Mouse. And then they may put something out after that this is a sort of 'Best Of' the rest. And maybe that includes SOA material, dance stuff, Rubin stuff, whatever.

If U2 manage to write and complete two whole new and unique albums with him, that would be very cool. I'd LOVE IT in concept alone. I just doubt it. They usually don't spend weeks upon weeks and months upon months in the studio working on 40 different songs, they usually spend it on the same 4 songs, going over and over until it's considered 'perfect'.

That's why there are so few B-sides in the last 15 years. They aren't actually writing that much. At least not POP through NLOTH. Which is why all those justifications for spending so much time in the studio don't necessarily work. If they produce two albums of new material, that's gonna be awesome. But this is 21st century U2. I, for one, haven't forgotten that.

 

[Rachel D.]

That's why there are so few B-sides in the last 15 years. They aren't actually writing that much. At least not POP through NLOTH. Which is why all those justifications for spending so much time in the studio don't necessarily work. If they produce two albums of new material, that's gonna be awesome. But this is 21st century U2. I, for one, haven't forgotten that.

I'm hoping that they've realized this and are trying to change their habits, especially since they're working with a new producer. It's a faint hope, though.

 

[mikal]

The real question is... Will the Spanish chick leak the album or will she get too many death threats again?

 

[jay canseco]

Don't forget to keep a lookout for the Slow Loris.

 

[last unicorn]

I don't care if they only write 12 songs and put them on on album, if the songs are great and the album is great.

If they write 120 songs and we get 11 or 12 out of that, we will all continue to question U2's choice of songs and it will be depressing to think about all the stuff they haven't released but instead put into some drawer.

But personally I think they've written a lot. Sometimes a couple of songs that are drafted melt into one final version. Let's just hope that they make good choices when it comes to choosing the material. Let's hope they don't kick another EBW out just because they feel it's one song too many.

 

[powerhour24]

hello all, now that we've got some meaty rumors I fear how much I'll be sucked into the blue crack and my productivity will suffer, but screw it, the excitement is beginning.

Agreed with last unicorn, the bits and pieces that were discarded or over-produced out have shown us just how special U2 still is, unfortunately their constant second-guessing and reworkings have really obscured that when it comes to public releases. This has been true since 2000. (Think the Million Dollar Hotel type stuff vs. half of ATYCLB, the alternate versions of HTDAAB, the behind-the-scenes videos/beach-clips and EBW from the NLOTH era vs what was released). They all seem to be most proud of MOS which was essentially improvised and not worked into the ground, I hoped they'd take that as inspiration for the next project, that was when the Danger Mouse album seemed possible in 2011, now they've been at it for 2 more years and I'm less optimistic in that regard.

But also, yes, please forget the whole "11 songs is the perfect number of tracks" mantra, Achtung Baby is probably their most-acclaimed album, and how many tracks does that have again??

 

[U2DMfan]

It's a tough choice to make. You either try to give yourself options and risk spreading yourself a little thin, or you concentrate your efforts on less material. I think Bono prefers the quicker method for U2 at this point. His talk of "best three weeks in the studio since 1979" is evocative of that. Meaning, he wants to capture the magic (I think) and not beat the stuffing out of the ideas that inspire them. But that was well over a year ago, and by the time this material is out, it may be two years.

With that said, no songwriter this side of Lennon/McCartney can expect to write 15 songs and have 10-12 of them be great. It's just not very easily done, even for the greats like U2. Writing 15 songs is almost always a recipe for filler and a weak 'Side Two'. Again - not just for U2, but anybody.

If they want 10 great songs, they need to have written twice that amount. If they are writing two albums (or just say 20 songs), then they need to have written...a lot.

The history of popular music proves this out.

That's not to say that some bands have a 'zeitgeist' phase where everything they make in a certain creative vein is pretty damn good. Achtung Baby might be U2's example of that. On the other side, they wrote nearly 20 songs for The Joshua Tree. And although I wouldn't consider it a classic U2 album, they wrote a LOT for ATYCLB. Upwards of 20-25 songs. And part of the reason HTDAAB was so weak, in my view, was they were just (mostly) recycling stuff that wasn't good enough to make the cut on ATYCLB.

It is a tough choice to make. My best material as a songwriter has been either/or.
From periods where I wrote A LOT, or short periods where I captured some small magic.

U2 is at a phase where they've explored so much of their sound and they just get locked into fixating on certain songs, that they can't expect to do the alternative. They took an extra 6 months on NLOTH and spent it on 2 or 3 songs. That's quite clearly what their method of operation is since the end of Zoo TV.

And if so, then they should - in my view - write as much as they can and pick the best stuff to hone in on. And I think they are doing part of that. I just doubt they are picking 20 songs from 40 they've hammered on for two years. I think they are probably trying to squeeze 20 (for two albums) out of less than 25, maybe 30.

Understand what I mean. I am speculating about two new albums worth of material with Danger Mouse, not the leftovers (Rubin stuff, SOA, etc.) I think they've got...a shitload of songs altogether. But some of these are probably not under consideration.

 

[powerhour24]

Very well said, and as a fellow songwriter (reluctant though I might be at most times) I know exactly what you mean.

 

[LemonMirrorSky]

You know what the funny thing is? And I may be in the minority here, dunno. Songs like Levitate, Stateless and Mercy... when I heard them for the first time and thought.. damn, these should've been on the respective albums instead of some of the songs that were chosen... when I hear some of them now I can see why they were left off. I can see why Levitate was left off. It just doesn't sound complete and ready for the album somehow. Same with Stateless, as gorgeous as it is! I'm not sure now if Levitate would've been a good replacement for Elevation. At the time I was so sure! lol. I guess my point is that, it can be quite difficult to come up with 11 or 12 excellent songs after 30 years of making music!

 

[djerdap]

I never got the fascination with Levitate. Such an average song. And I always thought Mercy was cheesy, overrated junk - any version out there qualifies.

Stateless on the other hand is one of the best songs of the 00s. But I agree that it wouldn't fit that well on an album.

 

[mama cass]

Stateless on the other hand is one of the best songs of the 00s. But I agree that it wouldn't fit that well on an album.

Stateless and Never Let Me Go are in a league of their own compared to some of the recent songs...

 

[LemonMelon]

For me, Stateless is definitely top 10, maybe top 5 for the decade. Obviously it would have been a poor fit for ATYCLB, but I wish U2 would acknowledge the existence of it at least.

 

[LemonMirrorSky]

And I always thought Mercy was cheesy, overrated junk - any version out there qualifies.

Isn't there only that one version available.. which was given to a fan or whatever, the one with the jarring opening guitar? Or is there a more polished/official version available?

 

[LemonMelon]

He was referring to the 2010 live versions. Beyond that, only the cassette-sourced version of the studio take is available to us.

 

[bonocomet]

Isn't there only that one version available.. which was given to a fan or whatever, the one with the jarring opening guitar? Or is there a more polished/official version available?

There is the official live version on Wide Awake In Europe. I liked the original version, but the newer one is one of the VERY few U2 songs I really don't like.

 

[LemonMirrorSky]

He was referring to the 2010 live versions. Beyond that, only the cassette-sourced version of the studio take is available to us.

They played it live??? lol. I'm obviously completely clueless about this! Just searched a few old threads and found discussions on a version where they changed some of the lyrics or something?... they removed the "ripping the stitches" verse, is it? Is that same as the live version you're talking about?


ETA: bonocomet, I see! I had no idea about this Wide Awake In Europe thing at all.

 

[bonocomet]

They played it live??? lol. I'm obviously completely clueless about this! Just searched a few old threads and found discussions on a version where they changed some of the lyrics or something?... they removed the "ripping the stitches" verse, is it? Is that same as the live version you're talking about?

Yeah and they even released it on an EP.

 

[bonocomet]

I see your edit. I believe it was only a Record Store Day Special release, very limited. I know they are numbered, but I have no idea just how rare they are. I can't remember.

 

[bonocomet]

The live setlist thread the night they played it was probably the biggest explosion I've ever seen on Interference.

 

[OpenG180]

I see your edit. I believe it was only a Record Store Day Special release, very limited. I know they are numbered, but I have no idea just how rare they are. I can't remember.

http://wideawakein.eu/