Should U2 release a ballad as the first single off the next album?
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Globo14
Refugee
If it's as good as With or Without You, Stay, or All I Want is You, I'd have no problem with it. 
Globo14
Refugee
With or Without You was the Joshua Tree's first single, too.
trevgreg
Rock n' Roll Doggie
If it's as good as With or Without You, Stay, or All I Want is You, I'd have no problem with it.
For sure. It's all subjective, but if it's a really strong song that can be widely appreciated, I'd say go for it.
Silly me! How could I forget about that?Yes, if it also worked for U2 before.....
Basically, save the rockers for the deep cuts/later singles this time. GOYB proved that 'rockers' don't always make a good, first impression.
kingofsorrow
Refugee
LemonMirrorSky
War Child
Good idea!
Bono, please see this thread.
Bono, please see this thread.
U2DMfan
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Hell no.
The last thing U2 needs is to announce their return by showing how inoffensive they are.
It needs to be a challenging song of some kind.
The last thing U2 needs is to announce their return by showing how inoffensive they are.
It needs to be a challenging song of some kind.
LemonMirrorSky
War Child
You really think U2 is gonna challenge their listeners in the year 2013? Really?
The last challenging single was what... Mofo?
Nick66
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
You really think U2 is gonna challenge their listeners in the year 2013? Really?
I don't know, I found GOYB to be a bit of a (auditory) challenge. I think had they wanted to play it really safe they'd have put out Magnificent. Not that it would have made much difference.
Cheers,
Nick
I'm sceptical. It would probably sink without a trace, and I'm not convinced their even their best ballads normally make for ideal lead singles. Second or third single, sure. WOWY was the exception rather than the rule. AIWIY or One, to take two examples, wouldn't have been great lead singles for their respective albums; Desire and The Fly did the job much better.
But they certainly need to avoid the mindset that they need a balls-to-the-wall radio friendly rocker for the first single. Vertigo may have done the job well, but trying to get lightning to strike a second time with Boots was embarrassing. If they do end up having a good quality rocker, go nuts, but trying to force it is a recipe for another Boots flop.
But they certainly need to avoid the mindset that they need a balls-to-the-wall radio friendly rocker for the first single. Vertigo may have done the job well, but trying to get lightning to strike a second time with Boots was embarrassing. If they do end up having a good quality rocker, go nuts, but trying to force it is a recipe for another Boots flop.
Nick66
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Indeed.
LemonMirrorSky
War Child
And Nick... you really felt that GOYB was challenging?? It was the catchiest freaking song on the album. Magnificent would have been the perfect recognizably U2 song to put out there.
Nick66
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
And Nick... you really felt that GOYB was challenging?? It was the catchiest freaking song on the album. Magnificent would have been the perfect recognizably U2 song to put out there.
I found it a challenge to listen to.
Yahweh_OMG
New Yorker
Songs like Kite would work best...... Mid tempo rock song with great melody 
Nick66
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Indeed. It's probably time for U2 to go the Sting route.
Played in Starbucks=relevance.
Starbucks is the ticket. When they're played in Starbucks...when their new album has an "exclusive" bonus track that you can only get at Starbucks (downloaded in the Starbucks store via the Starbucks app)...then you know U2 is finally on top again.
Music to comfortably sip burned coffee to=$ucce$$.
Played in Starbucks=relevance.
Starbucks is the ticket. When they're played in Starbucks...when their new album has an "exclusive" bonus track that you can only get at Starbucks (downloaded in the Starbucks store via the Starbucks app)...then you know U2 is finally on top again.
Music to comfortably sip burned coffee to=$ucce$$.
Danny Boy
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
This
U2 wrote GOYB
Wonder what would have happened if MOS was first single? Maybe sales would have been better?
zoopop
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Hahah
-Can I have a grande cinnamon dulce latte......Is this the new U2?
I just want them to avoid the 3 minute rock n roll song. As much as we can dissect the differences of Vertigo & GOYB they were pretty similar. It was U2 2000 rock n roll by the numbers.
Even though Beautiful Day was a simple song it was different. The intro gets your attention enough to realize its something new from U2 but still sounds like U2 (if that makes sense).
U2 needs to release another stadium epic as the 1st single!!
Rachel D.
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
It's worth a try. Ballads seem to do especially well if they're gut-wrenchingly sad and make people cry. Or maybe I've been listening to too much country music at work. 
I feel that when U2 try to go the rock route they fail miserably. The only people they reach are the aging rock dad demographic which they already hold on to, and they alienate everyone else. It's safe to say that U2 is never going to capture the young adult vote, save for a few fans who are already familiar with their work. I have a hard time seeing a large majority of people born in the '90s picking up a U2 album. Or any album. Since iTunes has come out, singles are now the thing to buy, directly from your phone, after you've heard them on the radio, or you've Shazam'd them from a commercial.
Their best bet to grab new fans is to probably push a slow tune, something akin to Stay to With or Without You and try to get it attached to a film. Not written specifically for the film, but general enough to be chosen by someone in a Weinstein Company suit to accompany whatever drama they are pushing for the Oscar that year.
They can save their rockers for the arena/stadium where they will be appreciated by fans.
Their best bet to grab new fans is to probably push a slow tune, something akin to Stay to With or Without You and try to get it attached to a film. Not written specifically for the film, but general enough to be chosen by someone in a Weinstein Company suit to accompany whatever drama they are pushing for the Oscar that year.
They can save their rockers for the arena/stadium where they will be appreciated by fans.
LadySpinHead
Refugee
at this point, I don't give a shiz if the 1st single is a country polka dubstep crossover....just gimme something NEW
that might be quite interesting...I will say the most successful rock tunes of the past year have been the more ballad sounding, mid tempoish. We are young, Someone I used to know, I will Wait, Madness, Oh Love, etc have all hit number one on the rock charts so maybe it is time for U2 to try that, who knows. I'm interested to hear what Danger Mouse can do for U2
The one thing I like about Danger Mouse is that alot of his stuff he produces has a very dancey yet garage rock type sound to it. Even some electro mixed it at times. I feel they tried that with GOYB, but failed short. Id be fine with a rocker as a first single as long as its not your typical Vertigo Elevation type rock song.
The one thing I like about Danger Mouse is that alot of his stuff he produces has a very dancey yet garage rock type sound to it. Even some electro mixed it at times. I feel they tried that with GOYB, but failed short. Id be fine with a rocker as a first single as long as its not your typical Vertigo Elevation type rock song.
Nick66
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Yeah. Looking back, it almost feels like BD's success, and that record's success, was all but assured. In fact it was anything but, and there were real questions about whether U2's time had gone.
BD may just seem like typical 00's U2 to a lot of people now, but in 2000 there was none of that baggage and it sounded completely new, like a breath of fresh air, and most fans, serious and casual, just went through the roof for it. And you're absolutely correct...it sounded like U2 but still managed to sound like something completely vital and contemporary. The song's and that record's infectious optimism is of course mocked now by the worshippers of irony, but back then it was exactly what U2 needed, and obviously what people wanted to hear.
Now, if they can manage to do that trick again, I'll be incredibly impressed and pleasantly surprised.
If U2 were to release Beautiful Day today, my instinct is that it would still do well. But I'm not positive. I think that it's a pretty magical song (and I'm often a worshipper of irony).
As Nick put it, "elevation sucks donkey balls". We don't need that kind of song again.
In fact, there was never a need for a song like that.
U2DMfan
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
You really think U2 is gonna challenge their listeners in the year 2013? Really?
We're talking lead single here. And the last challenging lead single was probably Discotheque, which was also challenging for the wrong reasons. I am thinking more - The Fly. A good or even great song that makes the casual listener question whether it's actually U2 or not. A song that is a risk and introduces a new era. Not a song that is clearly a super-catchy contrivance to reach as many MOR listeners as humanly possible (like the last three).
You could even argue Discotheque was in that same vein, although less inoffensive than cliche-ridden Vertigo or the embarrassing (for a lead single) Boots. That's what U2 should avoid. An inoffensive (to MOR poppy-heads) lead single. And the lead videos, since Numb (some would say including) and short of Beautiful Day, have been bad too. Actually, really bad.
Do I really think U2 will do this in 2013? I don't know. But I think they need to. 'More of the same' will get 'more of the same' reaction.
They need to surprise people if they want to be as relevant as they claim.
They'll always be relevant as a legendary band. They want more than that.
Great music is a cure-all. If the music is great and U2 aren't so embarrassingly 'love me, love me, love me', a WIDE audience will be more than receptive.
U2DMfan
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Truth. That song is probably the epitome of what is (or hopefully 'was') wrong with 21st century U2. Pandering MOR garbage designed to fill sports arenas.
But hey, it worked. But nobody said MOR listeners don't like a lot of crap.
Sorry for my overuse of "MOR", I just can't be bothered to go into more specific explanation. The informed among us know what I mean.
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