Songs of Ascent: the lost album

[Registered Dude]

so, to reiterate the point of this thread, why don't you think Songs of Ascent the concept came to fruition? why was this conceived album scrapped?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

so, to reiterate the point of this thread, why don't you think Songs of Ascent the concept came to fruition? why was this conceived album scrapped?

because that's how u2 works, and however well intentioned they may have been to releasing the album quickly, that was never ever going to happen because u2 simply do not operate that way.

 

[djerdap]

and clayton said that when bono hears two notes he hears a song, where as the rest of the band hears a starting point.

This. This was an incredibly important quote that seemed to go more or less ignored. It's probably the most accurate thing anyone in the band had said regarding new unreleased material in general.

The Rubin sessions probably have a project name as well (maybe that one would have slipped as well if Bono drank some more). Same goes for the aforementioned sessions between All That You Can't Leave Behind and The Bomb.

The Bomb came out four years after the last record, and it featured at least 4 songs (Love and Peace, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Original of the Species and City of Blinding Lights) that were composed during the ATYCLB and Pop sessions. Just to put things into perspective.

 

[Registered Dude]

because that's how u2 works, and however well intentioned they may have been to releasing the album quickly, that was never ever going to happen because u2 simply do not operate that way.

fair enough. thanks

I disagree in this case, and think that they have made a conscious decision to leave behind the songs they started for SOA. I think the band is disappointed with NLOTH's reception, and that this is the primary reason they have abandoned what they started.

 

[BVS]

fair enough. thanks

I disagree in this case, and think that they have made a conscious decision to leave behind the songs they started for SOA. I think the band is disappointed with NLOTH's reception, and that this is the primary reason they have abandoned what they started.

And I disagree with this...

How can they be disappointed? They are smart enough to know the climate of the industry and to still be amongst the top three albums sold and still be able to do a stadium tour in this economy...

I think sometimes we lose perspective here in interference.

If SOA was as far along as you think, it will be released. I just think they were weary of that type of album doing well live in a stadium.

 

[U2girl]

So, for the first time, U2 have apparently written an album, and chosen not to release it. unprecedented in their career.

or have they? was SOA ever anything more than Bono's pipe dream?

Adam cautioned us long ago that Songs of Ascent was an idea more than an actual work, though quotes from others seem to suggest otherwise. what will happen to Kingdom, Every Breaking Wave? ...songs we all but know were planned for this album.

The latest Q blurb asserts that the next U2 release will not be made of U2 leftovers; it will not be a sister album to NLOTH. fresh ideas, new sounds, a new frame, a new perspective...

discuss? remorse? celebrate? bitch?

SOA was never official confirmed for a 2010 release, nor was it ever officially cancelled.

That Q bit about a "new album by the end of the year" may yet apply to it: new songs - just not NLOTH leftovers.

 

[Registered Dude]

And I disagree with this...

How can they be disappointed? They are smart enough to know the climate of the industry and to still be amongst the top three albums sold and still be able to do a stadium tour in this economy...

I think sometimes we lose perspective here in interference.

If SOA was as far along as you think, it will be released. I just think they were weary of that type of album doing well live in a stadium.

I agree with your point of that sort of song in a stadium setting...

the band have expressed their disappointment, I'm not projecting.. this is a band that want to change the face of the world with every release

 

[The_Edge89]

The Bomb came out four years after the last record, and it featured at least 4 songs (Love and Peace, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Original of the Species and City of Blinding Lights) that were composed during the ATYCLB and Pop sessions. Just to put things into perspective.

Come to think of it, wasn't No Line On The Horizon one of the few U2 albums that didn't include previous leftovers?

Boy - debut album, so no real leftovers
October - Fire (Saturday Night), Is That All?
War - No leftovers?
The Unforgettable Fire - No leftovers?
The Joshua Tree - No leftovers?
Rattle and Hum - Heartland
Achtung Baby - No leftovers?
Zooropa - Stay (Faraway, So Close!), Numb, Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car
Pop - Wake Up Dead Man, If You Wear That Velvet Dress
All That You Can't Leave Behind - No leftovers?
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love And Peace or Else, City Of Blinding Lights, A Man And A Woman, One Step Closer, Original Of The Species

 

[djerdap]

And I disagree with this...

How can they be disappointed? They are smart enough to know the climate of the industry and to still be amongst the top three albums sold and still be able to do a stadium tour in this economy...

I think sometimes we lose perspective here in interference.

And somehow you do have perspective into how the band thinks or feels about NLOTH's current commercial success? I'm not saying I agree with the OP, but it is easy to conclude that the band, from their statements in the interviews, has somewhat conflicting emotions about how the album was received. And that does not apply only to the commercial reception of the record. It's not like this one won 10 Grammys (a silly award show, but the band obviously believes it is still relevant to an extent).

 

[Registered Dude]

I don't think it's unfair to lump SOA in with these lost albums..

The Lost Album: The Stylus Magazine Non-Definitive Guide - Article - Stylus Magazine

if for no other reason than it seems to really be pissing so many people off that I'm even suggesting it

 

[Padj]

Achtung Baby - No leftovers?

Wasn't Love is Blindness a leftover from the Rattle and Hum sessions?

 

[The_Edge89]

^Really? I haven't heard of this before

 

[mikal]

I don't think it's unfair to lump SOA in with these lost albums..

The Lost Album: The Stylus Magazine Non-Definitive Guide - Article - Stylus Magazine

if for no other reason than it seems to really be pissing so many people off that I'm even suggesting it

don't worry. i'm totally with you on this thread. the people who hide behind the whole "well it wasn't officially announced by U2.com" argument are just being cranky.

 

[Registered Dude]

don't worry. i'm totally with you on this thread. the people who hide behind the whole "well it wasn't officially announced by U2.com" argument are just being cranky.

cheers!

 

[last unicorn]

I'm as excited about a new U2 release as anyone else here is, and I really really loved the concept of SOA. I don't see why we shouldn't get that album. On the other hand, we could get a totally different album. Times change, things change, mind sets change, and people move on, things are left behind, new things are picked up - so maybe U2 have found a more interesting project or the whole process went into a different direction. The creative process is much more complex than people from outside could ever understand. I think we should just step back a bit and take a deep breath, because we honestly don't know anything about a possible new release. It's much too early, IMO, to make a judgement.

 

[Mr. Millennium]

SOA, the way it was described during many interviews around the release of NLOTH, will never be released. The band has stated that they miss having the hit singles. The original SOA concept was NOT meant to have hit singles. That reason alone is why the original concept of SOA that the band mentioned last year will never come into being, in that form.

Don't get me wrong, songs like Every Breaking Wave, Kingdom, and a few other songs the band have been working on over the past year will be released in some shape and form. But the slow, meditative album that was originally meant to be a counterpart to NLOTH just is not going to emerge as previously described.

Think of the last few albums. Read interviews from very early in the song writing process and then compare them to the finished product. What the band originally envisioned compared to the finished album aren't really that similar. I see no reason why this situation will turn out any different.

 

[m1chael]

The 7" vinyl single that comes with the super duper holy shit edition of the rose bowl dvd has to contain some new material. If it would be just a 4th single off NLOTH or some alternate versions, or some selected songs from the rose bowl show, than it doesn't make sense to me why they're waiting with the announcement of the exact content of the vinyl.

 

[mikal]

The 7" vinyl single that comes with the super duper holy shit edition of the rose bowl dvd has to contain some new material. If it would be just a 4th single off NLOTH or some alternate versions, or some selected songs from the rose bowl show, than it doesn't make sense to me why they're waiting with the announcement of the exact content of the vinyl.

that's pretty much the only thing my slim hopes are hinging on right now. it is odd that U2 still has this website up: livedvd.u2.com. that tells me that there's something they're still going to announce that is big enough to have its own minisite.

 

[corianderstem]

If it is indeed new material, and if it is going to only be available on vinyl, I'm going to be one cranky panda.

 

[MikeyJB]

Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be bootlegged, uploaded, etc within hours.

 

[corianderstem]

Yeah, but as a Krazy Kollektor, I like to have physical copies of as much as I can. Digital versions just aren't the same.

 

[BVS]

And somehow you do have perspective into how the band thinks or feels about NLOTH's current commercial success? I'm not saying I agree with the OP, but it is easy to conclude that the band, from their statements in the interviews, has somewhat conflicting emotions about how the album was received. And that does not apply only to the commercial reception of the record. It's not like this one won 10 Grammys (a silly award show, but the band obviously believes it is still relevant to an extent).

No, I have absolutely no perspective into how the band thinks or feels, but that was my point.

What were we basing their disappointment on? I haven't seen any of these statements saying they were disappointed. Where do they exist?

How do they judge reception? Awards? Sales? Gavin Friday's personal review?

Pop's disappointed was well documented but not till well after the fact, so I'm curious as to what people are basing this on?

 

[Shawn Bonneau]

It's be the first time U2 released a full length album two years back to back since 1981. Rattle and Hum doesn't count as a full length album

SMB

 

[toscano]

It's be the first time U2 released a full length album two years back to back since 1981. Rattle and Hum doesn't count as a full length album

SMB

It doesn't ??

Some might argue otherwise.

Oh, and War was 1983, TUF was 1984

 

[U2387]

I think it sounded like a dream concept. And an amazing one considering where U2 are mostly at these days. It does now seem like it was too much of a dream. When I originally read that quote above, where Edge says that they've veered from the abstract back to "old fashioned songwriting", that was the nail in the coffin for me. All SoA excitement disappeared, replaced, unfortunately, by Rick Rubin produced All My Life style bombastic dread.

Well, if Edge was saying they have decided to go further in the creative process, write old fashioned songs, etc, and SOA was something different entirely, then that indicates to me that Rubin has no role in this new direction. Unless he has been secretly working with U2 since the Fall of 2009. If its new since SOA, it is not Rubin.

I just will never understand why so many think that veering from the original SOA concept, itself only vaguely defined in a few interviews, necessarily means we are getting Rick Rubin bombast. Rubin's had no role in anything to do with U2 since 2006.

U2 has written more than one kind of song, obviously, and plenty of their own creative ideas have led to brilliance. What's to say they are not looking at War or JT or AB style songwriting?

I still think the very solid rumor of a promo gig of some sorts on April 14 plus the timetable of when some new material would be released relative to a June 3rd blast off leaves us with plenty of reason to believe that we will at least get a few new interesting songs for the tour. Probably EBW and Kingdom combined with a song or two that showcases where they are at now and previews an album that will be released Fall 2010.

The material itself I am reasonably confident will be just fine. I have been excited for EBW since I first read about it in late 2008, like Kindgom intro on 360 and have every bit of faith in the guys to still be able to write some solid, creative tunes that are back to basics somewhat but not a repeat of All that Atomic Bomb You Can't Dismantle and Leave Behind.

When has U2 ever re written an album??

 

[Gilead12]

Is EBW approaching Mercy status?

Among the great "never was" pieces of U2's story?

 

[digitize]

Is EBW approaching Mercy status?

Among the great "never was" pieces of U2's story?

At least we have a demo of Mercy.

 

[powerhour24]

Hmm, if they're seriously being too gun shy because of the marketability (more likely that's Paul McG's stance), just release it as Passengers II, some other side project, or a bonus of some kind.

 

[powerhour24]

It's be the first time U2 released a full length album two years back to back since 1981. Rattle and Hum doesn't count as a full length album

SMB

R&H has enough new studio material on it to make a full album without the live tracks.

 

[ndmaxfield]

Hmm, if they're seriously being too gun shy because of the marketability (more likely that's Paul McG's stance), just release it as Passengers II, some other side project, or a bonus of some kind.

Agreed. Whatever they call it, I want to hear this downtempo atmospheric acoustic tune in-full: http://media.u2.com/flash/highlights/larryinstudio.swf