Songs of Ascent VI and the Half-Blood Prince
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Niceman
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Personally I think it makes a fall release more likely.
ozeeko
Refugee
Well, the fact that they didn't even show up is a good sign they didn't care as much this time. if the academy knew they would be in attendance, who knows, the decisions could've gone a different way. that's how stupid these awards ceremonies are.
I just don't get it. This album isn't big enough to tour for that long. Even Achtung had Zooropa to give ZooTV a push. If the tour goes into 2011, it will be nothing but a greatest hits show. Mark my words!
On further thought, even a lame greatest hits tour would be better than simply an identical repeat of the previous legs. They were good, but with such little setlist variation on the US leg, and with virtually no more potential live songs on the album (SUC maybe, but who wants to hear that?), it'd be a major bummer to get an exact repeat again. They've got to bring out some gems more regularly (Electrical Storm as a routine; actually play Drowning Man, etc.), maybe even change up most/all of the time & space visuals and references to something new. The cosmonaut bit, for sure must go....not interesting enough to repeat on a return leg.
I dunno.....I hate being all gloom and doom.....I'm just massively bummed (and surprised) by the lack of new material for such a dragged out tour.
Look at it this way, the longer the tour, the more likely they will release something new/switch it up. More NLOTH (SUC or WAS in the acoustic spot), new SOA songs (they said they'd play some new songs), bringing the spotlight to other U2 albums in the catalogue.
Maybe not a big overhaul like Zoo TV after Zooropa...even leg 5 Vertigo, while still supporting Bomb, had two new songs to promote, and one or two surprises in the set (One tree hill, new Kite...).
Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
were i U2, i'd play 3-5 new songs on the road, let them make their way through the interwebs, and then release them when the tour is over and have an album for Christmas.
you can also bet that the songs will not be moody and contemplative if they are going to be playing them live. they will be the big and bold and supersonic U2 that can capture 90,000 people at the same time.
i think they've put NLOTH to rest. it will be no more or less important than the other albums, maybe a bit more important, but if we're getting new songs on the next leg, then NLOTH will be the album to suffer.
you can also bet that the songs will not be moody and contemplative if they are going to be playing them live. they will be the big and bold and supersonic U2 that can capture 90,000 people at the same time.
i think they've put NLOTH to rest. it will be no more or less important than the other albums, maybe a bit more important, but if we're getting new songs on the next leg, then NLOTH will be the album to suffer.
The_acrobat
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
At this point, U2 almost have to do something THIS YEAR. I think waiting 4 years to put out the next album would be disasterous for them. I don't think the "going away and dreaming it up again" approach is going to work in this fast paced industry, especially at their age. They need to create a buzz about the new songs on this year's tour, and release a really great album at the end of this year. Get the Christmas sales boost, and the album will be regailed as U2 getting back on track after their misstep of NLOTH. The fact that U2 got completely shut out of the Grammys is going to speak volumes about how they are "washed up". The fact that Kings of Leon whipped their ass is going to give the public a feeling of "out with the old, in with the new" mentality.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
How many Grammys did Achtung Baby win? How did Kings of Leon "whip their ass"?
I agree waiting 4 years is not going to work but your reasonings are just flat out absurd.
I agree waiting 4 years is not going to work but your reasonings are just flat out absurd.
RedRocksU2
Blue Crack Addict
I disagree.
The band still has to prove themselves?
The band still has to prove themselves?
subnet
New Yorker
as of today i was behind 4 pages behind in this thread. not to my surprise, i missed out on 4 pages of Grammy gibberish.
let sleeping dogs lie, NLOTH goes to bed. why don't we discuss SOA and some other cool shit?
let sleeping dogs lie, NLOTH goes to bed. why don't we discuss SOA and some other cool shit?
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Well sure, but NLOTH was one of the biggest sellers of the year, and that's without a xmas sell, why everyone seems to overlook this baffles me. Everyone knows the Grammys are a joke, I mean did anyone in the world think Green Day and Swift really deserved the awards they got last night?
It's going to have to be about the songs and the buzz next time around, that's it. Sales numbers are a joke nowadays and they really reflect who your market is more than anything else and the Grammys are usually giving you what they thought you wanted last time around(like Green Day) or trying to predict(like Swift).
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Because there isn't that much cool shit to discuss...
subnet
New Yorker
subnet
New Yorker
^....oh wait, that'll cause unnecessary stir on this forum thread.
Screwtape2
Blue Crack Addict
I agree with this part of your post. U2 has to realize that most of their fans and music fans in general can move on to other artists during these waits. There is a greater music selection now than there has ever been. Without momentum all the pressure is on the lead single to get those fans excited. Not only that but they have to initiate new fans with that single because a 2013 or 2014 release would be almost a decade and a half from their last very successful album. The band is running out of time to add to their music catalog and legacy. If SOA isn't released then I believe it is a result of doubt and fear. That wouldn't bode well for a future album reaching their financial expectations.
Mrs. Garrison
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
link did not work...
corianderstem
Blue Crack Distributor
It works for me. Took two tries to load with all the other crap on the page, but it's there.
That's really awesome if it's anything new, but I suspect it's just Billboard pulling together speculation from the last several months that they've culled together from ye olde internetz.
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
Mrs. Garrison
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Third time was the charm for me, and you guys are correct, nothing newsworthy here just some of the same old stuff we have already heard.
cjboog
Refugee
Ahem.
HTDAAB. 2004.
Massive hit single.
10 million copies sold.
9 Grammys. Album of the Year. Song of the Year.
79 Metacritic.
2nd biggest tour in history.
THAT is the definition of a "very successful" album.
I do agree with your point though. With such long waits in between albums, their lighter fans could fade away... I do think though that U2 has become somewhat of a timeless band and ANY album they release will always be an "event" in some sense - assuming they continue to put out good material.
While we are in the habit of tossing out our two cents... seems to me like they have so much material right now (SOA, Spidey, New "happy" stuff) they don't know what to do and are kind of stuck. I think we'll definitely get a reinvigorated and reworked set list on the tour and some new songs tried out in order to spice things up and garner media interest.
November, 2010 sounds just about right.
Rolling Stone album of the year two years in a row... ?
Speculation is so much fun!
last unicorn
Blue Crack Addict
November 2010, after the tour, I'd still say. Maybe with one or two new songs as live debuts during the tour.
U2 will (and already do) eventually stop selling BIG regardless of when they release something. Their age - aside of music industry trends - isn't doing them any favours.
NLOTH not winning may not be so much U2 being washed up (though they're certainly the elder statesmen of the game now) as the Grammys backing off after (over)awarding All that Bomb aka Grammy way of saying "sorry AB didn't win". That was always a risk: a better album but less recognition.
They however absolutely need something new. The patended Edge chime is getting old after two albums in a row, and Eno and Lanois didn't really break new ground with NLOTH (you can't deny making a pop album with ATYCLB wasn't a fresh teritorry for U2). It's time for U2 4.0.
djerdap
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
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Three albums in a row.
And I don't buy this "pop album" ATYCLB stuff. The definition of a pop album is also incredibly relative, so I'm not sure where you're going with this - if you mean by "happy" and "warm", lyrically ATYCLB is actually much more melancholic than it seems (Peace on Earth, Kite, New York, even Beautiful Day has a dark current to it). If you mean by "accessible", can't see that it is any more accessible than Joshua Tree or War. If you mean by "uplifting", I've listened to plenty of hard rock or metal music that has cheered me the hell up.
This whole genre thing was always highly subjective when it comes to music discussion, especially when discussing a band that has changed so much as U2 did. Is Green Day punk? In the same vein as The Sex Pistols? Is Britney Spears pop? How the fuck can ATYCLB, no matter how soft or cheesy (Elevation) it gets, be pop as well? You see my point now.
Also, I don't see anything revolutionary in their sound on that record. Yes, Wild Honey/Stuck in a Moment may not sound exactly as anything they released before (although there are traces of that kind of dry acoustic/gospel sound on Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum), but nothing there sounded as fresh and new as the work they did on The Unforgettable Fire or Achtung Baby, when compared to their earlier records.
Much, much less chimeTM on ATYCLB than Bomb/NLOTH. Walk on, verse guitar on New York and that brother riff off IWF in BD ("touch me teach me" part) and that's it.
They said they were making a pop/joyous album (themes may be dark but the lyrics are very hopeful) with All That... and they did it. And it's certainly very accessible. Their most optimistic and warmest record. The slick production supports the pop album idea as well.
I think All That doesn't get enough credit for its new sounds (for U2). There are hints of the past (see above) but it has its own identity, unique sound and it was the start of a new, pop, single-chasing, straightforward songwriting U2 3.0.
They said they were making a pop/joyous album (themes may be dark but the lyrics are very hopeful) with All That... and they did it. And it's certainly very accessible. Their most optimistic and warmest record. The slick production supports the pop album idea as well.
I think All That doesn't get enough credit for its new sounds (for U2). There are hints of the past (see above) but it has its own identity, unique sound and it was the start of a new, pop, single-chasing, straightforward songwriting U2 3.0.
djerdap
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
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Maybe not chime per se (although there's more to it than you've mentioned - Kite and Peace on Earth for one), but the record is full with Edge's 80s vintage guitar sound, something that he tried to avoid as much as he could in the 90s.
We'll agree to disagree on that "pop" angle (can't see how "slick" production has anything to do with pop or not, but everybody has their own definitions, so we'll just leave it at that).
Anyway, I agree that a change is needed, but somehow I think they are satisfied where they are right now, and dramatic changes a la early 90s is wishful thinking. Let's only hope hearing some quality music in the future, no matter when it comes out.
We'll agree to disagree on that "pop" angle (can't see how "slick" production has anything to do with pop or not, but everybody has their own definitions, so we'll just leave it at that).
Anyway, I agree that a change is needed, but somehow I think they are satisfied where they are right now, and dramatic changes a la early 90s is wishful thinking. Let's only hope hearing some quality music in the future, no matter when it comes out.
Slide guitar (only the third time since Surrender and EBTTRT if I remember right, though he's used it more frequently on the 00 albums) on Kite, no chime. Not sure he used chime on POE, sounds like acoustic (very present acoustic guitar on that album overall).
There are bits of 90's echoes sound (Elevation, WILATW and the guitar in the chorus of NY). I don't hear vintage 80's Edge sounds (unlike the last two albums) but anyway.
They are satisfied but I think the tides are changing. Certainly Bono has moved on from writing about himself mostly, and being less direct (writing in character payed off). The rhythm section got more interesting on the last album. All that is missing is the Edge finding a new sound.
There are bits of 90's echoes sound (Elevation, WILATW and the guitar in the chorus of NY). I don't hear vintage 80's Edge sounds (unlike the last two albums) but anyway.
They are satisfied but I think the tides are changing. Certainly Bono has moved on from writing about himself mostly, and being less direct (writing in character payed off). The rhythm section got more interesting on the last album. All that is missing is the Edge finding a new sound.
The Chime is getting a bit old, as i can say Edge has kind of let me down over the past 2 1/2 albums. ATYCLB is so far his most creative guitar playing so far this year.
the chime is also why i'm not a huge fan of the Joshua Tree and their early albums. I've just heard it too much, and maybe it doesn't fit my taste right now (doesn't mean i don't fall in love with those albums at a later stage).
I think Edge is just happy with his style/sound right now and isn't interested in creating too many new sounds. Maybe the next album will surprise us, but i think this is the direction U2 will go for a while. they're happy with making songs, not being adventurous.
the chime is also why i'm not a huge fan of the Joshua Tree and their early albums. I've just heard it too much, and maybe it doesn't fit my taste right now (doesn't mean i don't fall in love with those albums at a later stage).
I think Edge is just happy with his style/sound right now and isn't interested in creating too many new sounds. Maybe the next album will surprise us, but i think this is the direction U2 will go for a while. they're happy with making songs, not being adventurous.
mikal
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