Songs of Experience - Part 2

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nothing really new here, but this quote from Corbijn does confirm what was reported about a photo shoot last week..

"I spent a lot of time with them last week - they came to my hometown. They were in The Hague socially and we did another shoot and stuff."
 
"Another shoot and stuff" - I'm sure he said it in a nonchalant way to not open the door about it being for the new album.


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Thanks Secretfly, good paras these:

"We pull into a lay-by so he can play tracks from the next album, Songs of Experience. His voice comes through his phone singing about “the dying of the light”. He harmonises with himself as the album continues and gives every song an introduction: “On this one we were going after a broken cassette recorder type of sound”; “This has got a really crunchy beat”; “You have to hear Edge’s guitar work on this”; “Just wait until you hear the drum break on this one.” He’s lost in his music, staring out the window as he sings along.

The Italian prime minister is waiting but it seems that cat can chill. Bono keeps scrolling and playing. “We’re going to get this album out next year; unusually for us, a lot of the songs are done already,” he says. (I’ve heard that before.)"
 
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"........as the album continues and gives every song an introduction."

Almost sounds as if there is a whole album done, albeit possibly still in an unmixed/final demo state?!
 
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And this quote about the "other song for something else" that was mentioned/played to the Scotts a while back:

"By now, I’ve one eye on the car’s clock and am calculating my chances of making it back into Turin tonight. I open the door and place one foot on the ground. “Listen to this. It’s really atmospheric, it was written for a film,” he says. Two feet on the ground now – I could just make a run for it. “Wait! You have to hear this one, it’s really sad . . .” "
 
"........as the album continues and gives every song an introduction."

Almost sounds as if there is a whole album done, albeit possibly still in an unmixed/final demo state?!

It seems so. If that's the case, I guess their wisest decision would be a launch along with the HBO specials later in November. So that's not gonna happen.
 
Ok, so if Bono says it's next year, it's not gonna happen before that, is it?

And also, it's pretty obvious what we have to do. We gotta steal his phone

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"........as the album continues and gives every song an introduction."

Almost sounds as if there is a whole album done, albeit possibly still in an unmixed/final demo state?!

I really want to believe that (though i know i shouldnt).

He says "a lot of the songs are done already";

I'm wondering what's more likely - that a lot of songs are 'done' in the sense that they're recorded, mixed, mastered, whilst the others are simply rougher (which would be great, it would mean it's very close to finished)
... or 'done' in the sense that they're finished writing for them, whilst there are ones that still need to be completely written, or that they need to write from scratch to get the album up to 11 tracks.

Or it could be a combination of the two: They could have half an album of very much finished material ready to go... but still need to write another 4-6 songs.

In which case, they could just release what they have now, except 1), I'm assuming they like the idea of releasing a full album more than an EP, and

2) It wouldn't surprise me if they spent time now taking 2 or three of the strongest tracks and working on them for ages with people like Paul Epworth or Ryan tedder to make them as much like 'singles' as possible (which seems to be what happened with the front half/most commercial songs on SoI. I think it also happened with the middle 3 tracks of NLOTH)

Just more thinking out loud here, but: If they are working with more radio-friendly producers like that, i'd actually hope they've been working with them since the beginning of SoE. Songs of Innocence definitely sounds more coherent to me than NLOTH, but i can still hear a massive gap between the first and second half of the album. I don't think it's a coincidence that the second half of the album is almost pure, left-alone Danger Mouse material, whereas the first half also has Epworth and Tedder all over it. I'm sure they helped in making songs like The Miracle and EBW more like singles, but for me that happened at the cost of making the album still sound very disjointed (while i do appreciate variety in an album, going from Song for Someone into Volcano is very jarring to me, almost as bad as Unknown Caller into Crazy tonight). And it also made it seem like they're insecure, and doubted their own material/3 years of work with Danger Mouse ("Oh, you don't like our new direction with Danger Mouse? Don't worry, we made these pop songs at the beginning of the album, just in case the new direction doesn't do well).
I'd just like to see them commit to a sound, and have it be coherent all the way through. Because, like with NLOTH, on SOI i feel like i'm listening to two separate, short albums. Both are great, but they run out just as i'm getting into them.
 
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Later in the article it states Bono would like the album out next year but he says he is the "least reliable member" about that. Don't get your hopes up folks. I still think they have songs to re work and songs to write. I think there is a chance that "song for a film" could in fact be for their HBO documentary.

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I'd like to think that a spring 2016 album is our (last?) best chance at an album where writing The Big Single isn't a focus, as they're not trying to force themselves back into the spotlight after a long hiatus
 
I'd like to think that a spring 2016 album is our (last?) best chance at an album where writing The Big Single isn't a focus, as they're not trying to force themselves back into the spotlight after a long hiatus

I know a couple of them (Bono and Adam? I think?) have brainstormed during interviews about not worrying so much about being the biggest band in the world, just connecting with their loyal fans, not being so commercial, but it's hard to know in interviews like that how much they really mean it...

What you've brought up is one of the biggest questions i can think of regarding U2, and could potentially define the rest of their career: whether SoE will be just a collection of raw, honest songs, or if they will still be chasing that Big Single.

Could see them being low key (ish) for a quick-follow up, with no 5 year 'pressure to perform', but... could U2 really ever not try and be massive?
 
also, that article reminds me a bit of Bill Flanagan's At the End of the World.. it paints a melancholic picture of Bono, lost in the chaos, lost in his own head..

anyone else get this vibe?
 
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What you've brought up is one of the biggest questions i can think of regarding U2, and could potentially define the rest of their career: whether SoE will be just a collection of raw, honest songs, or if they will still be chasing that Big Single.

Could see them being low key (ish) for a quick-follow up, with no 5 year 'pressure to perform', but... could U2 really ever not try and be massive?

at this point, after 2 failed attempts to recreate a Vertigo-sized hit, I think they're smart enough to recognize that it may be time to just play to their strengths..
 
isn't Edge a Grandpa now?

Grandpa rock, man. Grandpa rock.


Capture.png
 
I don't really care for some groups becoming dad-rock (or grandpa-rock, whichever you prefer). I mean, they're doing something that is appropriate for their age.
 
I really want to believe that (though i know i shouldnt).

He says "a lot of the songs are done already";

I'm wondering what's more likely - that a lot of songs are 'done' in the sense that they're recorded, mixed, mastered, whilst the others are simply rougher (which would be great, it would mean it's very close to finished)
... or 'done' in the sense that they're finished writing for them, whilst there are ones that still need to be completely written, or that they need to write from scratch to get the album up to 11 tracks.

Or it could be a combination of the two: They could have half an album of very much finished material ready to go... but still need to write another 4-6 songs.

In which case, they could just release what they have now, except 1), I'm assuming they like the idea of releasing a full album more than an EP, and

2) It wouldn't surprise me if they spent time now taking 2 or three of the strongest tracks and working on them for ages with people like Paul Epworth or Ryan tedder to make them as much like 'singles' as possible (which seems to be what happened with the front half/most commercial songs on SoI. I think it also happened with the middle 3 tracks of NLOTH)

Just more thinking out loud here, but: If they are working with more radio-friendly producers like that, i'd actually hope they've been working with them since the beginning of SoE. Songs of Innocence definitely sounds more coherent to me than NLOTH, but i can still hear a massive gap between the first and second half of the album. I don't think it's a coincidence that the second half of the album is almost pure, left-alone Danger Mouse material, whereas the first half also has Epworth and Tedder all over it. I'm sure they helped in making songs like The Miracle and EBW more like singles, but for me that happened at the cost of making the album still sound very disjointed (while i do appreciate variety in an album, going from Song for Someone into Volcano is very jarring to me, almost as bad as Unknown Caller into Crazy tonight). And it also made it seem like they're insecure, and doubted their own material/3 years of work with Danger Mouse ("Oh, you don't like our new direction with Danger Mouse? Don't worry, we made these pop songs at the beginning of the album, just in case the new direction doesn't do well).
I'd just like to see them commit to a sound, and have it be coherent all the way through. Because, like with NLOTH, on SOI i feel like i'm listening to two separate, short albums. Both are great, but they run out just as i'm getting into them.

Because SOE "could" be a quick follow up there is less of a need to make an 11 or 12 track album. 8, 9 or 10 tracks would be sufficient, kinda like Zooropa.
 
Because SOE "could" be a quick follow up there is less of a need to make an 11 or 12 track album. 8, 9 or 10 tracks would be sufficient, kinda like Zooropa.

Indeed - and we're getting close, if we're to assume that tracks mentioned in interviews over the last 6 months represent tracks likely to appear

1. Morning After Innocence
2. Red Flag Day
3. The Little Things You Give Away
4. Civilisation
5. Get Out Of Your Own Way
6. Instrument Flying
7. Much More Better (title needed)
 
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I know it's like rule number 1 of being a U2 fan but, I kinda believe him this time...
 
This is the "try it out on news publications" phase.

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Later in the article it states Bono would like the album out next year but he says he is the "least reliable member" about that. Don't get your hopes up folks. I still think they have songs to re work and songs to write. I think there is a chance that "song for a film" could in fact be for their HBO documentary.

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At least he's aware of his reputation! :lol:
 
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