DubbalinGirl said:
I dunno. I think there are a lot of unrealistic expectations here. Maybe none of you have had sick relatives/children, but I have, and the LAST thing you are thinking about is work. And purely idle speculation here, but if it is Edge's daughter, what if he's a bone marrow donor for her? Then there's a physical toll on him as well, and I don't think he'll be hopping up to play guitar for kicks. There are a zillion different scenarios surrounding a debilitating illness that point to no time to even think about new material.
C'mon guys, it's unrealistic to think that the sick person's relative/bandmember is going to have the time or inclination to do anything BUT take care of the sick person. This isn't a "break" it's a forced interruption to deal with bigger issues in life. It's astounding how many people are losing sight of that.
I agree with some of your statements but disagree with others. Yes, I do think it's silly and entirely baseless that people assume U2 will release new material to specifically coincide with November tour dates. They are planning to release the Milan dvd, as told to me personally by Hamish Hamilton, at the end of the year, so this will coincide with the new dates, but it's entirely coincidental.
I do believe that preliminary work will begin on the next U2 album during this time between the new dates, though. We're talking the better part of a year before the new dates occur. Just days ago, Bono said he is looking forward to writing new songs during this time. I consider writing songs as the beginning of working on a new album. Whether Edge, Adam or Larry gets involved remains to be seen.
If the family illness that caused the tour dates to be postponed is with Edge's daughter, he successfully played 111 concerts in 2005 and then went along with scheduling these 18 additional shows in 2006. He's done remarkably well considering these things happening in his personal life and I think playing live was probably a great outlet for him to take his mind away from things. His wife Morleigh also went ahead with her own career, staging a series of dance performances in Venice, CA just 3 months ago.
We have no idea what is happening, but it may not be as grave as some people seem to think. The timing of these last 10 days may have just been at a bad time and it could be an entirely different and much more positive matter in 1 month. Who really knows?
My own belief is that Bono will be active writing new songs, as he stated he plans to do this just a couple days ago and he had said he was eager fo U2 to make a new album in 2006. I also believe that Edge, if he is the member of U2 whose issues caused the postponement, would do some songwriting as a release from what he is going through, all the while taking care of his ill daughter.
I don't think we will see any newly written or recorded U2 songs until fall of 2007 at the earliest with spring 2008 being more likely. The only exception to this is if they do the James Bond theme song, the recording of which would not have to even be done for another 5-6 months from now.
I truly feel that U2 are committed to going ahead with the 10 remaining concerts, even though there is a big gap in time between them.