Hewson
Blue Crack Supplier
Where are the choices for any realistic answers?@U2.com's poll as to when fans expect next album...
Voting BoothWhen do you think U2's next studio album will be released: this year or next year?
2014 63.15%
2015 36.85%
Album 13: Mirror mirror on the wall, there's no album so let's just talk y'all
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Nick66
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
There's a reason "Earth 2030" was floating around as a song title.
CosmoKramer
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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ozeeko
Refugee
i don't think there's any line in that song that works for me
MrPryck2U
ONE love, blood, life
The Slow Loris
War Child
Getting back to the topic of masterpieces, here's one that would have been if released as it is here (but as a double album - one live and one studio - one called "Rattle" and the other called "Hum"):
U2 - Rattle And Hum (Full Album) [Includes B Sides*] - YouTube
U2 - Rattle And Hum (Full Album) [Includes B Sides*] - YouTube
david
ONE love, blood, life
My step mom when she first saw the Rattle and Hum cover thought Bono and Edge were named Rattle and Hum and it was their album.
Sent from my AT300 using U2 Interference mobile app
Sent from my AT300 using U2 Interference mobile app
The Slow Loris
War Child
Hahaha, "Rattle" actually does suite Bono, and "Hum" does indeed suite Edge.
Nick66
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
That's disgusting.
jeevey
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Because Edge is suite. 
Hawkmoon269
War Child
Returning to the bike topic... There are tons of bikes in Portland metro area and bike lanes and stuff... Bad thing is that it rains all year so they are really used only during the summer
U2DMfan
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
They have just made it harder. They've abandoned the true 'God walking through the room' magic of the way they used to make records. They'd jam and accidentally just stumble into something incredible.
These days, straight from the horses mouth, they won't even pursue something unless it "can be put across on an acoustic guitar". Because, you know, that totally applies to so much of their best music. Like Streets, Pride, I Will Follow...I could keep going and going.
They've changed how they conjure up the songs - for the worse.
The song Bad is basically two chords (almost entirely) throughout. And yet it is more dynamic than anything they've made in the last 15 years. So if you catch my drift, it cannot be said any better than that.
Bono even remarks about this very thing in U2 BY U2. As soon as they got good (he used to say "we weren't any good, we were just great" and he was right), they lost something. It's too formulaic, it doesn't provide for much magic. I run into the very same thing in writing music. I can empathize.
I just wish they'd say "let's do one like the old days". And just bang one out like they used to. And if the tune doesn't have discernible chord structure, so what? But they won't. Bob Dylan once said to them "nobody will be able to play your songs". That's the single greatest compliment that U2 has ever received (that I've heard). And yet they recoiled against that idea.
They deliberately moved away from that magic so that they could write classic pop songs. They took away what made U2 so uniquely different and special. I still love them, but I miss that magic. It's not there. No matter what anyone says, no matter how nostalgic they are for Beautiful Day, it isn't there in that song. Good song, great song, whatever floats your boat. Same with Invisible, fine song but it's not magic.
ChargedVT
Refugee
https://www.facebook.com/U2niverse
U2 UPDATE from a friend!"So I popped up to the studio in north London where U2 are recording today. Met friends. We hung around for a few hours. One friend said he sawLarry Mullen, Jr.and said hello but Larry just walked off. Sam O Sullivan came out and we talked to him for a few minutess. He pretty much told us to F off, said we shouldn't hang around. He was pretty arsey actually, saying s--- like the band never get anyone hanging around outside studios in Dublin or New York. Yeah right. And that they would leave if loadsa fans started to loiter outside. Yeah right. So I bailed. It was fairly cold anyway. I'll go back another day, maybe next week. But they're definitely in town and recording. There were two other guys there. One of them said the band have been in that studio for around a month. He knows because his mate works in Coldplay's studio and he heard it on the studio grapevine. I'll keep ya informed..."
U2 UPDATE from a friend!"So I popped up to the studio in north London where U2 are recording today. Met friends. We hung around for a few hours. One friend said he sawLarry Mullen, Jr.and said hello but Larry just walked off. Sam O Sullivan came out and we talked to him for a few minutess. He pretty much told us to F off, said we shouldn't hang around. He was pretty arsey actually, saying s--- like the band never get anyone hanging around outside studios in Dublin or New York. Yeah right. And that they would leave if loadsa fans started to loiter outside. Yeah right. So I bailed. It was fairly cold anyway. I'll go back another day, maybe next week. But they're definitely in town and recording. There were two other guys there. One of them said the band have been in that studio for around a month. He knows because his mate works in Coldplay's studio and he heard it on the studio grapevine. I'll keep ya informed..."
last unicorn
Blue Crack Addict
Haha, U2 doesn't want fans to hang around the studio, I like that. They want to be left alone without people coming to stalk them. There's a reason why they've tried to keep the location a secret.
mama cass
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
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DevilsShoes
War Child
I feel the same thing has happened with U2 as a live act, in the 80's they were inconsistent as hell but on their night they were awe-inspiring
By becoming so much more proficient as musicians their performances have become more clinical. They can produce solid show after solid show, but the truly special gigs have become fewer and further between.
One performance of Elevation or Vertigo or City of Blinding Lights sounds much the same as any other, I used to love the way songs could sound wildly different from night to night, everything from Edge' guitar right down to Bono's voice could change dramatically, meaning the songs somehow always sounded fresh.
The problem is I'm not sure you can get back to that place of naiveté, those days are gone and it's nobody's fault.
As for the new album, I have a feeling Bono has very grand designs in mind. He knows that if they produce a huge hit they'll have defied all the odds and become the first 30 year old act in history (comprising 4 fifty-something men) to still be a genuine force in the pop charts. Instantly they'll be seen as culturally, commercially and artistically relevant again.
The chances are astronomical but if it works the rewards are immense, even career-defining.
Bono always says 'two crap albums and you're out', it's an interesting statement that's vague enough to allow some room to manoeuvre. I wonder if what he actually means is two less commercially successful albums and you're out. NLOTH didn't produce the goods, if the new album continues that trend can he continue to justify the bands existence?
Musikwala
War Child
Yeah, although the 360 tour was a great spectacle and quite different from the Vertigo tour which itself was very enjoyable... performances of individual classic songs seem to have become very samey in nature. For example Mysterious Ways, whether you listen to it from 360 or Vertigo or Elevation will probably sound the same. Wasn't the case in the old days.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Since you mentioned MW are you considering ZooTV the "old days"? I'm guessing you haven't listened to a lot of ZooTV shows...
Musikwala
War Child
Mysterious Ways just hasn't been the same since the 80s!
I was just, off the top of my head, comparing the Zoo TV, Popmart, Vertigo and 360 versions. I much prefer the Zoo TV and Popmart versions which were quite distinct compared to the version we get today. The singing was better (less talk-singing) and extended solos and shit. That's all I'm saying. I haven't heard 18 different Zoo TV versions to compare and contrast with.
djerdap
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
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This is true for many songs in the later tours, but not for Mysterious Ways, which has sounded different every tour, akin to The Fly or Bullet the Blue Sky. Elevation has that pretty cool guitar intro, while 360 is the crappy abbreviated version.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Mysterious Ways just hasn't been the same since the 80s!
I was just, off the top of my head, comparing the Zoo TV, Popmart, Vertigo and 360 versions. I much prefer the Zoo TV and Popmart versions which were quite distinct compared to the version we get today. The singing was better (less talk-singing) and extended solos and shit. That's all I'm saying. I haven't heard 18 different Zoo TV versions to compare and contrast with.
But that's not what you said. So don't make baseless arguments that don't hold water.
Musikwala
War Child
Do you represent the band by any chance? Why do you feel the need to defend them?
Can't we casually talk about our opinions of performances from the various tours without having some know-it-all browbeat us into debating correctly? I'm not here to win a debate contest.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Browbeat? Wow, you must have an easy like if you think that's browbeating.
I'm not defending anyone. I just see a lot of people make arguments about how U2 used to do this or do that when the truth is nothing's changed. Your post really came down to I liked these performances better, because the truth is since ZooTV and the use of more backing tracks live performances don't vary all that much night to night.
It's ok to just say you like this tour, this song, this haircut more. Just don't try and justify it by nonsense.
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
BVS, cheer up would ya? 
PhilsFan
Blue Crack Addict
Galeongirl
Galeonbroad
Hey GG, Nah we're mostly all just pretty fat here in US
Well that's a spreading problem across most firstworld countries. Cycling would help, but I can understand if your school is a couple kilometers away it's kind of a challenge to do so. For us everything is quite close by so that maks it easier, plus we have bicycle lanes and such, and kids get a bike exam in primary school with all the rules and laws and everything. It even includes a practical exam that requires them to cycle a route through town in small groups.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
mama cass
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