ZewTeeVee said:
I don't think they'll make an Achtung Baby 2. If you mean that the album will be a bit of a change of direction then perhaps. Although I must say the new stuff so far isn't much of a departure for them. It seems that u2 follows ideas for two or three albums at a time. U2-3, Boy, and October are in one group. Then War, and Under A Blood Red Sky in the next era. Then comes The Unforgettable Fire, and Wide Awake In America. After that came The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum. The ninties brought Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop. Looking at this trend I'm guessing the next album will be a bit different from ATYCLB but not entirely a departure. Then again, I could be dead wrong and on the next album Adam will sing and Bono will play bagpipes while Edge and Larry play tin whistle. Thats the best part about U2, you think you have them figured out, think you've got a pattern and then one day you turn on the radio and hear "The Fly" for the first time and think "well that's certainly not a rebel song..."
Oh, but it is a rebel song! It's funny that people can try and group U2 periods, but even when they do, they're all different depending on the person who grouped them! By that I mean, you have grouped the eras differently than I would have. You include Under A Blood Red Sky with War, even though the latter is simply the first one, plus earlier stuff, done live.
If I were to group U2 into eras, this is what it would look like:
The Young Revolutionaries:
* Boy
* October
* War
The Romantic, Brooding Poet Years:
* The Unforgettable Fire
* The Joshua Tree
* Rattle and Hum
* Achtung Baby
Exlploration Of Boundries and Looking For The Walls:
* Zooropa
Hitting The Walls and Bouncing Off Them Again Years (almost as long as saying ATYCLB!):
* Pop
* ATYCLB
As you can see, I'm one of those people who doesn't so easily seperate 90s U2 from 80s. I think Achtung Baby is really the next logical step from Rattle and Hum (just listen to God Part ll), with a bit of contemporary tweeking (ie, Marky Mark, and the new industrial pop...). Zooropa is almost an era unto itself, though it also has a natural progression from Achtung Baby. The poppy element of Achtung Baby is all but removed, however, leaving pure experimentation for art rock.
Pop and ATYCLB are, in my opinion, the most commercially driven albums U2 have ever put out (not saying that's a bad thing). Pop was based on the idea that electronica was going to be the next big thing in popular music; it wasn't to the extent U2 were hoping for and, consequently, didn't do as well as expected. ATYCLB was safer in that U2 didn't risk the sound on something that was expected to happen, but instead relied on classic treatments that have stood the test of time. In either case, they produced two modern classics.
As far as the next album is concerned, I really believe we'll get something very ordinary as far as U2 is concerned. By "ordinary" I simply mean there won't be any major experiments, but a lot of raw energy. It will be ATYCLB on steroids. 'Electrical Storm' taken to the next level. The arrangments will be simple, the guitar and drums will be up front. You'll hear some very, very cool riffs by Edge - and it will be the "sound of a rock band in full flight" (to use Bono's Grammys speech).
I think the next album will surprise many people, but once it sinks in many will understand. This is where U2 have been heading all along.