Billboard.com: Bono Itching To Take U2 To The 'Next Level'

[MrBrau1]

145,794

Multiply that by 5 and you'll have the number of times people here whine about it.

 

[coolian2]

I hope they do like Pop, and try and find a trend to jump on.

Hopefully a really good piss take of hip-hop/rap etc.



Although acoustic U2

 

[Bono's shades]

Do any of you really take Bono seriously when he talks about what a new album is going to sound like? Didn't all the pre-HTDAAB hype teach anyone anything? Remember all his talk about "punk rock made on Venus"? I'm still waiting for that album.

 

[coolian2]

Do any of you really take Bono seriously when he talks about what a new album is going to sound like? Didn't all the pre-HTDAAB hype teach anyone anything? Remember all his talk about "punk rock made on Venus"? I'm still waiting for that album.

It was a Passengers type release called American Idiot.

 

[Axver]

Hopefully they'll follow the direction of Vertibanjo!!

 

[roy]

No way the next album will be acoustic...it's not U2, I doubt Edge would permit it much less than Adam and Larry, who seem to wield their greatest influence in the studio at the beginning of this process where Bono is making these grandiose statements only to be brought back down to earth by Adam and Larry.

To be fair, Bono did say he was interested in doing only a couple of tunes in of that type.

 

[Canadiens1131]

so interference wants the band to change, bono mentions change, interference explodes with negativity

same as usual i guess

Boo-fricken' hoo.

 

[djerdap]

Boo-fricken' hoo.

Seconded.

 

[Val]

I vote to let Adam take it to the next level.

 

[u2wedge]

I thought it was interesting how he said they reached the end of where they were with the last couple of albums. 'Bittersweet' is my reaction to that comment. They were an amazing couple of albums, imho, and glad they stayed in that 'era' for two albums worth of music. Imagine what we'd be without if they never did those two discs.

Now, there are two choices they have when they got to the end of the ATYCLB/HTDAAB era and those are: A. Hang it up, or B. Take it to another level

Personally, I'm glad they're choosing B., no matter what it is.

 

[U2girl]

He said "a couple of acoustic songs", not a whole album.

(Edge is so on fire he's beyond using an electric guitar now, he'll go straight for the acoustic.)

I think the "next level" could mean they'll go for a Beatlesque pop album.

"Acoustic songs/hard rock" is the new "punk rock on Venus", and people will hang on to it just as dearly. Even if it's a year until we get any album and even if it *gasp* doesn't end up sounding like that.

 

[dietcokeofevil]

awwww crap. Acoustic. This is one time I hope that the Bono blabber is wrong. If they wanna go acoustic, then they should just get it out of their systems and do an UNplugged gig sometime prior to release.

But as for the new album, plug it in and get weird. Let Larry play the drums but don't take his creative input ("Let's actually make a pop album this time etc"). Let Bono talk but I would like the creative tension lean more in the direction of Edge and Adam.

 

[The_acrobat]

awwww crap. Acoustic. This is one time I hope that the Bono blabber is wrong. If they wanna go acoustic, then they should just get it out of their systems and do an UNplugged gig sometime prior to release.

But as for the new album, plug it in and get weird. Let Larry play the drums but don't take his creative input ("Let's actually make a pop album this time etc"). Let Bono talk but I would like the creative tension lean more in the direction of Edge and Adam.

The Bono blabber is always wrong. Pop was going to be techno, Atomic Bomb was going to be punk rock from venus, and this new album is going to be acoustic based. Pop had a few techno-like songs, Atomic bomb had a few hard rockers, but the rest of the album sounded exactly like U2. This will too, don't worry. It'll be fine.

 

[Lancemc]

I can't believe people still bring up the "punk rock from venus" thing. Bono said that when? Early 2003? Whenever exactly it was, it was still when they were working with Chris Thomas. Anyone still expecting that after they dumped all the Thomas sessions, brought in new producers, and read all the initial previews must have been a fool.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

so i guess the rumors of a u2 rap album were true

 

[doctorwho]

so i guess the rumors of a u2 rap album were true

U2 are still together?

Cool.

 

[U2girl]

I can't believe people still bring up the "punk rock from venus" thing. Bono said that when? Early 2003? Whenever exactly it was, it was still when they were working with Chris Thomas. Anyone still expecting that after they dumped all the Thomas sessions, brought in new producers, and read all the initial previews must have been a fool.

Exactly.

I'm just waiting for the "where's the hip hop album ?" cries when the next album is out.

 

[Utoo]

What I'm waiting for is the guaranteed backlash. Anything that is not hard or dark is guaranteed to be called ATYCLB Part III, no matter how different it may be.

I'll generalize and say that when most people say they want change, they really want a change back to the style of the 90s; and when they say they want experimental, they want Zooropa, Pop & Radiohead, not just experimenting with a sound that hasn't been on a U2 album before. I occasionally feel similarly, especially with the rock part. I'd love to see a return to some rockers. But I also think that they may find some beautiful stuff in the non-rocker world. Despite whatever great things they may find, though, you can guarantee anything that's "slow" and doesn't have the bite of irony will be called ATYCLB III.

 

[Bono's shades]

I can't believe people still bring up the "punk rock from venus" thing. Bono said that when? Early 2003? Whenever exactly it was, it was still when they were working with Chris Thomas. Anyone still expecting that after they dumped all the Thomas sessions, brought in new producers, and read all the initial previews must have been a fool.

The point I was trying to make is it is ridiculous to believe what Bono says at this point because I don't think they are even as far into this new album as they were into what eventually became HTDAAB when Bono made the "punk rock made on Venus" remark.

 

[U2girl]

What I'm waiting for is the guaranteed backlash. Anything that is not hard or dark is guaranteed to be called ATYCLB Part III, no matter how different it may be.

I'll generalize and say that when most people say they want change, they really want a change back to the style of the 90s; and when they say they want experimental, they want Zooropa, Pop & Radiohead, not just experimenting with a sound that hasn't been on a U2 album before. I occasionally feel similarly, especially with the rock part. I'd love to see a return to some rockers. But I also think that they may find some beautiful stuff in the non-rocker world. Despite whatever great things they may find, though, you can guarantee anything that's "slow" and doesn't have the bite of irony will be called ATYCLB III.

 

[Ifeelnumb84]

As long as it doesn't sound like Butt Rock (Nickelback, Hinder, Creed, etc.), I'm ok with whatever they do next.

 

[Utoo]

Butt Rock

The cousin of the 80s' Cock Rock.

 

[tim722]

I just talked to Bono and the next album will be a Country & Western album!!!

of some cover songs and some of their own. 2 Discs

1. Guitar Town
2. Lost Highway
3. Don't Take Your Guns To Town
4. Lucille
5. Dreaming With Tears In My Eyes
6. Guitars, Cadillacs
7. Have Mercy
8. She's A Mystery to Me
9. (I'm A Lonesome) Fugitive
10. Slow Dancing
11. The Wanderer
12. Van Diemen's Land

And some new songs
13. With or Without Sue
14. I Still Haven't Found My Pickup Truck
15. A Sunday Hangover Sunday
16. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Tractor
17. Heartland (Acoustic)
18. She Threw A Brick Through My Windshield
19. All I Want Is For You To Stop Loving Me
20. Tornado In The Blue Sky
21. Stuck In A Divorce You Can't Get Out Of
22. Miracle Fertilizer

Any other suggestions?

 

[AussieU2fanman]

I'm so tired of waiting for U2 to put out a frickin ROCK AND ROLL album, I hope Bono chooses to go down the 'rock gets harder' pathway he indicated. I don't want U2 to become a medicore boy band or whatever, I just need to hear some rock which I haven't heard since 1991 and I know all the fans will love them for putting out a real rock album.

 

[coolian2]

Vertibanjo.

 

[Alisaura]

I don't know how the Venusians play punk, maybe it sounds like HTDAAB under all those thick clouds of hot sulphuric acid.

I am intrigued by the concept of the Vertibanjo.

tim722...

I'm 99% sure it won't happen, but I just feel like I want U2 to surprise me, in any way at all. Just one honest shock. I want to say "Wow, I didn't know they could/would do that," whether I like it initially or not. That's how I felt when I was discovering all their albums as a new fan, and how I feel when I discover B-sides and whatnot that I hadn't heard before, like Beautiful Ghost (okay, so the music was probably Eno's and the words are Blake's, but still). I've been giving Passengers a proper listen lately, for nearly the first time.

But I know I can't get that new-fan feeling back... just wishful thinking on my part. And I know there's absolutely no point in speculation, so I'll just go back to my corner now.

 

[Salome]

so interference wants the band to change, bono mentions change, interference explodes with negativity

same as usual i guess

Boo-fricken' hoo.

boo hoo all you want
but it is this kind of attitude that will stop people here to enjoy anything the band does

it is a warped version of musical self fulfilling prophecy

 

[shart1780]

I highly doubt they'll have more than one or two new acoustic songs. The band wouldn't stand for it. I'm not a big fan of acoustic anyways.

I highly doubt it will happen, but I'd like U2 to mess around with electronics some more. Not like on Pop, but just to add ambience or whatever other effects that would add atmosphere or whatever. Something like what Peter Gabriel (the king of awesome production), Radiohead, Beck, Blur etc. etc. did when they decided to experiment.

But whatever the case, PLEASE try something new!!!!

 

[phillyfan26]

Originally posted by phillyfan26
Bono has no clue what's going on.

To each thread the same sound advice from yours truly.