Is there an album on the horizon? (AKA New Album Speculation)

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I for one can't wait for whatever stale, over-tweaked, shockingly tired, and uninspired songs they eventually come out with. The dry creative well of HTDAAB combined with the motivational-poster inspired Dad Rock of the middle 1/3rd of NLOTH have left me with close to zero hope.

I'm coming to realize that U2 are seemingly afraid of being U2. Too cautious and afraid of their own shadow, with apparently little in the way of objectivity.
 
iota said:
"I don't think with AB, they sat back and deliberated on their new direction - they WENT in their new direction and MADE it happen.
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Actually, that is exactly what they did. They planned out exactly what they wanted to do with AB. Bono and Edge had to convince Adam and Larry it was the right direction. U2 are very calculating and always have been. The only time recently they were not was Zooropa. The exception, not the rule.
 
I'll keep it brief, because a rant won't be clear, but bear in mind i'm a near obsessive fan since 1991, Pop is my favorite album, but i also loved ATYCLB and HTDAAB. I've seen them 19 times in concert over four tours....

okay i'm finally frustrated with the U2 machine for the first time in an overt way. Not that i feel they owe me / us anything, but i guess (and of course im speculating based on edge's album comments and the rehearsal setlist for the coming dates, which may prove unreliable) i feel two things.

a. the tour is so static, i have tix to anaheim and two full years after pasadena, there's a good chance I'll get a near identical setlist.

b. album news. i feel like they need to just maintain radio silence if they don't intend to release anything, and don't know direction. I'm frankly sick of speculating for years on end about a new release when all they do is tease. I'm likely heated, but i feel like they just need to do the work instead of talking about doing the work.

c. Spiderman's got me down.

That's all. Refute all you like in a kind manner. I'm not mad at them. They've changed my worldview many times over and I love all their music (with the exception of the last half of NLOTH which have had virtually no staying power with me for some reason) but right now, i dunno, i just feel like they need to release something... anything. Or change something up.

My two cents. I'll likely feel differently in an hour when I put Zooropa on.
 
CD-DVD-Burning-Fire.jpg

Who's with me?
 
popacrobat said:
I do see your point, but at the same time, I think it's unfair to call this leg a money grab.
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Well I didn't mean to imply that. I just think they're fucking lame and uninspired.

And while One Tree Hill is cool, I don't like seeing current songs dropped. It's what separates (or separated) them from dinosaur acts like the Stones who only play 2 or 3 new songs.
 
what a disappointment this is-bono and paul didn't know what they were saying. oh well :down:

like i have said-the final box set will be amazing.
 
THANKS SPIDERMAN !!!!!:down:

I feel like this 65 million dollar fiasco has a lot to do with them shelving any new albums coming out. No matter what statements have been issued so far regarding new material about to be released, logic dictates that they just can't give full attention to an album while half the band is in NY trying to prop up a flailing broadway show.

Surprisingly I'm not angry but just really disapointed that it looks like no new album this year.

At this point in their careers why are U2 still hell bent on breaking into the Top 40 charts.? Why are they so insecure about their position in Rock history?

If they have truly recorded 3 albums worth of material and feel like none of it is releaseable then maybe its time to go away for a while once more and "dream it all up again"
 
I'm disappointed we won't get to hear whatever they've been work in in it's early unadulterated form, but I'm definitely in the camp that isn't looking at the remainder of 360 as the 'cash grab greatest hits application to be The Rolling Stones 2.0' Had Bono's back not gone out last April the tour would have gone from June 2009 to May 2011 with a lot of downtime, 2 legs in Europe, 2 in NA and shorter jaunts across the world, very similar to Vertigo in retrospect. With this remaining leg in NA they're fulfilling promises to their fans, sure some here feel like they've broken others to us, but I think from Edge's comment that despite the band's love of their live moments, 360's tired them out in addition to everything else that's going on, and they're ready to retire it. If they'd added another European leg and then renegged on the promise of new studio material, then yes I would say they were straying into RS territory. But most of these shows are not repeat venues, they're places the band didn't get to go in 09.

Am I disappointed they're not as confident in themselves as in the past? Sure, but as I said earlier I can see where the weight of their career and it's success would worry them, and whether the world gets to see it or not,we've seen enough evidence to say that their creative flair is still alive. Even if it takes until their retirement and the opening of the vaults for us to see much of it.

Closing this tour instead of extending it, and taking pause rather than releasing a mish mash of material from several of music's hottest producers gives me hope that they just might start to see things as we've all wished the would for so long: that they have certainly earned the right to release what their hearts create on their own terms.

And if that takes a little longer than the next time around, well they've still given me so much, and I expect to have a hell of a time in huge crowds with them this summer.
 
corianderstem said:
I'm not going to stop liking them just because I get frustrated with some of their decisions. If I stop liking the music they're putting out, then that's another story.
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I think this sums up everything I'm feeling - perfectly. I haven't stopped loving their music/sound at all.
Even though I wasn't as thrilled with HTDAAB as the other albums, I simply love NLOTH, still.
With the exception of not getting a new album as soon as I thought we would I'm not disappointed with U2.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
i think the key is the forcing.

see... i love all that you can't leave behind. i know it's polarizing around here... love or hate... but i think it's great for this reason. it's the sound of 4 guys feeling comfortable with who they are as a band. it's a sound that encompasses parts of every era of u2 sounds. there's experimentation, there's the classic coke edge riff, there's heart felt personal songs, there's political undertones...

and it all apparently came from that one riff of beautiful day, and the band being okay with saying "ya know what? fuck it... use it edge, it's who we are."

i don't give a shit if they come up with some experimental sound or just stick with the classic edge riffs. all i want is for them to just write from the heart, be comfortable with who they are, and make the music they want to make... not try to force feed some bullshit like get on your boots, and then this whole fiasco with the non existent new album(s).

i know full well u2 cares about being commercially relevant. they always have. i just wish at age 50 they'd fucking get over it and just write for themselves.

funny thing... when great older acts just write music without trying to force themselves to sound cool? usually makes for great records. when they try and shoehorn some bullshit "hip" sounding crap together? sounds like get on your boots.
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I meant to quote this earlier, but I'll do it now, nicely said. :up:
 
Also, notice that most of the time when we get an ETA on an album that never materializes, it's from McG. The band members talk about working on new things, but we keep talking about 'the band breaking promises' when for the most part I think that's a fallacy.
 
Maybe U2 haven't gotten comfortable yet with the idea that they are in their 50s and that they can't force feed contrived "hits" to the masses. Maybe they just need some time to readjust and think things over and then come back with something fantastic.

Commence waiting patiently.
 
powerhour24 said:
I'm disappointed we won't get to hear whatever they've been work in in it's early unadulterated form, but I'm definitely in the camp that isn't looking at the remainder of 360 as the 'cash grab greatest hits application to be The Rolling Stones 2.0' Had Bono's back not gone out last April the tour would have gone from June 2009 to May 2011 with a lot of downtime, 2 legs in Europe, 2 in NA and shorter jaunts across the world, very similar to Vertigo in retrospect. With this remaining leg in NA they're fulfilling promises to their fans, sure some here feel like they've broken others to us, but I think from Edge's comment that despite the band's love of their live moments, 360's tired them out in addition to everything else that's going on, and they're ready to retire it. If they'd added another European leg and then renegged on the promise of new studio material, then yes I would say they were straying into RS territory. But most of these shows are not repeat venues, they're places the band didn't get to go in 09.

Am I disappointed they're not as confident in themselves as in the past? Sure, but as I said earlier I can see where the weight of their career and it's success would worry them, and whether the world gets to see it or not,we've seen enough evidence to say that their creative flair is still alive. Even if it takes until their retirement and the opening of the vaults for us to see much of it.

Closing this tour instead of extending it, and taking pause rather than releasing a mish mash of material from several of music's hottest producers gives me hope that they just might start to see things as we've all wished the would for so long: that they have certainly earned the right to release what their hearts create on their own terms.

And if that takes a little longer than the next time around, well they've still given me so much, and I expect to have a hell of a time in huge crowds with them this summer.
Click to expand...


:up:
 
You know what would satisfy me? If they at least made the final US leg a leg in support of NLOTH - and in a way they have never supported that album!

I don't mean 4 songs or even 6. PLAY THE FUCKING ALBUM! I want to hear White As Snow! I want to hear Stand Up Comedy! I want to hear FEZ-Being Born! I want to hear Cedars of Lebanon!

I don't really need to hear the same setlist they've been carrying around for, well the better part of a decade. Enough with Elevation! Enough with Miss Sarajevo!

I miss when going to a new U2 show was a consciousness-expanding experience. Going now would just be nostalgic. I remember going to my first ZOOTV show and hear Bono come out and sing - and I had no idea what He was singing!?!? And I remember the rush of PopMart opening with MoFo!

I dunno..... I'm fucking let down. U2 were supposed to release Songs of Ascent in 2009. It sounds like we won't get an album until 2012 now. Mother suckers!

And this was never a No Line on The Horizon tour. From the start it was a best-of show with a few new songs thrown in.
 
Niceman said:
You know what would satisfy me? If they at least made the final US leg a leg in support of NLOTH - and in a way they have never supported that album!

I don't mean 4 songs or even 6. PLAY THE FUCKING ALBUM! I want to hear White As Snow! I want to hear Stand Up Comedy! I want to hear FEZ-Being Born! I want to hear Cedars of Lebanon!

I don't really need to hear the same setlist they've been carrying around for, well the better part of a decade. Enough with Elevation! Enough with Miss Sarajevo!

I miss when going to a new U2 show was a consciousness-expanding experience. Going now would just be nostalgic. I remember going to my first ZOOTV show and hear Bono come out and sing - and I had no idea what He was singing!?!? And I remember the rush of PopMart opening with MoFo!

I dunno..... I'm fucking let down. U2 were supposed to release Songs of Ascent in 2009. It sounds like we won't get an album until 2012 now. Mother suckers!

And this was never a No Line on The Horizon tour. From the start it was a best-of show with a few new songs thrown in.
Click to expand...
:like:
 
Yeah...I'm slightly depressed.

I watched some ZooTV the other night and that was a completely different band. THAT was the band I became a fan of. I barely recognize them anymore. They've become what they were mocking then.
 
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