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

[zoopop]

This pretty much sucks. What pisses me off the most is the fu**king teasing the band did for the entire length of the tour about a new album/new music.

-Bono talking about Songs Of Accent back when NLOTH was released
-The band talking about recording right after the Rose Bowl show and well into the holiday
-New setlist/show w/ new music for the North America shows (Bono's back)
-Danger Mouse producing new album, will be out before NA leg. (stated in Rolling Stone)

Then were giving the 2nd guess blues which the band is becoming known for by the fans.

I wouldn't have so much a problem with no new album as long as there playing songs from NLOTH or what I call POP 2.0. I'm scared of the NA setlist this summer because of the lack of new (NLOTH) material being played.

Stones territory.......and this is coming from a Stones fan.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

I think we should all burn our U2 CD's in protest.

Spoiler

Excuse me.

 

[BEAL]

Indeed.

Guess not negative, but pretty much called it exactly. I will admit that i get excited when i read u2 stating they are gearing up for releasing another album quickly.....

then i come back to reality and realize that for the past 10 years they've said this shit and therefore until we see the actual printed copies of the cds, i will not believe a word they say.

 

[coolian2]

I see. It makes sense to me that they would see it as a kind of 'low priority' - they've already released NLOTH, have no obligation to release another big album for a few years, are already in the public spotlight with a massively successful tour, haven't been able to fully commit to an album, and want to be absolutely sure the follow up to the NLOTH 'dud' is a big, best-seling one.

The odds were really against this album from the beginning. It might piss us off, but u2 simply didn't really need a quick follow up. Or, at least, they felt they didn't - i think going away after a flop for 5 years is a pretty bad idea.

so....they're rich. they've achieved practically everything there is to achieve....exactly what the fuck is stopping them from doing something for, you know, those idiots who have been paying u2.com for years, lining up for shows days earlier, hanging outside rehearsals......but no, fuck us. we're not as important is the top 40.

 

[dabiggestu2fan]

You know, it seems to me like U2 doesn't seem to really care about us fans anymore. I mean just look at how they are treating us:

1. U2.com sucks! You pay money for it and they can't even give us anything useful like say new or unreleased songs!

2. They say there would be surprises in the later legs of this tour - Well??? where are they? seems like same shit, different pile!

3. They hinted at a new album for months now and that it would be released in may and oh what??? nothing! yup Nothing!

Fuck they can't even throw us a bone and give us some b-sides! This band sure treats us well don't they??? They get our hopes up with promises and then absolutely nothing!!!


Well i think it's time to move on to other bands!

One very very disappointed fan here!

 

[zoopop]

I want to add that this frigging tour needed another album. Biggest tour in rock n roll history and we got NLOTH (great album) which has turned into a dud according to the band.

(Can't believe I'm this pissed )

 

[STERKERNOG]

I think we should all burn our U2 CD's in protest.

And then we end up bying the remasters and best offs

 

[BVS]

So who do you think it is that has lost their confidence?

Edge, Adam, or Larry... or all three?

Bono seems to be the only one that wanted to release an album.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

And then we end up bying the remasters and best offs

And then we'll again realise that we hate U2 and we'll burn those.

 

[STERKERNOG]

And then we'll again realise that we hate U2 and we'll burn those.

 

[paulrg]

I want to add that this frigging tour needed another album. Biggest tour in rock n roll history and we got NLOTH (great album) which has turned into a dud according to the band.

(Can't believe I'm this pissed )

Exactly - I really had the feeling we were on the verge of another Zooropa moment which would give the tour a fresh boost and carry it on to pastures new.

Also I really like NLOTH itself live, and Breathe was much better live than on the album but both have gone to make way for oft-repeated stuff from 25 years ago like New Years Day and I Will Follow.

Come on guys - your recent material IS NOT BAD.

 

[dabiggestu2fan]

So who do you think it is that has lost their confidence?

Edge, Adam, or Larry... or all three?

Bono seems to be the only one that wanted to release an album.

Ehm they are all pansies!!! have lost their balls and guts!!! I have no more faith in U2 and I was a fool for believing so much that they were going to have an album out! Screw U2 really!

 

[coolian2]

Bono seems to be the only one that wanted to release an album.

this is what worries me. since pop, bono has always been the one to not back his ability. he seemed more than happy to this time....but he's been shut down.

and that's fucked.

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

Maybe they do not feel the new material is "U2" enough for a real release. Fine. Put that out to the U2.com members, thus avoiding some of the scrutiny from the press and the record charts.

At least we would be getting some music for our $40.00 that we don't already own in one or more forms.

There was talk of: Rick Rubin tracks. Dangermouse tracks. Dance album. Spiderman soundtrack.

Seems the Spiderman fiasco is partly to blame.

Other bit is, seems that since any new album has been pushed back so far, and would only be toured for the N. American dates.... they shelved the idea.

If they are to put up an albums, they want to tour it for more than a summer. I understand that but it all flies in the face of everything that Bono and Paul McGuiness have stated since 2009.

I fear they have gotten to the point of worrying about the reviews and sales and press. Seems that the backlash of Pop has left them gunshy. And the fact that NLOTH didn't sell as well has strengthened that fear.

Maybe they shouldn't go back and listen to their punk heros for inspiration. Maybe they should listen to interviews by The Clash, Sex Pistols and The Jam from back then. They didn't give a f*&^. They did what they did and went for it. But it seems that they are taking the two crap albums and your out bit to heart. Slow sales for NLOTH and they dumped half the songs from the tour and seem afraid to put out the next album.

That is the appearance. Hope I'm wrong. Oh well... it is what it is. Time will tell.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Ehm they are all pansies!!! have lost their balls and guts!!! I have no more faith in U2 and I was a fool for believing so much that they were going to have an album out! Screw U2 really!

 

[Vlad n U 2]

this is what worries me. since pop, bono has always been the one to not back his ability. he seemed more than happy to this time....but he's been shut down.

and that's fucked.

Does this mean everything may not actually be Bono's fault?

 

[Registered Dude]

Guess not negative, but pretty much called it exactly. I will admit that i get excited when i read u2 stating they are gearing up for releasing another album quickly.....

then i come back to reality and realize that for the past 10 years they've said this shit and therefore until we see the actual printed copies of the cds, i will not believe a word they say.

 

[JamietheEdgefan]

so....they're rich. they've achieved practically everything there is to achieve....exactly what the fuck is stopping them from doing something for, you know, those idiots who have been paying u2.com for years, lining up for shows days earlier, hanging outside rehearsals......but no, fuck us. we're not as important is the top 40.

I share your sentiment, man, i really do.
But i really believe that they don't - they've never been more out of touch, u2.com and their constant teasing of albums without having the balls to release anything despite what it does to the fans proving this for me.

Seriously, i think this deserves an (even if it's informal) apology to the fans, like with the cancelled tour legs when they sent that video into u2.com - something like "sorry we got your hopes up, but it will be worth it, we promise", instead of Edge's casual sidestepping of the issue, which implies he doesn't really give a fuck about what this means to the fans. I imagine he could have some good intentions about it - cushioning the blow by saying there is lots of work, don't know how to release it, and that they'll get it out after the tour - but it shows how out of touch he is that he doesn't realise these exotic excuses don't work anymore, and that we'd prefer an honest answer.

I think u2 have gotten too big for their own good - they have too much to live up to, and they're completely out of touch with their fan base, they can't release an album without cancelling a couple first and then redoing one after the advice of a rapper... like they don't quite know how to function as musicians anymore. I have no problem with them being the biggest band in the world, but when they're striving to fill that title, instead of being a band who achieves that title through their music, it seems pretty damn self-destructive. Up and coming big bands should take note.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Here I thought I'd be coming here and there'd actually be news today.

Silly me.

 

[zoopop]

I still don't understand why they just can't put out a 4-5 song EP. Hell, why can't they release MOS as a single w/ 4 new songs. MOS deserves a formal release.

The everything has to be grand for release is starting to take its tow on the creative side of U2.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

They've never been this spoiled for choice before: Achtung came out of necessity t reinvent and a writers block. ALYCLB came out of trying to play the Pop songs without any of the effects.

They are forcing a new sound, and rather than release something different (SOA, Dangermouse, Will.i.am) they can't pluck up the courage to just throw one of them into the ether and see what it returns.

They created the situation themselves by making NLOTH when they should have just released the Rubin stuff 2 years before it. Now there are 4 or 5 bried projects, not organically moving from one to the next and having single songs bridge the divides

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.

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

All I am waiting for is for everyone to STFU about freaking Radiohead.

Sorry. Radiohead are a great band and they have been pretty smart about how they do business, over the past few years.

Not liking them isn't going to make them go away or others not talk about them. If that were the case we would not still see that Rebecca Black is trending on Yahoo.

 

[coolian2]

Here I thought I'd be coming here and there'd actually be news today.

Silly me.

the most relevant huge band has thrown in the towel. that's news if ever i've heard it.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Sorry. Radiohead are a great band and they have been pretty smart about how they do business, over the past few years.

Not liking them isn't going to make them go away or others not talk about them. If that were the case we would not still see that Rebecca Black is trending on Yahoo.

yes, not liking radiohead won't make them go away. they've managed to go away all on their own.

 

[Gilead12]

It seems to me that, especially in terms of their relevance and age, we can be about 90% sure that releasing an album within 2011 would be a better move for their career than waiting and polishing until 2012. That is independent of any speculation about their tendency to over-produce/revise. That's another year of becoming more a name to know, a cultural artifact, than a band to follow.

The 10% comes only from the possibility that all these songs they have piled up just suck. Of course, I just don't believe that. EBW is the shit. Do they even realize that??

Is this what it feels like to be a Rolling Stones fan?

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Sorry. Radiohead are a great band and they have been pretty smart about how they do business, over the past few years.

I like them well enough, it's just ... you know.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Can we simply name the next thread "Nope" ?

 

[Irvine511]

Or, its a pure commercial decision. There's going to be no European leg to finish this off. We've sold our North American leg. There's no need to release a new album now, it really has no upside to it. We won't be able to promote it properly. Why would we just slip an album out there when there's little to no demand, one that isn't promoted properly, and isn't there to sell anything? Why on earth would we do that? Let's just wait until the conditions are right. In a couple of years, demand will have built up again, when we release it will be a much bigger deal, we'll be able to put together a much bigger album in the meantime, and we'll be able to flog another mega-tour off the back of it. It makes far better business sense to just hold off completely. Let's do that.

ding! ding! ding!

winner.

also: Spiderman. Bono's now heavily committed in a way they could not have anticipated last November. there's no time to get an album out properly in May when he has to be running around a broadway theater catching crashing actors.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Can we simply name the next thread "Nope" ?

How about locking the whole WTAHNN board altogether?

No more whining, no more keyboard smashing, no more worries ...?

 

[LuckyNumber7]

the most relevant huge band has thrown in the towel. that's news if ever i've heard it.

What's the 'news'?

It's not news. It's just confirming exactly what we already knew but we didn't want to hear. There wont be an album.

They're not throwing in the towel. They're making sure that they don't fuck it up I guess. One more wrong move and they're history. They'll have us and a massive fanbase, which is just as old as them and they'll be irrelevant.

I don't blame them. You all want an album. I think we can agree that we also want something amazing. Lets be honest, they're in their 50s. They don't have much time left (well, not like they're going to die or anything...). They're clearly afraid of fading away.