New Music Rumors and Such, Continued

[Niceman]

As far as i'm aware TGBHF was recorded around the same time as some of the ATYCLB songs so it's not like it was plucked from a bygone age, (it's a real shame that it wasn't released as a single to promote TMDH but I understand why they couldn't).
I'm aware that it doesn't count as a proper song on that album to most of you, but the copy I have doesn't list it as a bonus track, simply track 12, so in my book that makes it a bona fide ATYCLB song, ditto Fast Cars on HTDAAB.

TGBHF was first released on The Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack. Same version of an old song stapled onto the end of an album that didn't have a proper ending....

AND I remember U2 saying they were upset with the record company for adding the extra track to ATYCLB without their permission!

 

[lazarus]

i agree with this too. it's just that of all of their bonus tracks, the ground beneath her feet actually fits in its position both thematically and musically. it's (in my opinion, obviously) much easier buy into the thought process that it belongs there.

I don't see how it fits in musically or thematicaly. ATYCLB is for the most part a direct, personal affair both in sound and words. TGBHF is a much more abstract song (if you're not familiar from its source), relating directly to Rushdie's novel and sounds more exotic in sound than ANYTHING on the album. It fits on The Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack a lot more, where there are other moodier pieces.

 

[Danny Boy]

What would everyone else consider a positive audience reaction to a song that is new to everyone or almost everyone (in shows after Turin)?

Underpants flying on stage.

 

[corianderstem]

Everyone putting away their cell phones for the duration of the song.

 

[Chill Mike D]

Underpants flying on stage.

Now this I would love to see at a U2 concert.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Underpants flying on stage.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

Girls (i think) were throwing their bras onstage in Norman.

 

[Steved1998]

Everyone putting away their cell phones for the duration of the song.

How would we get video of it to drool over?

 

[corianderstem]

I meant people who just dick around on their iPhones during the concert and shout over the music to their friends, more than the people who are filming/taking pictures.

 

[coolian2]

YouTube - Getting Yelled at by Bono from @ U2 concert

 

[corianderstem]

Bono's finest phailest moment.

 

[Aygo]

So, to you they should always release an 2CD album with 24songs... Only then It would be 100% new songs??


Playing 7 or 6 from a new album is very, very good.

Come on...

For me, an musician - specially in the pop/rock (and derivations) scene - that is reluctant in presenting what he recorded in live shows, concerning on his most recent material means:

a) the artist doesn't trust in what he recorded and is not proud of his work;
b) the songs are so complex in studio that the artist is having trouble when transposing the arrangements to live performances (which is not the case of U2 - any NLOTH song is "playable" with or without differences - heavy or not - in the arrangement);
c) the artist feels that his most recent material recorded doesn't fit the concept of the of the spectacle he's presenting (which I think is the case).

I put 100% of my bets in a) and c) for NLOTH and 360º Tour.

I don't care if U2 are getting old and if peers "do the same". When a band with such an heritage like U2 brings such extravaganza in a (supposedly)conceptual show with a complex stage, it has to bring something new with it: in this case, the new songs, which (good or not) are the basis of it... Apparently.

 

[BVS]

Come on...

For me, an musician - specially in the pop/rock (and derivations) scene - that is reluctant in presenting what he recorded in live shows, concerning on his most recent material means:

a) the artist doesn't trust in what he recorded and is not proud of his work;
b) the songs are so complex in studio that the artist is having trouble when transposing the arrangements to live performances (which is not the case of U2 - any NLOTH song is "playable" with or without differences - heavy or not - in the arrangement);
c) the artist feels that his most recent material recorded doesn't fit the concept of the of the spectacle he's presenting (which I think is the case).

I put 100% of my bets in a) and c) for NLOTH and 360º Tour.

Look at the album.

How many of the songs would fit in a stadium setting?

How many would work live?

Out of those, how many have they played?

I don't care if U2 are getting old and if peers "do the same". When a band with such an heritage like U2 brings such extravaganza in a (supposedly)conceptual show with a complex stage, it has to bring something new with it: in this case, the new songs, which (good or not) are the basis of it... Apparently.

This makes no sense. You say I don't care what peers do yet, when a band of their heritage like U2...

So give us an example of a band with a heritage like U2 has brought the same or more.

 

[Aygo]

Look at the album.

How many of the songs would fit in a stadium setting?

How many would work live?

Out of those, how many have they played?


This makes no sense. You say I don't care what peers do yet, when a band of their heritage like U2...

So give us an example of a band with a heritage like U2 has brought the same or more.

If the songs don't fit in a stadium setting, that just give me reason: the album has no connection to the show concept (or lack of it). And if some of the songs supposedly don't work in a stadium setting, why bother playing acoustic "Stuck In A Moment" or even trying "Your Blue Room" when they had something more recent... to try as well?

U2 is stuck in the past tours overall concepts and didn't find a way to make it go to an evolution or to jump into "the next thing" (which doesn't have necessarily to be bigger and bigger and even more megalomaniac than ever)... that had zero to do with their peers and to what these did.

 

[BVS]

Way to avoid the questions




But really, be honest can you see WAS or COL being played in a stadium?

You're not always going to write an album that has ever song that is tour worthy(especially in a stadium) yet it still works as an album. You seem to not understand this.

You seem to avoid the peer question, and previous album question... and honestly it's fairly obvious to us all why.

 

[Niceman]

I can. They play the quiet songs in Stadiums.

 

[corianderstem]

Yes, but how well do they work in the stadium setting?

Your Blue Room? Cool to hear its live debut, but it didn't stick around long.

I know a lot of people loved Stuck and IALW, but I thought they more or less stopped the show's momentum, especially so early on (although that would explain why they placed them so early, and then it was gangbusters from then on out).

I love both WaS and CoL (both beautiful and effective at setting a mood), but man, I do not want them to be played on this tour.

 

[Mr. V]

Bring back Angel of Harlem to lift the crowd after the quieter numbers. Always works a treat.

 

[Moser]

I need an "I Will Follow"

 

[corianderstem]

Bring back Angel of Harlem to lift the crowd after the quieter numbers. Always works a treat.

As long as it's not acoustic. Otherwise it's another quiet number! Maybe with more singing along, but meh.

 

[Niceman]

Yes, but how well do they work in the stadium setting?

Your Blue Room? Cool to hear its live debut, but it didn't stick around long.

I know a lot of people loved Stuck and IALW, but I thought they more or less stopped the show's momentum, especially so early on (although that would explain why they placed them so early, and then it was gangbusters from then on out).

I love both WaS and CoL (both beautiful and effective at setting a mood), but man, I do not want them to be played on this tour.

I think some of them worked great! Do you think Stadium just equals rockers?

 

[ozeeko]

All the talk about ATYCLB not having a "proper" ending and peetering out towards to end. To me, ATYCLB was the last truly cohesive U2 album. I think Grace perfectly wrapped it all up. Beautiful Day and Grace make perfect bookends. The first being about seeing beauty even though everything has just fallen apart, and Grace continuing on that theme. In between those 2 songs you get songs about death, grief, midlife crisis, war, doubt, loss of faith. It all seems to gel perfectly, for me, anyway.

HTDAAB i don't even count as a U2 album. It's just so abysmal, yet it does have a certain cohesiveness to it (albeit a cohesiveness of crap), but it makes sense as a totally random mainstream pop album. It's randomness is the theme, you could say.

NLOTH, well...different story. The album itself is confused, loses its cohesiveness halfway thru, and that's the main problem. The tour is a totally seperate thing. I haven't been to any shows, but I don't remember reading anywhere that the tour had some overall concept or theme, like ZooTV or PopMart. To me, it just looks like a more elaborate stage set-up (compared to Elevation or Vertigo tours), with really no story to be told within the concert itself. So, with all the talk about U2 not being comfortable in playing their new songs...I don't buy this argument. It seems like they are plenty confident in playing the majority of the album, there's always going to be some songs that don't get played. Acrobat was never played, but no one ever questioned U2's certainty towards the AB album. This is what you get every single tour. Most new songs get played, and the others don't. NLOTH the album - confused and lacking focus. NLOTH the tour - just another U2 tour, with just a more elaborate stage set-up, no concept, no theme, just a tour.

My main interest is in hearing a cohesive U2 album.

If there was any uncertainty that I could accuse U2 of having, it would be their shunning of the Zooropa and POP albums. This seems to be quite obvious. But the answer as to why is also obvious. They didn't yeild as many classics, and U2 like to rely on classic songs. It's something I wish they would change their minds about, but whatever, I haven't been to a show since Elevation tour, and I probably won't go to another unless it's some whole other weird thing, like another ZOOTV. Until then, it's just another tour, like most bands that tour...play some new songs, and stick to the classics.

Like I said, my main interest is in hearing a cohesive, inspired album.

 

[lazarus]

I love both WaS and CoL (both beautiful and effective at setting a mood), but man, I do not want them to be played on this tour.

Always felt COL would be a good segue into (or out of) Bullet the Blue Sky, because of the whole war correspondent thing combined with Bono's first-hand eyewitnessing experience.

Not that I'm asking for more war horses to be un-retired. It would have to be at the expense of WOWY.

 

[last unicorn]

I don't think U2 had a live stadium setting in mind when they wrote and rocorded NLOTH, which, for me, is a good thing. When they make an album, they should concentrate on making an album and not on making music for a tour.

As I said earlier, I'm actually suprised so many songs from NLOTH made it to the live show, even though the band must have realised themselves that this is not exactly the perfect material for a stadium concert. U2 will never stop bringing accoustic stuff into the show because they obviously like the sense of intimacy "on a large scale" that comes with it. I'm fine with it as long as the mixture is right, and I think they had quite a fine balance between old and new stuff, calm and uptempo stuff during last year's tour legs.

 

[Tyagu_Anaykus]

Yes, but how well do they work in the stadium setting?

Your Blue Room? Cool to hear its live debut, but it didn't stick around long.

I know a lot of people loved Stuck and IALW, but I thought they more or less stopped the show's momentum, especially so early on (although that would explain why they placed them so early, and then it was gangbusters from then on out).

I love both WaS and CoL (both beautiful and effective at setting a mood), but man, I do not want them to be played on this tour.

This

So without those two, 9 songs. So, basically there's only SUC and Fez- Being Born to be played, which I trully believe will appear in this leg.

 

[mama cass]

To me, ATYCLB was the last truly cohesive U2 album.

yeah i think so too... (although my copy has TGBHF as the closer instead of Grace)

 

[U2girl]

To me, ATYCLB was the last truly cohesive U2 album.

They didn't have a cohesive album since Zooropa. Out of the follow ups one was a mess, two were song collections rather than albums and NLOTH tries but isn't quite there.

Hoping Songs of ascent keeps the lyrical idea of pilgrimage Bono talked about.

 

[mikal]

so should we just start a new thread for new album speculation?

 

[An Cat Gav]

Way to avoid the questions




But really, be honest can you see WAS or COL being played in a stadium?

You're not always going to write an album that has ever song that is tour worthy(especially in a stadium) yet it still works as an album. You seem to not understand this.

You seem to avoid the peer question, and previous album question... and honestly it's fairly obvious to us all why.

I would love them to close the show with Cedars of Lebanon, I think it could work brilliantly, better than MOS which would fit better earlier on in my humble opinion.
But I can't see WAS going down a storm somehow

 

[Aygo]

Like someone said above, if the 360º had a concept, that is, if the show told a story (it doesn't... even Vertigo Tour has a palpable "script", a minimal message!), maybe it wouldn't be that hard to make NLOTH fit in the show. Maybe all songs could be played.

If WUDM closed (ok, acoustic and shorter, but it plas played) Popmart shows, Cedars Of Lebanon is as playable as WUDM and could close shows as well... If the setlist (with or without variations from show to show) had substance.

U2 has used the acoustic set more or less before the war/political bloc of songs. Why could't "White As Snow" be played in a stripped version before "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (since, personally, I reject the Crazy Tonight remix) or another U2-war-song?

Didn't have to be this exactly way, but it means that U2 could've make everything work and still play any of NLOTH's tracks if they were interested in it.