POLL : Will there be a new album in 2002?

[WHYWHY]

Well, I think there will not be another new album this year. I think there might be a best of the 90s possibly, but U2 often hold themselves back because they don't want to overload the market with "U2" for too long......which is exactly what happened to RnH. JT was still be promoted like nothing else in the USA. People were getting sick of the constant bombardment of the band with no humour.....and then they put out a new single....then an album about 3 weeks later, and then A MOVIE!!!!! only a week after that.
If there was a way to put U2 into the bad books.......THAT was the way. I think U2 will hold back so that they don't get burnt. They did that exact thing with Achtung Baby and Zooropa.....no interviews, no public announcements...U2 were very quiet, and they reaped the rewards.
Bless ya.
WHYWHY

 

[Michael Griffiths]

A couple thoughts struck me while reading this thread over:

1) (And this goes to WHYWHY): Back when U2 released Zooropa, they were more "quiet" than they are now, weren't they? Right now, they are EVERYWHERE. The Superbowl, the Grammys, even Target stores, so I'm not sure if your theory holds true for the present situation.

2) I've always had this gut feeling that U2 had actually finished ATYCLB at least a year before they released it. They may have put some finishing production work on it near the deadline, but I really do suspect that the bulk of the album was completed well in advance. I think the reason it wasn't released sooner was because the band wanted to release it after the year 2000, rather than before (Bono was quoted as saying the album would seem ancient if released in the 20th Century instead of the 21st).

This makes me suspect that U2 are very calculating when it comes to this kind of stuff (not a bad thing, btw), and I wouldn't be surprised if, indeed, they have a new album ready to go, but are just waiting for the right time to release it (even though Edge did say during the MuchMusic interview that they "hadn't even started the new record yet.") Hmmm...

Personally, I don't think the new album will be released until the rest of the singles from ATYCLB are exhausted -- meaning not until Kite and In A Little While are well forgotten by the airwaves. There's even speculation that Wild Honey will be released (Paul M. likes the idea anyway). Don't forget, a new album will have no impact unless there is a bit of a lull between the last one and the new one. Otherwise, people will just assume it's the "latest U2 single" from ATYCLB. There must be an introduction to the new album, and that can only be if people have forgotten about ATYCLB, which takes some time. Just my opinion, of course.

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The Tempest

 

[Kieran McConville]

Originally posted by Michael Griffiths:
A couple thoughts struck me while reading this thread over:

1) (And this goes to WHYWHY): Back when U2 released Zooropa, they were more "quiet" than they are now, weren't they? Right now, they are EVERYWHERE. The Superbowl, the Grammys, even Target stores, so I'm not sure if your theory holds true for the present situation.

2) I've always had this gut feeling that U2 had actually finished ATYCLB at least a year before they released it. They may have put some finishing production work on it near the deadline, but I really do suspect that the bulk of the album was completed well in advance. I think the reason it wasn't released sooner was because the band wanted to release it after the year 2000, rather than before (Bono was quoted as saying the album would seem ancient if released in the 20th Century instead of the 21st).

This makes me suspect that U2 are very calculating when it comes to this kind of stuff (not a bad thing, btw), and I wouldn't be surprised if, indeed, they have a new album ready to go, but are just waiting for the right time to release it (even though Edge did say during the MuchMusic interview that they "hadn't even started the new record yet.") Hmmm...

Personally, I don't think the new album will be released until the rest of the singles from ATYCLB are exhausted -- meaning not until Kite and In A Little While are well forgotten by the airwaves. There's even speculation that Wild Honey will be released (Paul M. likes the idea anyway). Don't forget, a new album will have no impact unless there is a bit of a lull between the last one and the new one. Otherwise, people will just assume it's the "latest U2 single" from ATYCLB. There must be an introduction to the new album, and that can only be if people have forgotten about ATYCLB, which takes some time. Just my opinion, of course.

You're probably right about release dates (and strategies thereof) Michael. Which is one reason why I don't believe we will see any new album until at least early 2003.

Which begs the question of whether the new European tour date rumours should be taken very seriously. At this stage, I think not.

 

[anitram]

Originally posted by Kieran McConville:
Which begs the question of whether the new European tour date rumours should be taken very seriously. At this stage, I think not.

I think we've had some very reliable sources saying there will be a European Tour. Wasn't Paul McGuinness saying they're "thinking about it" following the Grammy Nomination announcement? It doesn't seem likely he'd say such a thing unless they were actually thinking about it. Also, there have been SO many independent sources (newspapers, TV, etc.) from a number of different countries (Germany, the UK, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Croatia, Bosnia, France) that it seems unlikely all of them are not only speculating, but in some cases are speculating about the exact dates and locations of the shows.

I think the European Tour is inevitable, as we've been given no indication whatsoever that it's just a rumor.

 

[WHYWHY]

I think Bono would be very tentative on going on another tour, and he would be pressured to go on a break, right now. But I guess he's also pressured to go on another leg/tour.....he's pretty much in a no win situation......
I think Wild Honey would be a MASSIVE song on the Radio charts. It would take over.....and coming from a person who hates the song (that being me), I'd say that gives it a fair chance. It's the type of song that would do really well on the Ault Top 40, Top 40, Modern Rock, Mainstream Rock, Alt Rock and anything else there is (I'm not American so I wouldn't know).
I think In a little While would be a great song to be released, but U2 can't release 7 songs from this album......6 would be fine. I'd say Kite SHOULD be the next one, and then either IN A LITTLE WHILE or WILD HONEY, depending on what U2 thinks is best....ofcourse U2 may go down a completely different track to what we're thinking of, surprising yet again (which is what they constantly do).
Just a small thing I picked up from Mike Griffiths......just wondering if you're subscribed to Propaganda?
Cause in the Hasta cd edition it had a whole article on the new U2 album. The article was probably written about March 2000, and even then U2 didn't have Walk On (which probably spawned from the song HOME), and Beautiful Day was a probable B-SIDE in those days.....and there are quite a few other instances. I don't believe New York was even extistent in those days. Now that doesn't mean you're wrong......a LOT of the songs were quite complete back in late 1999, I mean if you look at the MOFO promo video, you can see the STUCK IN A MOMENT symbol and the GRACE symbol and the ELEVATION symbol from the coverslip of ATYCLB flash across the POPMART screen during the video.
Also in an interview down here in Australia when Bono was talking about Michael Hutchence, he said "Obviously, he was Stuck in a moment he couldn't get out of", so even back in January/February 1998, U2 had some songs going for ATYCLB- it's a very complex album....which is probably because they took the time to make sure it WAS completed. Well i haven't gotten any closer to an answer on ATYCLB, and probably jsut made more of a mess of it.
Anyway, I'm sure I've said more than my piece and confused more people than I've enlightened- if anyone NEEDED it in the first place

.
Bless ya!
WHYWHY

[This message has been edited by WHYWHY (edited 01-20-2002).]

[This message has been edited by WHYWHY (edited 01-21-2002).]

 

[Kieran McConville]

Originally posted by anitram:
I think we've had some very reliable sources saying there will be a European Tour. Wasn't Paul McGuinness saying they're "thinking about it" following the Grammy Nomination announcement? It doesn't seem likely he'd say such a thing unless they were actually thinking about it. Also, there have been SO many independent sources (newspapers, TV, etc.) from a number of different countries (Germany, the UK, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Croatia, Bosnia, France) that it seems unlikely all of them are not only speculating, but in some cases are speculating about the exact dates and locations of the shows.

I think the European Tour is inevitable, as we've been given no indication whatsoever that it's just a rumor.

Well, time will tell I guess. No doubt they are 'thinking' about it, but that's not exactly set in stone. Plus, media outlets have a thing for reporting each others news, I suspect. One outlet picks it up and like Chinese whispers, it's soon everywhere. How the hell can specific dates be taken seriously when the band hasn't even made an announcement?

 

[Michael Griffiths]

Whether or not there is a European tour this summer, that doesn't mean a new album will surface at all. It will most likely be an extension of the Elevation Tour, or just another tour promoting ATYCLB.

And WHYWHY,

To answer your question, no I'm not a propaganda subscriber, but I do remember many of the articles that people were mulling over at the time. I do remember that 'Home' -- and not 'Walk On' -- existed shortly before the album was released, so you do have a good point there. I do, however, remember reading another article in which Lanois stated that much of ATYCLB was recorded on the first take (or first few) in order to keep it fresh-sounding. Many songs, such as 'Stuck In A Moment' were re-done and re-worked, only to have the original version used anyway. I think it was kind of the decision -- the vibe and the angle -- that the band eventually went for. 'Wild Honey' is a perfect example of this, and so is 'In A Little While' (Bono apparently did many takes on the song, which sounded much smoother, but they ended up going with the origianal, raspy throat vocal anyway, because it gave it that "real" feeling, I guess).

On a side not, I believe 'In A Little While' would DESTROY the charts. I sincerely believe it has the potential to be the biggest hit *YET* off ATYCLB, even bigger that 'Beautiful Day'. It's just got such a great hook, such a great beat. And the vocal just grabs you. Imagine that on the radio? People would be humming that tune for months.

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The Tempest

 

[u2opia]

From what I have read and heard, I believe there will be a new album this year.

I agree with U2LA's reading of their history. Though this is no certaintly to repeat in 2002, their previous recognised creative/commercial highs (War 83 and Blood Red Sky 83 - though this is a live album, JT early 1987 and Rattle & Hum late 1988 and AB - late 91 and Zoorapa mid 1993)shows that when U2 are at their most "successful", they do follow up with an album earlier than expected. It can be argued though that Zoorapa and Rattle and Hum suffered in comparision to their big brothers critically and commercially (forget about A Blood Red Sky as not really applicable here and Rattle and Hum though did very well on the album charts eg 5m sales in the USA alone).

I think U2 do this deliberatley to release a follow-up album sooner rather than later in these situations to :

1) Further capitalise on their success as they were "on a roll". I think Bono actually quoted this in a interview recently as well when quizzed about their South of France recording sessions.
2) Wanted to move on to their next career progression or phase, so a quicker follow-up album was the best way to do this. The only way to get over a "big album" quickly is to release a follow up sooner rather than later or the expectations of the new record could get out of control.
3) Still had material left over from their previous long recording session and the momentum and positive success of the tour made it easier for Bono to write new songs giving them enough material ie - he has his confidence up as well his work ethic up etc.. - this last argument is pure speculation on my part.

I think the evidence that they will play Europe in the Summer is strong as they underplayed Europe grossly in comparison to the US (I will not even mention Australia as too painful), the McGuinness comment and all the venue rumuors. This may mean they could do a Zooropa and introduce some of the new songs live before the album comes out in say August/September of this year. If not, it will be a November release to capitalise on Christmas sales - a January release is out of the question (just look at current US sales this month compared to December)as this is a barren month for new releases.

Besides, Bono has already listed half a dozen new songs by name, plus any new songs he is writing plus any material left over from the ATYCLB sessions. I do not think it is set in concrete though, but if the France sessions go well, I think the chances of a new album are good. Remember, they have another 6-7 months before the Summer tour which is enough for a short holiday and a 5-6 month stint in the studio completing the songs.

What will be interesting will be who the producers will be - that is the $64 question. Also if they do an album this year, the Best Of will be their next release which means we will not see any new material after this year until 2004/5. The JT/Rattle Hum and Zoo TV period really took it out of them and they needed a couple of years to revitalise and do other things. Elevation/ATYCLB and their potential new album could do the same thing to them

As for the Best Of, I still remember the Edge saying they would not release the 1990's collection until at least 5 years after 2000 so they could reflect on what songs were most relevant. Now there record company might be more anxious as they know going by the first Best Of they have a 10M seller worldwide on their hands. I would think it will include ATYCLB songs so they will need another album release b/w the Best Of 1991- 2000 release and ATYCLB to get some distance from this period.

As they only released 3 albums in the 1990's, I think it will be 1991 to 2000 and include ATYCLB as they need the material. Whether it belongs here is another question. A potential track list for this Best Of in date order could be:

The Fly
Mysterious Ways
One
Even Better than the Real Thing
Stay
Lemon
Numb
Miss Sarajhvo (cannot spell)
Kiss Me/Kill Me/Thrill Me
Discoteque
Staring at the Sun
Please
Beautiful Day
Stuck
Elevation
Walk-on

16 tracks - could be one too many. Who knows the final listing. I have still not gotten over Gloria not being in the 80-90 set


Any-way they are my thoughts so interesting to see what happens. I just pray if they do a new Album, we could see them here in OZ around November/December. If going by Europe this year though, may well be a stadium tour, though I would luv to see them at the Tennis Centre. Colonial Stadium here we come it could be....

 

[Se7en]

Originally posted by u2opia:

2) Wanted to move on to their next career progression or phase, so a quicker follow-up album was the best way to do this. The only way to get over a "big album" quickly is to release a follow up sooner rather than later or the expectations of the new record could get out of control.

I think that getting an album out sooner rather than later will help keep all those expectations under control. I'm hoping to see a new album this year.

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Rock 'N Roll is the sound of revenge.



[This message has been edited by Se7en (edited 01-26-2002).]

 

[stagman]

Well they say they can't wait to get back in the studio.
Their live performances are the greatest ever and they enjoyed themselves thouroughly all tour.
They played only to a small proportion of the European audience.
They did'nt tour Australia or South America

What could this mean???
A new album very, very soon...And what an album it will be!!!!!!!!

And an even bigger tour than Elevation, both Arena and Stadium.....then they'll go into hiding and....dream it all up again!!

 

[Hawkmoon1021]

If U2 release a 5th single from ATYCLB, which they probably will given the amount of exposure they are getting from the SB & the Grammies,(You really can't get more exposure than the SB on TV in the US) I really find it hard to believe that they would release anything this year. ATYCLB will definitely get a kick up the charts given this scenario, and to put out something so soon after would just be overexposure...

On the other hand if they lay low after the Grammies and put out something in time for Xmas, say in November, I can see it happen. But if they win 5 grammies and a new single is getting air & video play, I would be shocked to see anything before spring 2003...

 

[u2zed]

Here's my predicted timeline.

- U2 are "recording" now only so they can make use of the Hanover Quay studios while they're still around, and to maybe get down a few ideas before they forget. But this isn't serious recording. They're still riding the ATYCLB wave and will be distracted by the Superbowl, Grammies, and possibly Olympics.

- Still riding ATYCLB, U2 tours Europe this summer. Unlike many other bands, U2 do not often introduce new, unrecorded material into their concerts. This will likely be a simple extension of the Elevation tour, since U2 have enjoyed it so much they can't seem to let go.

- Fall 2002 rolls around, and the tour is over unless it becomes all that U2 can't leave behind, and they decide to do ROW. Likeliest possibility is that U2 are seen mucking about in the studio, but it's just more groundwork, and then they take off 2-3 months around Christmas and the new year.

- Now we're into 2003. U2 finally buckle down and begin to do the real work. They retool some of the scraps of ideas they've compiled in previous sessions, maybe rework some old tracks that have been hanging around, and do tons of new writing. Bono procrastinates on the lyrics, as usual, and everyone but Adam enjoys his fair share of creamy pints. Late nights abound. This continues for at least several months.

- Fall 2003 the record company will want U2 to have an album ready for Christmas, and hopefully they will make that deadline. This is a reasonable time frame. I predict an album around November 2003, with another arena tour, to begin in the US in early 2004.

I suspect this timeline sounds very reasonable to many of you, knowing the band's history.

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just as I am I awoke with a tear on my tongue

"Our Bono is indeed a mighty force. He walks into a room and all the air gets sucked right out. He is completely magnetic." -Shirley Manson

 

[allcub]

....Howya all - Dublin here - Been following this forum for about 18months but as u can see I rarely post. Anyway a buddy of mine was talkin to Larry M Jr last week and it seems they are gonna release The Best of Part 2 later this coming Summer and so I guess their next new material release won't be till 2003 - unless they release a B-side re-hash from the 90's to promote the Album like they did with Sweetest Thing from the 80's..........
Anyway there ya go - somethin tells me this ain't news to some of ya.

 

[WHYWHY]

HMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm...............

not good!

Bless ya
WHYWHY

 

[U2's_Lil_Irish_Lassie]

YES YES YES YES YES!!!

No a DJ here on 2fm said that theyre would DEFO be another album and a tour to support it!!!

so YES!!!!

 

[camiloj]

yeah for some reason I tend not to believe these people that say LArry or Adam told them this and that.

 

[allcub]

Originally posted by U2LA:
yeah for some reason I tend not to believe these people that say LArry or Adam told them this and that.

Hey...I never said I slept with Larry to get this info. Just a buddy of mine who happens to work within the very small music/media/showbiz circle in Dublin had a bite to eat with Larry etc. etc. blah blah......I mean why lie about such a tiny titbit of info? Anyway that doesn't mean it's true what he said. Personally I reckon ATYCLB needs to cool off a bit before they release new material....otherwise the new release will be overshadowed and U2 will suffer once again from their old friend overexposure. Anyway I guess this is why I usually prefer not to post......awwwwww - Gimme back my toys I'm not playin anymore......goin home.

 

[WHYWHY]

Allclub, I DO believe you (Although i wish LArry was lying! :mad

, your contributions are valuable and needed.....don't take offence at everything....some people just think differently to you.
Bless ya!
WHYWHY