SOE 18: New Tour, New Despair...

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My first and final predictions about SoE:

1. It will release in March 2018.
2. It will not be called Songs of Experience anymore.
3. One song from the album will be played on the TJT-tour. It will have some lyrical and thematical connection to TJT but written from a contemporary perspective.
4. The I+E-tour will not be resumed. Instead they will use much of the setup for this tour, adjust and revamp some elements, and tour the new album in 2018.

Yes I'd buy that.
 
cheer up, everyone

they simply were not ready... and the 30yr TJT story came in handy..., the now told narrative putting SOE on ice because Trump won the election makes a good story.... but I don't buy it.

I know most people here seem to think they're making up an excuse for not having SOE ready, but what we've all heard from several sources over the past few weeks is that it WAS ready. These weren't the usual Bono quotes we're all used to hearing.

I believe the results of the US election had a huge part in what they're doing now. We all know where they stand on political & social issues, and the president-elect steers completely opposite of their core beliefs. It doesn't surprise me that they want to re-work the album a bit, or maybe add a couple tracks to express their concerns about the future of the political landscape.

I'm sure the JT tour is just a way to satisfy Live Nation & the fans, but there's nothing wrong with that in my book. I read someone's post last night, pointing out they don't even want to hear the first 4 tracks since they've heard them enough already. Seriously? If this were the SOE tour, we would likely hear those 4 songs anyway. Now we get to finally hear the rest of the JT album live, including some songs for the first time ever. That is totally worth it for me. SOE will be out in its own time.

I'm sorry if I come across as too quick to accept the album delay news, but the forums were getting a little too negative on a day when we just had a tour announcement.
 
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:up:

There's no doubt in my mind this was to satisfy the live nation contract, but if you are U2, you're going to make this work for musical reasons too and I think that that's where this works out. It's a great plan especially if the narrative of SOE as it was didn't jive with the band's feelings. Remember, they're artists. If the statement they want to make with an album is compromised, then it's a shit album to them. Which is why they're personally happy with NLOTH & SOI. They didn't cave in to release those albums under pressure of the fans or the record label. Then this strategy really works especially if SOE was always meant to connect w/ U2's post 80's sounds & sentiment. To piggyback SOE release after a successful Joshua tree 30 tour really makes sense and gets the bad taste out of the typical person's mouth of the SOI/ apple hiccup. I won't be one bit surprised if we hear at least one or more songs from SOE before this tour ends.

:up:

Totally agree with this.
 
I have to say. I love this band. I love the Joshua Tree. I was exposed to Boy/October/War when i was a wee one, and then got more interested during UF, and got full fledged fandom during Joshua Tree.

But, I have seen them 16 times, I'm not as into going to see live shows as I once was. So while I will probably hit this tour, I would rather have a new album by far.

They have every right to celebrate this classic album. But it's the first time I've genuinely felt that tinge of disappointment that they have entered the final phase of their career, and instead of going out with a beautiful, poignant, album for the ages, they are doing commemorative tours of old material.

I know, they aren't "done" I hope. But this is a detour that doesn't really excite me. Although i do think it may be a good move to get older fans back into the fold and excited for SOE (or whatever it may be called). Fingers crossed.

So, plug 20 in for "16 times" and "19 years" for "wee one" and this sums it up for me as well.

They owe me nothing, I'm glad they are hitting the road again and I hope they can re-engage some past fans and find a few new ones too.

I'm just not feeling this and will wait for the Christmas DVD or some good bootlegs and SOE / SOA / SO Whatever it Becomes.

I really hope the whole anti-Trump thing goes well too... I sense a few cringe worthy moments coming on, and that's OK if it keeps some dialog moving on important issues.
 
Whether you love or hate or are somewhere in between on this tour, any suggestion that this is anything other than to appease Live Nation is really naive. LYV didn't sign U2 for them to put out albums, LYV signed them to sell tickets and merchandise - they were 'disappointed' by U2 in 2016 and put heavy pressure on the band to be on the road in 2017.

LYV doesn't grow towards its targeted $1B AOI without its major stars actually touring.

Yea? And? Would your boss be upset if you didn't show up for work?

And Live Nation are U2's management, so I'm pretty sure they want albums as well.

But yes, thy want to make money. No shit .
 
Wondering if reluctance to go to Australia is compounded by the weakness of AUD relative to USD. Hasn't that been blamed for similar issues before?


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Just about every other band manages to come to Australia these days so it can't be that big of a problem. Coldplay just did a very successful stadium tour here so I'm sure U2 could if the demand is still there for them.
 
Apparently they just ran a JT30 commercial on ESPN before the championship game.
 
When do we start calling the still-unreleased new album "SOB"?
 
I can somewhat buy the political excuse.

The Best Thing sounded like a very confident band, and it sounded fleet of foot and buoyant of spirit, and poppy as all fuck. I can still sing it. To release such a single in a world that grew considerably darker this past fall -- not just in the US but in Europe as well -- might have been correctly assessed as out of step and out of touch.

I'm sure a lot of it had to do with their inability to play what I'm guessing is their most electronic album since Pop (but in a dancey, trancey, EDM kind of way), but they may have assessed everything and thought "... eh, we're late already, why not just wait a little longer at this point."
 
If they want to delay it for their own reasons fine, I just hate the idea that everything has to have some sort of political influence and voice, and that releasing something without any obvious political overtones could be seen as disrespectful or out of touch to what's happening in the world. Music can just be music sometimes can't it?
 
If they want to delay it for their own reasons fine, I just hate the idea that everything has to have some sort of political influence and voice, and that releasing something without any obvious political overtones could be seen as disrespectful or out of touch to what's happening in the world. Music can just be music sometimes can't it?




For U2, music has never been about music. Their music has always been about something else.
 
My first and final predictions about SoE:

1. It will release in March 2018.
2. It will not be called Songs of Experience anymore.
3. One song from the album will be played on the TJT-tour. It will have some lyrical and thematical connection to TJT but written from a contemporary perspective.
4. The I+E-tour will not be resumed. Instead they will use much of the setup for this tour, adjust and revamp some elements, and tour the new album in 2018.


This would be absolutely idiotic.

If they scrap SOE and IE, we won't be hearing from them in 2018, we'll have another 5 to 6 year gap, and it will probably be there last.

They're not going to scrap this theme, it's been floating around for far too long.


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If they want to delay it for their own reasons fine, I just hate the idea that everything has to have some sort of political influence and voice, and that releasing something without any obvious political overtones could be seen as disrespectful or out of touch to what's happening in the world. Music can just be music sometimes can't it?



 
I am now super excited for the JT tour for specifically one reason :
At each night, we are going to have the privilege of hearing 2 monster live songs : 1) One Tree Hill 2) Exit

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I can somewhat buy the political excuse.

The Best Thing sounded like a very confident band, and it sounded fleet of foot and buoyant of spirit, and poppy as all fuck. I can still sing it. To release such a single in a world that grew considerably darker this past fall -- not just in the US but in Europe as well -- might have been correctly assessed as out of step and out of touch.

."


If this is anywhere near the truth, it just shows how incredibly fragile their egos are these days.



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Thank you, THIS :up::up: Coming straight from the Jazz Man, love it

U2 aren't just musicians, they are artists and have substance to their art. And if you want U2 to keep producing new albums, it's part of the deal. No two ways about it.

Eddie Vedder has this saying, and I'm paraphrasing that he calls the political material in their shows 'your daily does of fiber for your diet' and if you don't want it, that's ok, but it's good for you. That's an artist speaking.

Found some other great EV quotes:

'If there was anything that I learned with my own writing process, maybe there's too many choices what to write about. Just the amount of subject matter in the world these days; maybe that feels chaotic for me.'

This I believe is something Bono truly struggles with because how close these matters are to his heart. He's seen a lot more than probably this whole forum combined.

And one last quote from EV - its fitting:

'You can go down the list of great artists and kind of understand that they are products of their environment. Whether it's U2 or Henry Rollins or myself or Johnny Lydon, they're gonna be products of their environment.'

I'm a fine arts painter so I can speak first hand - - anyone who has a difficult time understanding the idea that the music can change, as frustrating as it is as a fan, is even more frustrating as the person creating the work, especially if it's being shared for the masses and can affect the lives of many families that depend on their livelihood.


Found the quotes at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/eddievedde481587.html
 
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If this is anywhere near the truth, it just shows how incredibly fragile their egos are these days.



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See my last post- fragile or perfectionists? I would never call these men fragile. 40 years and going isn't fragile. They perfect their craft. Drives a lot of us nuts too but it's their gift to us.

EDIT
Their biggest crime has been not knowing when to say when and not 'overwork the painting'
 
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Random thought/ question- any chance U2 releases an updated JT recording this time around that is in the format they originally intended as 'The Two Americas'??

I'd definitely buy that.
 
I forgot about The Best Thing. I listened to it 100 times. They always don't release some of their best work, those fuckers.
 
Just about every other band manages to come to Australia these days so it can't be that big of a problem. Coldplay just did a very successful stadium tour here so I'm sure U2 could if the demand is still there for them.

Oh, the demand is DEFINITELY there...no doubt about that!
 
I'm still waiting for these








These are really good. Love that 2nd one, and "All My Life" has to be among the catchiest things they've ever written. It's, what, 10 years old now? It also seems to fit perfectly (from what I can make out lyrically) with what we're told the themes of SOE are. If we're ever going to hear it finished, it might be this fall.
 
So I just now listened to the Kygo version of "The Best Thing". I realize I'm late to the party, but WOW... that song is CATCHY AS FUCK!!!! It's the kind of melody that once somebody hears it once they'll remember it the rest of their lives. Yeah the lyrics are kinda corny, and I realize it's just a remix we're listening to, but that song is a fucking HIT! The only thing that could hold that song back is that fact that it's coming from a bunch of 55 year old men.

It's not exactly my kind of music, and were it by any other band I would probably dismiss it, but I do acknowledge that it's the kind of song that could be quite popular, even in this current climate. I really hope it makes the album, and that we actually get the album.
 
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this tour. I've been doing concerts for exactly 40 years now, saw U2 every tour (except Lovetown) from the Boy tour to IE, caught 3 Joshua Tree tour shows, one of which (4/22/87) I consider the best U2 show I've ever seen and a top 5 concert of my lifetime.

Like a lot of comments here, I too am a bit disappointed they've finally caved in to doing the nostalgia thing after making such a huge point through the years about always wanting to stay relevant and push whatever new material they have on tour. That said, I'll still see them when they play The Rose Bowl in May.

They are now a *very* different band then the group I saw back in '87 playing these songs. I really don't see how they can play the entire album in it's original running order. I'm hoping they don't slavishly stick to the original arrangements especially of the big 4 (Streets, Still haven't Found, WOWY and Bullet). I think it would be nice if they tried some really offbeat things like opening with the one-off semi-acoustic version of "In Gods Country" they played early in the Lovetown tour.

I think there is a strong chance they'll debut at least one new song off the upcoming album.
 
Looking at the comments on U2's social media postings about the tour I'm surprised at the positive responses for it.


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Like a lot of comments here, I too am a bit disappointed they've finally caved in to doing the nostalgia thing after making such a huge point through the years about always wanting to stay relevant and push whatever new material they have on tour. That said, I'll still see them when they play The Rose Bowl in May.

I think it's funny people keep saying this, for two reasons.

First, bloody everybody's doing full albums live now. In the past year I've seen bands play albums in full that aren't released yet, that are a year old, that are 5-10 years old, that are 30 years old. If nothing else it's a great way to get people to pay to hear an album. The notions of authenticity that say you shouldn't do full albums live, especially not catalogue albums, have changed.

Second, judging by the huge positive reaction, doing this reaches more people and is more eagerly anticipated than anything new U2 could do. The Joshua Tree is more relevant than SOE to most people.
 
I was listening to TJT today and my boss saw the album cover on my phone - and he just taps me on the shoulder and says "great album"


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I was listening to TJT today and my boss saw the album cover on my phone - and he just taps me on the shoulder and says "great album"


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Yup. That's the thing. TJT isn't just universally liked, it's universally respected.
Release a new album at the moment - the band who invaded your itunes - and the general perception will be, broadly speaking, derision.
But resow a shitload of TJT seeds and the new album might get more of a chance.
Whether it was foisted on them by LN or not, I think it's a master stroke.

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I think it's funny people keep saying this, for two reasons.

First, bloody everybody's doing full albums live now. In the past year I've seen bands play albums in full that aren't released yet, that are a year old, that are 5-10 years old, that are 30 years old. If nothing else it's a great way to get people to pay to hear an album. The notions of authenticity that say you shouldn't do full albums live, especially not catalogue albums, have changed.

Second, judging by the huge positive reaction, doing this reaches more people and is more eagerly anticipated than anything new U2 could do. The Joshua Tree is more relevant than SOE to most people.

:up:

Plus, it gives them some good will and momentum going forward, especially if they incorporate a look towards the future like Edge and Adam have alluded to in interviews.

Oh, and I'll get to hear fucking RHMT, One Tree Hill, Exit, In God's Country... basically all of side B for the first time um hell yes.
 
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