SOE 19: Back To The Studio Part II

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Wherever The Joshua Tree is in the set, how would you prefer it to be played?


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Quite interresting that some people AND U2 themself, would suggest that S.A./Mexico/Oceania fans base would be more open to new music from the band than the U.S/Canada/Europe market.



Not surprised though. I've always been of the opinion that America was Pop's biggest problem.
 
Not surprised though. I've always been of the opinion that America was Pop's biggest problem.

So true. U2 played to some sparsely filled stadiums in the US, then went to Italy and played to 165,000 people in Reggio Amelia. Breaking a single, paid concert attendance record.

When SOI was released, even though it was free, it was number one for multiple weeks in places like France, Italy, Spain and Netherlands.

And South America always seems really enthusiastic for the band as well.

America is pretty damn fickle comparatively
 
My prediction:

May - August: The Joshua Tree Tour
September - October: Songs of Experience release + promotional tour
November: Tour announcement
February 2018: Songs of Experience Tour begins
 
I wonder what this album will sound like. A mix of SOI/HTDAAB ?
 
Quite interresting that some people AND U2 themself, would suggest that S.A./Mexico/Oceania fans base would be more open to new music from the band than the U.S/Canada/Europe market.

i don't think that's what the band was suggesting at all... i think they were suggesting that "hey, we haven't played there in a while, and we just played here, so we'll start there"
 
i don't think that's what the band was suggesting at all... i think they were suggesting that "hey, we haven't played there in a while, and we just played here, so we'll start there"

agreed, i didn't pick that sentiment up from the band. They are wise to start there, because of just what you said. Demand will be higher due to not having visited those areas for a while. Then by the time they hit the states again, people will have had a big enough break to want to see them again.
 
Here's the quote... So maybe the SOE album and tour (starting somewhere other than the US or Europe) will land sooner than expected after all.

"I can't wait for these shows. I wish there were more of them. Originally there were going to be 10, then it was 20 because we had to go to Europe. But there are so many places in the world we didn't get to and that sucks. But, we will get to you when Songs Of Experience is out, which won't be too long."


So, yet again, the cool rarities—this time the likes of Exit and MOTD—will disappear from the setlist by the time they come to Australia. Glad I'll be in Europe at the same time as JT30 and will get to hear the good stuff.
 
My prediction:

May - August: The Joshua Tree Tour
September - October: Songs of Experience release + promotional tour
November: Tour announcement
February 2018: Songs of Experience Tour begins

This. The question is, how many more shows will they do for the Innocence And Experience tour considering they have already done 75?

I guess this is how they will finish out the decade. Songs Of Ascent will get released sometime early next decade, the early 20s.
 
This. The question is, how many more shows will they do for the Innocence And Experience tour considering they have already done 75?

I guess this is how they will finish out the decade. Songs Of Ascent will get released sometime early next decade, the early 20s.

Yeah, very interesting to see how long the Experience part of the tour goes. And a bigger question... will this still be considered a part of the first tour? Would ticket totals be combined with the 2015 tour if it continues under the same name, even though it will have been 2.5 years with another tour in the middle? hmmmm...
 
Yeah, very interesting to see how long the Experience part of the tour goes. And a bigger question... will this still be considered a part of the first tour? Would ticket totals be combined with the 2015 tour if it continues under the same name, even though it will have been 2.5 years with another tour in the middle? hmmmm...

I doubt it will be a part of the first tour. A different name is very likely.
 
They can call it whatever they want. It's not like anyone can stop them from keeping the name.

As for the bragging rights of tour totals...maybe Oseary cares but either way they still get the money. Can't imagine that affecting their decision.

The more interesting question is that of the album release date. We've gone over this many times because of their tendency for fall releases, but I disagree with the earlier post that putting it out right before the 2017 deadline is a bad move. It's not like the ballots are due immediately, and IMO it's better for them to capitalize on the goodwill following the JT tour, as opposed to thinking people are still going to give a shit about SOE in the fall of 2018, one year later.

Even if the tour in the U.S. next year is received well, it's still going to be a similar show and won't get as much attention as the first incarnation. If SOE doesn't have notable singles it's going to be very hard to compete for the attention over newer, fresher albums. Remember that when they skipped the deadline with ATYCLB and The Bomb they were able to put out a fair number of successful singles and have Grammy wins for the pre-deadline lead single (BD and Vertigo) as well as wins the following year for the albums themselves and subsequent singles.

Does anyone think they are going to have a successful airplay run like they did with BD-Stuck-Elevation-Walk On or Vertigo-Sometimes-COBL-ABOY? Songs of Innocence arguably had just as many catchy/accessible tracks and they weren't able to get any mileage beyond EBW, and the album only received a single Grammy nom. I think at this point in their career in terms of the public's fickle interest, striking while the iron is hot might be the best move.
 
I doubt it will be a part of the first tour. A different name is very likely.



That would be rather silly. Even for U2.

I think they(especially Bono) wants to see this concept through. It's a solid artistic concept, and it should be done right.

I've stated this before but I'll say it again. I think JT30 was a chance to get them in stadiums again, and possibly a way to intro SOE. Then they release SOE and wrap up the iE tour. They then release SOA without tour. Then in a few years have a farewell tour.
 
That would be rather silly. Even for U2.

I think they(especially Bono) wants to see this concept through. It's a solid artistic concept, and it should be done right.

I've stated this before but I'll say it again. I think JT30 was a chance to get them in stadiums again, and possibly a way to intro SOE. Then they release SOE and wrap up the iE tour. They then release SOA without tour. Then in a few years have a farewell tour.

I'm okay with all of that. 2 more albums, 3 more tours (JT, SOE, Farewell)... I think that's about the best we can hope for at this point.
 
I'm okay with all of that. 2 more albums, 3 more tours (JT, SOE, Farewell)... I think that's about the best we can hope for at this point.

SOE + follow-up you mean?

I'd be ok with that. I hope we see Songs of Ascent eventually. Whatever it is. I just like the name.
 
Those ridiculous IE tour shirts they made for dreamforce or iHeartRadio suggest they'll stick with the name.
 
I don't think we'll ever get a "farewell tour". I think they'll always record, until they don't. I think they'll tour, til they can't. But I don't think it'll ever be a "here's your last chance everyone!" Kind of situation.
 
I don't think we'll ever get a "farewell tour". I think they'll always record, until they don't. I think they'll tour, til they can't. But I don't think it'll ever be a "here's your last chance everyone!" Kind of situation.

This.

I would also be surprised if they released an album without touring. I feel like the physical demands of that will eventually cause the band to call it quits. They feed too much off the energy of the live audiences to simply be a studio band.

But you never know.
 
I would also be surprised if they released an album without touring.

Once upon a time, I believe a majority here would be surprised if they toured without releasing an album. But then everyone got collective amnesia about things from the past and decided its perfectly normal. Lemmings.
 
They can always tone down the touring and do a promo tour only in select few cities (NY, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin etc) - think 00's albums promo shows.
 
Once upon a time, I believe a majority here would be surprised if they toured without releasing an album. But then everyone got collective amnesia about things from the past and decided its perfectly normal.

You're conflating surprise with disappointment. You seem to be in the minority on the latter. As for touring without a new album, they're effectively touring over half a new album, and 4 popular fan favourites with it.

Lemmings.

The horror of following a popular band.
 
I wonder what this album will sound like. A mix of SOI/HTDAAB ?

that's probably a good guess.. I'd hazard the song writing will be in the same vein but the production may be a little more dynamic, less noisy.
 
that's probably a good guess.. I'd hazard the song writing will be in the same vein but the production may be a little more dynamic, less noisy.

Yeah with Lee and Lillywhite, I would say this is not a bad assumption. My two hopes are that the sessions with Thomas and Barlow are not completely lost. I was really hoping to see what their influence could bring.
And two, I'm hoping for cohesion. SOI was the most cohesive for me in a long time. But i hope to get a "feeling" from this album. You got sort of transported to a place in time with JT, AB, and Zooropa. In sections of NLOTH, although the album was so disjointed.
I never got it from Bomb at all and not much from ATYCLB...
 
I don't think we'll ever get a "farewell tour". I think they'll always record, until they don't. I think they'll tour, til they can't. But I don't think it'll ever be a "here's your last chance everyone!" Kind of situation.

Personality-wise, they wouldn't do this. As a business, they totally would.

We'll see which impulse wins out in the end
 
Yeah with Lee and Lillywhite, I would say this is not a bad assumption. My two hopes are that the sessions with Thomas and Barlow are not completely lost. I was really hoping to see what their influence could bring.

And two, I'm hoping for cohesion. SOI was the most cohesive for me in a long time. But i hope to get a "feeling" from this album. You got sort of transported to a place in time with JT, AB, and Zooropa. In sections of NLOTH, although the album was so disjointed.

I never got it from Bomb at all and not much from ATYCLB...



Atyclb for me is a college album, as I was just starting college when it was released. I connected deeply with this album. It was a transitional time in my life, more questions than answers, the journey was just beginning. So for me, in that context, atyclb is a very cohesive album. Plus it was nice to have U2 be "cool" again.

HTDAAB I really didn't connect with at all. It came at a time when my first priority was going out drinking with friends, and playing in my band. It's the U2 album I listen to the least. I have friends that loved that album and at least one friends says it's his favorite.

The listening experience is all what you make it. I actually don't find Joshua Tree to be all that great of an album. I definitely like it, but would rank it somewhere in the middle of U2's work.
 
Atyclb for me is a college album, as I was just starting college when it was released. I connected deeply with this album. It was a transitional time in my life, more questions than answers, the journey was just beginning. So for me, in that context, atyclb is a very cohesive album. Plus it was nice to have U2 be "cool" again.

HTDAAB I really didn't connect with at all. It came at a time when my first priority was going out drinking with friends, and playing in my band. It's the U2 album I listen to the least. I have friends that loved that album and at least one friends says it's his favorite.

The listening experience is all what you make it. I actually don't find Joshua Tree to be all that great of an album. I definitely like it, but would rank it somewhere in the middle of U2's work.

This was pretty much my experience with the albums as well.

Joshua Tree I was 8/9 years old and would hear it when my dad would play the album at home, or on the radio.

AB -- ditto, but that summer of ZooTV, I was allowed to stay home over the summer break on my own (brother went to daycare) and I listened to that album every single day. And would go back and listen to the previous ones too. But always AB every day

Zooropa was kind of a weird transition phase, as I didn't get to listen to it as much but would still sneak the headphones on when parents would leave (we lived in a very small apartment, no privacy)

Pop was huge for me as I was a junior/senior in HS, and knew my life was about to change a lot.

ATYCLB was the experience through college (community for me, but would visit pals at the university on weekends). Just seemed to really fit the time and mood of my life. Even if it was a return for the band, it seemed fresh compared to everything else out there at the time.

Bomb was me getting into the dating scene haha

The rest have their moments, but as with most things, nostalgia of the past seems to hold more weight versus the recent releases.

In Rainbows was a huge album for me after my very short lived marriage haha
 
ATYCLB was the experience through college (community for me, but would visit pals at the university on weekends). Just seemed to really fit the time and mood of my life. Even if it was a return for the band, it seemed fresh compared to everything else out there at the time.



Bomb was me getting into the dating scene haha


Wow it's like we basically lived the same life! I was also a community college guy, and kinda mooched off my friends/brother's real college experience. I kinda preferred it that way, because sunday evening - Friday afternoon I basically lived a normal life, work and school. But Friday night - Sunday morning I would usually be hanging out with friends at Ohio State. Most people just assumed I also went to school there. Good times...

I had a super serious girlfriend for 2 years, and she dumped me right before HTDAAB came out. I was basically making up for lost partying time during that era, though I did make it to 3 Vertigo shows. By the time NLOTH and SOI came out, I was just a typical guy with work, wife and kids. While I enjoyed them, there just wasn't as much going on to associate with. Although my son really likes SOI, so we have that together, which is great.
 
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