SOE 20 - Sometimes, the end isn't coming...

[mama cass]

am i missing something major? i can't for the life of me see how things are exactly heating up on the release front?

 

[Registered Dude]

am i missing something major? i can't for the life of me see how things are exactly heating up on the release front?

not one big thing.. it's the little things...

- band are talking about the album as though it's a done deal
- Bono citing Best Thing as "first single"
- production company tweets out that they're shooting a video with U2, then deletes tweet
- U2songs drops hint about at a December 1 release. If you follow their admins on twitter, you'll see that these folks are close to certain key figures in u2-world
- Bono playing SOE tracks to Pittsburgh media
- rumour about a summer single

yes, we've been here before.. and there's still time to put things off. But if it IS happening, new music is close

 

[womanfish]

not one big thing.. it's the little things...

- band are talking about the album as though it's a done deal
- Bono citing Best Thing as "first single"
- production company tweets out that they're shooting a video with U2, then deletes tweet
- U2songs drops hint about at a December 1 release. If you follow their admins on twitter, you'll see that these folks are close to certain key figures in u2-world
- Bono playing SOE tracks to Pittsburgh media
- rumour about a summer single

yes, we've been here before.. and there's still time to put things off. But if it IS happening, new music is close

Whoa, i knew all of this except for the Bono playing songs for Pitt media.
Was there any written or verbal reaction from those that heard it? Pretty cool.

 

[Registered Dude]

Whoa, i knew all of this except for the Bono playing songs for Pitt media.
Was there any written or verbal reaction from those that heard it? Pretty cool.

I dont think so.. someone posted about it a few pages back.. but there wasn't much info

 

[mama cass]

not one big thing.. it's the little things...

- band are talking about the album as though it's a done deal
- Bono citing Best Thing as "first single"
- production company tweets out that they're shooting a video with U2, then deletes tweet
- U2songs drops hint about at a December 1 release. If you follow their admins on twitter, you'll see that these folks are close to certain key figures in u2-world
- Bono playing SOE tracks to Pittsburgh media
- rumour about a summer single

yes, we've been here before.. and there's still time to put things off. But if it IS happening, new music is close

oh c'mon, this has been happening for years

seriously, all of the above is actually an annual occurrence in U2 land

 

[Gonna Run 2 U]

I would think at this point the absolute longest we will have to wait for SOE is 9 months. It'll be here before we know it.

 

[BEAL]

oh c'mon, this has been happening for years

seriously, all of the above is actually an annual occurrence in U2 land

Agree. We've been teased and teased for years.

I don't believe it until it's in iTunes.

Edge isn't done mixing.

Adam says they want to hit the road and see how the tour shapes the songs.

Bono wants to eliminate 3 songs.
***

We could get single next month, or we could get another excuse in September that the band has been blown away by the response of this tour, and want to take that creative energy into the studio.

 

[Gonna Run 2 U]

we could get another excuse in September that the band has been blown away by the response of this tour, and want to take that creative energy into the studio.

That seems just like something they would do but I'm not sure if that would happen this time around. They will have so much momentum built by the end of the tour. Retreating into the studio for another year after talking about the new album and CLOSING shows with a new song just would make absolutely no sense. Bono himself said he thought the album was done a year ago. He will veto that bullshit I believe.

 

[BEAL]

That seems just like something they would do but I'm not sure if that would happen this time around. They will have so much momentum built by the end of the tour. Retreating into the studio for another year after talking about the new album and CLOSING shows with a new song just would make absolutely no sense.

Nothing this band has done has made any sense since Vertigo tour.

Every decision since then has been baffling.

 

[mikal]

Sure the band could completely scrap everything and back out. I don't think anyone is denying that. But it's definitely accurate to say that things are heating up. The rumors at least appear to be positive towards a release this year.

 

[Registered Dude]

oh c'mon, this has been happening for years

seriously, all of the above is actually an annual occurrence in U2 land

ehh sorta..I think we exaggerate things around here.

True that every album release since Zooropa has come come after 1 good delay beyond what was initially planned (2 in the case of Bomb, if I recall).

SOE had it's first legit delay last fall. Hopefully it's the only

 

[BEAL]

I just want the lies to stop.

 

[Hewson]

not one big thing.. it's the little things...

That give you away

 

[ascender_RS]

oh c'mon, this has been happening for years

seriously, all of the above is actually an annual occurrence in U2 land

Would be funny if it wasn't true.

 

[Hollow Island]

Nothing this band has done has made any sense since Vertigo tour.

Every decision since then has been baffling.

Nothing this band has done has made sense since they scrapped the album they were making with Chris Thomas. Since they they've basically been a disaster. Maybe it all went wrong with the William Orbit sessions? I believe, without any evidence, that they were going to record an album with him and then bailed.

- abandon Orbit album (?)
- scrap Thomas album, causing delay
- bring in Lillywhite
- scrap Rubin album
- bring in Eno & Lanois
- delay album
- abandon Morrocan influenced art album for a compromised monstrosity
- record with Danger Mouse
- have it ready, then delay it for more work
- rework album with Tedder and Epworth
- have next album nearly ready
- work with every second rate producer alive
- delay, delay, delay
- random TJT tour while finishing (???) SOE
- still mixing, probably writing new stuff

I'm probably forgetting some things or getting some things wrong but U2 post-ATYCLB have been a complete mess

 

[BEAL]

I never liked the Chris Thomas mixes that came out. Didn't mind Xanax and Wine, but everything else was kind of meh. Granted they weren't mixed for an album so they didn't have the normal polish.

Rubin was never going to work for them. The way U2 operate was a major clash. Rubin wants the songs done before he even comes into the studio. U2 fart around in the studio and then piece together what they have after months.

Eno said the Morrocan influence just didn't work. I think it was at that point where U2 panicked and decided to bring in 50 different producers to try and revitalize the songs they did have.

The one part I agree with you on is Danger Mouse. I don't think the band would have had any major hits, but their songs would have been more interesting. Bringing in Tedder and Epworth just screamed they wanted that one last hit.

I don't like Tedder being involved at all. Trying to turn a U2 song into a top 40 melody hasn't done it for me. Granted I think the melodies are nice, but U2 has always been more of a band dynamic versus Bono singing like a bird

 

[Hollow Island]

I don't think that all of the decisions that they made were bad, but it shows that they have no idea what they want to do, or if they know what they want to do they have trouble doing it.

I think they did the right thing by working with Tedder and Epworth, and I'm shocked to say that. I prefer the reworked EBW to the early version that leaked, for example.

Eno thought that the Moroccan influence didn't work, maybe because U2 didn't commit to it? I don't know. But he was also frustrated by their spending so much time working on purpose-made HITZ at the expense of good songs.

Rubin was never going to work with them and Window In the Skies is among their worst songs, so I'm glad that failed and they went back to E&L. That might be a bad sign more than anything: they thought they wanted to switch up how they worked but decided, "ah, fuck it - let's do it the way we know how, but with a twist of lime." And then they ditched the lime!

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Nothing this band has done has made sense since they scrapped the album they were making with Chris Thomas. Since they they've basically been a disaster. Maybe it all went wrong with the William Orbit sessions? I believe, without any evidence, that they were going to record an album with him and then bailed.

- abandon Orbit album (?)
- scrap Thomas album, causing delay
- bring in Lillywhite
- scrap Rubin album
- bring in Eno & Lanois
- delay album
- abandon Morrocan influenced art album for a compromised monstrosity
- record with Danger Mouse
- have it ready, then delay it for more work
- rework album with Tedder and Epworth
- have next album nearly ready
- work with every second rate producer alive
- delay, delay, delay
- random TJT tour while finishing (???) SOE
- still mixing, probably writing new stuff

I'm probably forgetting some things or getting some things wrong but U2 post-ATYCLB have been a complete mess

-abandon Leo

 

[trevgreg]

Part of the problem, like I mentioned before, is that these guys do enough interviews or have enough of their lives analyzed to the point that we know about every single session or producer they bring in. It’s easy enough to say that they should have done this or released that at a certain time, but I never quite got how we could automatically assume that ‘earlier’ versions of albums were much better than the final product. Or that something would’ve been better if it had been released a year earlier or whatever. Just because we don’t like certain songs on an album doesn’t mean there’s a treasure trove of songs that weren’t released or demo versions which are magically better somehow. How many other bands out there have recorded things that have never seen a release or had their every action in the studio tracked to such an extent? If their fan bases were big enough, maybe we’d be seeing similar comments in those parts.

Could some songs be better though? Sure. There’s always going to be someone who prefers one or the other. But to hold the band to a certain standard because they didn’t release the “Moroccan” version of the NLOTH (assuming such a thing exists, and assuming some of us actually listen to enough Moroccan music in our spare time), or wanting the “Danger Mouse-only” version of SOI just because SLABT and The Troubles were good songs (news flash… Danger Mouse worked an original demo of The Miracle when it was just an acoustic riff lying around) … I don’t know. It’s fun for debate, but it’s far from a be all, end all too.

The wait for new stuff can be sufferable at times, especially since we do hear about the studio process and they make us think some new stuff is always right around the corner. But we’re really not much more in tune than anyone in the band is for what’s right and what’s wrong with where the songs stand. They’re the ones that have to literally listen to these things a thousand times before they’re comfortable with some of it seeing the light of day. Throw on top the fact that it can be really hard to write a decent enough song as it is, and it really is one of those things you can’t understand unless you’ve actually tried writing a song before. Not everyone's going to like what you come up with, especially in the Internet age. But still going for it after 10+ albums and being 50+ years old… geez, that’s some kind of accomplishment on its own when you look at it.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Hmmm should we be a little concerned that TLTTGYA seems to have gone MIA?, this band literally make no sense sometimes, Bono himself saying he didn't like the idea of having no new songs at all and that is what is happening now

 

[dan_smee]

Hmmm should we be a little concerned that TLTTGYA seems to have gone MIA?, this band literally make no sense sometimes, Bono himself saying he didn't like the idea of having no new songs at all and that is what is happening now

I would have thought so, but these rumours are too strong.

It might go the other way, and they are thinking that they will get through JT shows until a single release next month with minimal fuss

 

[SecretFly]

Well The Killers released a new single today which I love and they have an album coming out soon. Arcade Fire have an album out soon as well. If we don't get SOE this year there's new music and other artists to listen to.

 

[renvst]

Well The Killers released a new single today which I love and they have an album coming out soon. Arcade Fire have an album out soon as well. If we don't get SOE this year there's new music and other artists to listen to.

Royal Blood Album is out tomorrow as well and it's pure bomb! There's a new QOTSA coming and maybe a new Foo Fighters record coming later this year.

It might be a really good year for Rock Lovers

 

[ascender_RS]

Latest brain-dump of "what on earth are they actually doing..." All based on the fact there's no big money in album sales any more so its all about the tour.

They're touring until late October
Rest of the year off for a break
Single and/or album released November/December
Announce tour dates in Dec
Rehearse a new I&E or E&I setlist
Back on the road in the Spring to keep management happy?

If that doesn't happen, then I've no idea when/if we'd see SOE? Because either they are all on board and will be up for keeping the work rate up and some semblance of momentum from this tour, or they want another long break to spend time with families and tinker with the music again.

 

[U2girl]

not one big thing.. it's the little things...

- band are talking about the album as though it's a done deal
- Bono citing Best Thing as "first single"
- production company tweets out that they're shooting a video with U2, then deletes tweet
- U2songs drops hint about at a December 1 release. If you follow their admins on twitter, you'll see that these folks are close to certain key figures in u2-world
- Bono playing SOE tracks to Pittsburgh media
- rumour about a summer single

yes, we've been here before.. and there's still time to put things off. But if it IS happening, new music is close

They dropped the one new song, allegedly "the album closer", from the setlist (nor did it appear at Bonaroo). And they were tight lipped on Kimmel.

Sure a funny way to indicate they're done.

 

[Axver]

And they were tight lipped on Kimmel.

So tight-lipped they let out an entire unreleased song on national TV, something they almost never do.

Keep calm, folks.

 

[Hollow Island]

Maybe they came to the sensible conclusion that ending the show with Vertigo is better than a new downer. I don't like Elevation and Vertigo much but I'd rather leave the stadium feeling energized than sort of depressed. They should just close with I Will Follow or 40 though. I know the set is loosely chronological, but who cares?

 

[RoKKeR]

Wouldn't worry about Little Things being MIA... seems like they are having fun ending the show on an eye note and bringing back the Vertigo visuals that look great on the screen.

I'm sure it'll cycle back in eventually, even though I still don't think it should be the final song. (as Hollow Island has said)

 

[Y2K]

I don't understand why they don't throw "The Little Things" into the set a little earlier. If you close on that song, you risk a lot of people having already left not hearing it, or people using that song as a chance to leave and beat traffic. If you put it earlier in the set, you guarantee everyone will hear it. And then you can end the concert on a high, upbeat note like they are doing with "Vertigo".

 

[lazarus]

Back on the road in the Spring to keep management happy?

Can we give this shit a rest, please? These guys are in their mid-50s and can understandably retire at any time. There's no pressure or contract that compels them to keep touring until they drop. They determine their schedule and workload, not Oseary and Live Nation. You don't think their agreement with the latter gives them the freedom they've earned by being around for so long? There's no other band with as much clout.