SOE 22 - 2018 it is... (it isn't)

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I feel like this interview serves no purpose other than to kick the U2 promo machine into gear.. not for TJT tour, but for the U2 brand, for SOE, and beyond..



Maybe...but.... I kinda felt like Bman was saying we get it. This better be special or we will be a heritage act. It gives me hope. Then again all their albums give me hope. For many they are well past 2 crap albums and we are finished.
 
But the lyrics completely changed. The Morning After Innocence began "Is that your fountain pen? Navy with a nib of gold. Could you write your name again and do anything you were told in 10 Cedarwood Road." We've never heard that as a song.


They also did it for Lead Me In The Way I Should Go and the lyrics were identical. :shrug:
 


So are you mocking me because I don't know this Peter Gabriel song? Their version is called "don't give up (Africa)", and I don't like it... that's all I know.




Not mocking, just facepalming the general unknowing of this song. It's a shame that was your first exposure to it, even though that's not a bad cover.
 
I couldn't get a read from Larry. His face is frozen in time.

But he did appear to be happy and not the usual grumpy face.

He's definitely on board.

It is a shame that he and Adam don't share more.
 
I couldn't get a read from Larry. His face is frozen in time.

But he did appear to be happy and not the usual grumpy face.

He's definitely on board.

It is a shame that he and Adam don't share more.

I thought it was funny that Zane asked at the end "Is the drummer happy?". Could it be that he is somehow aware of the "Larry onboard" meme?
 
Maybe...but.... I kinda felt like Bman was saying we get it. This better be special or we will be a heritage act. It gives me hope. Then again all their albums give me hope. For many they are well past 2 crap albums and we are finished.

Yep, even they must concede they're past the two crap albums mark. For the last two decades, the only promo cycle that didn't involve strong criticism of the new album's predecessor was HTDAAB, when they didn't stick the knife into ATYCLB.

Not mocking, just facepalming the general unknowing of this song. It's a shame that was your first exposure to it, even though that's not a bad cover.

Mate, you said there is no song called "Don't Give Up (Africa)". There is. It's a modification, not a faithful cover, of Gabriel's "Don't Give Up".
 
Edge's tone was very telling. They've gone from "Edge, hurry the fuck up" and relaxed a whole heap. It will definitely be this year.
 
I liked the reiteration at the end about not being a heritage band, quoting that God Part II lyric a few times etc. As positive an interview as you could expect / hope for imo.
 
Edge's tone was very telling. They've gone from "Edge, hurry the fuck up" and relaxed a whole heap. It will definitely be this year.
Yeah, the part where Edge joked that they'll have to re-record the whole thing was pretty telling.

The album is 99% done, and will be released this year.

The E+I tour will be next year.

Serious plans are being made, the new album train is rolling, and nothing is going to stop it.
 
Yep, even they must concede they're past the two crap albums mark. For the last two decades, the only promo cycle that didn't involve strong criticism of the new album's predecessor was HTDAAB, when they didn't stick the knife into ATYCLB.



Mate, you said there is no song called "Don't Give Up (Africa)". There is. It's a modification, not a faithful cover, of Gabriel's "Don't Give Up".

I thought BVS was infallible.
 
The interview is well worth watching, I enjoyed it although Larry and Adam get to say very little as usual. I'd also like to have seen Zane ask more about some of the other songs on the album rather than those which have been talked to death already although he does get some new bits of info about their recording i'd not heard before.

Bono was his usual enthusiastic self and said they're all loving the tour more than they thought they would. His enthusiasm has always left me wondering why they haven't released more music as I genuinely think they might discover some more gems by being spontaneous about stuff.

Definitely give it a watch and yes, 2017 does seem to be the year for SOE
 
Bono was his usual enthusiastic self and said they're all loving the tour more than they thought they would. .

Maybe I'm overreaching...but that line and reaction from the others makes it seem (to me at least) that they were not really sure that this tour was a good idea. Like they went into it with great caution.
 
Jolyon Thomas tweeted a link to the Bullet discussion on the Zane Lowe interview yesterday. He's shared quite a few U2 links of late, hopefully he is still like Larry, "on board"!
 
Yeah...old stories, eternal "the album better be good" talk from Bono, lots of "nostalgia but not really" tour defense talk. And in the 40+minutes we get less vague lines on the album than you can count with your fingers. Edge's mushroom story saved the interview.

Here's a thought for the next era : someone needs to drop the shades and start shaving.
 
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Yeah...old stories, eternal "the album better be good" talk from Bono, lots of "nostalgia but not really" tour defense talk. And in the 40+minutes we get less vague lines on the album than you can count with your fingers. Edge's mushroom story saved the interview.

Here's a thought for the next era : someone needs to drop the shades and start shaving.
He should just rip his eyeballs out while he's at it. That'll help solve that pesky glaucoma thing. What a pussy, amirite???!?!?

Seriously though... [emoji90]
 
Here's a thought for the next era : someone needs to drop the shades and start shaving.

And maybe start making sleep a priority, find a less fake looking hairdo, and exercise more so he doesn't have to wheeze his way through Vertigo half the time.

I always laugh when he jokes about his mullet days...when you consider that it was of the time and looked better than half his do's since the 2000's.

His Vertigo tour do was WAY worse than Live Aid. Lose the weave...close cropped NLOTH / 360 is still the best bet at his age.

BAGEL TIME.
 
Yeah...old stories, eternal "the album better be good" talk from Bono, lots of "nostalgia but not really" tour defense talk. And in the 40+minutes we get less vague lines on the album than you can count with your fingers. Edge's mushroom story saved the interview.

Here's a thought for the next era : someone needs to drop the shades and start shaving.



Marry me?
 
Jolyon Thomas tweeted a link to the Bullet discussion on the Zane Lowe interview yesterday. He's shared quite a few U2 links of late, hopefully he is still like Larry, "on board"!

i pray he is quite heavily involved. New blood please.
 
Maybe...but.... I kinda felt like Bman was saying we get it. This better be special or we will be a heritage act. It gives me hope. Then again all their albums give me hope. For many they are well past 2 crap albums and we are finished.

As for the "two crap albums" thing. People say they've already crossed that red line. But I don't really agree...

I mean, having a few crap songs on an otherwise good/great album does not equal a crap album.

ATYCLB - not my favorite, but BD, Kite (in my top 3 U2 songs), WILATW, New York, Walk On, Elevation, A lot of people love Stuck, although I don't, are all strong. IALW and WH, are both solid enough, not crap songs.

HTDAAB - Probably my least favorite U2 album, but overall it wasn't "crap" While Vertigo, COBL, and SYCMIOYO, are on a little higher tier, the rest is pretty solid, although I don't like Crumbs or Yahweh,
All said, not a "crap" album.

NLOTH - If not for the middle three, a really great album. With some of my favorites, NLOTH, Fez, MOS, and Magnificent.

SOI - In my top 5 U2 albums - No crap at all. Yes, TCB should have been included, and SFS is my least favorite, but sort of a middle of the road bland song, like Stuck, Man and a Woman, Miracle Drug, All Because of you type of bland song. No crap album here either.

So I think they have made it without hitting the two crap album limit. Especially cause i think Bono means two crap albums in a row.

For those saying they have long passed the two crap album time, what rationale are you using?
 
For those saying they have long passed the two crap album time, what rationale are you using?

I think Axver's point was that, if you consider the band's comments (regarding their prior album when a new album cycle starts) since the release of HTDAAB, by their own logic they have passed that limit already.

Personally, I don't think that's true as they've never released even one crap album.

IMO, HTDAAB was the closest they came (but I love Crumbs, AMAAW, and Yahweh ).

You can't call an album with Gloria, Tomorrow, Fire, Rejoice, October, and SIASL (which is sublime and criminally underrated) crap so I have no idea why some people (including the band) would suggest such a ridiculous thing.

It's just they way they're wired in always reaching for more and looking back critically at their most recent work....as well as it being a dash of promotion for the new album. As in, "this is why this album is better..."

More than a few grains of salt are needed to be taken at these moments...
 
At least Bono used a different adjective for SOE, ridiculous. Not punk rock on Venus. Not Edge is on fire. Not 11 singles put together

Not sure what ridiculous means. I'd love for Bono to have better song writing and Edge to do a little more than he has on the last two albums.
 
htaab is a crap album because every song is bad

nloth is a crap album because the middle three songs don't fit with the other eight at all and they're bad too. it's bad as an album.
 
I'd love for Bono to have better song writing and Edge to do a little more than he has on the last two albums.

I thought his songwriting was improved on the last album (since HTDAAB). He's still way too clunky at times. Maybe he needs to stop worrying about avoiding simple rhymes (hide/inside) although we've all heard heart / kneel / soul quite a bit ;]

I do wish Edge would experiment and stretch more these days. There's a degree of autopilot at times...
 
I thought his songwriting was improved on the last album (since HTDAAB). He's still way too clunky at times. Maybe he needs to stop worrying about avoiding simple rhymes (hide/inside) although we've all heard heart / kneel / soul quite a bit ;]

I do wish Edge would experiment and stretch more these days. There's a degree of autopilot at times...

Agree on both counts.
SOI felt much more natural to me in the songwriting and delivery than he's been since POP. Even in a song like Volcano that might have some questionable lines, everything flows well, the music is killer and Bono's voice sounds early 80's esque top notch. The album as a whole is still not at the 90's level songwriting, but a definite improvement.

I think if there is anything that everyone can agree on is that Edge needs to stretch and give us much more than he has for these past 4 albums. He has had a moment here or there, but it used to be a majority of the songs that he would give us quality stuff.
 
Agree on both counts.
SOI felt much more natural to me in the songwriting and delivery than he's been since POP. Even in a song like Volcano that might have some questionable lines, everything flows well, the music is killer and Bono's voice sounds early 80's esque top notch. The album as a whole is still not at the 90's level songwriting, but a definite improvement.

I think if there is anything that everyone can agree on is that Edge needs to stretch and give us much more than he has for these past 4 albums. He has had a moment here or there, but it used to be a majority of the songs that he would give us quality stuff.

True.
 
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