Songs of Ascent - Part II
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bonocomet
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Vlad n U 2
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Vlad n U 2
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Eno deh traitah!
Nah, let him work with Coldplay, whens their next album supposed to come out?
Nah, let him work with Coldplay, whens their next album supposed to come out?
Chris Martin said in an interview last year that they'd like to put one out before 2010, but we'll see if that happens.
Imaging SOA battling Coldplay's next album at the end of this year... Christ, that would be interesting. Unfortunately, Coldplay would probably "win".
But I'm not sure Uni would be stupid enough to do that. Maybe SOA would be a good album for next year, about the same time that NLOTH was released?
Vlad n U 2
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Alright, looks like a li'l competitor for Songs of Ascent. Oh how badly I want to hear some news about it.
powerhour24
ONE love, blood, life
Just go in the studio with Lanois, he's the one that pushes them to innovate with their sound, Eno makes them sound epic on records, and in the case of NLOTH, added some of his trademark sounds.
Vlad n U 2
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Yeah, people forget Lanois' contributions which are usually in the shadow of Eno's methinks.
What the hell happened to this?:
Coldplay To Take A Break | News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com
I like Coldplay but I'd much rather see Eno going in with U2 to make Songs of Ascent (which hopefully contains some of the experimental songs U2 and Eno/Lanois were talking about during the making of the album that seems to have been cut away) than make an album with a band currently on a World Tour that said that they "would take a break".
Coldplay To Take A Break | News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com
I like Coldplay but I'd much rather see Eno going in with U2 to make Songs of Ascent (which hopefully contains some of the experimental songs U2 and Eno/Lanois were talking about during the making of the album that seems to have been cut away) than make an album with a band currently on a World Tour that said that they "would take a break".
PookaMacP
War Child
Any conspiracy theorists think it might be a trick to throw us off the scent and downplay stories of another U2 album? Or could it just be that Eno's fairly straightforward and just tells it like it is?
Certainly Daniel Lanois deserves a lot more kudos than he gets - just listen to his production on Bob Dylan's Oh Mercy or Time Out of Mind to see what a great producer he is. Or, indeed, 'Cedars of Lebanon'.
Certainly Daniel Lanois deserves a lot more kudos than he gets - just listen to his production on Bob Dylan's Oh Mercy or Time Out of Mind to see what a great producer he is. Or, indeed, 'Cedars of Lebanon'.
nathan1977
Rock n' Roll Doggie
big secret: U2 is Coldplay. Chris Martin et al. just mime the instruments they play. That would explain so much, and also help us from having to deal with Bono being a liar.
bonocomet
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Eno the Mad U2 Scientist
No, I don't want U2 competing with anyone commercially successful on the next album. That's been the problem for a decade now. How about competing artistically with Radiohead? Then we can have great music.
Vlad n U 2
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Yay! Then it would be a win-win situation! 
Now don't you start talking about RH.
Now don't you start talking about RH.
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
I think I speak for everyone here when I say:
"STOP FUCKING TALKING ABOUT FUCKING RADIO-FUCKING-HEAD!!!!!!!"
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
To actually answer the content of the question:
I don't want U2 competing with anyone. If they compete with Coldplay, they will aim for comercial success. If they compete with Radiohead they will aim for 'shit-pseudo-mind-fuck-call-it-art-because-it's-nothing-else' tripe
I don't want U2 competing with anyone. If they compete with Coldplay, they will aim for comercial success. If they compete with Radiohead they will aim for 'shit-pseudo-mind-fuck-call-it-art-because-it's-nothing-else' tripe
ozeeko
Refugee
I think U2 should be satisfied with conquering the world numerous times, and SERIOUSLY be satisfied with it, and now just write and perform great music without second guessing what the soccer moms or converted 00's fans might want to hear. Fuck the fans. Make music for yourself. That's how all great artists do it.
BrownEyedBoy
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Post of the year, ladies and gentlemen.
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
a-thankyou kind sirs. 
Rob33
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Gonna Run 2 U
New Yorker
I dont want u2 thinking they have to compete with any band thats around today (the constant cock sucking of the killers and kings of leon, come on guys!). In the 80s they knew they just ruled...they have to get back to that sense of confidence.
Vlad n U 2
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Just what I said but much, much better. Dan, you should be a mod.
Spoken like a true U2 fan.
I wish Bono was able to read this.
BVS
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This would be an interesting thread in and of itself...
For I think this may be the ideal, but in reality happens very rarely...
I think once you leave your parent's basement and playing in front of people it's not just for you. And no matter who you are people's reaction will play at least a subconscious roll...
I don't think U2 consciously think of their audience any more than anyone else, in fact I have quotes from a certain band that shall remain nameless but keeps getting brought up in here
talking about how they thought about doing this but ended up with that because they weren't sure how their audience would react. I think the difference between these two bands is their audience one is vast and diverse the other is niche but loyal. So I can see where a band like U2 seems to be confused sometimes whereas bands with a less diverse fan base can seem more focused.
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
This would be an interesting thread in and of itself...
For I think this may be the ideal, but in reality happens very rarely...
I think once you leave your parent's basement and playing in front of people it's not just for you. And no matter who you are people's reaction will play at least a subconscious roll...
I don't think U2 consciously think of their audience any more than anyone else, in fact I have quotes from a certain band that shall remain nameless but keeps getting brought up in here
An excellent point, well made. Let's put RH to bed
Vlad n U 2
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How about "Radiohead" (aah i said it!) be censored in this place, like change it to "U2".
Nah, i'm expecting the challenging (trying not to use 'experimental') material from the Fez session to emerge on SoA, maybe it could be in the vein of Zooropa or to another extent Passengers in how they challenge themselves.
Well, i'm going around in circles so i'll leave it to the people with the know.
Nah, i'm expecting the challenging (trying not to use 'experimental') material from the Fez session to emerge on SoA, maybe it could be in the vein of Zooropa or to another extent Passengers in how they challenge themselves.
Well, i'm going around in circles so i'll leave it to the people with the know.
ozeeko
Refugee
This would be an interesting thread in and of itself...
For I think this may be the ideal, but in reality happens very rarely...
I think once you leave your parent's basement and playing in front of people it's not just for you. And no matter who you are people's reaction will play at least a subconscious roll...
I don't think U2 consciously think of their audience any more than anyone else, in fact I have quotes from a certain band that shall remain nameless but keeps getting brought up in here
Yea, true, the thoughts on how your audience is going to react will always be there. It's near impossible to not get bothered by the thought when you're making a record that will be released worldwide. So obviously, yea, U2 will have that on their mind.
Where U2's secondguessing comes into play the most is with their desire to make huge optimistic and reassuring "hits." They had a different view on hit songs back in their heyday. For God's sake, they refused to release "Treasure" on War because they thought it was too poppy! Treasure!!! "With Or Without You" wasn't even a hit song in their eyes, until others pleaded with them to release it! "One", their signature song probably, was something that happened completely by accident. It wasn't an anthem they were chasing, it just happened.
With POP, the mentality of U2 shifted. They became traditional songwriters. Only one problem, the album lacked that one huge hit. I think that's the thing that really sticks in their craw. So on ATYCLB, for the first time they aimed specifically for hit songs. For the most part, in my opinion, it worked. On Bomb they really really really tried hard...tried too hard IMO and as a result created hit songs that started to sound stale after a couple listens. On NLOTH, they set out to mix things up again, explore music, and write music for music's sake that wasn't obvious, something a bit more subtle and artistic. For the most part they succeeded, but then the secondguessing came roaring to the surface with CT, Breathe and SUC. Now, I like CT, but on this album it sounds like an afterthought. It's like if they put Sweetest Thing on the Joshua Tree. Good song, but doesn't fit. SUC...i best better leave that one alone cuz i could go all night.
What am I trying to say? That writing hit songs isn't U2's strong suit. For some artists it works. The Beatles were song writing machines, they had that knack for it. U2 doesn't. Now that doesn't mean they aren't able to produce hits, for they do have many, but it works better when the hits come to them, rather than them scrambling to come up with something that sounds like a U2 anthem.
Most of their hit songs of this decade all share a similar theme. A theme of looking on the bright side of things and standing up for yourself. They all share that optimistic feeling, the feeling that "everything is going to be alright". Is that such a bad thing? Not necessarily, but i'm pretty burnt out on the idea.
After Beautiful Day, Walk On, Stuck in a Moment, Electrical Storm, Original Of The Species, City of Blinding Lights, Window In The Skies, and future hits Crazy Tonight and Breathe............i'm ready for something else. I'm ready for a hit that isn't the same shit different color.
So yea, that's the aspect of U2 i have greivances with. The ongoing pursuit of huge optimistic sounding hit songs with an optimistic reassuring message. That's where i see the unfortunate secondguessing occuring.
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