Songs of Innocence - Album Discussion

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Anyone who uses the Internet/Cloud has stuff downloaded onto their device EVERY DAY that they didn't ask for. Cookies, tracking software, etc. Stuff that is way more nefarious than a U2 album. Then again, a significant segment of the population wants to believe that a U2 album is nefarious.

I honestly believe there would be less complaining if Apple were putting unsolicited Abu Ghraib videos in everyone's iTunes library. Sheesh.

I don't think it's nefarious, or an invasion of privacy, or an act of virtual violence of any of that nonsense people are saying. In fact in the case of U2 I welcomed it.

But that doesn't mean I don't understand people who found it to be irritating. And to your larger point, and lot tech savvy people actually try to do things to prevent the cookies, tracking software, etc. from their phones & computers (not saying this is anything like that). No one who is aware of that crap likes it.

Anyway, I'm pleased with how they did this and recognise it was a great move for U2, but I also really don't have a problem with people who want Apple to leave their iTunes library alone. I mean, sure it's a waste of time for people to get annoyed about it and Tweet about it...just as it's a waste of time to get annoyed with people who do, and to get annoyed and take criticism of your (that's a rhetorical "your") favourite band so personally. Just as this discussion is pretty much a waste of time. :)

Anyway, it's just as easy for people to knock us for whining about bad reviews of our favourite band as it is for us to knock them for whining about unwanted stuff in their iTunes libraries.
 
They should do a promo show at Red Rocks. Fans would come running from all over to go to that!

Seriously though, I'd expect the usual SNL/Letterman, and maybe a club show in New York that would be broadcast on iTunes. Maybe the same situation will occur in London.
 
I don't like all these new people discovering U2 for the first time, going to be harder to get tickets next year!!!! ;). Anyway brilliant move by the band to get the attn to get people discovering their previous releases. Oh to be a virgin again and listen to the JT or AB again!! Would be mind blowing.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
Wow. Wow. Wow. It's been a long time coming, but man, was it worth the wait. This new album is SO amazing and energizing! The more I listen to it all, the more I fall in love with U2 all over again :heart:

Personally, I'm excited that they (finally) stepped out of their comfort zone a bit more, with strings and even another vocalist (!!!). I'm one of those oddballs who loves the Pop album, so I like it when they stretch themselves more. Think they need to do more of this in future. Bono's voice is still amaaaaazzzingly great, you'd never know he's 54, his falsetto still KICKS ASS! If those vocal cords could talk...oh wait, they do. ALOT. ;)

Still wrapping my brain around all the lyrics. I love that B is being so introspective and looking back. 20/20 hindsight and all that. I'm just thrilled to have new music that is both lyrical and meaningful and isn't full of contrived, manufactured synth pop bullshit like most of the stuff today. I'm honestly horrified at the CRAP that young people are subjected to that masquerades as 'music.' *shudder* Of course, I'm now looking into stuff by Lykke Li, who I'd never heard of before. But then...that's what U2 does, isn't it? Opens all sorts of new doors to all sorts of new--everything--for fans to discover. :)

It's also rekindled my love for some of their older stuff, so I've been on quite a heavy U2 streak this week...like meeting up with a great old friend you haven't seen in awhile but you pick up right where you left off like you haven't missed a beat...(for instance, right now, 'Wire' aaaaaah!!!) *explode*

As things go, out of 10, I think this one's a solid 8 at least...if not *edging* up to a 9 (GET IT? LOL). :doh: Could be one of their best ever, IMHO!
 
I don't like all these new people discovering U2 for the first time, going to be harder to get tickets next year!!!! ;). Anyway brilliant move by the band to get the attn to get people discovering their previous releases. Oh to be a virgin again and listen to the JT or AB again!! Would be mind blowing.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
That's why they're doing another stadium-only tour. :shifty:
 
Is the cover on iTunes going to be the actual cover? It looks like a placeholder to me....
 
Why do people keep saying this? Do you not understand the concept of the album?

This is not a placeholder.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

It's a valid question, especially so if lots of people are saying the same thing.

Whats your take on the cover then?
 
I love the metaphors for life using waves in EBW. The waves can be challenges in life or temptations that lead us astray. If you yourself are a broken wave your reach for help is limited by the stretch of the wave on the beach. Loneliness is treated as being shipwrecked. God is the Captain that you have listen to. Being swept of your feet could be putting effort into a relationship instead of chasing other people. It could also mean not reacting to the waves of life and accepting them.

Lots of stuff potentially going on here.
 
I like the cover also. The colours (or lack thereof) evoke their first album, and it fits perfectly with the style of the liner notes.

It's not something I would not have expected from U2, I hope they don't change it. Though I have a suspicion that the deluxe version may in fact come in some kind of slip case with an alternate cover.
 
^ What I'm getting at.

I don't dislike the cover, but feel that they might have something else up their sleeves (pun) for the physical release.
 
It's a valid question, especially so if lots of people are saying the same thing.



Whats your take on the cover then?


It's the best cover since Pop. NLOTH had such potential. :(

The whole album is about their days before being signed. These songs are the stories of why they became a band and what shaped their music. This cover is what U2 would have turned into their label back then.

It's brilliant.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
Something I'm picking up on, is that they are perhaps being too concerned with appealing to a wide audience. Bono's vocals are often too present in the foreground, something the producers have tried to remedy with their spacious mixing. The production sounds wonderful, but if they included a little more instrumentals (or soloing), to flesh it out a bit more so that it didn't have to rely as much on the individual listeners imagination, there would be more for us to enjoy. It's not too much of an issue, but that's how I think it could improve. :hmm:
 
I vote for the first gig to be an invasion of some randomly-selected angry Twitter critic's backyard, an "aural assault" concert performed without their consent.

That would be awesome. They should just start randomly showing up to play concerts at high volume in the backyards of people who were pissed that the album was placed into their iClouds.
 
Apple Users Download Free U2 Album Two Million Times | Re/code

BxW3T5RIcAIzLPJ.jpg


Ok, back to important things. So this number is interesting and actually much better when you really think about it. Apple and U2 want to throw out the 500 million number. But you've got people with a couple accounts, tons of accounts sitting there with no activity. So my bet is we're lookin at about 300 million active accounts.
Beyond that, I thought about myself. I am a huge music fan, i have an iphone and use iTunes. But if I wasn't a huge U2 fan I would never had watched the keynote. I maybe get in my iTunes and mess around every few weeks. I don't really bother with the cloud storage.
It could have taken me a month or two to even realize a free album was in my "purchased" folder.
So now think about the 10's of millions that aren't big music fans. They aren't that active on social media, the album could easily go undiscovered.

I would easily put that as half of the 300 million. Probably much more.

Now if this rate continues they will have about 5 million people download it this first week.
That's about 3.5% in the first week. They have 4 more weeks after that. Which even being conservative I would say they will end up with 10-12 million by oct. 15th.

So I think these numbers are promising considering lots are streaming instead of downloading.
 
Not many artists could even think about pulling this off or even try it so U2 is trying to stay on the cutting edge. What's remarkable is how secretive it was, amazing in this day and age.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

Good lord, how many idiots posted in the comments of that article?
 
Ok, back to important things. So this number is interesting and actually much better when you really think about it. Apple and U2 want to throw out the 500 million number. But you've got people with a couple accounts, tons of accounts sitting there with no activity. So my bet is we're lookin at about 300 million active accounts.
Beyond that, I thought about myself. I am a huge music fan, i have an iphone and use iTunes. But if I wasn't a huge U2 fan I would never had watched the keynote. I maybe get in my iTunes and mess around every few weeks. I don't really bother with the cloud storage.
It could have taken me a month or two to even realize a free album was in my "purchased" folder.
So now think about the 10's of millions that aren't big music fans. They aren't that active on social media, the album could easily go undiscovered.

I would easily put that as half of the 300 million. Probably much more.

Now if this rate continues they will have about 5 million people download it this first week.
That's about 3.5% in the first week. They have 4 more weeks after that. Which even being conservative I would say they will end up with 10-12 million by oct. 15th.

So I think these numbers are promising considering lots are streaming instead of downloading.
The most important thing is that U2 are promoting/encouraging the 'album' format, instead of releasing singles like many artists do.
 
Good lord, how many idiots posted in the comments of that article?

Ugh, so many morons! Delete it, or don't download it from the cloud at all if you don't want it. These people who are making a big deal about this just look stupid. The world faces so many problems, and these people are acting like their constitutional rights have been violated because they were "OFFERED" a free album. They have the right to refuse this offer. I hope I never meet somebody in person who complains about U2 violating their privacy, it won't be a pretty discussion.

It's just funny to me to think about how irritated these blind haters of U2 must feel when they see statistics like what we just saw. 17 albums in iTunes top 100, that fact that U2 have sold over 150 million albums, and of course the highest grossing AND highest attended concert tour ever. As much as Pitchfork bashes and pans U2, they still manage to pack stadiums all over the world. That just has to be a thorn in the side of those cynical critics, and I love it!

(I don't think a person disliking U2 makes them a moron. I think people who dislike U2 (or any other artist) because they're part of an anti popular movement (thus ironically sheep in their own way) are pathetic.
 
I vote for the first gig to be an invasion of some randomly-selected angry Twitter critic's backyard, an "aural assault" concert performed without their consent.

so much this

i work for apple and apparently there's a bug that's preventing some people from hiding the album from their purchases if they have iTunes in the Cloud on. so while lots of people are just too dumb to figure out how to do it, there are actually people who literally cannot delete the album. i for one find this fucking hilarious. also, Apple's fault, not U2's. in fact i find it interesting that all rage is directed to U2 and almost no one blames Apple... because Apple is cool and U2 is not. whatever. it's a lonely road, being a U2 fan...until tickets go on sale. x_x
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom