U2 Set To Return The Torch To The Police

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Headache in a Suitcase said:
this torch of which you speak... is it like the one on survivor? if so, can we vote sting off the island?
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Only if he can be exiled to MY island.

:drool:
 
jarvis said:

The two singles tanked in the charts also.
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I beg your pardon???

Just so you know, both singles reached the no. 1 spot here in Holland, and they're only the third and fourth U2 single to be able to do that... I really don't see that as 'tanked'..

U2 isn't slipping at all... U218 was the closure of a period, and they're going to reinvent themselves again. People said Rattle and Hum was a failure, but it sold 12 million... people said Pop was a failure, but that cd is loved and marked as favourite by many fans.... I think U2 are sorta ahead of their time, and you cant judge a recent cd just yet. I'm not claiming U218 will be seen as a masterpiece in the future, but just keep in mind, it's just a Compilation cd... it's not an album.. you can't write U2 off for that!
 
This could be the most lame thread I've seen in a while. U2 isn't "slipping" since their last album — you can't guage that on a Best of release - their third mind you. Come on.

Besides, the Police are only back to make money. Are they making a new album? It sounds like they're just cashing in on a greatest hits tour. So what. They'll be playing 80s music while U2 continues making modern, vibrant music and prepares for another record breaking tour. The Police have some cool stuff, but I see them fading before U2 finishes their next tour.
 
One of the biggest differences between U2 and The Police, is that The Police are a bunch of has been rockers, that will be playing to a bunch of has been groupies.
No offense to anyone, but unfortunately their time has past. Sure they might put out a new album, but if you listen to it enough, it'll sound like it could have been made 20 years ago.

The greatest thing I love about U2 is their ability to constantly reinvent themselves with out compromising who they are as a band, and as individuals. The Police are still gonna sound exactly the same as they did 20+ years ago. U2 is gonna sound nothing like like they did even 10 years ago. But it's still the same band.
 
jarvis said:


The Police are back.
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64-year olds shouldn't be passing naked flames around.....

The Police, like the Stones, are just an expensive cabaret act.
 
If anyone will get this proverbial torch it will be either Arcade Fire or Bloc Party. But there was certainly no taking of U2's torch from The Police.

U2's next album will be key. But really, I don't know if any band will ever be as relevant as U2 for so long. Some other band may become the next Important Band, but for 30 years? I doubt it.
 
I wasnt a huge fan of the polis (thats police in scottish) but did enjoy a few of their songs. I am pleased they are back simply from a nostalgic point of view. I am a bit of a sucker when things from my past come back. I would certainly like to see em live if for no other reason to add them to my CV
 
Chris Martin said:


That's what people say about U2 these days.
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Man I hate you Chris Martin, but goddamnit do I respect you.

:up:

I really dig The Police, but unless they're actually recording a new album, it is a cash-in on the nostalgia phase like Indra said.

Plus, I think Sting's getting bored with the lute.
 
The only thing U2 passed on to the Police last night is Bono's JT vest-with-no-shirt-underneath look (which was quite welcome because Sting has niiiiice arms for a man his age.)

I may have issues with U2's current direction, but it's not like they broke up more 20 years ago with Bono doing a succession of blander and blander solo albums until they finally decide to get together for a reunion tour to cash in on the current New Wave nostalgia craze. And I'm saying this as a huge Police fan who is thinking about shelling out bucks for a ticket despite all this.
 
jarvis said:
Twenty one years ago during the 1986 Amnesty International Tour in Giants Stadium, The Police played "Invisible Sun" and then gave their instruments to U2 who therafter completed the song. To many, it was the symbolic passing of the torch from the Police who ruled the rock scene then to U2.

U2 therafter released the Johsua Tree in 1987 to cement their spot as "Rock's Hottest Ticket" and validate the torch passing from The Police. For the past twenty years, U2 have held on to that throne. Bono stated during the 2000 release of All That You Can't Leave Behind that they were "reapplying to the best-band-in-the-world" job. When they released How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb in 2004, U2 declared they were in competition with acts like The Killers and Franz Ferdinand. Both albums were commercial and critical blockbusters, winning them numerous Grammies.

One year removed from their Grammy success, U2 have been slipping. Their U218 release got lukewarm commercial reaction from the casual music fans they had hoped to draw, and got criticism on the song selection from their more hardcore fanbase. Their new tracks got mixed reactions and failed to add fire to the last leg of their tour. The two singles tanked in the charts also.

With U2 slowing down and nothing new slated for this year, they have been showing some vulenrabiltiy in what was once an invincible armor as the best band in the world. And whether it is by an act of coincidence or destiny, the very band who passed the torch to U2 is back. The Police have reunited after the long hiatus that started when they passed on the torch to U2.

After a rousing performance of "Roxanne" in the very Grammy awards that U2 had dominated the previous year, and a huge world tour looming, it looks like the trio of Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland are back to regain the torch they had passed to U2 more than two decades ago.

The Police are back.
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I'm as excited about the new Police tour as anyone, but its incorrect to say that U2 is sliding back or slowing down.

The band finished off the last 12 shows of their tour back in November/December after having to postpone them and they had the highest attendance and gross figures for Australia EVER. The show in Hawaii was the largest attended, highest grossing concert in the history of the state of Hawaii.

The Best of Album is U2's 3rd compilation album and its already sold over 3 million copies. It has now replaced The best of 1980-1990 as U2's go to best of album for new fans.

Paul McGuinness recently stated that U2's next album will be released in November 2007, with the tour to start sometime in the Spring of 2008.

As for The Police, its amazing that they are back now after being away, really since 1984. The Synchronicity Tour ended at the Melbourne Show Grounds on March 4, 1984 and The Police's concert in Vancouver Canada on May 28, 2007 will be the FIRST full Police concert since the Melbourne show in March 1984.

Its now clear that The Police are doing a full world tour instead of just a brief 3 to 4 month tour in the summer. They will be going everywhere that they can, South America, Australia, Europe, North America, Japan.

There have been rumors about the release of new studio material, but interestingly, the band did not comment on that question during the press conference.

So we'll just have to wait and see if this is a full world tour to celebrate the 30th anniversery of the band and then Sting goes back to his solo career or whether they will stick together and make more albums and tour more. Sting likes to surprise people and he may feel a new Police album would be much more interesting than simply another solo Sting album, but we'll have to wait and see.

Its unusual, in fact I think unheard of for a band to have been disbanded for nearly a quarter of a century and then come back together. The closest to it would be The Eagles but that was only a 14 year break. So everyone will be watching this Police tour to see what happens artistically and commercially.
 
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MrsSpringsteen said:
I wasn't all that impressed by the Police last night. Roxanne sounded so stale to me. I liked Sting in that shirt, that was about it :wink: I am still interested in what U2 still has left to do, even if I don't like some of their new stuff as much as some of their old stuff. I would still pay to see U2, whereas I can't imagine myself paying to see The Police. Of course it's not as if I was a huge Police fan to begin with. But it just seemed sort of silly last night :shrug: My feeling is that they're in this to make some quick bucks and it won't be any sort of lasting thing that will challenge U2.
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Do you like the song Roxanne?
 
jimmmm said:
Were the police ever the best band in the world?
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The Police were the biggest band in the world in 1983 and 1984. I think they were the best band in the world, just like I think U2 has been the best band in the world since the Police broke up.

Who is the best band in the world at any given time period or today is a matter of opinion. Who is the biggest band in the world is not.
 
BonoVoxSupastar said:
:lol:

That was a mediocre performace at best. They will play a few summer dates of all old material and fade away. That's it.

U2 will pass the torch someday but no one has their hand out grabbing for it right now.
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Perhaps not the best performance of Roxanne, but just as good as U2's performance of "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" two years ago.
 
Aygo said:
The big enemy is not The Police, but bands like the media-praised (whice I just hate) Arctic Monkeys - who are dependant of the new 2nd album, Franz Ferdinand, and the most dangerous one... the couple Coldplay (on the attack again) with Brian Eno.

If U2 will continue to make this absurd actions - such as bad compilations of 16 singles, improvement of the tiring poverty/Africa speeches, duets with everyone who asks for it - you can bet that they will go on the trash easily.
As I said before, U2 are in a similar situation as they were back in 1989/90, the context is just different.
I won't be surpreised that they will be backlashed by media and the public even if the next album is great.
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All the media praise in the world won't make the Arctic Monkeys the biggest band in the world. The closest out of bands you mentioned is Coldplay, and Coldplay is light years away from having the level of attendance at their shows as U2 does. Although the Police have been away for a quarter of a century, by far the longest anyone has been away and then dared to comback, they walk all over Coldplay's recent tour figures nearly to the same degree as U2 recently did.
 
AtomicBono said:
But there was certainly no taking of U2's torch from The Police.
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Well, U2 themselves disagree with you on that point. Plus, anyone who gets the "torch" from U2 will have to be a lot more than simply the latest popular indie band.
 
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