Who's producing the new album??

[jick]

Re: Re: Glen Ballard...

But seriously, J, if you want a serious argument, I'll give you one: If you can't teach an old dog new tricks, then what is the purpose of hiring a young producer (who knows the tricks) to teach U2 what he knows (if U2 themselves are "old"). In this scenerio - according to your line of reasoning - U2 would NOT be able to benefit from it, as they can no longer be taught anything. Is that the conclusion you were aiming for? Obviously it was, but there are plenty of examples of artists in every field - music included - who have created their best work well into their careers. Take Moby for example (and this actually kills two birds with one stone, as he produces as well), or even Leonard Cohen, who wrote his most commercially successful album well into his 50s.

It's all a matter of perspective. Luckily, quite often we can choose that.

When you talk about artists making their most commercially successful work in their 50's, these are artists who cannot compare with U2. U2 are all about millions in sales, not just a million. So maybe you can always find a no name artist sell 50,000 units per album, then into his 50's, he suddenly sells 500,000 and goes gold, but so what? No artist has had a monster of an album or done his best work into his old age, unless you want to talk about Santana's Supernatural and Clapton's Unplugged (and Tears In Heaven). Maybe U2 should do a Santana style thing and start dueting with Michelle Branch type artists. But I am not for that. I want U2 to be just the four of them. So instead of doing a duet with a Michelle Branch mold of an artist, U2 can do the next best thing by hiring a producer who produced Michelle Branch type music.

Well, you yourself said U2 is an old dog. So if you want to call them that so be it. But I'd rather have an old dog and another up-and-coming producer with young blood and enthusiasm, over an old dog paired with another old dog.

Cheers,

J
The King Of POP

 

[Salome]

the great thing about U2 is that they have always been able to combine commercial with artistic success
and I believe they will continue to do so

 

[cmb737]

I nominate myself. I am sure I can clear my schedule for the next year.

 

[Michael Griffiths]

Re: Re: Re: Glen Ballard...

Well, you yourself said U2 is an old dog. So if you want to call them that so be it.

No, J, don't put words in my mouth. I didn't say U2 is an old dog. Read more carefully. I said, according to your line of reasoning, one wouldn't want to teach U2 anything new, because - and once again, this is your line of reasoning - they would be classified as "old" (why do you think I put old in quotation marks?).

I would appreciate it if refrain from putting any more words in my mouth. Thank-you.

 

[DebbieSG]

with a song like Bulldozer it's going to have to be someone who is mechanically inclined

 

[barlowdog]

Didn't read all the posts so maybe someone else thought of this. But I think Henry Rollins should produce the next U2 record. Henry seems to think he knows what a rock record should sound like so give him a shot.

 

[Dorian Gray]

henry = ass!

 

[Zoomerang96]

haha barlow.

 

[^^Prop^^]

I'd say the only reason they'd have William Orbit produce it is if they planned on releasing another dancey album, he's not a guitar driven producer if that makes sense, so I HIGHLY doubt he'll be producing it, my bet is on another eno/lanois collaboration.

 

[Michael Griffiths]

I'd say the only reason they'd have William Orbit produce it is if they planned on releasing another dancey album, he's not a guitar driven producer if that makes sense, so I HIGHLY doubt he'll be producing it, my bet is on another eno/lanois collaboration.

While I agree with you that Orbit is an unlikely candidate (though not impossible), I *highly* doubt that we'll see another eno/lanois combination, unless something comes together at the last minute. Lanois has stated publicly that he wants to devote his time to his own record, which should be out in the near future. As for Eno, I don't think U2 will go for him on this record, as it sounds as though U2 are straying away from atmospherics, and going for raw sounds this time out. I think Steve Lillywhite would be a good producer for them in this regard, but who knows.

One thing I've learned about U2 over the years is you can't predict too much. We won't know until we know.