All this misinformation and talk of multiple albums and multiple producers and multiple styles leads me to one conclusion... u2 have no fucking clue what they want to do next.
They never do, do they? Constant changes...
The only time we get solid information is when the
finished album has been handed over to the label and things are unable to be altered anymore.
It sucks...because I'd like to know this stuff myself. I'd like for them to tell us something that has some consistency...but the truth is, they don't know what they are going to do. So why should we expect them to be reliable? I don't.
Bono was specific that DM was one project and that Will.I.Am and some other producers were another project.
And Bono is always reliable.
Look...I know what you mean, I'm not trying to be a total smart-ass. I am confident that Bono/U2 fully intend these to be their own separate things.
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I think we've got to use our critical thinking process here. Since when do U2 do this sort of thing? Try,
never. So why all of a sudden does it change? I am sure they want to try to mix things up, do something different. What happened with Howie B? They needed a trusted ear, so they brought in Flood. Chris Thomas...here comes Lillywhite. Rubin...here comes Eno and Lanois. This is not complicated. It will all end up on the same album regardless of what they say or plan on doing at the moment.
When/how are they going to tour to support these several projects? Are they going to skip one entirely? Or do they try to get it all in this coming spring?
Of all the new songs being performed live, how many in number are we talking about? Even if you toss in Winter, you might have 7 or 8 songs. Not enough for an album. Why are they holding back on the rest of them? Maybe this is all they have confidence in. They just released Mercy. Are they going to make a studio version as well? Winter is out in some fashion. Boy Falls From the Sky is on Broadway.
We can't be talking about a ton of material here, folks.
Because rattletrap Bono isn't talking about it. It's all vague 'ideas'.
I think they'll produce 3 or 4 "club songs" maybe half a dozen with DM, and use the rest of the material that is being performed live. Every Breaking Wave or whatever it is...and we'll get what U2 have basically ALWAYS done. The 'Best Of' that period and time.
Finally, they have to eventually start rehearsing the tour resumption.
Which would be...I don't know, April at the latest. And we have the holiday season upon us. You can't be talking about much more than three months of studio time...divided up between two or more projects? With potential Spiderman rewrites on the burner?
So there is no question that some of this material is a LONG ways off from being seen, if it is a full fledged project of its own. But if it weren't...and they were trying as many things as they could, while they had time...we could get an album with a mix of things. I don't like the lack of cohesion either, but I think the days of the 'cohesive U2 album' are sadly, extinct. For other artists, no, I think other artists would rather have something to say, artistically, but U2 are about the craft of 'song' more than anything these days. They'd rather have a 'hit' or three than a classic album. After all, that's the ONLY real reason to work with Will.I.StealmelodiesAnd.Am.UselesswithoutAutotune