~Double Album Debate~
- Thread starter lew07
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
ascender_RS
Refugee
Wow. I guess these numbers in articles include all sorts of bits and pieces. So a chord progression or lyrical section qualify as a song.
I just wish they'd release more stuff to the fans, that's all. In this day & age there's no excuse for distribution, manufacturing cost overheads with releasing some stuff which would otherwise just be gathering dust.
U2 were always one of the first bands to be aware of the way things would change with the popularity of the internet growing and they seemed to be talking about it and keen to embrace it, but so far, they haven't really done anything with it in comparison with how someone like Trent Reznor has for example. Or maybe its the fact they're still constricted by the record company to really do what they want?
Well, U2 are very obsessed with quality control. They already have a large and impressive oeuvre, and they want any additions to be absolutely top-notch from here on out. I think they are also very sensitive to the fact that bands at their age/stage almost always put out mediocre work (and probably not purposefully).
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
And there's also that radio station who claimed it would have "around" 15 tracks.
Hmm, interesting. What station was that, and did they have a source?
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
There's probably nothing to it, but this post is what started the 15 track discussions:
http://www.u2interference.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5686193&postcount=36
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
It does when the album is supposedly "very long", and the only track that cracks the 7 minute mark is Moment Of Surrender.
There's no way this album is just 11 songs. Bono's statement may have been vague, and "very long" can be a relative term, but the longest album of 100% new studio material they've released is Pop, which is about an hour long. I think 15 songs, 68 minutes is a very logical assumption based on the material we have in front of us.
There's no way this album is just 11 songs. Bono's statement may have been vague, and "very long" can be a relative term, but the longest album of 100% new studio material they've released is Pop, which is about an hour long. I think 15 songs, 68 minutes is a very logical assumption based on the material we have in front of us.
PowerSurge
New Yorker
agreed.
if its not a double album as I think it won't be...it has to fall somewhere between 13-15 songs for it to be remotely close to "very long" as Bono put it.
if its not a double album as I think it won't be...it has to fall somewhere between 13-15 songs for it to be remotely close to "very long" as Bono put it.
chocky
Refugee
I agree to a certain extent. They are certainly keen to have their albums top notch but HAVE used less than 100% quality songs as a selling technique.
We got unfinished songs like Smile, Levitate, Flower Child, Love You Like Mad to sell the $150 digital set. We also got unfinished/demos to sell the 2-disk remastered sets.
Based on that I'm confident we'll see some of the remaining songs from the NLOTH sessions in either of:
1. a deluxe re-release of NLOTH in the future
2. a special digital release of NLOTH
3. a re-release if the Complete U2 Collection
4. a definitive U2 box set once all the remasters are finished
Hmmm. Do you guys think perhaps that the album will consist of the 12 mentioned songs plus 2-3 instrumentals? This would make sense given Edge's "album" comments, as well as what we know of the recording sessions in Fez. It would also explain the very long statement from Bono. It would also be something new for them with precedent in great albums of the past (Pet Sounds comes to mind). I hadn't thought of this before, but it really makes a lot of sense. Thoughts?
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
I would love that, especially if the instrumentals were atmospheric in nature, like leftovers from the potential Passengers sequel we were debating about a couple of years ago.
Yes exactly. I really think this might be the case, and it has me more excited than ever to get a tracklist. Otherwise we may be looking at 2-3 extra songs that U2 was too scared to play for Q.
chocky
Refugee
If there are some in strumentals that get "released" I'd expect they're on the the Corbijn film (bonus DVD) not on the actual album
PowerSurge
New Yorker
Agreed.
As much as I love instrumentals, U2 are at their best when they create complete songs with lyrics. If I want great instrumentals I'll listen to Kind of Blue or anything by Coltrane.
As much as I love instrumentals, U2 are at their best when they create complete songs with lyrics. If I want great instrumentals I'll listen to Kind of Blue or anything by Coltrane.
AndrewCowley
Refugee
I think U2's albums are mostly short, in terms of number of songs anyway, due to them struggling in the studio to come up with more songs than that. Compare to Springsteen: I seriously doubt U2 could ever do a Tracks type of box set. They don't have that many songs left over after most of their albums. JT being the exception and that was a long time ago.
snowbunny00774
ONE love, blood, life
two different albums (or at least the second is some kind of mini) in less than 18 months 
And Bono's "it's very long" comment doesn't necessarily have to refer to the length of the album or the number of songs.
DoctorMacPhisto
War Child
I highly doubt this is gonna be a double.
The fact that Larry wants an additional album out soon is awesome though.
The fact that Larry wants an additional album out soon is awesome though.
Morgoth321
Acrobat
Haven't read all of this thread so apologies if any of this has already been covered.
- It won't be a double album. Surely the Q Magazine article would've made some reference to this?
- Just because there are 50-60 songs doesn't necessarily mean that they're all worthy of release. U2's quality control seems very exacting and just because they complete a song doesn't have to mean that it'll automatically find its way onto an official release.
- I'm not sure about the logic of bolstering higher-priced album releases with extra tracks as enticements, or U2.com-only extra song packages. With the prevalence of filesharing and downloading, nothing stays exclusive for long. (They've tried this already anyway. Remember U2. COMmunication?) Obviously those who want to physically own the product / fancy packaging etc will buy it, but those who just want the music will always find a way of getting it. For example, Japan-only albums with extra tracks used to be exotic and expensive imports - now pretty much anything can be found on the internet easily enough (such as Fast Cars, which wasn't on every version of HTDAAB but was never hard to track down).
- Those who read Q Magazine may recall an interview from 2006 (I think - can't locate the exact source), where Bono stated that he wanted to put out a new album before the end of that year because the band were - to paraphrase the man himself - 'on fire', obviously! There's always talk of album releases close together but I think the best we can hope for is a lengthy tour and a further album release halfway through - a la Achtung Baby / Zooropa. If there's a lot of completed and acceptable songs ready to release, then it should just be a case of selecting the best ones and throwing them out there.
- It won't be a double album. Surely the Q Magazine article would've made some reference to this?
- Just because there are 50-60 songs doesn't necessarily mean that they're all worthy of release. U2's quality control seems very exacting and just because they complete a song doesn't have to mean that it'll automatically find its way onto an official release.
- I'm not sure about the logic of bolstering higher-priced album releases with extra tracks as enticements, or U2.com-only extra song packages. With the prevalence of filesharing and downloading, nothing stays exclusive for long. (They've tried this already anyway. Remember U2. COMmunication?) Obviously those who want to physically own the product / fancy packaging etc will buy it, but those who just want the music will always find a way of getting it. For example, Japan-only albums with extra tracks used to be exotic and expensive imports - now pretty much anything can be found on the internet easily enough (such as Fast Cars, which wasn't on every version of HTDAAB but was never hard to track down).
- Those who read Q Magazine may recall an interview from 2006 (I think - can't locate the exact source), where Bono stated that he wanted to put out a new album before the end of that year because the band were - to paraphrase the man himself - 'on fire', obviously! There's always talk of album releases close together but I think the best we can hope for is a lengthy tour and a further album release halfway through - a la Achtung Baby / Zooropa. If there's a lot of completed and acceptable songs ready to release, then it should just be a case of selecting the best ones and throwing them out there.
Morgoth321
Acrobat
Eagles' Long Road Out Of Eden was a double CD album priced deliberately at single CD prices, just to confuse the issue! For a band who are obviously mercenary than U2, that was surprisingly generous for them, although they more than compensate with excessive ticket prices - I refuse to pay £75 to stand, or £90 to sit down!
But don't you think that appropriately adding instrumentals to an album can help give it that album atmosphere that was missing on HTDAAB (and arguably since the early 1990s)?
I agree with your first sentence, but I just don't think that each track on a U2 album has to represent that. As you have argued eloquently many times, it's precisely that type of thinking that led to the lack of album cohesion on HTDAAB.
I think U2's instrumentals from the UF era are pretty much great (although the one that ended up on the album is easily the weakest). Bass Trap effortlessly creates an incredible atmosphere. If they had something like that that came out of a Fez jam session, or from Danny messing around on the lap or pedal steel, I'd love to see it worked into an album (if it fits).
Or even a pseudo-instrumental that is bizarre and off-the-cuff like J. Swallo could work. I'd love U2 to put a track on there that doesn't sound so complete and single-worthy, but works only to create or continue a mood/atmosphere. A spacey instrumental that segues into Magnificent (with that monstrous drum-fill and soon-to-be legendary Edge riff)? Count me in.
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
exactly! in fact, i wish i could put Bass Trap on every U2 album.
Gonna Run 2 U
New Yorker
The closet thing of a future double album we will ever get from U2 is when they release their final best of with like every single...remixes...and maybe 2 new songs.
And I refuse to pay anything to listen to Eagles.
mhowells
The Fly
Keep in mind, it's been over 4 years since HTDAAB . . . . they haven't exactly had a a lot of opportunity to experiment with new distribution methods. Also, experimenting for the sake of experimenting is one thing (I think the vast majority would consider NIN's latest releases "The Slip" or "Ghosts I-IV" to be below par vs. their other releases). U2 may very well experiment with distribution methods some day, but I'm sure that the music will dictate that decision and not just the band members saying "ah geez, we better dole out a free digital only album. Go get some b-sides so we can do this quickly".
They can't that's why. They are not that prolific!!!
That's because it hade live, b-sides and cover songs. Take those away then it's just reguler single album.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
But I'm talking purely length and why it was considered a double album at the time...
You can argue the merits of content in another thread. If someone released a double album of all covers it's still a double album.
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