New Album Discussion 1 - Songs of..... - Unreasonable guitar album

[CosmoKramer]

One more thing I would like to add....

Bono is cool again(most of the time). His outfit and glasses choices are significantly better than the granny glasses. His hair (real or not) looks so much better...he looks younger to me.

Adam looks great as does the Edge.

Larry looks very young and needs to lay off the plastic surgery because he looks like a different person.

I will also say that this Sphere residency was a home run move for them. I haven't seen as much publicity for U2 as I have in the past week since HTDAAB was released. They are all over social media and the news (Spectrum news, CNN, NY Post, NY Times, etc) all had segments on their show.

The Sphere is the main point of interest given it's billed as (and lived up to) being the premiere concert arena in the world but U2 is attached at the hip to it given they are performing. The visuals combined with their (really solid) performance make for a marketing that reminds me of the iPod commercial(e.g. both entities make out).

The visuals that U2 chose for Zoo Station, the Fly, Streets, With or Without you, Beautiful Day and EBTTRT are awesome. I hope they continue to add new visuals and try different ones for some of these songs.

From what I have observed, the venue is fucking spectacular and U2 is and will always be associated with it...so that is cool!

 

[dan_smee]

Fascinating reading - thanks all. Just thought it’d be interesting to see how people’s feelings were changing because I am often guilty of over hyping early and then going off songs. GOYB and the Miracle in particular.

I was more circumspect with this. I was cautiously into the catchiness of it, but feared the disposability of it. I really want them to be a bit more cerebral. I genuinely enjoy the song though, and I think they nailed the vibe for the moment and leveraging the sphere hype.

 

[super fly guy]

Only downside for me is that there is no other new music on the horizon. Pun intended.

 

[2861U2]

Extended CBS interview.

Regarding new music, at the 12:20 mark, Edge says that have a few albums in the vault that are "very close" to finished. Yet later on, he says that they are still in the songwriting phase of the guitar album. SOA described as very "folksy" and "joyful."

 

[womanfish]

SOA described as very "folksy" and "joyful."

Oh fuck.

 

[JamietheEdgefan]

Interesting to note they confirm Atomic City foreshadows the sound of the next album, "guitar music, band playing together in a room sound'.

My favourite thing about Atomic City is the production, so that sounds great to me. An album of that kind of music would be very fun.

I'm also really intrigued to hear the 'folksy' music of SoA. Currently picturing the intimate, sparse production of SoS, but less acoustic and more full band and atmospheric.

 

[mikal]

I listened to SOI last night on a whim and damn, that is a late career album right there. I know we nitpick a lot and yeah, wish Invisible replaced Miracle, the album flows probably better than anything since "Pop". Damn I wish they hadn't fucked up the whole iTunes thing because this album deserves to be thought of as one of their best post 2000 albums.

SOE? Not so much. LOL, though it had some high moments in there.

 

[david]

SOE does have nice solid backside though.

 

[DeVaul]

SOA described as very "folksy" and "joyful."



Oh fuck.

SOE does have nice solid backside though.

Oh fuck.

 

[lazarus]

SOE does have nice solid backside though.

Sir Mix-a-Lot has entered the chat.

 

[womanfish]

Interesting to note they confirm Atomic City foreshadows the sound of the next album, "guitar music, band playing together in a room sound'.

My favourite thing about Atomic City is the production, so that sounds great to me. An album of that kind of music would be very fun.

I'm also really intrigued to hear the 'folksy' music of SoA. Currently picturing the intimate, sparse production of SoS, but less acoustic and more full band and atmospheric.

Nothing about folksy and uplifting brings atmospheric to my mind.

 

[DeVaul]

Nothing about folksy and uplifting brings atmospheric to my mind.

Uplifting maybe. But yeah, they don’t have the balls to put out a non-commercial album with no tour at this point which is unfortunate. Go tour the rock songs, but don’t hold back on the moody stuff.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Nothing about folksy and uplifting brings atmospheric to my mind.

I would consider bands like Lankum or Ye Vagabonds to be folksy and atmospheric.

 

[MattD]

The Brian Eno choral piece that opens the show, where is that from?

Also, don't have high hopes for Songs of Ascent. If its revisiting material with Eno & Lanois, then yes I am. But it will inevitably be commercialised, compromised, too-many-cooks various producers mish mash of incohesive and inconsistent tunes.

To reiterate, a rock album would be welcome but only if it has some menace and sinister vibes to it, in the way Achtung Baby did. None of this cliched happy clappy cut and paste choruses that have destroyed more recent rock songs - e.g. The Blackout seems menacing until that cliched platitude ridden chorus.

But hey ho, let's just hope they've given their Tedder fixation the boot though.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Complaining about cliched platitudes has become so cliche

 

[JWR1992]

Extended CBS interview.

Regarding new music, at the 12:20 mark, Edge says that have a few albums in the vault that are "very close" to finished. Yet later on, he says that they are still in the songwriting phase of the guitar album. SOA described as very "folksy" and "joyful."

Folksy and joyful is concerning. I hope they aren’t trying to sound like The Lumineers.

 

[DeVaul]

Folksy and joyful is concerning. I hope they aren’t trying to sound like The Lumineers.

Worst U2 opener I’ve seen. Bland would’ve been an improvement

 

[DomCobb]

Folksy and joyful is concerning. I hope they aren’t trying to sound like The Lumineers.

I think something like Of Monsters and Men would be closer to bridging the gap between folk and U2. Although, either way, we're talking about music that is about ten years out of date. But maybe that makes sense if these albums have been "sitting in a vault."

Seems like they're being purposefully vague about whether Atomic City is on the rock album or not.

Edge: "It's a rock n roll 45."
CBS: "You did it for this?"
Edge: "We did but we also wanted it to be a foreshadowing of where we're heading."
CBS: "How far along are you on that rock n roll album?"
Edge: "We're at the song development phase. Nothing's been recorded other than Atomic City."

 

[DaveC]

 

[Irvine511]

I see spoilers are just fine now.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I see spoilers are just fine now.

They shouldn't be...

but I do think it'll be harder to control the further along we get

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

But what does Rick Beato think?

 

[lazarus]

I think something like Of Monsters and Men would be closer to bridging the gap between folk and U2. Although, either way, we're talking about music that is about ten years out of date. But maybe that makes sense if these albums have been "sitting in a vault."

Seems like they're being purposefully vague about whether Atomic City is on the rock album or not.

Edge: "It's a rock n roll 45."
CBS: "You did it for this?"
Edge: "We did but we also wanted it to be a foreshadowing of where we're heading."
CBS: "How far along are you on that rock n roll album?"
Edge: "We're at the song development phase. Nothing's been recorded other than Atomic City."

Still trying to understand how an album is both almost finished but also only one song has been recorded.

 

[BEAL]

They’ve been saying the same thing for some time now.

Loads of songs. Multiple albums worth!!

Then it’s, we’re just gonna sit on them for a while. Let them breathe and see how they sound later on.

Edge is on fire.
Edge is deconstructing the songs to make sure the essence of the song is there

2027 it is

 

[dan_smee]

I reckon he risked losing lots of cool points there, but that says a lot.

 

[DeVaul]

They overthink everything to the point of releasing nothing.

 

[DaveC]

I reckon he risked losing lots of cool points there, but that says a lot.

i have no cool points to spend, but his thoughts on the song are basically the same as mine.

 

[dan_smee]

It was good hearing someone with some musical knowledge actually talk about the musicianship of the band too.

 

[trevgreg]

They’ve been saying the same thing for some time now.

Loads of songs. Multiple albums worth!!

Then it’s, we’re just gonna sit on them for a while. Let them breathe and see how they sound later on.

Edge is on fire.
Edge is deconstructing the songs to make sure the essence of the song is there

2027 it is

Songwriter translation…

“We’ve recorded A LOT of ideas. And even have a lot of songs that are technically finished or complete. We’re just not 100 percent happy with them, which is why none of them have been put out yet. We might come back to them later and even change a few things with some of those, just so we can be happy with them and make those releasable. Might even write some new songs in the process, because that’s fun as well and why we do this.”

 

[womanfish]

New Apple Music behind the scenes of the Sphere thing just dropped.

It is well worth the watch.

in it, Bono says they have about 100 songs in the bag. waiting to for Larry to say they are mostly shit, and whittle it down to 10.


From my own viewpoint. The one area where the band hasn't gone that wouldn't be a huge reach, is incorporating synths. I think the hybrid of synths and live rock guitar and drums like Depeche Mode and the Yeah Yeah Yeah's would be an incredible outcome for them.

Because all I have to say about folksy and uplifting is... Fuck You.