New Album Discussion 9 - Larry needs new arms, ba rum pa pum pum

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So we have heard most of AIWIY, SYCMIOYO and 40, and all of Pride.

The first three range from really good to fantastic. Pride is a bit boring, but gets very interesting at the end.

This alone makes me excited for this project. The clips we’ve heard of other songs mean there will be some snoozefests (Cedarwood, SFS), and some really fascinating arrangements that don’t land (Desire, GOOYOW). That said - if they make parts of them as interesting as the end of Pride, they have value even if they aren’t everyone’s version of “good”. There are also going to be some stunning things in there.

Just enjoy the ride. The same arguments keep coming up based on the same people responding the same way to the same other people saying the same things. If people want to speak in extremes and hyperbole about the end of the world or one song being an indication of the album is shit, they’re done, lazy blah blah, then the response will predictably be for those people to be less extreme. Not liking something is fine. Not liking something and using that to form the basis of opinions on things there is no information to support is stupid.
 
JWR1992 said:
What does everybody think of the SOS version of 40 at the end of the audiobook?
Click to expand...

Hollow Island said:
It’s stunning.
Click to expand...

agreed - we pretty much hear the entirety of the song over the end credits too, which is cool.

dan_smee said:
So we have heard most of AIWIY, SYCMIOYO and 40, and all of Pride.

The first three range from really good to fantastic. Pride is a bit boring, but gets very interesting at the end.

This alone makes me excited for this project. The clips we’ve heard of other songs mean there will be some snoozefests (Cedarwood, SFS), and some really fascinating arrangements that don’t land (Desire, GOOYOW). That said - if they make parts of them as interesting as the end of Pride, they have value even if they aren’t everyone’s version of “good”. There are also going to be some stunning things in there.

Just enjoy the ride. The same arguments keep coming up based on the same people responding the same way to the same other people saying the same things. If people want to speak in extremes and hyperbole about the end of the world or one song being an indication of the album is shit, they’re done, lazy blah blah, then the response will predictably be for those people to be less extreme. Not liking something is fine. Not liking something and using that to form the basis of opinions on things there is no information to support is stupid.
Click to expand...

I recall a bit of AIWIY from the audiobook, is that what you're referring to? Also haven't finished the book, so I'm assuming that SYCMIOYO is from there, too?
 
Listening back the pride clips, they are heavily edited from the final - tracks separated, lots of layers removed. I think the final versions of a lot of the songs will have more going on than the clips we’ve heard.
 
dan_smee said:
Yeah - they are in the audio clips file I sent around. If you don’t have them I’ll send them again
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Yeah haven’t heard any clips. Got the boring old regular book. But that’s good to hear.
 
This file has all the small song clips of everything new (including MOS which we now now is not happening. There are substantial pieces of AIWIY and SYCMIOYO, and pretty much all of 40 but with bono talking over it. There is also the live version of WOWY from Colbert.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/o5giz5

I'm going to re-order them into album order later and then re-upload them.
 
ascender_RS said:
Re some of their peers who have continued to change their musical styles in their later career, have become more prolific, tried new things etc, a lot of them are solo artists rather than bands. I do wonder how much the collective band approach to everything restricts what they might have done were Bono and/or Edge solo artists or if the band had broken up for example.
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This times 1000. On the boards and FB groups people keep bring up musicians in their 60s having classic moments but most of them are solo artists not a band. And U2 is not a typical band, they have always been equal parts and equal say which is a strength and a weakness. It’s 4 people agreeing on a direction not just Sting, Bowie, Springsteen, Vedder, and Dylan. This dynamic alone makes it infinitely more challenging at their age to produce AB 2. What other band is there with original members in their 60s still giving a crap about art and decent music? Or in all of history for that matter. The negativity is ridiculous
 
It’s harder for old bands to maintain quality or be daring in their old age but they don’t get a pass for being old and being lucky. They don’t say “What other band is there with original members in their 60s still giving a crap about art and decent music? Or in all of history for that matter?” and then hold themselves to a lower standard than they did when they were n their 20s, and neither should we.

Nobody said suggested the Stones he given a break for Bridges to Babylon and that we should be happy they were still around - they said the Stones should quit! Why should U2 be treated differently?

Which isn’t to say that SOS doesn’t look like it’s going to be mostly good. It may very well set a new standard for old bands re-recording their classic material. Hell, the clips alone show that they haven’t embarrassed themselves, and that counts as a roaring success when it comes to this kind of project.
 
The 15 seconds starting at 1:36 are pure bliss. If they can capture more moments like that on this album, that would be fine with me.
 
dan_smee said:
This file has all the small song clips of everything new (including MOS which we now now is not happening. There are substantial pieces of AIWIY and SYCMIOYO, and pretty much all of 40 but with bono talking over it. There is also the live version of WOWY from Colbert.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/o5giz5

I'm going to re-order them into album order later and then re-upload them.
Click to expand...
I don't think the Moment of Surrender clip is new... I think it's isolated from a live performance
 
U2girl said:
So the Edge remix U2 album is upon us. Pity this wasnt released earlier in the pandemic, and is now forcefully promoting...SOS ? Not with 12 song replaced. Its Edges pet project and does not need all the promo hoopla. Not sure how it is supposed to Light up their creativity but...

I liked
EdgeWowy on Colbert. The last minute of EdgePride is good. EdgeBeatifulday is boring.
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I can only speak for myself, but as a musician who has also revisited and reimagined songs that I wrote over a dozen years ago, it really was an entry-point to a new sound for me. That being said, I knew what that new sound was going to be before I started the new versions and they were like the experimental toe-in-the-water songs that ended up opening the flood gates.

It could be U2 felt this way too and are hoping by flexing, bending, whatever you want to call it with their old songs it could turn into a compass for the future. Contrarily, we already know the rock guitar record is all but decided and will be a deviation. So, who knows.

I'd still argue that the new version of Pride shows The Edge does have the itch for guitar again. I think it's refreshing to hear his playing during that crescendo and using a sound that we have heard before but not often (kind of reminds me of the end of Electrical Storm). So this project could still be a gateway to something new for them and a nice bonus for us.
 
One of the things I’m interested to hear in these recordings is the lack of reverb to hide the age in Bono’s voice. Some of the vocal production on the last two records was a bit distracting, especially SOE. (Yeah, they protools’d him in spots). Edge’s nod to embracing the singer Bono is now makes me think we’ll get more “live” vocal takes.
 
Why do people think a few social posts = the full force of the U2 marketing machine? It's one of the criticisms being batted around that baffles me the most.

Like - this band has shut down Manhattan streets and spammed a billion people to announce their new albums before.

A post on TikTok seems pretty low key and clearly not the same level of self generated hype that a new album would receive.

This seems fairly on par with previous greatest hits or anniversary releases.
 
Anyone know if any of the super deluxe versions include additional tracks or is it the same 40 tracks across all versions?
 
pop_mofo said:
Anyone know if any of the super deluxe versions include additional tracks or is it the same 40 tracks across all versions?
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40 tracks on “super deluxe” quadruple vinyl/cd and streaming.

20 or fewer tracks on all other physical format configurations.
 
youtube version - interesting that it's being billed as a Bono & Edge thing, not a u2 thing

 
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