OFFICIAL - New Album Delayed Until 2009

[U2girl]

I'd just like to hear something more concrete about what changed from "we're basically done" in July to "we're so happy with it, we'll just keep going" now. Hopefully someone will talk to the band members soon.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Well maybe that is whats changed? maybe they have actually hit a bit of a groove and want to just carry on for a little while longer?

i mean afterall that is what bono is saying!.

 

[LastNameonEarth]

Well maybe that is whats changed? maybe they have actually hit a bit of a groove and want to just carry on for a little while longer?

i mean afterall that is what bono is saying!.

But have they not all been on holidays/partying/back with their families? How do you hit a groove when you're not jamming together? Unless they do it like a conference call...

 

[last unicorn]

If I have time today at work I'll find the quotes where I believe it was Bono or Edge who said they were just about finished when Larry and Adam said it didn't feel right, they called in Steve Lillywhite and started to rework the songs. I think there are even quotes from Steve Lillywhite along the same vein.

Yes, I've read the statements by Adam and Larry, I'm aware that they re-worked the songs after Adam and Larry found them not to be good enough. i was just refering to the statement that they scrapped the album because they wanted to make the songs more radio friendly.

And I also believe that Bono would have released the album this year, maybe even Edge. Bono indicated in his statement that the decision isn't up to him. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that there are forces in the band that keep slowing things down, it could go both ways.

 

[U2girl]

KUEF: If they're THAT happy with the album why not release it this year, as was the plan stated several times by McGuiness, Adam and Lanois to mention a few people in the know ? What possible reason could they have for not coming out asap with their best album (as said by Edge and Lanois) and their most complete and radical work (as said by Bono) ? It doesn't sound as if they're just finishing it up ("we're nearly done, just some mixes and Bono's vocals are left" as per Lanois in July), it sounds like they actually want more material. Why, if it's such a superb album already ?

 

[last unicorn]

But have they not all been on holidays/partying/back with their families? How do you hit a groove when you're not jamming together? Unless they do it like a conference call...

They're all in France, they have a recording studio there. Just because they're not in the studio 24/7 doesn't mean they're not recording. And none of them, from what I've seen, looked really "unhappy", more the opposite. It doesn't look like things aren't going well. I don't know about Larry, though, because he hasn't been seen in quite a while.

 

[U2girl]

And with all that hyped "zomg it's great" talk there's this

"Opinion is currently divided as to whether the album will make a pre- or post-Christmas release. "

Doesn't make sense...

 

[vaz02]

I totally agreed u2girl, things are just not ringing true.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

To be honest i give up, i have no idea whats happening, but i certainly dont belive there are major problems which some people are hinting at, and do think maybe people are over analysing all this.

maybe the people who are currently thinking it wont be good enough or whatever should just stay clear of any new album that does come out? save yourself the obvious dissapointment

 

[vaz02]

Yeah im getting married to this girl in a few months, everythings great. We are thinking of kids.

( a month later )

We decided to give each other some space.

 

[last unicorn]

u2girl, from the Edge quote it sounds like the album is ready, we just don't want to release it before Christmas. "post Christmas" certainly doesn't sound like "fall 2009" to me.

Maybe Edge and Bono haven't been talking to each other much recently.

 

[mama cass]

And with all that hyped "zomg it's great" talk there's this

"Opinion is currently divided as to whether the album will make a pre- or post-Christmas release. "

Doesn't make sense...

it makes sense to me, particularly re. the "I’m always the one who underestimates how easy it is to simply 'put out the songs now', if it was just up to me they’d be out already!" comment

 

[LastNameonEarth]

They're all in France, they have a recording studio there. Just because they're not in the studio 24/7 doesn't mean they're not recording. And none of them, from what I've seen, looked really "unhappy", more the opposite. It doesn't look like things aren't going well. I don't know about Larry, though, because he hasn't been seen in quite a while.

I am aware they record in France as well. So have they all been in France since Danny said all that was left to do was for Bono to lay down a few vocals, but it was basically done? Or have they returned recently? Have they actually been seen in the studio? Have Danny and/or Brian Eno been back in to work with them again?
(These aren't rhetorical questions in case they come across that way, I don't know!)

 

[U2girl]

u2girl, from the Edge quote it sounds like the album is ready, we just don't want to release it before Christmas. "post Christmas" certainly doesn't sound like "fall 2009" to me.

Maybe Edge and Bono haven't been talking to each other much recently.

I agree, post Christmas sounds like something is coming in Spring 2009.

But whose "opinion" is divided ? When was there division ? I thought everyone and their mother loved this album.

 

[Screwtape2]

We know that with Pop their mistake was due to the Popmart tour booking. We know with the Bomb that they had a near complete album in 2003, and scrapped it based on a belief that – essentially - it was not commercially viable enough, and went about re-working those songs to within an inch of their lives. I’m just saying, I doubt this situation now is all a fine and dandy “oh but we just love working on this album, we never want the working to end”. I’d bet they’re either not happy with what they have, or they’ve got cold feet over it’s general sound or direction.

As others have said, they’ve spent a while talking up how much they have, how great it is, and how ridiculously exciting the new direction and sound is. I reckon they’ve got cold feet, or some of them do, and they’re now going to dismantle this bomb too.

It could very well be cold feet. These could be some concerns from the band:

Bono: Can I sing these songs night after night on tour? Are these lyrics too much?
Edge: Is there enough rock?
Adam and Larry: Will the album be too long? Are we really going to play an eight minute song night after night?
Management: Is this too advanced for the public?

 

[last unicorn]

I am aware they record in France as well. So have they all been in France since Danny said all that was left to do was for Bono to lay down a few vocals, but it was basically done? Or have they returned recently? Have they actually been seen in the studio? Have Danny and/or Brian Eno been back in to work with them again?
(These aren't rhetorical questions in case they come across that way, I don't know!)

To know if they have been seen "in the studio" you'd have to ask someone who actually was in the studio with them. But I guess it's fair to say they weren't just relaxing. Summers in Eze are usually a mixture of studio work and relaxing. I don't think they went back to Dublin to record. And from the latest U2.com clip it's clear that Adam was also joining them in the studio. The only one who hasn't been seen is Larry.

I agree, post Christmas sounds like something is coming in Spring 2009.

But whose "opinion" is divided ? When was there division ? I thought everyone and their mother loved this album.

We know for sure from Bono, we don't know for sure from the rest of the band.

 

[vaz02]

Didnt larry finish his drum work sometime ago though. More fuel of doubt.

 

[LastNameonEarth]

To know if they have been seen "in the studio" you'd have to ask someone who actually was in the studio with them.

I don't know what the studio set-up is like in Eze, but there always seems to be fans watching their every move, so I just figured if they had been seen entering the studio then it would be safe to assume they were in the studio. Or is the studio part of Bono's house?

The reason I bring up Eno and Lanois is that there has been so much talk about their involvement in the songwriting process on this record. Thus I would've thought the band wouldn't play around too much with what they worked on with them, if they weren't present. And if they are working on material entrely separate to what they did with Eno and Lanois, would it not make sense to use this for a separate album?

 

[ndmaxfield]

Whatever the hell is going on, I don't think they've handled it well on the public stage. Given the summer build-up, they should at least release a song or two, right now, to satisfy the fans. Has any band ever released a "works in progress" EP? (i.e., here are a handful of songs we're still working on, but that we're comfortable enough releasing in current form just to tide things over)

 

[last unicorn]

I don't know what the studio set-up is like in Eze, but there always seems to be fans watching their every move, so I just figured if they had been seen entering the studio then it would be safe to assume they were in the studio. Or is the studio part of Bono's house?

I think the studio is part of Edge's house, but I'm not sure. I don't think fans have ever seen the band go into the studio or come out of it. The only way the band can be seen is if they are on the balcony/terrace or on the beach. I don't think you can really look into the houses or the studio, which is good, because there has to be some privacy after all.

As for Eno and Lanois, you're right, there certainly are many questions, but I don't know enough about the recording process to say when the producers aren't needed anymore. But it does look as if they were not around to work in the Eze studio.

Maybe "more material" means a double album after all ...

 

[Bottle Bono]

Have they scrapped the whole Album and started all over again?

 

[Gank13]

how about a passengers type album with Eno and Lanois as co writers and a a U2 album being released next year!

there is a qute on an article atu2 point to saying someone who has heard the new material says it is out there, and hopes they don't change it..this has got me really excited! I hope this is hyping people up so they accept a change of style!

 

[DevilsShoes]

Just as a side note I want to point out that it's not uncommon for the band to have a bit of a crisis of confidence just before the release of a new album.

People often forget that serious doubts began to set in just before AB came out. There's a clip in the AB Interference video of Larry remarking that the band started to question whether the new direction was the best thing to do and whether they had got it 'all terribly wrong' but that they didn't have choice at the time so they just went with it.

This happened again with Pop in 97 and HTDAAB in 2004, so its no new thing, its just that nowadays they're willing to chop and change with release dates.

Of course I'm still optimistic about the new album but I do think that if the band were 100% confident that they had produced a collection of songs which were amongst the best they'd ever written, then the record would be out in the shops this year.

 

[last unicorn]

I guess it's enough for ONE person in this band not to be 100% confident about it.

 

[Bottle Bono]

They might go away and reinvent it all.

Could be the new album doesn't come out for another year.

 

[The_acrobat]

HTDAAB was supposed to be released fall 2003. The band felt it needed a little more work. Native Son became Vertigo. Xanax and Wine became Fast Cars. Yahweh and ABOY got complete re-writes. The album wasn't released until fall 2004. This album won't be released until fall 2009. They'll keep scrutinizing it and fucking with it and second, third and fourth guessing themselves. Ever since Pop was a failure, they're scared. They don't trust their instincts.

 

[LastNameonEarth]

As for Eno and Lanois, you're right, there certainly are many questions, but I don't know enough about the recording process to say when the producers aren't needed anymore. But it does look as if they were not around to work in the Eze studio.

Maybe "more material" means a double album after all ...

This is a possibility I am coming around to. Maybe not a double album, but perhaps material that they could release once the tour gets underway, and they want this worked through now so that it doesn't have to be fitted around album promotion and touring. Or it could even just be a song or two that they had wanted to put on the album, but had never quite got right, decided to leave it off the record, but now they've cracked it and feel it's too good to hold back. I'm hoping something like this is the underlying reason for a 2009 release.

 

[ramblin rose]

Whatever the hell is going on, I don't think they've handled it well on the public stage.

I agree with this statement 100%. This piece from u2.com seems to me to be a desparate attempt at damage control once the decision to not release the album in November was made.

I'd love to get Lanois' take on this. Ha, maybe him and Eno are pissed now that some or all of the band don't feel comfortable with their work.

 

[vaz02]

If only they would throw us a bone and release a song for itunes or something.

 

[jonnytakeawalk]

Could be the new album doesn't come out for another year.