The original plan for the Atomic Bomb album and what became the Vertigo tour was to have been releasing the album and starting the tour almost simultaneously in March-April 2004. Had this happened, the layoff between between the end of the Elevation tour and the beginning of the Vertigo tour would have been just over 2 1/4 years. They were on target for this schedule when they "finished" recording the album around October 2003. The problem occured when Larry and Adam vetoed the album and as a result, the album got pushed back about 8 months and the tour got pushed back a full year.
They are now in a similar position to last time. The band did recording off and on from December 2001 until mid 2002 and ended up releasing 2 of those songs on the Best Of 1990-2000. They then took a lot of those msuical ideas and really seriously worked on the album for around 6 months in 2003 with the intent to have a fully completed album by the end of that year.
This time around, they are known to have gone into the studio in June to work on ideas and again in September with 2 songs released from those sessions. The band could go back into the studio in January or February and if happy with the results by August, could have the new album out by November. They would be working with about the same amount of time that they had in 2003, so if end up being happy with their 6 months of work, it's realistic they could have that 2007 album and be ready for a tour to kick off in March or April 2008. By that time, U2 will have been off the road, other than the 5 weeks of shows in Novenmber and December of this year, for around 2 years. That's almost as long as the time between the end of the Elevation tour and the original planned beginning for the Vertigo tour, so I don't think that they will feel that spring 2008 is too early to start up again.
Remember that their were rumors that U2 would play selected US stadium dates this past June and perhaps they did not go through with those plans because they felt they would over saturate markets. If they're serious about touring again in 2008, they probably felt it would be better to hold off on the 2006 continental US stadium shows and just wait for the demand to increase by returning in 2008.
I think it's all realistic as long as they come up with an album that they are happy with by August of next year. Just because 1/2 the band was not fully happy with the music by late 2003 does not mean that is going to happen again in 2007. It seems that U2 only wants to begin tours in the spring of a year, so if they don't feel they have a solid album by fall 2007, then we may not see another tour until spring 2009.
They are now in a similar position to last time. The band did recording off and on from December 2001 until mid 2002 and ended up releasing 2 of those songs on the Best Of 1990-2000. They then took a lot of those msuical ideas and really seriously worked on the album for around 6 months in 2003 with the intent to have a fully completed album by the end of that year.
This time around, they are known to have gone into the studio in June to work on ideas and again in September with 2 songs released from those sessions. The band could go back into the studio in January or February and if happy with the results by August, could have the new album out by November. They would be working with about the same amount of time that they had in 2003, so if end up being happy with their 6 months of work, it's realistic they could have that 2007 album and be ready for a tour to kick off in March or April 2008. By that time, U2 will have been off the road, other than the 5 weeks of shows in Novenmber and December of this year, for around 2 years. That's almost as long as the time between the end of the Elevation tour and the original planned beginning for the Vertigo tour, so I don't think that they will feel that spring 2008 is too early to start up again.
Remember that their were rumors that U2 would play selected US stadium dates this past June and perhaps they did not go through with those plans because they felt they would over saturate markets. If they're serious about touring again in 2008, they probably felt it would be better to hold off on the 2006 continental US stadium shows and just wait for the demand to increase by returning in 2008.
I think it's all realistic as long as they come up with an album that they are happy with by August of next year. Just because 1/2 the band was not fully happy with the music by late 2003 does not mean that is going to happen again in 2007. It seems that U2 only wants to begin tours in the spring of a year, so if they don't feel they have a solid album by fall 2007, then we may not see another tour until spring 2009.
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