U2 working with pop songwriter for new album

[doctorwho]

U2 became huge on hits in the late 80s and early 90s. They became huge again because of hits in the early 2000s with beautiful day and vertigo. This isn't very hard to figure out.

Music lovers/critics may love albums... the masses love hits. And its the general public that makes a band huge, not people like us. That has always and will always be the case... long before U2, and long after them.

Famous U2 songs that the crowds adore that were NOT big hits (based on the U.S. Hot 100 charts):

I Will Follow
Gloria
Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year's Day
Bad
In God's Country
All I Want Is You
Until the End of the World
Ultraviolet
Stay
Elevation
Stuck in a Moment...
Sometimes You Can't Make It On...

And a few recent ones such as Magnificent and Moment of Surrender may join that list.

Even Zeppelin and Pink Floyd had hits. Hit songs are what gain attention to an album. But the fact is, those bands are better known for having solid albums than hits. U2, for the most part, is the same. The songs I mentioned above are considered amongst U2's classics, yet none broke out big. Hence, people knew them for U2's tours and from U2's albums - the same way people learned of many Zeppelin and Pink Floyd songs.

 

[Niceman]

Famous U2 songs that the crowds adore that were NOT big hits (based on the U.S. Hot 100 charts):

I Will Follow
Gloria
Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year's Day
Bad
In God's Country
All I Want Is You
Until the End of the World
Ultraviolet
Stay
Elevation
Stuck in a Moment...
Sometimes You Can't Make It On...

And a few recent ones such as Magnificent and Moment of Surrender may join that list.

Even Zeppelin and Pink Floyd had hits. Hit songs are what gain attention to an album. But the fact is, those bands are better known for having solid albums than hits. U2, for the most part, is the same. The songs I mentioned above are considered amongst U2's classics, yet none broke out big. Hence, people knew them for U2's tours and from U2's albums - the same way people learned of many Zeppelin and Pink Floyd songs.

People always think UTEOTW wasn't a single. It was. It was released as a single to radio stations. They sent out a CD. I have one!

 

[BVS]

People always think UTEOTW wasn't a single. It was. It was released as a single to radio stations. They sent out a CD. I have one!

But not in the traditional sense and definition of a single.

..:: U2 Discography - U2 Singles 1990 - 2000 Discography - U2Wanderer.Org ::..

 

[digitize]

People always think UTEOTW wasn't a single. It was. It was released as a single to radio stations. They sent out a CD. I have one!

That's a promo single, not a real single. Your Blue Room and Zooropa, for instance, were also released as promo singles. But a full single was released to the general public, not just to the radio.

 

[trevgreg]

I was at a graduation party last summer and nearly fell out of my chair when I heard UTEOTW come onto the local rock station. That was the first time I had ever heard it played on the radio!

 

[Niceman]

No one is suggesting UTEOTW was a "real single," but it was a radio single and got significant play, which likely played a hand in the song becoming more popular and better known.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Famous U2 songs that the crowds adore that were NOT big hits (based on the U.S. Hot 100 charts):

I Will Follow
Gloria
Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year's Day
Bad
In God's Country
All I Want Is You
Until the End of the World
Ultraviolet
Stay
Elevation
Stuck in a Moment...
Sometimes You Can't Make It On...

And a few recent ones such as Magnificent and Moment of Surrender may join that list.

Even Zeppelin and Pink Floyd had hits. Hit songs are what gain attention to an album. But the fact is, those bands are better known for having solid albums than hits. U2, for the most part, is the same. The songs I mentioned above are considered amongst U2's classics, yet none broke out big. Hence, people knew them for U2's tours and from U2's albums - the same way people learned of many Zeppelin and Pink Floyd songs.

notice the low number of songs from joshua tree and achtung baby. why? because those two albums, which made (and kept) u2 massive, were filled with hits.

and any discussion of hits with relation to the billboard charts can end by the time all that you can't leave behind came out... because times had a changed by then. vertigo wasn't a hit by billboard standards... but yea, it was a fucking smash hit.

 

[popacrobat]

had Vertigo been subject to the same billboard rules as current songs are with iTunes downloads, it would have been a pretty big billboard hit.

 

[super fly guy]

Here's one from left field,New Bond film out October. New U2 song to go with it,just a thought?

 

[trevgreg]

No one is suggesting UTEOTW was a "real single," but it was a radio single and got significant play, which likely played a hand in the song becoming more popular and better known.

Out of curiosity, who here can give a rough ranking on the airplay that the AB singles got in the U.S.? I'd imagine Mysterious Ways was #1, solely because that's the only one I remember hearing on the radio as a kid.

 

[LemonMelon]

Mysterious Ways - #9
One - #10
Even Better Than The Real Thing - #32
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - #35
The Fly - #61

It's funny just how profoundly The Fly bombed in the US. It performed worse than the 5th single!

UK numbers, in contrast:

The Fly - #1
One - #7
Even Better Than The Real Thing - #8
Mysterious Ways - #13
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - #14

UTEOTW peaked at #69 in Canada, the only country it charted in.

 

[trevgreg]

Are the UK numbers based on singles sales or actual radio airplay? Thanks for posting those too.

 

[BVS]

It's funny just how profoundly The Fly bombed in the US. It performed worse than the 5th single!

The Fly had heavy rotation on MTV when it first came out, but then a month later when Mysterious Ways came out it never aired again until years later when they would have some U2 marathon or something.

But the radio formats here didn't know how to play it. It was too "heavy" for the formats that had been used to playing U2, and it was too weird for the harder rock stations. Radio, outside of big markets like New York or Chicago etc was at a very odd place at this time.

So I think that's why if failed so hard here.

 

[Niceman]

The Fly had heavy rotation on MTV when it first came out, but then a month later when Mysterious Ways came out it never aired again until years later when they would have some U2 marathon or something.

But the radio formats here didn't know how to play it. It was too "heavy" for the formats that had been used to playing U2, and it was too weird for the harder rock stations. Radio, outside of big markets like New York or Chicago etc was at a very odd place at this time.

So I think that's why if failed so hard here.

That's actually a pretty well thought-out analysis.

The song did it's job though. It wasn't initially beloved, but it was universally shocking, and everyone DID hear it and all go, "What the fuck? That's U2???"

 

[An Cat Gav]

Are the UK numbers based on singles sales or actual radio airplay? Thanks for posting those too.

In the 90s and before, Uk figures were taken from single sales only.

 

[trevgreg]

In the 90s and before, Uk figures were taken from single sales only.

That's what I thought. Gracias!

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

had Vertigo been subject to the same billboard rules as current songs are with iTunes downloads, it would have been a pretty big billboard hit.

yea, that's sorta what i was saying there.

 

[The Panther]

But the radio formats here didn't know how to play it. It was too "heavy" for the formats that had been used to playing U2, and it was too weird for the harder rock stations. Radio, outside of big markets like New York or Chicago etc was at a very odd place at this time.

So I think that's why if failed so hard here.

I agree with BVS. US mainstream radio is generally very conservative to begin with, and rarely more so than the late 80s/early 90s. When they heard a new U2 single that sounded like distorted college radio music with a funky rhythm, they must have said, "WTF?" No chance a song like that would ever get played on daytime mainstream radio or the like.

The other point is that the US-alternative rock phenom hadn't really hit yet (it would, in a big way, a few months later), and the radio formats hadn't expanded to allow an "alt-rock" song like that to get a lot of radio play.

In US radio terms, a lot of popular songs "bomb" due to their lack of airplay, which, -- until recently, I think -- counted towards their Billboard chart placing. (In the UK chart, by contrast, everything is based on sales.)

 

[Babyface82]

Here's a video where Danger Mouse talks about his collaboration with U2

Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi of Rome (120 Seconds Interview w/ Matt Pinfield) - YouTube

 

[popacrobat]

Odd how he keeps saying that he "can't" talk about it

 

[Babyface82]

I hope we'll have a big surprise....

 

[gvox]

Odd how he keeps saying that he "can't" talk about it

Is any producer really able to talk in detail about unreleased material outside of just confirming that something is being worked on? I didn't find his comments odd really..

 

[zoocarolina]

Just throw us a frickin bone here in regards to some news or clips or new material (about :55):

Throw Me a Frickin' Bone Here Scene - Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Movie (1997) - HD - YouTube

If the DM stuff sits it runs the risk of getting stale, they have to be holding out to give some space between tours to grow the demand again otherwise this is getting ridiculous.

 

[popacrobat]

https://twitter.com/U2log/status/208701753938546689

"bono has just said the last 3 weeks in the studio have been the best since 1979"

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Bono says a lot of things.

(Tweet's still encouraging, though)

 

[bonocomet]

(and thanks popacrobat!)

Bono: U2's 'Best 3 Weeks In the Studio Since 1979'

Bono: U2's 'Best 3 Weeks In the Studio Since 1979'

@U2, June 01, 2012
By: Matt McGee / @mattmcgee



Bono made a (somewhat) surprise appearance on RTE TV tonight in Ireland during the 50th anniversary special for The Late Late Show, and he made a few interesting comments about U2's album progress.

Host Ryan Tubridy began by asking Bono what the band is up to currently.

"Looking for the perfect pop song. Edge is in denial of his genius. I'm a little too sure of my own. Larry is suspicious of both and Adam sees merit in both. They're unbelievable. They really want it, though, I will say that. As a band there's no sense of entitlement. I think they're very aware that U2's gotta do something very special to have a reason to exist right now, so that's what we're doing. We're song writing -- you know the process. But it's -- they're amazing men. They really are extraordinary. They really, really want it."

"There won't be a U2 album unless there's something really special. You just gotta go to that place. You gotta dig a deep well and see what you can pull up. We've been through many songs and there's some great stuff. I would say we had the best three weeks in the studio that we've had since, like, 1979. Three weeks is all it should take...."

Later in the interview, he says he knows U2 has a great song "because the band will stop arguing."

You can watch the show online via RTE, but it may only be viewable for the next three weeks. Bono's segment starts at the 2:00:00 mark, and then he starts talking about the album at about 2:03:00.

http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=3305560

(video)

 

[Vlad n U 2]

inb4 everyone overanalyses the 'perfect pop song' bit.

 

[gvox]

Assuming they wrote Boy/Girl, I Will Follow, Twilight, Out of Control, A Celebration, A Day Without Me , etc, in/around 1979, if Bono's telling the truth we're in for a real treat.


There are some key words in that statement, though...


Question: does anyone else consider any of those tracks about as unabashed and pure pop/rock a song U2 has ever written? I tend to think they are. Twilight might be getting a bit outside, but the rest are firmly pop (in a post-punk era, I suppose) to me.

 

[corianderstem]

*looks up from book*

Oh yeah? That's nice, Bono sweetie. You just let us know when you're done, mmkay?

*goes back to book*

 

[Von Schloopen]

Question: does anyone else consider any of those tracks about as unabashed and pure pop/rock a song U2 has ever written? I tend to think they are. Twilight might be getting a bit outside, but the rest are firmly pop (in a post-punk era, I suppose) to me.

I agree with everything you said.

Pure pop and "Twilight" is a bit outside.