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

[clerks]

99% of the U2 songs feature a guitar so I don't get this shit.

[Fly-2000]

I want an unreasonable tamborine album.

[DeVaul]

Originally Posted by Fly-2000

I want an unreasonable tamborine album.

Songs of All Because of You

[Fly-2000]

Originally Posted by DeVaul

Songs of All Because of You

Perfect!

[ascender_RS]

Yeah, ABOY makes me very nervous for what this album could sound like!

I'm still unreasonably disappointed but not surprised that recording has been "minimal."

[TinKnight]

I think we are closer to a Bono and the Edge album sooner than we think

[DomCobb]

Just came out on Friday

[clerks]

Originally Posted by DomCobb

Just came out on Friday

Correct. Hell it’s edge album with Bono.

[Scorpionac]

.

[MrsSpringsteen]

https://www.musicradar.com/news/the-edge-id-like-to-be-the-vanguard-of-this-resurgence-of-guitars

[david]

Edge just did Rick Rubin’s podcast but it’s behind a paywall.

[clerks]

Originally Posted by david

Edge just did Rick Rubin’s podcast but it’s behind a paywall.

Sneak Peak --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4TJo2ojYPQ

[david]

Im doing a two week free trial to just listen to it..

[dan_smee]

Let us know the takeaways!

[Rich79]

Originally Posted by MrsSpringsteen

https://www.musicradar.com/news/the-edge-id-like-to-be-the-vanguard-of-this-resurgence-of-guitars

Favorite part of this is that the U2 spirit of reinvention is still alive. You can tell he doesn't just want to re-hash the past and sound like a classic rock/punk outfit by "turning the amps on". He wants a fresh sound. Now, whether that means a wealth of experimentation or chasing the elusive and highly subjective "relevance" is yet to be seen.

[david]

No big takeaways from the Rick Rubin podcast. They touched upon the history of the band. Edge talked about the brilliance of Adam and his way of playing. Talked about books. Of course the new album etc.

[mediaman44]

The episode isn’t behind a pay wall anymore. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Fh...SiOQLi2pfH9NZw

I’m going to listen to it.

[MattD]

Have no idea what a 'unreasonable guitar record' would sound like. I agree that stuff like Discotheque rocks harder and cooler than anything afterwards and that was a quarter of a century back! I keep banging on about this but the tune at 4.47 sounds mega.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgJUUIgTXeI

Sure, it sounds like early U2 and isn't any reinvention, but at the risk of guitar 'rawk' like The Miracle or American Soul, I'd bite your hand off for a return to spiky post-punk.

Bono alluded to accepting they are not part of the pop mainstream anymore and that they won't bother attempting to write chart pop songs, so the album should be a reaction against that whole committee of producers and sterile overproduction that typifies so much of the modern charts. Record much of it live, drench the whole thing in reverb and release. Don't overthink it, keep it raw, Ryan Tedder well away and don't soften them up with daft teeny bopper melodies.

That's at the risk of looking like luddites, but in this day and age, a guitar band releasing something in a raw and authentic sound is rare today. I can't find it anymore but there was a video with Brian Eno discussing with Steve Lillywhite (entirely unrelated to U2) about how we are subconsciously more connected to sounds that are 'human' and not robotically pristine and perfect (he mentioned the idea of autotune or editing/perfecting a guitar riff in the middle of a song, etc ). I think there's something to be said for the rawness in that, adding to the overall energy of it all.

It's not present in the charts and any other guitar bands, U2 included, sounds sterile with its overwrought production. A reaction against that would be all the more powerful. And I reckon The Edge should keep to his strengths in making an unreasonable guitar record - that means reconciling a noisy guitar sound with the effects pedals and soundscapes of previous years. He should never ditch the thing that makes him great (which he unfortunately has in recent years), and just playing sub-standard generic rock riffs (American Soul, The Miracle, Stand Up Comedy, etc) is not playing to his strengths.

[JamietheEdgefan]

Originally Posted by MattD

Bono alluded to accepting they are not part of the pop mainstream anymore and that they won't bother attempting to write chart pop songs, so the album should be a reaction against that whole committee of producers and sterile overproduction that typifies so much of the modern charts. Record much of it live, drench the whole thing in reverb and release. Don't overthink it, keep it raw, Ryan Tedder well away and don't soften them up with daft teeny bopper melodies.

That's at the risk of looking like luddites, but in this day and age, a guitar band releasing something in a raw and authentic sound is rare today. I can't find it anymore but there was a video with Brian Eno discussing with Steve Lillywhite (entirely unrelated to U2) about how we are subconsciously more connected to sounds that are 'human' and not robotically pristine and perfect (he mentioned the idea of autotune or editing/perfecting a guitar riff in the middle of a song, etc ). I think there's something to be said for the rawness in that, adding to the overall energy of it all.

It's not present in the charts and any other guitar bands, U2 included, sounds sterile with its overwrought production. A reaction against that would be all the more powerful. And I reckon The Edge should keep to his strengths in making an unreasonable guitar record - that means reconciling a noisy guitar sound with the effects pedals and soundscapes of previous years. He should never ditch the thing that makes him great (which he unfortunately has in recent years), and just playing sub-standard generic rock riffs (American Soul, The Miracle, Stand Up Comedy, etc) is not playing to his strengths.

This is a really intriguing idea, and I think you may be right. I was thinking the other day that there could eventually be a pendulum swing away from overly-processed 'clean' sounding production. A very human, deliberately imperfect, and truly raw guitar-focused album could ironically sound quite relevant and attention-grabbing compared to an over-produced, 'safer' sound, and could be quite bold coming from a band like U2.

Based on their approach to SoS, they've proven they're comfortable putting out raw sounding music with vocal imperfections, unpolished production etc. Apparently SoS is charting at number 1 on itunes and other charts in a few countries - I'm entirely out of the loop on what defines commercial success, but if that has anything to do with it, it might embolden the band to pursue this raw sound.

Adam saying they haven't really started recording the new album, and Bono's talk of searching for a new producer last summer makes me hope (naively) that they've decided to scrap whatever they did recently with Ryan Tedder in favour of that sound you mention that rejects sterile overproduction and is more human. I've said it before, but I'd gladly take another year of waiting if it meant pursuing a direction away from Tedder (unfortunately I reckon he's still likely to be involved, if only because Bono and Edge are still interested in 'song writing' and might want what he brings to the table there).

I also really, really hope that a renewed focus on guitar doesn't mean yet more dad-rock, blues-scale riffs, but something more soundscape based.

[MrsSpringsteen]

I love that Edge Fender video, thanks for posting