New Album Discussion: Worthwhile, Informative, And Not Even Slightly Grating
- Thread starter nirniva
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gareth brown
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
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yeah that'd be amazing! Only problem would be they'd spend 2 or 3 days trying to do a perfect take of a song....nail it...then decide to re-arrange and re-record it a dozen times until they give up and decide they'd rather just spend a year with the comfort and safety net of ProTools 
but seriously, if they ever just took the Wasting Light approach and also really honed the songs in rehearsal before recording instead of writing in the studio it could be amazing!
but seriously, if they ever just took the Wasting Light approach and also really honed the songs in rehearsal before recording instead of writing in the studio it could be amazing!
OP
OP
nirniva
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Ooh, nice idea.
I imagine that a lot of HUTDAB-era stuff would have actually sounded pretty awesome if they had taken this approach.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Uhh, isn't this the approach they took on ATYCLB? More time writing, less recording?
No thanks. Don't want another one of those.
GirlsAloudFan
Blue Crack Addict
What do you want, laz?
popacrobat
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
I think it's more of the Rick Rubin approach, no? Wanted the songs done by the time they got to the studio, record it, be done with it. Though we only got what, Window in the Skies out of that?
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
GAF, I'll pretend you're not making a Zooropa reference, and answer: I want an Eno-produced album, no Lanois, and no clean-up bullshit after the fact from Lillywhite. I want the band to listen to his suggestions because he's smarter than any of them.
And as usual, I'd like them to follow the music until they get to where it takes them. The problem is getting off when the ride is over, and Eno knows that stopping point.
Barring that, Godrich. But that will probably never happen.
And as usual, I'd like them to follow the music until they get to where it takes them. The problem is getting off when the ride is over, and Eno knows that stopping point.
Barring that, Godrich. But that will probably never happen.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
And that song was crap. Next suggestion?
This band has proven that they do their best work when given he time to explore different avenues. Fuck Rick Rubin and his stripped-down approach. This is a different type of artist. He's not creative enough to handle the best they have to offer.
popacrobat
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
No, my point was just that it seems to be the more direct approach described rather than the ATYCLB sessions, wasn't suggesting that they should move forward with the Rubin approach.
powerhour24
ONE love, blood, life
That's kind of what I wanted after hearing NLOTH2, I wanted them to take a bunch of outtakes/unfinished songs and produce them themselves.
you mean like with Where The Streets Have No Name? oh, right... Eno wanted to erase the tapes, and the final version turned out to be a mix by lillywhite of different takes that Eno wanted to get rid of.
Eno is not the all knowing genius, and Steve Lillywhite is not this guy who just fucks everything up at the end. reality is the band, especially at this point in their careers, are the ones who ultimately fuck up. they are never just locked away in a studio creating music like they once were, largely because of bono's constant world travels constantly taking him away for huge chunks of time. this is why the sessions seem so disjointed.
but i do think it has to be eno/lanois next... and it would be nice if they could just lock themselves away, ignore the distractions, and focus on the music instead of trying to save the world. let chris martin save the world.
I'd like a break from the trinity for a while. Bring them back for the final U2 album. Rubin or Danger Mouse or whoever.
Say what you will about ATYCLB, it was a new sound and a fresh direction. Something Bomb and NLOTH (despite the hype and AB comparisons from Lanois), even if arguably better records, didn't have.
Registered Dude
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
I got to speak to Lanois in late 2008 when he was in town playing a show.
At the time, the album had just been delayed to March 2009 and he was discussing why that was the case. the album that existed at that point was quite different from that which we ended up with.. Winter was on it, SUC and Crazy sounded nothing like they doe now, (remember beach clip #5?).. basically, it was a different album..
this was the album that was hyped to us.. we'll never hear it, so we cant say it's better or worse.. but this was what Lanois was hyping. he was excited about what he thought was a fresh-sounding "masterpiece" (his word), but the band felt the need to rework it some more.. I wonder if we'll ever know.
OP
OP
nirniva
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Maybe we'll get some glimpses of what could have been from a NLOTH anniversary edition or an end-of-career unreleased material box set? Otherwise, I don't imagine we'll ever get to hear most of it.
And that's why i'm not sure what to trust/believe in Bono's latest comments to at the films opening....where he got choked up talking about U2 being near extinct in terms of radio play and artistic credibility.
Does that mean we'll get nothing but Crazy Tonight's where they try really, really, really hard to be on the radio and the song is just crap (IMO). Or does he mean that their method of trying to record these big songs has pushed them to this point, and they need to go back and just discover something new, and if it's great, it'll be remembered that way.
Does that mean we'll get nothing but Crazy Tonight's where they try really, really, really hard to be on the radio and the song is just crap (IMO). Or does he mean that their method of trying to record these big songs has pushed them to this point, and they need to go back and just discover something new, and if it's great, it'll be remembered that way.
corianderstem
Blue Crack Distributor
I don't think he got choked up - I think his throat got dry, hence the throat clearing right after those few words that sounded a little "strangled."
popacrobat
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Given that Crazy Tonight did nothing as a single and they played the album/single version all of what, twice? (once on Letterman and once while they were filming the video), I don't really see how anybody would take this as meaning they're going to give us more of something that failed commercially, and something that they shied away from on their huge, record breaking world tour.
Inner El Guapo
War Child
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2004
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- 609
They just need to realize that they can't have both and because of their age, and what it takes to have a "hit", that chasing that ghost isn't going to do any good anyway.
So they should finally make another album that isn't artistically compromised.
Would coincide nicely with the last time they did that. 2013 = 20 years since Zooropa.
So they should finally make another album that isn't artistically compromised.
Would coincide nicely with the last time they did that. 2013 = 20 years since Zooropa.
brooklynmike
Refugee
I watched it twice, I felt that his body language (besides his voice) was also such that he was getting choked up.
corianderstem
Blue Crack Distributor
I know Bono's an emtional guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, but I am skeptical of the man getting choked up over the thought of the band becoming "irrelevant."
But I'm not going to go rush to watch it again to try and analyze those 4 seconds of video, either.
But I'm not going to go rush to watch it again to try and analyze those 4 seconds of video, either.
JamietheEdgefan
Refugee
That's a very good point. Even if the next album is 'commercial', given u2's (logical) reactionary nature, it definitely won't include songs like Crazy Tonight or Boots.
Harry Vest
Refugee
Whatever the case will be they better include "Every Breaking Wave"!!!
JamietheEdgefan
Refugee
I really hope they do, it's one of my favourite u2 songs... i hope it isn't just forgotten! 
purpleoscar
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Or it's a b-side because they have even BETTER songs.
jay canseco
War Child
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- 810
A hip-hop version of Every Breaking Wave? 
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
JamietheEdgefan
Refugee
chocky
Refugee
In 1984 Eno had the foresight to just say "that's a wrap" after rambling Bono created Elvis Presley & America. Genius. Thankfully the band had the guts to go with him. And Eno allowed the band to create stuff like Boomerang & Love Comes Tumbling.
In 1993 the band James trusted Eno to release a bunch of demos called Wah Wah. Genius.
If Eno could create that spark again - and U2 have the guts to release unpolished gems, we could have one hell of an album! Sadly the band lacks confidence in themselves and tries too hard for a hit single. Forget it. Many of the best (and critically acclaimed) albums work as a complete album, not as 3 singles and 7 filler tracks. We don't want GaGa or Pitbull. We want U2.
I love TUF as much as the next guy, but the TUF approach isn't definitive U2. Achtung Baby is just as much U2 as TUF is, and the approach was very different: it's a very finished and polished album, under Lanois primarily and probably just as much under Eno as under Lillywhite.
Every Breaking Wave is a heartbreaking song. Assuming they hadn't produced it to death, I feel sure it would have been up there with MOS as one of the only songs from NLOTH (a record I like quite a bit) I want to listen to spontaneously, independent of the album itself.
