Next Album Rumours Thread II - Songs of Ass Scent

[Headache in a Suitcase]

With touring pressure off for a while, I’d like them to think small for a record. Focus on being quiet. Make a “Folklore,” which is the best album of the year so far by any major artist.






Fight me.

You make a great point about touring... now's the perfect time to just toss something out there. If songs of ascent exists in some form? Send it to a producer and finish it and release it. Maybe it's time to do a Tracks/Lost Dogs like release of demos, b sides and unreleased tracks.

Get something out there that doesn't need a tour to support it.

 

[JamietheEdgefan]

With touring pressure off for a while, I’d like them to think small for a record. Focus on being quiet. Make a “Folklore,” which is the best album of the year so far by any major artist.






Fight me.

Damn, this is a great idea. They could do what Coldplay did with Ghost Stories before A Head Full of Dreams, or Everyday Life - release something more meditative, intimate, and bold without the need for a stadium single or tour, then follow it up a year or two later with a 'big' album.

I was thinking the other day how they should have done that with NLOTH. Imagine if they'd released a 9 track NLOTH, with moment of surrender as the lead single, leaning into the experimental/'this isn't about big singles' approach, then toured small arenas/theatres for a month or two, before returning to the studio to create an uncompromisingly pop album to play with the 360 tour.

They kind of have a second chance to do that now.

Like Headache says, they should polish off SoA, maybe work remotely on it for 3-6 months, then get it out there as an album that is by design adventurous and free of the burden of hits. They (or Bono) clearly want to put this out at some point, and now would be such a great time.

 

[MattD]

Ryan Tedder is to U2 what John fuckin Stamos was to Beach Boys in the late 80s. Cheap shoddy cut and paste melodies for tacky songs with insipid lyrics. Ahimsa was the last straw.

And Bono’s turned from Brian Wilson into Mike Love in the process. His standards for art have dropped shockingly with such horrific figures in the songwriting department. It’s genuinely laughable what they see in Ryan Tedder. From Brian Eno to that, it’s beyond the joke.

You can’t take a band seriously hiring that sort of nonsense and that creative mindset. I’d rather they split up than continue to degrade themselves with Tedder. It’s so embarrassing, they’d probably have more dignity walking out on stage in revealing BDSM costumes and Bono holding The Edge on a leash on all fours with ball and chain.

 

[Hollow Island]

Ryan Benjamin Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. As well as being the lead vocalist of the pop rock band OneRepublic, he has an independent career as a songwriter and producer for various artists, including Adele, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Jennifer Lopez, Camila Cabello, Lady Gaga, Maroon 5, MØ, One Direction, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, Logic, and Paul McCartney.

Tedder's production and songwriting work has proven commercially successful. "Apologize", performed by his band OneRepublic, "Bleeding Love", performed by Leona Lewis, and "Halo", performed by Beyoncé, all made it to the list of best-selling singles of all time.[2] In early 2014, Billboard named him "The Undercover King of Pop" and featured him on the magazine's cover. He is one of the producers on the reality show Songland. He is a three-time recipient of the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, due to his production credits on Adele's albums 21 and 25, and Taylor Swift's 1989.

Lol, you need to click on the CAREER section of his wiki to find this buried in the middle of that absurdly long section:

Tedder shared producing credits on U2's 2014 album, Songs of Innocence.

It's the only mention of them on his wiki. It doesn't mean anything but it's funny that whoever runs his wiki page doesn't think his work with U2 is worth more than a passing mention.

 

[lazarus]

Ryan Tedder is to U2 what John fuckin Stamos was to Beach Boys in the late 80s. Cheap shoddy cut and paste melodies for tacky songs with insipid lyrics. Ahimsa was the last straw.

Tedder didn't have anything to do with Ahimsa, which was produced by Duncan Stewart (a member of their tour tech team). Lillywhite pitched in as well, and there were big contributions from A.R. Rahman.

I don't know what connects this song to SOE or SOI at all. I thought the collaboration with Indian artists was at least something different.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

How anyone could hold a negative feeling towards Ahimsa as a production is beyond me.

Good on them for trying something absolutely different.

If it isn’t good, I don’t care. It isn’t them sitting at home jerking off about how they knew Joey Ramone so they’re punk they’re hip they’re cool get on your boots here’s a generic annoying rock song.

 

[The John Tree]

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CDGr6wCHAl7/?igshid=6q5l8cd3bcpd

Am I the only one who thinks this sounds surprisingly good? Bono’s voice is surprisingly well suited to this one.

Knock some rust off, add some U2 flavor to this, release it as a one off on record store day or something, and get crucified by the press for desecrating a classic, I say.

 

[Hollow Island]

b/w Freebird

 

[pacemaker]

If only Edge had taken riff cues from Stairway instead of Black Dog/Immigrant Song/etc. after It Might Get Loud.

 

[Weatherman]

How anyone could hold a negative feeling towards Ahimsa as a production is beyond me.

Good on them for trying something absolutely different.

Exactly.
Coldplay also dove into world music for their last release.
These older bands have to reinvent themselves every once in a while.
Now, if we can just keep Bono away from writing lyrics about himself... I'm a longtime fan and even I'M sick of hearing about Dublin in the 70s.

 

[Weatherman]

I still harbor dreams of an Adam-centric, extremely rhythmic U2 album.

Looking back, some of my favorite songs of theirs are owing to the bass parts -- Moment of Surrender, Bullet the Blue Sky (brilliant meshing with Larry), New Year's Day, Mysterious Ways, Blackout. Adam was pretty prominent on the early stuff too.

I am certain that he and Larry could lock in a series of killer grooves. It might push Edge out of his comfort zone, make him do some trebly, stabby funk guitar.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I don't think I've listened to Ahimsa since the week it came out - it does absolutely nothing for me. I kind of even forgot it was a thing until it was just brought up here... alas, it was a one off throw away made specifically for the Mumbai shows - so there's absolutely nothing to complain about - especially when you consider the last two songs Bono wrote that were tied to specific events/concerts were Glastonbury and New Day, two giant healing piles of garbage (straight outta Dublin)

 

[dan_smee]

Ahimsa has grown on me over time. There is something about its earnestness and lack of trying to be a massive single that makes it endearing. It’s like One Step Closer - I had no interest in it with bigger things going on at the time, but I can appreciate it now.

 

[The_acrobat]

I'm all for a low key release right now, similar to Everyday life from Coldplay. Even if that is Songs of Ascent... just release something. Even if it's just an EP, that'd be alright. The way I see it, the first thing U2 are going to do publicly is the Achtung Baby 30 Tour in 2022. Then after that, they'll probably release the next big U2 album and tour on the back of that in 2023-24. So why not release something lowkey now? Something that isn't the next big U2 album. Some kind of reward for making it through 2020 alive!

 

[Weatherman]

I'm all for a low key release right now, similar to Everyday life from Coldplay. Even if that is Songs of Ascent... just release something. Even if it's just an EP, that'd be alright. The way I see it, the first thing U2 are going to do publicly is the Achtung Baby 30 Tour in 2022. Then after that, they'll probably release the next big U2 album and tour on the back of that in 2023-24. So why not release something lowkey now? Something that isn't the next big U2 album. Some kind of reward for making it through 2020 alive!

Sometimes their commercial instincts are too strong. They should really throw a curveball (a la Zooropa) with an unexpected 8 or 10 song EP touching on a radically different tone and soundscape. That was The Unforgettable Fire, which led to amazing things after.

I don't know why they always have to be swinging for the bleachers with commercial hits. They aren't even getting those anyways -- their last hit was Vertigo, 16 goddamned years ago.

 

[lazarus]

Speaking of Coldplay and Everyday Life, it's kind of shocking how poorly it did sales-wise. Their previous album A Head Full of Dreams sold 6 million worldwide, which is better than No Line on the Horizon's 5 million. If we look at the rest of the 2000s, they were clearly selling more albums on average than U2 even with the latter's comeback:

Parachutes: 13 million
A Rush of Blood: 15 million
X&Y: 13 million
Viva la Vida: 10 million
Mylo Xloto: 8 million
Ghost Stories 3 million
A Headful of Dreams: 6 million

compared to:

ATYCLB: 12 million
The Bomb: 10 million
No Line: 5 million
SOI: N/A

However, Songs of Experience managed to sell 1.3 million worldwide, whereas Everyday Life looks like it may not even have cracked 1 million WW?? I can't seem to find exact figures but that's pretty sad. Well, not for me, but for Coldplay and their fans.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I really don't think Coldplay's current target audience have bought a CD in their lifetimes

 

[The_acrobat]

I really don't think Coldplay's current target audience have bought a CD in their lifetimes

I recently was talking to an 18 year old girl (friend of the family, FYI... NOT inappropriate), and she said she's never bought a CD in her life. The concept of paying for music was completely lost on her. Can't even fathom why somebody would go to a rock concert, because it's just "the same band playing the whole night". These people are now entering adulthood. We are all officially dinosaurs.

However, my nephew is 18 and he is a bit of an old soul. I think he just mimics his Dad's taste in music, because his generation doesn't really care about music. Loves buying CDs and Vinyl. Says his favorite band is Alice in Chains. So who knows. U2 need to stop trying to fit in. They are 60 years old, and literally everything about what they do is out of date. Luckily we all still love it.

 

[cseggleton]

Bono needs to get the mole on his neck checked
out...seriously.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

You should call him and let him know

 

[lazarus]

I really don't think Coldplay's current target audience have bought a CD in their lifetimes

What does that have to do with the stat I just posted? You think a sales drop of 5 million between albums is no big deal? Or that so many more people were buying CDs in 2015?

Not to mention that sales aren't just determined by CD sales anymore.

 

[cseggleton]

his phone is off the hook

 

[the tourist]

Coldplay gets a lot more streams than U2 on spotify. Their monthly listeners metrics more than double U2. I don’t think Coldplay cares about sales when they’re making millions off of streaming (e.g. if each of their monthly listeners only listened to one song a month, they’d make ~$1.2m this year from one streaming platform, and I highly doubt each of those monthly listeners only listens to a single song).

 

[lazarus]

As I said above, sales now include streaming numbers, so any way you want to slice it, their last album was a giant no1curr compared to their previous one. A 5+ million drop-off can't be waved away with BUT...STREAMING!! explanation.

 

[The John Tree]

This could just be me, but I didn’t think Coldplay did a good job of promoting Everyday Life. I actively tried to avoid Head Full of a Dreams and I couldn’t because I felt like some of those songs were everywhere, I saw plenty of press surrounding the album release, and there was a big time tour being hyped here in the Northeast USA.

Four years later, I didn’t even know they had a new album out until it popped up in Spotify’s new music on some Friday morning. Which is a shame because, as a very casual fan, I think it’s way better than anything they’ve done since Viva La Vida. But it just landed with a thud.

 

[the tourist]

As I said above, sales now include streaming numbers, so any way you want to slice it, their last album was a giant no1curr compared to their previous one. A 5+ million drop-off can't be waved away with BUT...STREAMING!! explanation.

But what I’m saying is who cares what one album’s sales are? They’re still making a shit ton of money, currently, and over double what U2 makes via Spotify (and probably other streaming platforms as well).

And also, to something you said before, people absolutely buy less CDs now. I think I’ve bought maybe one in the last three years. In 2015 I probably bought 30+. No one that I talk about music with in real life buys CDs. And these aren’t kids.

I’d also say people purchase less digital music now as well. Streaming is king. Why purchase when you’re paying for the service to get you the same music? Vinyl is probably secondary at this point, above CDs for many. And people buy less vinyl because it costs a good deal more. Especially if they’re paying for a streaming service.

 

[macawaca]

https://mobile.twitter.com/neil_mccormick/status/1287310223053643777

Neil posted this the other day too, knows a thing or two the odd time, but still firmly in the rumours section!

Neil McCormick
@neil_mccormick
Ah, the busker's classic. Lovely to see Bono & Edge together again, especially since they spent lockdown in different countries. I'm guessing this means there may be plans afoot

 

[super fly guy]

https://mobile.twitter.com/neil_mccormick/status/1287310223053643777

Neil posted this the other day too, knows a thing or two the odd time, but still firmly in the rumours section!

Neil McCormick
@neil_mccormick
Ah, the busker's classic. Lovely to see Bono & Edge together again, especially since they spent lockdown in different countries. I'm guessing this means there may be plans afoot

Hopefully something is brewing,although wouldn't expect anything this year.

 

[JamietheEdgefan]

Speaking of Coldplay and Everyday Life, it's kind of shocking how poorly it did sales-wise. Their previous album A Head Full of Dreams sold 6 million worldwide, which is better than No Line on the Horizon's 5 million. If we look at the rest of the 2000s, they were clearly selling more albums on average than U2 even with the latter's comeback:

Parachutes: 13 million
A Rush of Blood: 15 million
X&Y: 13 million
Viva la Vida: 10 million
Mylo Xloto: 8 million
Ghost Stories 3 million
A Headful of Dreams: 6 million

compared to:

ATYCLB: 12 million
The Bomb: 10 million
No Line: 5 million
SOI: N/A

However, Songs of Experience managed to sell 1.3 million worldwide, whereas Everyday Life looks like it may not even have cracked 1 million WW?? I can't seem to find exact figures but that's pretty sad. Well, not for me, but for Coldplay and their fans.

Interesting, I didn't realise Everyday Life did quite so badly.

To be fair, that album was deliberately experimental/not radio friendly, so I think it was expected that it wouldn't be as successful as their previous albums.

I think a band as big as Coldplay know they can afford to 'take the hit' and have a less successful record, because it's very likely they can bounce back with something more pop-based.

U2 on the other hand, haven't had a big single in 16 years, so they're probably a lot more averse to putting out something deliberately experimental, as they're already fighting an uphill battle to get back to 'the top' . Whether they should be concerned with making a chart topping single in their 60's is another conversation, but it certainly still seems to be their mission. To me that's the biggest reason why they wouldn't utilise the current times to put out something more daring.

 

[Weatherman]

I recently was talking to an 18 year old girl (friend of the family, FYI... NOT inappropriate), and she said she's never bought a CD in her life. The concept of paying for music was completely lost on her. Can't even fathom why somebody would go to a rock concert, because it's just "the same band playing the whole night". These people are now entering adulthood. We are all officially dinosaurs.

This new band The 1975 (who are terrific) are about 30 yrs old and they play to exactly this mentality.
As a band, they're impossible to pin down. Every song sounds different from the one before it. Their singer Matty says that their goal is to sound like a playlist of multiple artists.