Next Album Rumours Thread III - The Gospel of Adam

[LuckyNumber7]

Coldplay can absolutely do a global stadium tour. Their production is enough to draw out casual fans.

 

[DeVaul]

As far as guitar work, I'll say again that his punchy, staccato work on Reach Around is some of the best stuff he's done in the 21st century. Not really a hook or lick but it gives the song a lot of its energy and personality. Larry and Adam are superb on it as well; it's one of the rare recent songs where everyone seems to be firing on all cylinder.

And yeah, he did bring it on Volcano. Of course, it wasn't a live staple. And Reach Around was never played. As great as that tour was, it could have been even better. What's bizarre is that Raised By Wolves (which I love and also has some great, specific sonics from Edge) is a lot less catchy but had a permanent spot in the setlist because of the lyrical content.

The bass line on Volcano was fantastic, I believe Edge wrote it for Adam. Still think it should have been the single, great classic sound. Saw them play it live on I+E and it was quite solid if a bit rough around the edges. Which, to be fair, worked! But it likely could've been refined into a more muscular moment in the show.

I don't think I'd include Bon Jovi and Green Day. Regionally, perhaps. Green Day is headlining a stadium tour, but they're accompanied by Weezer and Fall Out Boy.

Garth Brooks would be on the list, at least domestically. I'm not sure of his pull globally.

McCartney.
AC/DC.
Coldplay did it fairly recently.
BTS was planning a stadium tour before the pandemic - not sure they have the staying power to do it long term but sure why not.
That... that's about it.

Maybe the reunited GNR.

Billy Joel, surprisingly enough, has done very well with domestic stadiums. A mix of baseball and football stadiums.

Same goes for Pearl Jam - who sell out Fenway, Wrigley and Safeco with ease but haven't really jumped into the football stadium show just yet.

It's a small list.

You're exactly right.

Green Day/Weez/FOB tour is doing well in the baseball stadiums but the football stadium dates are way undersold. Garth is going clean in almost every stadium he has booked thus far. Incredible staying power. All the tickets being around $100 all-in helps. I know he's huge in Ireland, but hasn't played anywhere else in Europe since the early 90s. Billy Joel does well in his summer baseball stadium shows, but couldn't imagine seeing him in a football stadium. I guess you take what you can get in certain markets.

I do think GNR has milked the reunion dry and should either be sticking to arenas or line up a big co-headliner. The football stadium dates in markets they've already played are a bloodbath right now. I have been kinda peeved that Pearl Jam has dodged NY while playing baseball stadiums in other markets over the past few years. Citi Field would have been a lot of fun.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

The bass line on Volcano was fantastic, I believe Edge wrote it for Adam. Still think it should have been the single, great classic sound. Saw them play it live on I+E and it was quite solid if a bit rough around the edges. Which, to be fair, worked! But it likely could've been refined into a more muscular moment in the show.









You're exactly right.



Green Day/Weez/FOB tour is doing well in the baseball stadiums but the football stadium dates are way undersold. Garth is going clean in almost every stadium he has booked thus far. Incredible staying power. All the tickets being around $100 all-in helps. I know he's huge in Ireland, but hasn't played anywhere else in Europe since the early 90s. Billy Joel does well in his summer baseball stadium shows, but couldn't imagine seeing him in a football stadium. I guess you take what you can get in certain markets.



I do think GNR has milked the reunion dry and should either be sticking to arenas or line up a big co-headliner. The football stadium dates in markets they've already played are a bloodbath right now. I have been kinda peeved that Pearl Jam has dodged NY while playing baseball stadiums in other markets over the past few years. Citi Field would have been a lot of fun.

Billy is playing football stadiums in Buffalo and Charlotte in the fall. He's been very strategic with his touring so I'm sure if he's playing there he must know it's going to do well. He has his MSG residency and then more or less cherry picks a few markets each summer that he hasn't played in a while to play a stadium gig. Honestly he could probably sell out a stadium gig per month in New York / Long Island for a fairly long time.

I caught him at Camden Yards pre-pandemic.

Agreed on Pearl Jam. They could absolutely step up to baseball stadiums around the country and probably do some football stadiums as well in certain markets. I know they've played some soccer stadiums internationally as well.

But with them they likely just don't want to.

 

[DeVaul]

Billy is playing football stadiums in Buffalo and Charlotte in the fall. He's been very strategic with his touring so I'm sure if he's playing there he must know it's going to do well. He has his MSG residency and then more or less cherry picks a few markets each summer that he hasn't played in a while to play a stadium gig. Honestly he could probably sell out a stadium gig per month in New York / Long Island for a fairly long time.

I caught him at Camden Yards pre-pandemic.

Agreed on Pearl Jam. They could absolutely step up to baseball stadiums around the country and probably do some football stadiums as well in certain markets. I know they've played some soccer stadiums internationally as well.

But with them they likely just don't want to.

Oh, I'm not saying he doesn't sell the football stadiums, just that I wouldn't go see him in that type of venue. The MSG residency continues to do well but it's not the full sellouts that welcomed him at the beginning. Even before the pandemic, it was very easy to get a decent pair of tickets after the initial on-sales right up to a week or so before the show.

Also: friggin' Pearl Jam.

 

[womanfish]

Billy is playing football stadiums in Buffalo and Charlotte in the fall. He's been very strategic with his touring so I'm sure if he's playing there he must know it's going to do well. He has his MSG residency and then more or less cherry picks a few markets each summer that he hasn't played in a while to play a stadium gig. Honestly he could probably sell out a stadium gig per month in New York / Long Island for a fairly long time.

I caught him at Camden Yards pre-pandemic.

Agreed on Pearl Jam. They could absolutely step up to baseball stadiums around the country and probably do some football stadiums as well in certain markets. I know they've played some soccer stadiums internationally as well.

But with them they likely just don't want to.

Would that shithead Ed Sheeran be on the list? Or do you think he would be more of a mix of stadiums and arenas depending on the city/country? I mean he obviously could fill stadiums in NY, CHI, LA, etc... But smaller metros like Milwaukee? Denver? Tampa? Portland, etc... I would think arenas?

 

[DaveC]

the last time that shithead ed sheeran toured north america (late 2018) he was selling out football stadiums all over north america, two nights in a row in toronto, NYC and boston. i have no idea if he's had a hit song or record since then so can't comment on what the demand would be like 3+ years later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/÷_Tour#Tour_dates (leg 10)

 

[DeVaul]

No reason for Sheeran not to play stadiums again. His younger fans are a few years older, some with drivers licenses now, and they’ll want to get together and see him again (or for the first time). He isn’t any less popular. His tickets were very reasonably priced last time, averaged under $100. Curious how high he goes next time around.

 

[Irvine511]

I looked at that Coldplay numbers, and they are definitely a stadium act in the biggest US markets (LA, NY, etc). But one thing that seems really remarkable about U2 is that they can fill stadiums in, like, Louisville and Kansas City. And I would assume comparable smaller markets in Europe, although Europe is underplayed.

Can anyone else do that?

 

[mikal]

Ed Sheeran fans have grown up and are listening to WAP now.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

I looked at that Coldplay numbers, and they are definitely a stadium act in the biggest US markets (LA, NY, etc). But one thing that seems really remarkable about U2 is that they can fill stadiums in, like, Louisville and Kansas City. And I would assume comparable smaller markets in Europe, although Europe is underplayed.

Can anyone else do that?

My theory... fans of U2 will travel from all over to Louisville. Coldplay fans are probably less likely to be that intense.

 

[DeVaul]

Coldplay strikes me as the stadium-level version of a band people go see because they don’t go to a lot of shows and they like that song they heard on the radio, so this is a big night out.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Agreed. Very few coldplay fanatics are #1 GA in line 12 days before the show because of their tent while they attend another show in another state

 

[Irvine511]

People like Coldplay.

People believe in U2.






(I’m one of them)

 

[AndrewCowley]

Coldplay strikes me as the stadium-level version of a band people go see because they don’t go to a lot of shows and they like that song they heard on the radio, so this is a big night out.

That is 4/5 of U2’s audience.

 

[doxxer]

The next album has to be owned by The Edge. I don’t care if he plays his Explorer for every song, but just give us an original riff

SOI had better licks but nothing ever stuck with you. Maybe LolCano, which joking aside is probably his most Edge playing in a while.

No more trying to figure out if his delay will translate to acoustic. That’s never been U2

I don’t even care if the songs are upbeat or “faster”, just have Edge come up with interesting sounds again.

I wonder if the only way we will get an excellent album is if they decide to do one relatively quickly and that they don’t tour behind.

And I think it's that last factor that is the most significant.. think of all the sing-along choruses and whoa-oh-ohs that were only baked into the album with an eye to playing the song live. I mean, the filler tracks that they have no intention of playing live are the ones I like the most anyway (SLABT, Stateless, Being Born, Cedars, BOYH, The Troubles, etc.). Hell, I'd love to see what would happen if the band were forced to record and release a collection of songs that they are sure will fail - It would probably result in an accidental masterpiece..

 

[doxxer]

Record quickly and spend years re-recording, overdubbing, mixing, remixing, and finally writing some new songs at the last minute and slapping them on the album instead of ones recorded years earlier in the sessions that are much better. That's the U2 way.

I've said it before, but I'm a huge believer in constraints as a booster for creativity. Nothing worse than having no deadline and no focus. Eno and Lanois know this perfectly. It's Lanois and Peter Gabriel who came up with the idea of having "no metal sound" on a record.

It lead to Phil Collins using no cymbals, and creating the "gated reverb" effect on the snare drum as a result. It was the defining sound of the 80's, and would never have appeared without constraints.

Constraints create inspiration. The Alien movie is a perfect example, they didn’t have the budget or FX so they kept the Alien hidden for most of the film. And it worked brilliantly. So much else was created on the fly due to limitations too. And compared to today’s Alien movies, there's a huge difference in quality.

Interestingly enough... according to Adam, they had a "down and dirty" album they did quickly. But that was almost 6 months ago now. They’re currently probably sitting on it for a year so they can doubt everything, hire a dozen producers, then scrap it all and start again.

 

[MattD]

If they want to record fast 'down and dirty', then just make sure you have the right songs.

Always refer back to this song at the end of the Fender advert featuring The Edge. Sounds like classic U2 - punky, vibrant and energetic, and none of this dad rawk nonsense like The Miracle.

And yet they always substitute a good thing and go back to teeny bop crap like Ryan Tedder.

Unbelievably frustrating band.

 

[The John Tree]

I caught him at Camden Yards pre-pandemic.

I was at that show. Headache, are you also a Marylander?

 

[LuckyNumber7]

I was at that show. Headache, are you also a Marylander?

He’s something like that! Where in MD are you from?

 

[The John Tree]

He’s something like that! Where in MD are you from?

Originally from Silver Spring, just outside DC. Grew up mostly in Ellicott City. Now I’m in the Canton neighborhood in Baltimore - America’s loveliest war zone.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Originally from Silver Spring, just outside DC. Grew up mostly in Ellicott City. Now I’m in the Canton neighborhood in Baltimore - America’s loveliest war zone.

Neat, I work in silver spring from time to time. I had my first experience over 15 minutes in Baltimore last week - Amtrak broke down for 3 hours on the way to New York. Wouldn’t recommend it!

 

[DaveC]

It lead to Phil Collins using no cymbals, and creating the "gated reverb" effect on the snare drum as a result. It was the defining sound of the 80's, and would never have appeared without constraints.

this is so easy to say with hindsight.

if gated reverb wasn't discovered during the making of that phil collins record, someone else certainly would have found and exploited the shit out of that sound in the early 80s.

this is like saying that automated double tracking wouldn't exist if not for john lennon wanting crazy sounds to warp the vocals of tomorrow never knows.

it's just a studio effect that someone would have invented sooner or later. it has nothing to do with "constraints" or whatever.

 

[lazarus]

Yeah, considering what Prince wound up doing in the early 80s, I think he would have been on that trail anyway.

 

[doxxer]

There's also a wonderful minimalist solo on Sleep Like A Baby, and while I'm not as high on the RAWK of Cedarwood Road as some here are, at least he sounds like he's trying and it builds to a legitimate crescendo (which is why I think it works best as the penultimate track on the album if you move Reach Around to the top where it belongs.

I love Cedarwood Road. It reminds me of Broken Bells, especially during the verses.

Probably the album's best alongside Troubles, SLABT. With Iris & RBW close behind.

 

[womanfish]

I love Cedarwood Road. It reminds me of Broken Bells, especially during the verses.

Probably the album's best alongside Troubles, SLABT. With Iris & RBW close behind.

I’d put Cedarwood after the 4 you mention and EBW. I like it a lot, but something about it just doesn’t sit quite right with me. I think the big loud bass heavy intro that suddenly ends and Bono starts singing about cherry blossom trees…. eh. But still a strong song.

What are your thoughts on California? i quite like it. Probably middle of the pack on SOI.

Also, people on this forum were really pro Reach when the album was first released. It’s grown on me a bit, but still probably in my bottom 3 on SOI.

 

[womanfish]

I don't think Foo Fighters are appropriate there either. They are wonderful. But Coldplay I'll agree with.

Sorry Mikal, You may have misunderstood my comparison. Foo Fighters are a good band. So is Coldplay. Both very popular and have made a mark, but aren’t considered “legendary”. I think U2 is on that line of either being remembered as legendary or just a really great band that had some amazing albums. My hope for them would be to have a swan song that would leave them in the former category and not the latter.

Also if you could recommend a few of your fave Foos songs from the last few albums I’ll give them a listen. Their latest single is pretty disappointing IMO, Not like Coldplay’s which is dreadfully bad, but just meh to me.

 

[womanfish]

And since I’m up and rambling. Does anyone else think it would be pretty interesting if U2 let Nigel Godrich produce their next one? I mean i have no idea how he would mesh with the band. But I do feel like he someone that could push their boundaries to do something unique and interesting and sort of let them organically evolve into songs and not push - “is this a proper song that can be sung with just piano or acoustic guitar?”.

 

[doxxer]

And since I’m up and rambling. Does anyone else think it would be pretty interesting if U2 let Nigel Godrich produce their next one? I mean i have no idea how he would mesh with the band. But I do feel like he someone that could push their boundaries to do something unique and interesting and sort of let them organically evolve into songs and not push - “is this a proper song that can be sung with just piano or acoustic guitar?”.

I always hoped that would eventuate, but I'm not sure he'd ever work with U2 again knowing their methods in studio, but just while we're on the subject.. did you know Nigel Goldrich is producing Arcade Fire's next record? I just found that out today.

 

[doxxer]

I’d put Cedarwood after the 4 you mention and EBW. I like it a lot, but something about it just doesn’t sit quite right with me. I think the big loud bass heavy intro that suddenly ends and Bono starts singing about cherry blossom trees…. eh. But still a strong song.

What are your thoughts on California? i quite like it. Probably middle of the pack on SOI.

Also, people on this forum were really pro Reach when the album was first released. It’s grown on me a bit, but still probably in my bottom 3 on SOI.

Lyrically, I think it's an admirable effort from Bono, so that's one aspect of the track that's particularly impressive being the lyrics.

I like how Bono uses California as an allegory for the loss of Innocence. Adam is the MVP and (like most tracks on SOI), he really drives the song. I think Danger Mouse really helped to re-energize the rhythm section for this record, Adam's playing on California, RBW, Cedarwood, Reach Me Now, (and especially Iris...) were testament to that.

 

[AndrewCowley]

I always hoped that would eventuate, but I'm not sure he'd ever work with U2 again knowing their methods in studio, but just while we're on the subject.. did you know Nigel Goldrich is producing Arcade Fire's next record? I just found that out today.

I suspect U2’s name is mud amongst the elite producer club. Why would any of them bother working with U2 when there’s a good chance U2 will kick you out and then shop the material you worked on to another producer?