Muad'zin
Refugee
Personally I think they had pushed the envelope as far as they could have with Zoo TV and Pop was just too much for many of their fans. It didn't help that Bono was talking crap about doing a triphop album. It turned me off at first. Didn't help that the album had to be released before it was ready because the tour was about to start. And that the tour could have benefitted from some promo shows so the band could get a handle on the new songs. It was probably towards the end of leg 1 that the band was finally getting its musical act together. Not a good learning curve and not helping the band much either.
Thrash kicks ass! Besides, Megadeth and Slayer stayed true to their roots. Granted, they're not as big as Metallica but that's a small price to pay for not having sold their souls and integrity.
I disagree. Young bands don't sell much records because young audiences barely buy records any more. At least older audiences still feel the need to buy something physical in addition to the MP3's they get from iTunes. In that sense U2 is probably even more important to its record company then all those new and upcoming acts.
But it sold crap in comparison to Achtung Baby and ATYCLB. But you're right in the sense that they do have more freedom now. As the old industry model evaporates and new bands struggle to find a way to make money from their new audiences, U2 at least is blessed with an established brand name and a large fanbase.
It used to be that business recognized that good workers were an asset, not something you should exploit and cut costs on. Well, maybe it used to be in Europe and U2 is a European band/enterprise. Nowadays no one's job is secure if it means company stock will go up 0.01%. Except the CEO's of course. So in that sense I see U2 moving along with the times.
As for their desire to score hits, they do feel the need to remain relevant. They probably want to avoid becoming like the Rolling Stones, whose albums just serve as an excuse to go back on tour playing their greatest hits to their old fanbase charging overpriced tickets. Or worse, join the ranks of bands like the Simple Minds or Deep Purple, playing on classic rock and/or golden oldies festivals.
Now, how to remain relevant is a discussion in itself, one which in my mind doesn't equate to scoring big hits. But that seems to be the bar U2 have set themselves. To score hits to connect with a new and young audience, while ironically not changing their sound too much as to avoid another Pop debacle and risk alienating their established audience.
But they were also younger back then. And the first time they tried to change their sound worked for them. It could just as easily have backfired for them. And it did backfire for them with Pop and NLOTH. Success breeds confidence, but failure tends to breed caution. Even when you know you have to push the envelope caution will still hold you back.
Maybe. Then again I think DM is what you get when you're a big band, a business basically, with a lot riding upon what you do. And while Load/Reload brought in a new younger audience, it didn't produce the masterpiece that could stand up to Master of Puppets. It wasn't Metallica's Achtung Baby. Whereas St. Anger was very much Metallica's Pop. So DM became Metallica's ATYCLB, trying to go back to basics and give the fans what they wanted, a new Master of Puppets.
Maybe they should clone another Dave Mustaine instead. One without the substance abuse issues. Some of the best Metallica songs had been cowritten with Dave, or seen his influence still linger. Then again Cliff would be way better suited then Robert Trujillo. Whose playing talents are basically wasted on Metallica. And akin to asking Steve Vai to join U2 to play Bono's guitar parts.
