HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
By Devlin Smith
Contributing Editor
2004.08
I was listening to Tami Heide?s music news on KROQ today during my drive home. She talked about new music from the Foo Fighters, Green Day and Sum 41, as well as the Curiosa Festival set to hit the Home Depot Center this weekend. She ended with the tiniest snippet about U2?album hitting stores Nov. 23, single to be released next month.
This news was really nothing new, we?ve been reporting the same information from various sources for at least a month, maybe longer. For some reason, though, maybe the fact that I was actually hearing it, just made all of this sink it. ?Next month!? I screamed while pounding my steering wheel, the clanging chords of ?Mysterious Ways? finishing out Tami?s report in the background. ?Next month!? Now it was real, now I finally grasped, truly understood that a new U2 album was coming. And so it begins.
We?ve known this was an eventuality for years, literally. The band first talked about songs to appear on the new album during a Nov. 2002 MSN chat. ?Full Metal Jacket? was dropped as a title then. In Feb. 2003 some friends and I were lucky enough to meet Bono outside Hanover Quay in Dublin. He told us the band had been working long nights in the studio. This album has been in the offing for ages and now it?s finally in the clearing, just slightly beyond the horizon but definitely within reaching distance.
Next month, it?s close enough to taste, and my body knows it. For the first time in a long time I?m getting U2 jitters. I think I may be too close to it sometimes, I spend my days scanning the Internet for news, making calls and sending e-mails to get scoops and confirmation, I don?t get too much time to wallow in my fan-girlness. Today that fan girl side finally came out, shrieked and pounded and giggled. Next month!! We?re getting a new U2 single next month!
I can countdown the days now, feel the time fluttering by as that fateful day in September finally presents itself. Of course I know it won?t really be a month, it?s certainly just a matter of weeks before Jo Whiley at Radio1 in the UK, Dave Fanning at Ireland?s 2FM, a KROQ DJ in LA or any of their radio brethren around the world has the honor of getting that first play. The song will be online within seconds of that debut. A video will soon follow.
So now is the time to prepare, to stretch both my critical and fanatical muscles. I?m going to go back to the beginning of U2, do my own marathon and play all the band?s albums in order, reacquainting myself with its path to greatness??Boy,? October,? ?War,? ?The Unforgettable Fire,? ?The Joshua Tree,? ?Achtung Baby,? ?Zooropa,? ?Pop,? and ?All That You Can?t Leave Behind.? I?ll analyze the similarities and differences between these albums, marveling at the craftsmanship and artistry, tracking the group?s progress from scruffy-haired post-punks to rock ?n? roll elder statesman. And then I?ll play the B-sides version of ?Electrical Storm? a few hundred times, hoping to find some hint of the new U2 in Edge?s charging solos, Adam?s swaying bass, Larry?s pounding drums, Bono?s mournful vocals.
And I believe this kind of preparation is in order, once this single hits the next two years are going to be jam-packed. There?s the tour that, if all the indications are correct, will begin in Miami or Boston [in] March 2005. Then there?s TV and radio appearances, videos and singles, magazine and newspaper interviews, signings, sightings, performances, sound bites, spoofs, critiques, accolades and award show sweeps on the way. That?s a lot for a fan to take in.
Now that I?ve got my U2 Global Extravaganza ?04-?06 preparations figured out, I wonder what the band is doing to prepare for the onslaught. I imagine rehearsals and pow wows, workouts and freak outs, prayer and meditation, bulk amounts of quality time spent with family and friends. These next few years are certain to be unlike anything Bono, Edge, Larry and Adam have faced in their 25 year career, it?s going to be extraordinary and excruciating. I bet that can?t wait just like we can?t.
Until I hear that single for the first time; until its lyrics, guitar, bass and drums have infiltrated my consciousness; until I learn the album?s title; until I first hold that square parcel in my hand; until I first pop it into my CD player and contemplate it, lyric sheet and all; until the tour dates are announced; until my tickets arive; until I enter the arena; until the band hits the stage; until the Grammys are awarded; until the yearly top 10 lists are announced; until the video collection is released; until the concert DVD hits my player; until the band first talks about the album to follow Tami Heide?s words will fill my head. Next month! The U2 single is coming out next month! And so it begins?
Contributing Editor
2004.08
I was listening to Tami Heide?s music news on KROQ today during my drive home. She talked about new music from the Foo Fighters, Green Day and Sum 41, as well as the Curiosa Festival set to hit the Home Depot Center this weekend. She ended with the tiniest snippet about U2?album hitting stores Nov. 23, single to be released next month.
This news was really nothing new, we?ve been reporting the same information from various sources for at least a month, maybe longer. For some reason, though, maybe the fact that I was actually hearing it, just made all of this sink it. ?Next month!? I screamed while pounding my steering wheel, the clanging chords of ?Mysterious Ways? finishing out Tami?s report in the background. ?Next month!? Now it was real, now I finally grasped, truly understood that a new U2 album was coming. And so it begins.
We?ve known this was an eventuality for years, literally. The band first talked about songs to appear on the new album during a Nov. 2002 MSN chat. ?Full Metal Jacket? was dropped as a title then. In Feb. 2003 some friends and I were lucky enough to meet Bono outside Hanover Quay in Dublin. He told us the band had been working long nights in the studio. This album has been in the offing for ages and now it?s finally in the clearing, just slightly beyond the horizon but definitely within reaching distance.
Next month, it?s close enough to taste, and my body knows it. For the first time in a long time I?m getting U2 jitters. I think I may be too close to it sometimes, I spend my days scanning the Internet for news, making calls and sending e-mails to get scoops and confirmation, I don?t get too much time to wallow in my fan-girlness. Today that fan girl side finally came out, shrieked and pounded and giggled. Next month!! We?re getting a new U2 single next month!
I can countdown the days now, feel the time fluttering by as that fateful day in September finally presents itself. Of course I know it won?t really be a month, it?s certainly just a matter of weeks before Jo Whiley at Radio1 in the UK, Dave Fanning at Ireland?s 2FM, a KROQ DJ in LA or any of their radio brethren around the world has the honor of getting that first play. The song will be online within seconds of that debut. A video will soon follow.
So now is the time to prepare, to stretch both my critical and fanatical muscles. I?m going to go back to the beginning of U2, do my own marathon and play all the band?s albums in order, reacquainting myself with its path to greatness??Boy,? October,? ?War,? ?The Unforgettable Fire,? ?The Joshua Tree,? ?Achtung Baby,? ?Zooropa,? ?Pop,? and ?All That You Can?t Leave Behind.? I?ll analyze the similarities and differences between these albums, marveling at the craftsmanship and artistry, tracking the group?s progress from scruffy-haired post-punks to rock ?n? roll elder statesman. And then I?ll play the B-sides version of ?Electrical Storm? a few hundred times, hoping to find some hint of the new U2 in Edge?s charging solos, Adam?s swaying bass, Larry?s pounding drums, Bono?s mournful vocals.
And I believe this kind of preparation is in order, once this single hits the next two years are going to be jam-packed. There?s the tour that, if all the indications are correct, will begin in Miami or Boston [in] March 2005. Then there?s TV and radio appearances, videos and singles, magazine and newspaper interviews, signings, sightings, performances, sound bites, spoofs, critiques, accolades and award show sweeps on the way. That?s a lot for a fan to take in.
Now that I?ve got my U2 Global Extravaganza ?04-?06 preparations figured out, I wonder what the band is doing to prepare for the onslaught. I imagine rehearsals and pow wows, workouts and freak outs, prayer and meditation, bulk amounts of quality time spent with family and friends. These next few years are certain to be unlike anything Bono, Edge, Larry and Adam have faced in their 25 year career, it?s going to be extraordinary and excruciating. I bet that can?t wait just like we can?t.
Until I hear that single for the first time; until its lyrics, guitar, bass and drums have infiltrated my consciousness; until I learn the album?s title; until I first hold that square parcel in my hand; until I first pop it into my CD player and contemplate it, lyric sheet and all; until the tour dates are announced; until my tickets arive; until I enter the arena; until the band hits the stage; until the Grammys are awarded; until the yearly top 10 lists are announced; until the video collection is released; until the concert DVD hits my player; until the band first talks about the album to follow Tami Heide?s words will fill my head. Next month! The U2 single is coming out next month! And so it begins?
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