If you shout...
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Bono: "I think there will be a new album in 2006."
Me: "I don't."
Me: "I don't."
spencr00 said:larry wont like it and it'll be 2009...mark my words
Ellay said:
I tend to agree, however it makes you wonder how zooropa managed to get released so quickly...
U2DMfan said:Record contracts have nothing to do with what U2 are planning on doing.
All it means is that "if" they release another album, or two, whatever the actual number is, they are contracted to release those albums on Universal/Interscope. It does NOT mean they are obligated to release X-number of albums, just that if they do, they have to release them on the label that is contracted with.
So U2 could call it quits today, that record contract wouldn't amount to a hill of beans.
I think a lot will hinge on how HTDAAB ultimately is recieved. After all ATYCLB and Elevation was received well by the public, but the band seemed to admit lately that they believed it wasn't as strong as they had thought. HTDAAB and the upocoming tour are almost guaranteed to "sell" well, but that doesn't really mean much to the band, at least that's the way I perceive it.
U2 are in a quandry. They want to be big, to be successful enough to warrant going away from their families for a year or more. To keep doing it after 25 years, they see themselves as needing to have hits and needing to be relevant.
On the flipside, the critical acclaim that they have so often chased after suffers because of the songs being too digestable etc.
I think they are really stuck in an odd position. What would be the point of making a progessive album that not many people hear? Just so some rock critics can say U2 is still relevant? That hardly makes sense to them. They are looking for reasons to take this album on tour, for people to love the album, not for some 'street cred' bullshit, that most people should grow out of by the time they are 25.
The songs live on. As great as Achtung Baby was, ultimately it's the songs you are stuck with. As ballsy and unique to U2 as Passengers was, it's ultimately the songs that you end up with. Not statements. Not images. Not supposed perceptions. They have just decided to make the best songs they can. I think they are making good songs, just not interesting ideas. But then again, they have sort of already done that. It would be sad to see U2 trying to 'fit in' along side bands of 20-somethings who are making music for NOW, as opposed to music that could last for decades.
Ideally, for my musical preference, I'd rather have a Zooropa or a Passengers type album than what they've been making lately, but I completely, 100% understand why they aren't doing so. It doesn't make any sense.