Let's Wager Some Money / First single release speculation

[cseggleton]

Alright we should make things interesting in the build up to the new album. Person who picks the date we will hear the official first single wins $1. For the tie breaker submit a time.

My pick is January 5th at 12 PM

 

[popacrobat]

January 15th 3 PM Eastern time

 

[subnet]

January 9, 5pm EST

 

[dabiggestu2fan]

January 6 will be radio release but will leak on January 5 at 9AM EST so yes 01/05/09

 

[cseggleton]

god can we just get a leak so i can stop checking this site 52 times a day!!!

 

[Pop Artist]

January 13th Noon UK time. (official premiere, not leak )

 

[astepcloser24]

god can we just get a leak so i can stop checking this site 52 times a day!!!

So true! I'm going to say it'll be released 1/20/09 (my 20th birthday!) at 8am EST.

 

[Rosebud]

January 3rd at 1pm UK time.



what the hell.

 

[luna_lovegood]

I'll throw in my money on 3d Jan 1pm UK time too. May as well get behind a date that has at least a bit of evidence. That and general wishful thinking.

 

[lew07]

Bono said theyll makw an impression early on, so i'll say tomorrow, January 2nd at 10 am EST, leavinging all of us with a great first weekend of 09

 

[LyricalDrug]

the fact that most people are picking dates really close to right now makes me all

 

[Rainy Days]

Jan 3 9am

 

[solemole]

5th Jan. '09
Online stream from U2.com @ 0800UTC

6th Jan. '09
First Radio Airplay @ 1300UTC in UK

 

[Rob33]

January 12th 3 P.M. Eastern Time

 

[Rosebud]

the fact that most people are picking dates really close to right now makes me all

You and me both!

btw, I just discovered your inspired thread on OOTS in It's A Musical Journey.

 

[andyuk]

First play is always on RTE in Ireland so can't see why this won't happen again. I am going for:-

RTE 2 - 13th Jan 7.30pm (UK Time)
Rest of world - 14th Jan

 

[chocky]

U2 songs have often debuted on Dave Fanning Show. According to RTE website, his weeknight show is broadcast on RTE1 7pm til 8pm. Therefore I'm going with a Tuesday night on RTE1, towards the end of his show.

Given we have no official single details yet (ie title, formats, tracks, date, remixers etc) which is always announced ahead of it's first radio play, I still think we have a few weeks to wait.

Official radio debut: Tuesday 27th January 7:50pm (Dublin time)
Physical release: Saturday 7th February (Australian time)
US/iTunes release: Tuesday 10th February

I suspect it'll leak a couple of days early, maybe on 25th January (my birthday)

 

[mikal]

going by the history of how the band has done things, i would say Jan. 3rd. but with the lack of buzz about the new single, i am led to believe that the band has decided to release the first single later so there's less time between the first single and album. so my guess:

Jan. 16

 

[superlarry]

radio Jan. 5
Physical Jan. 9

 

[Irishteen]

Radio Jan 13th 8pm
Digital Release Jan 16th
Physical Feb 13th

 

[digitize]

Five minutes from now

 

[bram]

Is the first single usually released before the tracklist is announced?

 

[mikal]

Is the first single usually released before the tracklist is announced?

it all depends. i think the tracklist for HTDAAB came a couple days before we heard Vertigo. but at the same time, i don't believe we had anything near the detailed descriptions that we have for NLOTH.

i will say, it seems like U2 is putting a lot less hype into the first single, but putting more hype on the album this time around. on their last 2 albums, you couldn't go anywhere without hearing about Vertigo or Beautiful Day, even though we hadn't heard the songs yet. makes me wonder if U2 is less concerned about having big radio hits on this album.

 

[bram]

it all depends. i think the tracklist for HTDAAB came a couple days before we heard Vertigo. but at the same time, i don't believe we had anything near the detailed descriptions that we have for NLOTH.

i will say, it seems like U2 is putting a lot less hype into the first single, but putting more hype on the album this time around. on their last 2 albums, you couldn't go anywhere without hearing about Vertigo or Beautiful Day, even though we hadn't heard the songs yet. makes me wonder if U2 is less concerned about having big radio hits on this album.

Yeah I agree. Maybe they don't feel like they have such an immediate tune to release this time around. It seems that there was a bit of indecision for a while about what the lead-off would be. I still think they should go with Magnificent, although another part of me doesn't want that song "tainted" by the U2 first single exposure syndrome.

 

[mikal]

it would be cool to have a slower song as a lead off single ala WOWY.

 

[bram]

it would be cool to have a slower song as a lead off single ala WOWY.

I agree. It would actually be a bold move and likely a bit scary for them. But the pay-off could be huge (ala WOWY as you point out).

Because the first single gets so much more attention (their subsequent ones have been almost non-events recently), I think they should pull out all the stops and release the best song, not the fastest, hippest, most attitude-filled one.

 

[andyuk]

I agree. It would actually be a bold move and likely a bit scary for them. But the pay-off could be huge (ala WOWY as you point out).

Because the first single gets so much more attention (their subsequent ones have been almost non-events recently), I think they should pull out all the stops and release the best song, not the fastest, hippest, most attitude-filled one.

not sure about that last quote! here is U2's singles this decade:-

Beautiful Day No 1
Stuck in a Moment No2
Elevation No 3
Walk On No5
Electrical Storm No5
Vertigo No 1
Sometimes No 1
City of Blinding Lights No2
All Because of You No 4

All singles have gone top 5 so single wise this decade has probably been the best

 

[bram]

not sure about that last quote! here is U2's singles this decade:-

Beautiful Day No 1
Stuck in a Moment No2
Elevation No 3
Walk On No5
Electrical Storm No5
Vertigo No 1
Sometimes No 1
City of Blinding Lights No2
All Because of You No 4

All singles have gone top 5 so single wise this decade has probably been the best

I'm assuming this is UK?

In the US, I don't know what the the rankings were but I don't think they made much of an impression in the singles chart. As I've only ever lived in the US, I can only speak to that perspective.

Edit: I just checked Sometimes and it only made #97 on the hot 100 Billboard. Beautiful Day was #21 and Vertigo was #31. In the US charts at least, I think whether or not it's the first single has a lot to do with how big it is--i.e., how much airplay and attention it gets. You're right that that doesn't seem to be the same in the UK where a top 5 single is apparently inevitable for U2 no matter the song quality or release schedule.

 

[Sergiodino]

not sure about that last quote! here is U2's singles this decade:-

Beautiful Day No 1
Stuck in a Moment No2
Elevation No 3
Walk On No5
Electrical Storm No5
Vertigo No 1
Sometimes No 1
City of Blinding Lights No2
All Because of You No 4

All singles have gone top 5 so single wise this decade has probably been the best

In the UK.....but for USA?...the 90´s have more hit singles....

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i'm also assuming those are uk figures, though for the us it's also worth pointing out that singles as a whole aren't that big of a deal anymore. more people just buy the album or download it for free. personally, i'm a bit of a completist so if it's a band i really like, i buy all the singles anyway.