"...like War with a harder edge...and with the depth of Achtung Baby"

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Michael Griffiths

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From U2log.com...

All The War You Can't Leave Baby

Long-time U2 fan Ruby shares an amusing discussion she had with Steve Averill at the Rock Hall last weekend:

?I?d heard/read somewhere that Four5One had heard a half dozen tracks of the new [U2] stuff, so I was curious what they thought of the material. I asked Averill at the book signing if it was true that the new stuff was along the sonic lines of All That You Can?t Leave Behind. He initially said, ?Yes,? but then followed with, ?Actually, it sounded more like War but with a harder edge?and with the depth of Achtung Baby.? Laughing, I asked him, ?So you are sure they won?t turn around and give us, say, Pop part two ? more techno?? And he said, very definitely, that this was indeed a guitar-driven album.?
 
This news is a long time fans dream come true!! The first U2 album I ever heard was War, and my favorite is Acthung Baby (closely followed by JT and ATYCLB). War is one of their harder rocking albums, but AB was their best!! Sweet!!
 
Since album wont be out as early as early next year, I dont think if anyone has heard 7-8 songs that are rocking means the album would be rocking. U2 have a tendency to drop songs that rock. On Zooropa 3 rock songs were dropped and the 4th one became HMTMKMKM. I am sure on POP there were some lefovers which were straightforward rock like Holy Joe.

When one of the officials from U2's record label (I think it was Jimmy Iovine) heard 4-5 songs from ATYCLB, the emotions were described as "jumping up and down" and "more rocking than you'd expect form U2".

Now the thing is how to describe rock, if you ask me I'd say Walk On rocks, my 14 year old cousin would say Wild Honey rocks, while my roomate would say only Elevation and New York rock.

I am not being sceptic here, but just putting things in perspective. Judging music from other people's word can lead to formation of false notions, which could mean when the original comes out it could be disappointing regardless of how good it is.

So enjoy the news, predict, hallucinate or even go out buy the imaginary album, but please dont form any opinions before listening. I think partly ATYCLB was ruined because of this fact and it is as misunderstood as POP.
 
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ishkash said:
I think partly ATYCLB was ruined because of this fact and it is as misunderstood as POP.
I completely agree, Ishash...very well put.

I think the reason why many would be flipping over this, is because of the perameters that were used -- "harder rocking than War," and having "the depth of Achtung Baby." This is a bit more revealing than simply saying, "it rocks". But, that said, I completely understand your point, and I agree wholeheartedly.
 
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Well I remember the "War meets Achtung Baby" description of the album and it sounds intriguing.
 
I agree 100% with ishkash?s post. It?s funny and entertaining to talk about it, to discuss pros and cons, to ramble on...but the real thing will affect each one of us the way it must be. So lets wait and enjoy the ride. :up:
 
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Just think guitar U2, from Exit , to Ultra Violet , to 11 o clock tick tock, to Dancing Barefoot ( the best B side ever ) .:yes:

To me With or Without you is a guitar song too , so is Pride , there are so many more , Glooooooooooooooooooriaaaaaaaaaaaa is guitar anthem- ladies and gentleman this is the Edge.:applaud:

If they come up with songs as diverse and as rocking as the ones I have mentioned well we re in for a biggie :hyper: .

I still reckon there s a good chance of some very mellow U2 - minimalistic ,semi acoustic guitar -the mothers of the disappeared has some beautiful guitar playing and its not exactly a roof lifter.


I think with Mr Thomas on the knobs we can expect sonme fuzzy fuzzy stuff too- beat on the brat might be a little hint at the distorsion levels possible
 
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OMG I seriously think I'm gonan end up dying of heart attack before they even tour I'm finding it hard to remain calm! I'm sooo excited and I've gotta wait a damn year lol

But this is soooo very exciting!!! :applaud:
 
Bunbury(?), I agree, however in the 90's the Edge was really trying to be innovative with his sound, and tried to steer clear of the old adage of a guitar driven 3-piece band. I think he has now come to grips with the fact that he can be innovative and keep the natural guitar sound at the same time.
 
I wrote this about 4 days ago..

"I dont know if I want it to sound like any of their past works but if it has to.
I would love to see a mix between WAR, ACTUNG BABY, and Passengers..

Dirty raw noise...
but dancey."

I had the War, Actung Baby part right on!

and who knows, the Edge might be trying to up the ante once again (such as he did in Passengers)
 
Oh the "hard edge" of WAR and the "depth" of AB sound like a deadly mix. I love the underlying lyrics of classics like "One" and "LIB" as well as the pace and adrenaline of songs like "SBS" and "NYD". So together they potentially make for a stunning album!

P.S. As a guitarist I really am hoping that the "guitar album" rumours ring through!
 
I'm also a guitarist, so I hope the guitar riffs are out of this world. ATYCLB didn't have a whole lotta complicated guitar parts. I think I learned the entire album note for note in a day. Challenge me!!
 
Actually I didn't think War rocked that much. A lot of songs were pretty medium paced if I remember with bare bones arrangements. Sonically rougher though. I thought Achtung rocked a lot though, ballads aside. EBTRT, Mysterious Ways, The Fly, UTEOTW, Ultraviolet, Love is Blindness, Acrobat, Who's Gonna Ride..., and even Zoo Station.
 
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