Axver said:
I don't get why people are slamming Lillywhite. The albums that most showcase Adam and Larry and feature some of the most rocking tracks in U2's catalogue come from his work back in 1980-1983!
Hell, this man produced SBS and NYD, two of the greatest classics of all time!
Hell, in that case bring in George Martin, if we are going to go back two decades. He only produced the greatest band ever.
Scratch that, they went the old fogey route with Thomas and we know how that worked out....oh wait, I think it did work out, it was U2 who didn't. I can't wait to hear the dirt on what went down and why, whenever they actually start talking about it in detail. Once again, keep it in the family and keep Larry and Lillywhite in the basement until most of the works done.
As far as Lillywhite and the drums/bass. He didn't have much choice, Edge was playing more or less minimalistic stuff and had just basically one tone/sound to his guitar. The backbeat of the band had to be strong and forceful. Now Edge uses all kind of tones with his guitar and plays a lot more colorfully. It's regretful to me that the drums haven't really sounded great since Rattle and Hum. I don't prefer the 90's-to present sound of the drums.
I like the deep tones and deep snares and I like the rolling Clayton bass, all of those were more prominent in the 80's and haven't really returned. Although Adam sounds good on most of the 90's stuff, I prefer the old sound for a new record.
I don't hate Lillywhite at all, and actually used to hold him in high regard until Bomb. To me it is undeniable how he effected the album and not in a positive way. The songs are much better live, that is something that possibly even lovers and haters can agree on, and everyone in between. Lillywhite very well could have just been out of touch . When was the last great record he produced prior to 2004? I don't know for certain but it had been a good while.
It's probably a good bet to not lay all of the blame on him.
The biggest production problem was lack of continuity, too many producers.
Would Bomb have sounded better with Eno/Lanois? Yes. That's just my opinion. Songs liek COBL and Crumbs would have been serviced by the nuance of their hands rather than just being falt out too loud and messy. Good songs, not delivered well IMO.
Petty gripes, but we are talking about prodcuers and production.