The final U2 classic

[carrotflowers]

There is a sense of restlesness in the U2 camp. A struggle between the past and the future. The current 'Vertigo' tour summizes everything that is right and wrong with this band. There is the new material which just wants to break loose and reach a higher plane but stays grounded and restricted. There is the old material which continues to shine throughout the decades, the reason this band is a colossal force in modern culture. At the centre of all this is the quintissential romantic. Paul Hewson, a dreamer (whether he likes that term or not), an activist, a passionate man who dreams of progression, within himself and man-kind. That is where the ultimate U2 contradiction lies. A man who dreams of the future, repeating the past.

Whichever way you look at it 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb' is lacking in substance. On a superficial level it works. All the songs contain moments that are pleasing to the ears but never really soar. Like blueprints to a past that is all wrapped up and cemented in history. I sense that U2 are aware that the horse has been flogged to death so to speak. Bono has that look about him, that look like he's about to dream it all up again, like he's ready to blast off into space in his giant lemon and return with a whole bunch of new ideas. Don't forget his space cadet side kick Edge, with the new ideas comes the new sounds.

They had this same look about them after Rattle & Hum. Like something was buggin them. Something big, something bigger than us all.

For one last time U2 will open up our eyes. A soundtrack to armageddon. One last puff of smoke in our lungs.

I'm not saying this to be a hype-whore or a sensationalist. I truly believe U2 are about to drop the bomb. Keep your eyes to the sky and your ears to the ground. The war is coming.

 

[bono_man2002]

- And I hope your right.

 

[An Cat Gav]

I really hope you're right!!!!!

 

[U2girl]

As someone who enjoyed ATYCLB and Bomb, yes, it's time for a new sound.
U2 hopefully have realised harping on one sound too much isn't good. (Rattle and Hum, Pop) I think picking Rubin is suggesting this too.

That said, I don't know that they have another classic in them. Can it happen with Rubin, when it didn't with Eno and Lanois on ATYCLB?

 

[Pero]

great post. i feel the same

 

[2morrow]

I'm ready for what's next.

 

[rjhbonovox]

Can I have some of your waccy baccy? Their too old for that. A U2 that was ready to shock would not be releasing shitty colloborations with Green Day and Mary J Blige. Where do you get your inspiration from?

 

[jacobus]

great post carrotflower...i agree most of your post. comparing the current minibomb phase to the R&H phase i must say that 88-89 had more substance. mabe they find the grip again for a rousing finale of their career...i hope and i am ready for whats next

 

[The Disciple]

 

[Utoo]

I also liked ATYCLB and HTDAAB, but feel that they are indeed ready for a change. And I think that they sense that, too. Only time will tell what spews forth from their creative minds! What they need, IMO, is some fire, and I get the sense that they're starting to feel that way, too.

 

[europop2005]

I'm ready for what's next.

i'm ready to duck i'm ready to dive...ready to say i'm glad to be alive

(sorry I saw it and I just had to do it)

 

[Niceman]

I'm ready for the shuffle.

I'm ready for the deal.

I'm ready to let go of the steering wheel.

 

[Yahweh]

I feel U2 is capable of putting out an album better then theyve done before if they could all focus on it for an extended period of time.

 

[Screwtape2]

The problem is that the band has been writing a collection of songs opposed to an album. They have to build the album around a certain theme or location.
However, I don't see the band having that kind of focus anymore. The band is getting older and might not have the energy to do that either.

 

[Aygo]

The problem is that the band has been writing a collection of songs opposed to an album. They have to build the album around a certain theme or location.
However, I don't see the band having that kind of focus anymore. The band is getting older and might not have the energy to do that either.

Who says that an extraordinary album has to get around a theme or location? There are several masterpieces that don't go around that theory. U2 can do it too.

 

[The Slow Loris]

^ ^ ^ That may be true, but I would LOVE to see U2 record an album in an exotic location, someplace like India or Africa, some place where they'll get their hands a little dirty, a place where they feel different spiritually. U2 is all about "feeling", and that's what creates the music they make when they're at their most inspired. Environment and atmosphere can have a huge impact on creativity. Sometimes you can tell where a painting or style is from just by looking at it. We also see certain type of music coming from the same places. Melancholy music doesn't normally stem from places like Mexico of Hawaii for example; I couldn't ever listen to Radiohead in Mexico.....but England and Ireland seem to be very good at producing these kinds of songs. Why? Because it gets a lot of rain; there's a mist in the air, a chill in the soul; the atmosphere is different, the feeling is different.

 

[Utoo]

^Agreed. Which is why I think they need to get out of Eze & write somewhere else. I think that Eze will only give us ATYCLB, Electrical Storm, Summer Rain, etc. Fantastic stuff, esp. the latter two, but a change would be welcome.

 

[Screwtape2]

Who says that an extraordinary album has to get around a theme or location? There are several masterpieces that don't go around that theory. U2 can do it too.

You're right, not all masterpieces have to be centered around a theme or location but for U2 that is where they have had success. TUF was made mostly in a castle and that album has a kind of etheral feel to it. TJT was centered around the idea of America. Achtung Baby was recorded mostly in Berlin and has a industrial melancholy feel. Pop was made with Miami being the intended location and that leaves the album with a hot, trippy sort of depression. A world on the brink of collapse.

 

[U2girl]

I think more than picking a place, they need to get inspired again.

War, UF, JT, AB were all made (or finished in AB's case) in Ireland and I think most would agree they are U2's best albums.

 

[mikal]

ugh....

this is a tough topic to touch because i absolutely love both of their albums and tours from this decade, yet 90's U2 still blows everything else away, IMO.

so i'd like to see a new direction, but not too far from what they're doing right now.

 

[t8thgr8]

I think were about to start seeing eighties bono again.

 

[DublinGuy]

Reckon that in order to make another great album they need Bono to be around as much as possible regardless of the location and for him to be less self-conscious about his lyrics. Some of the lyrics on the last album sound to me as if they were written especially for people who know Bono more as that activist from the news than the frontman of U2.

 

[jacobus]

they should go to the middle-east and record an raw album on various locations.

 

[LemonMelon]

That said, I don't know that they have another classic in them. Can it happen with Rubin, when it didn't with Eno and Lanois on ATYCLB?

Meh. I wouldn't call any of their supposed "classic" albums my favorite by them. I think U2 can make an album I like better than Achtung Baby. They've done it 3 out of the last 4 times already.

 

[LemonMelon]

ugh....

this is a tough topic to touch because i absolutely love both of their albums and tours from this decade, yet 90's U2 still blows everything else away, IMO.

so i'd like to see a new direction, but not too far from what they're doing right now.

 

[intedomine]

Family commitments are probably really important to them now (and more so than ever) and I feel this could be the thing preventing them from doing something ridiculously brilliant and ambitious...

 

[ScooterXX7]

I want to see some 80s U2.

 

[Aygo]

I want to see some 80s U2.

More than now?
I want U2 in something unknown, not nostalgic.