Would U2 ever consider doing a "Some Kind of Monster" type documentary?

[Flying FuManchu]

Just watched Metallica's little mini documentary/ soap "Some Kind of Monster" and I have to say it was fairly entertaining/ interesting. As much as they showcase inner-band drama, the "process" of making a Metallica album was the highlight.

Do people think Bono and the Edge would like to do something like that or are they still uncomfortable with cameras? Would it take away from the "mystique" of each band member sort of the way many documentaries tend to do?

Would Interferencers be firmly against something like that or pro-documentary? U2 say they are gonna make a new album and would something like that process be film-worthy?

On a side note, the reaction on Rob Trujillo's face when he got the job and was offered a million bucks as a deal sweetener was priceless. Also the who's who of bassists trying to join up was just WOW!

 

[longingforBono]

Bono uncomfortable with a camera? Excuse me, are you new?!

I have never seen the Metallica one so I can't say I would be for it or against it. From what I have heard though they brought in a shrink to sort their shit out with them and I don't think U2 would ever be willing to go there.

Lotsa metal heads need psychiatric help- Metallica was just trying to tell them it's okay to ask for it.



Oh and another thing. With the way Rattle and Hum tanked I HIGHLY doubt they will ever venture into such a (pompous) region again. That nearly cost them their careers.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

Bono uncomfortable with a camera? Excuse me, are you new?!

I have never seen the Metallica one so I can't say I would be for it or against it. From what I have heard though they brought in a shrink to sort their shit out with them and I don't think U2 would ever be willing to go there.

Lotsa metal heads need psychiatric help- Metallica was just trying to tell them it's okay to ask for it.



Oh and another thing. With the way Rattle and Hum tanked I HIGHLY doubt they will ever venture into such a (pompous) region again. That nearly cost them their careers.

Actually Bono might be afraid of cameras, considering he wears shades whenever he's out in public or in the public eye. Calls it his protection or something like that. Protection from what?

Its a good thing that you mention Rattle & Hum b/c that is what the "fear of cameras" thing comes from. Its been noted that Phil Joanau (sp?) wanted to put in more personal moments in Rattle & Hum instead of making it one big concert movie but the band stated their this discomfort with the cameras. SO Bono could be afraid of the cameras. But Rattle & Hum was a while back and Bono is in the public eye moreso now then ever so he might be more open to a full fledged documentary.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

I believe Rattle & Hum was a failure b/c it was relatively boring film to watch as well as being a tad bit pretentious in bits.

 

[U2girl]

Yes but IMO the perfect moment for that type of documentary would be making of AB. Tensions in the band, Edge's divorce...

 

[Flying FuManchu]

Yes but IMO the perfect moment for that type of documentary would be making of AB. Tensions in the band, Edge's divorce...

Also the musical material was great too!

 

[If you shout...]

I doubt it'd ever happen. I mean, there's a reason the albums take like eight years to record, these days. You know?

Frankly, I don't think that there'd be enough "drama" anymore to merit such a film. Additionally, let's not forget that the band members are anything but stellar musicians. Does anybody wanna hear Bono talk about AIDS (instead of the music) and fail to play guitar for two hours? I know that I don't.

Otherwise, it's Edge at a piano or with an acoustic for a while. I admit that I'd find it interesting, being a lunatic fan, but such a project would have very little artistic, commercial, or other value. I think.

I hate Metallica, too. For what little that's worth...

 

[aussiedge]

just watch the U2 and 3 songs DVD

 

[Earnie Shavers]

No chance. U2 are way, way too protective. U2 may one day again take cameras on the road or into the studio, but it will be so heavily protected and controlled by them that the finished product would never, ever be anything like "Some Kind of Monster". Look at Rattle & Hum, it's like one long promotional video. There's no way in hell U2 would allow, for example, an argument between Bono and the Edge, no matter how trivial, ever to be seen or heard outside of the room it takes place. Never. It's a shame in a way, it would be fascinating to see - Bono in particular - genuinely being himself, or the recording and writing process or whatever, but sadly it will never occur, and after so long without seeing it, I think there are even some things I'd rather not? I think part of it from their view is smarts, part paranoia, and part because there's probably plenty we don't want to see, and they know it.

 

[U2DMfan]

Even their short doc on the Bomb DVD was almsot a minimal waste. They just don't want to show their warts. They've got no problem promoting the hell out of their music, I doubt they'd want any uneccessarry dirty laundry aired. No reason to give their critics even more fodder.

Plus, their method of writing and creating is so unorthadox, I'd think they'd be very uncomfortable with a camera in teh studio so much.

 

[cobl04]

Yes but IMO the perfect moment for that type of documentary would be making of AB. Tensions in the band, Edge's divorce...

YES!

That would be awesome. Although since it's 14 years since it came out, maybe not.

I wouldn't mind a documentary. But don't do it the Rattle & Hum way - don't release it as a movie. Just release it normally, like you would anything else.

I liked Rattle & Hum but I would have liked it so much better with less performances and more behind the scenes stuff. U2 and 3 songs is a good little doco.

How about this idea - release like a hour-an-a-half long doco with their last album, doing what the greatly named 'U2 and 3 songs' did - showing the songs being created, and behind the scenes.

 

[jacobus]

they should do it for their next album...would be nice to see how they hit out to boner everytime he's coming back from his worldsaving missions.
btw Some Kind Of Monster is a great documentationn

 

[U2DMfan]

Some Kind of Monster is entertaining for sure, I'm not sure you need to be even a moderate fan of Metallica to enjoy it.

As for the Achtung thing, they did do some filming, you can see it on the Interference video. They have footage of them recording EBTTRT. It's not very much, but I'm sure there is some other stuff laying around.

I think next fall we are going to get something special.
There is no Best Of to fill the gap this time around.
POP-best of-ATYCLB-best of-HTDAAB-???

I am hoping for a REAL Box Set of rarities but I think it will be an anthology of videos spanning their whole career. We have heard the rumors of the videos (DVD's) for a while. Hopefully between the tokens, R&H, Sydney, Mexico City etc, we'll get a DVD of some archinved footage of some kind, probably heavily edited I'm sure but it would still be cool nonetheless.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

No chance. U2 are way, way too protective. U2 may one day again take cameras on the road or into the studio, but it will be so heavily protected and controlled by them that the finished product would never, ever be anything like "Some Kind of Monster". Look at Rattle & Hum, it's like one long promotional video. There's no way in hell U2 would allow, for example, an argument between Bono and the Edge, no matter how trivial, ever to be seen or heard outside of the room it takes place. Never. It's a shame in a way, it would be fascinating to see - Bono in particular - genuinely being himself, or the recording and writing process or whatever, but sadly it will never occur, and after so long without seeing it, I think there are even some things I'd rather not? I think part of it from their view is smarts, part paranoia, and part because there's probably plenty we don't want to see, and they know it.

U2's obsessive control over their image is legendary. That's why the Bono on Bono book was so disappointing - nothing revelatory or personal.

I do remember seeing on a music programme once (the Robbie Robertson R&H promo?) a shot of Bono coming off stage and storming into the dressing room and knocking a mirror over in a complete rage. If they had had more of those moments in the movie, it might have been more interesting!

 

[babyman]

I believe Rattle & Hum was a failure b/c it was relatively boring film to watch as well as being a tad bit pretentious in bits.

I actually never found it boring, I must say that I watch my Rattle and Hum dvd at least once every 2 months. I think there´s really good stuff in there. I always had the opinion that it was the best way to quit the 80´s era, in that movie you really see the whole decade of U2. They got critics because the movie got into cinemas, and many criticians thought they wanted to appear like the great band they weren´t yet supposed to be. But they were a great band, otherwise we wouldn´t talk still today, almost 2006, of U2. I appreciate the ones who had seen further that time, the ones who didn´t critic U2, because today they can say they knew from what they were talking

 

[Flying FuManchu]

I actually never found it boring, I must say that I watch my Rattle and Hum dvd at least once every 2 months. I think there´s really good stuff in there. I always had the opinion that it was the best way to quit the 80´s era, in that movie you really see the whole decade of U2. They got critics because the movie got into cinemas, and many criticians thought they wanted to appear like the great band they weren´t yet supposed to be. But they were a great band, otherwise we wouldn´t talk still today, almost 2006, of U2. I appreciate the ones who had seen further that time, the ones who didn´t critic U2, because today they can say they knew from what they were talking

Don't get me wrong. AS A FAN, I found it entertaining with some good performances of songs that I love. In spite of the splicing and very few personal bits of the band, it was just a straight ahead performance video. To a fan it might be cool. To somebody seeking entertainment, sort of boring.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

That would be fascinating, but a bit intrusive all the same..I wonder how honest they could be if they would ever even do something like that.

Some Kind Of Monster is like a heavy metal episode of Dr. Phil

 

[thrillme]

Think the angriest U2 ever got with each other was during Achtung Baby, documented in written form, but they got over that.

Bill Flanagan's book was a bit like this, but in written form. Yeah you can't see the band ripping at each other during the Achtung Baby sessions, but you can read about it, picture it.

I don't think they'd do something like this now, you want to watch Bono and Edge fiddling around on guitars/keyboards, stop, start, try something else. Adam messing around on his bass, Larry the same on the drums. It'd be more interesting than entertaining.

U2 get along pretty well nowadays, so I doubt they'd ever need a therapist to come in and sort them out.

It might be interesting for awhile, but if you're not really a musician, you might lose interest.

How Bono put it, making albums is like making sausages, you'll enjoy them more if you don't see how they're made.

I have a documentary on the making of Joshua Tree, it wasn't made at the time of the recording sessions, but it was a sort of looking back on the sessions.

I did learn that Streets starts out in 6/8 time, and then Edge changes it to 4/4 time for when the rest of the band come in.

If you understand that, cool. I do, but I couldn't explain it to someone who didn't.

 

[U2Man]

U2 doing such a piece of crap?

I HOPE NOT!

 

[david]

Actually when I was watching The Rattle and Hum outtakes I felt like I was watching more personal moments of the band. Like when Bono was taken to the hospital after dislocating his shoulder the ride in the limo seemed rough and they made them stop filming. Then when Bono was taken into the hospital room he seemed really out of it and worse for wear. When the nurse asked his name he didn't even know what to answer with. Ali had to answer for him. It made me feel weird.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

Flanagan's book was great! Imagine being able to capture some of that on film? I mean, Flanagan's book shows they can open up a little. The Axtung BeiBei boots show that the U2 music making process could be totally interesting as well.

I think Bono's crusading would also make for interesting stories IMO.

Also, I mention the lack of personal of moments b/c even Joanau mentioned this to be a weakness of the movie and he directed it.

 

[david]

The book was great. I loved reading about Bono's drinking and partying until dawn.

 

[Sanchez]

I watched Some Kind Of Monster a while back and thought it was very interesting and I liked it. I would be very excited if U2 did something like this. I also wish they would do another Classic Album DVD like they did for The Joshua Tree. Achtung Baby would be killer!!!!

 

[forty]

The book was great. I loved reading about Bono's drinking and partying until dawn.

I agree. That book is simply awesome. It really feels like you're on the road with the band, covering (IMO) the band's "coolest" era. They were so different back then, especially Bono.

I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, though. LOL. But they were certainly different. I kinda miss that "who gives a shit" attitude Bono used to have. *shrug*