Songs of Ascent - Part III

[Vlad n U 2]

Dammit! I wanted a hip-hop album with collaborations with Jay-Z, will.i.am and Lil Wayne.

You've let me down U2. I'm off to listen to some new Nickelback.

 

[mobvok]

I certainly believe they're going into a studio at some point as June 6, 2010 is a hell of a long ways off. But it's almost impossible for me to believe that the band is going to march in, lay down 10 tracks, and high five each other for a job well done in even that amount of time. They did it in Zooropa! So it's not impossible. But they've also gotten bogged down, many more times. U2 just suck in a studio. This is a fact. All this "different" talk suggests to me that they've circumvented the first two years of the standard interval between albums when it sounds like they'd usually just recuperate and start doodling in Garageband. They have something, apparently, but they don't have many songs, and that's the killer.

 

[nirniva]

Say what?!

Now, it seems as if someone deperately wanted attention!

Oh my gosh! I remember reading about this rumor back in January and being in complete shock for the rest of the day! Man, that was great.

 

[Niceman]

I certainly believe they're going into a studio at some point as June 6, 2010 is a hell of a long ways off. But it's almost impossible for me to believe that the band is going to march in, lay down 10 tracks, and high five each other for a job well done in even that amount of time. They did it in Zooropa! So it's not impossible. But they've also gotten bogged down, many more times. U2 just suck in a studio. This is a fact. All this "different" talk suggests to me that they've circumvented the first two years of the standard interval between albums when it sounds like they'd usually just recuperate and start doodling in Garageband. They have something, apparently, but they don't have many songs, and that's the killer.

I thought they said they had about 9 songs.....

 

[subnet]

if they are going into The Factory Recording Studios with the same stage of songs as was on NLOTH when they entered Olympic Studios, then maybe all they need is some additional recordings for a final mix....i mean, The Factory looks like just as comfortable place as Olympic....get in and out quickly, maybe have some new engineers listen in....

 

[mobvok]

I thought they said they had about 9 songs.....

That doesn't really make sense as "CD ready" songs. Otherwise if they already have 9 songs ready to go then how would Songs of Ascent be "more of an idea than an album" at this point? At that point you'd imagine they'd be saying more direct things and not trying to tamp down speculation. Add a 2 minute 17 second instrumental (Call it "Fifth of November") and they're printing money again.

 

[Niceman]

That doesn't really make sense as "CD ready" songs. Otherwise if they already have 9 songs ready to go then how would Songs of Ascent be "more of an idea than an album" at this point? At that point you'd imagine they'd be saying more direct things and not trying to tamp down speculation. Add a 2 minute 17 second instrumental (Call it "Fifth of November") and they're printing money again.

You know what? I'm sure they have a couple of hundred songs in the vault. Just look at the stuff we know about from the Salome outtakes, left-overs from JT and their whole career... The question is what direction they want to go. They've been writing songs since they were, what, 16? They're in their late 40s now. You don't think they have at least 2x as many songs written and recorded as they've released?

It's not a question of finding 10-12 songs, but of deciding what they want to say and how it should feel.

 

[Gonna Run 2 U]

I am officially done with this thread. Please someone be kind enough to PM me when some concrete news has surfaced.

 

[subnet]

this just in: Terry Lawless is at home today

 

[corianderstem]

You mean they let him out of his underworld cage?

 

[Swan269]

i unfortunately have reached the conclusion that this album won't be coming out at all. there is too much messing around with other projects/benefit concerts to give the attention that the band always feels that it needs. time to go swimming.

 

[mikal]

i unfortunately have reached the conclusion that this album won't be coming out at all. there is too much messing around with other projects/benefit concerts to give the attention that the band always feels that it needs. time to go swimming.

i would wait until the end of the year to say that. there are still confirmations from people inside the U2 camp that have said that they will be recording in Vancouver. these last couple performances were booked for quite some time.

now if it's the end of December, and there are no reports of the band ever being in the studio, then i'd start to worry.

 

[Swan269]

i would wait until the end of the year to say that. there are still confirmations from people inside the U2 camp that have said that they will be recording in Vancouver. these last couple performances were booked for quite some time.

now if it's the end of December, and there are no reports of the band ever being in the studio, then i'd start to worry.

if they record though...they will most likely shelve the material until next year..they have claimed about recording material and getting it out quickly but their hesitation seems to get in the way, could it be different this time? maybe but real evidence will only come through if after vancouver, we hear of the band back in dublin finishing up. most of the time (post war) the band will record in other places but they always finish in dublin...well except for last time in london, but you know what i mean

 

[subnet]

there are pessimists and there are optimists. it's much better being an optimist while participating in an open discussion. then there are those who sit on the fence uttering pure verbal diarrhea.

 

[santiago]

"Edi", a member of the u2sound-forum wrote this post today:


"I was in berlin too, and the day after the show (when I got to meet bono and edge - I gave edge my bands cd's!!), i met dallas walking around the city (he was going to get some food) and we got to chat for 10 minutes. Unfortunately I wasnt alone, so I didnt get to ask him strictly techincal questions, but I asked him about the fuzz tone on ultraviolet and he said it's the harmonic transformer (not the fuzz gun as it appeared on a recent interview), and he said that edge prefers magnificent with the les paul, except for the solo, where he prefers the sound of the country gent. He also said that lanois called him to work with robert plant, but he had to turn it down because edge has just written a new song and wanted to go in the studio the same night to start working on it. The new album is technically ready, but the band are not happy with the people reaction over the new songs (he specified that edge is particularly sad when he sees people not getting into breathe as that's his favourite track), and so they want to reconsider some production aspects for the new songs, as well as throwing in a few newer ones.
And finally he said that he's working on a new prototype guitar for the edge, and once it's finished they'll sell the license to a guitar brand to build it for the market, but he's not going to reveal anything about it till it's finished. I suspect it might have something to do with matt bellamy's guitars from muse....!"

It's more or less what we were saying, they have the album more or less ready but want to add some hits to it. I'm not sure that's a good idea in principle (that's the problem I have with NLOTH, where beautiful atmospheric songs are interrupted by songs that attempt to be hits and break the flow of what otherwise would be a great album).

However, I am really happy that they are working on a new album and that it would conceivably come out before the next tour. NLOTH (despite my misgivings) is the best thing they have done in ages, and I really want to hear SOA.

Ideally I would love it if they would release the hit versions of the songs and then an additional CD with the ambient stuff for the fans.

 

[Niceman]

"Edi", a member of the u2sound-forum wrote this post today:


"I was in berlin too, and the day after the show (when I got to meet bono and edge - I gave edge my bands cd's!!), i met dallas walking around the city (he was going to get some food) and we got to chat for 10 minutes. Unfortunately I wasnt alone, so I didnt get to ask him strictly techincal questions, but I asked him about the fuzz tone on ultraviolet and he said it's the harmonic transformer (not the fuzz gun as it appeared on a recent interview), and he said that edge prefers magnificent with the les paul, except for the solo, where he prefers the sound of the country gent. He also said that lanois called him to work with robert plant, but he had to turn it down because edge has just written a new song and wanted to go in the studio the same night to start working on it. The new album is technically ready, but the band are not happy with the people reaction over the new songs (he specified that edge is particularly sad when he sees people not getting into breathe as that's his favourite track), and so they want to reconsider some production aspects for the new songs, as well as throwing in a few newer ones.
And finally he said that he's working on a new prototype guitar for the edge, and once it's finished they'll sell the license to a guitar brand to build it for the market, but he's not going to reveal anything about it till it's finished. I suspect it might have something to do with matt bellamy's guitars from muse....!"

It's more or less what we were saying, they have the album more or less ready but want to add some hits to it. I'm not sure that's a good idea in principle (that's the problem I have with NLOTH, where beautiful atmospheric songs are interrupted by songs that attempt to be hits and break the flow of the amazingly good album).

However, I am really happy that they are working on a new album and that it would conceivably come out before the next tour. NLOTH (despite my misgivings) is the best thing they have done in ages, and I really want to hear SOA.

Ideally I would love it if they would release the hit versions of the songs and then an additional CD with the ambient stuff for the fans.

That sounds fantastic! Hey - UF had Pride.... One giant hit is all they need....

 

[digitize]

Oh boy. This could be interesting. I don't have an issue with them adding hits, per se, but there's a fine line between adding hits and making the album needlessly stupid. I think NLOTH managed to stay away from the needlessly stupid territory, but a lot of people obviously disagree, and I'd rather not see U2 push that limit further. The last thing we want is five awesome ambient tracks combined with five nonsensical Bomb-esque pop songs. Edge says he's disappointed at the reaction to Breathe, one of the most accessible songs on NLOTH, so I hope he doesn't push for stuff more poppy than Breathe and CT.

But we'll see. Best not judge an unreleased album that we know next to nothing about!

 

[Irvine511]

sounds about right to me.

let's all freak out about more CT's.

 

[Rachel D.]

"Edi", a member of the u2sound-forum wrote this post today:


"I was in berlin too, and the day after the show (when I got to meet bono and edge - I gave edge my bands cd's!!), i met dallas walking around the city (he was going to get some food) and we got to chat for 10 minutes. Unfortunately I wasnt alone, so I didnt get to ask him strictly techincal questions, but I asked him about the fuzz tone on ultraviolet and he said it's the harmonic transformer (not the fuzz gun as it appeared on a recent interview), and he said that edge prefers magnificent with the les paul, except for the solo, where he prefers the sound of the country gent. He also said that lanois called him to work with robert plant, but he had to turn it down because edge has just written a new song and wanted to go in the studio the same night to start working on it. The new album is technically ready, but the band are not happy with the people reaction over the new songs (he specified that edge is particularly sad when he sees people not getting into breathe as that's his favourite track), and so they want to reconsider some production aspects for the new songs, as well as throwing in a few newer ones.
And finally he said that he's working on a new prototype guitar for the edge, and once it's finished they'll sell the license to a guitar brand to build it for the market, but he's not going to reveal anything about it till it's finished. I suspect it might have something to do with matt bellamy's guitars from muse....!"

So, in other words, if people had acted more excited at the shows about the new stuff, they'd release SOA sooner? Way to go, people.

 

[digitize]

Well, I was certainly dancing and singing like mad to all of the NLOTH songs played at my two shows! In Houston, I was surrounded by people who generally didn't know NLOTH at all, so I even got some annoyed looks. But I kept dancing and singing... not having bothered to listen to NLOTH is their loss, and I wasn't going to stop celebrating how great of an album it is because of them!

 

[Niceman]

Well, I was certainly dancing and singing like mad to all of the NLOTH songs played at my two shows! In Houston, I was surrounded by people who generally didn't know NLOTH at all, so I even got some annoyed looks. But I kept dancing and singing... not having bothered to listen to NLOTH is their loss, and I wasn't going to stop celebrating how great of an album it is because of them!

Yeah. That was my experience too. I don't know - at what point does some of the responsibility fall on the audience? If U2 know they are doing some of their best work and the audience isn't into it is that always necessarily a problem with the music?

 

[Screwtape2]

I hate that the band still feels they need to force songs on a pretty much finished album.

 

[corianderstem]

Dear U2:

For the love of Pete, please just make the music you want to make, and fuck 'em if they don't like it.

Love,

Cori

PS: And by 'em I mean "everybody else."

 

[Screwtape2]

If U2 know they are doing some of their best work and the audience isn't into it is that always necessarily a problem with the music?

No. Much of the audience is probably quite casual and may not even have the new album. If you believe in the music then go with it. People might not be into a song during a show but may listen to it afterward and find they like it. I think Edge's reaction is a bit naive.

 

[bonocomet]

Well, I was certainly dancing and singing like mad to all of the NLOTH songs played at my two shows! In Houston, I was surrounded by people who generally didn't know NLOTH at all, so I even got some annoyed looks. But I kept dancing and singing... not having bothered to listen to NLOTH is their loss, and I wasn't going to stop celebrating how great of an album it is because of them!

Same here. For me, the NLOTH songs were the highlight of the show. They were the ones I looked forward to most and sang the loudest. I guess Edge didn't hear me

 

[ComaGirl]

No. Much of the audience is probably quite casual and may not even have the new album. If you believe in the music then go with it. People might not be into a song during a show but may listen to it afterward and find they like it. I think Edge's reaction is a bit naive.

Agreed - I hadn't listened to much of NLOTH before seeing 360 (shame on me), but afterwards I've really discovered the album, and I love it. Well, I love most of it of course now I'm really kicking myself that I didn't have such an appreciation for the songs when I saw them...but you live and learn, don't you

 

[BVS]

The new album is technically ready, but the band are not happy with the people reaction over the new songs (he specified that edge is particularly sad when he sees people not getting into breathe as that's his favourite track), and so they want to reconsider some production aspects for the new songs, as well as throwing in a few newer ones.

I have a hard time seeing Dallas or anyone from U2's crew actually admitting this to a stranger, even if they thought it was a private discussion, during the tour for that album...

I take it with a grain of salt.

 

[digitize]

I have a hard time seeing Dallas or anyone from U2's crew actually admitting this to a stranger, even if they thought it was a private discussion, during the tour for that album...

I take it with a grain of salt.

Well, we all know that the band are thinking exactly what Dallas did or did not admit they are thinking.

 

[mikal]

i'm going to reserve judgement of the songs until i hear them.

as for the meeting with Dallas, if this is indeed a credible source, that's very good news. what Dallas basically said is that the album is done, with the exception of a couple tracks, which they're heading back in the studio very soon to finish up.

 

[powerhour24]

Dear U2:

For the love of Pete, please just make the music you want to make, and fuck 'em if they don't like it.

Love,

Cori

PS: And by 'em I mean "everybody else."

Agreed.