New album in the works while in NZ and Australia

[JamietheEdgefan]

Will.I.Amnotgoingtoseethelightofday

(yet)

 

[mikal]

well that's good to hear. hopefully it means that the album is wrapped up, not that they dumped Danger Mouse only to call Eno and Lanois to get lost in the music again.

 

[TM]

not that they dumped Danger Mouse only to call Eno and Lanois to get lost in the music again.

They should put al those people together, along with Will.i.am and Jay-Z and we would get an album that's pure noise. Just to fullfill everyone's wishes. *ppppggggghhhhhrrrrrssssgffffrrrrrttt* with inspiring titles like Noise Star, Noise Fall From the Sky, So noisy, Every Breaking Noise, One Noisy Hill, Sweetest Noise.

Sorry, I had to do this, just to lose some frustration

 

[digitize]

They should put al those people together, along with Will.i.am and Jay-Z and we would get an album that's pure noise. Just to fullfill everyone's wishes. *ppppggggghhhhhrrrrrssssgffffrrrrrttt* with inspiring titles like Noise Star, Noise Fall From the Sky, So noisy, Every Breaking Noise, One Noisy Hill, Sweetest Noise.

Sorry, I had to do this, just to lose some frustration

I'm sure the new album, when released, will be mastered as to feel that way.

 

[gvox]

So, following the degrees of separation here, U2's next album will be Dirty South type stuff?

 

[nielsgov]

well that's good to hear. hopefully it means that the album is wrapped up, not that they dumped Danger Mouse only to call Eno and Lanois to get lost in the music again.

The chances of you saying there won't be an album this year are getting slimmer.

 

[nirniva]

I'm sure the new album, when released, will be mastered as to feel that way.

 

[purpleoscar]

I'm sure the new album, when released, will be mastered as to feel that way.

Thank God for vinyl rips.

 

[U2girl]

In real news, i saw this over at @atu2:
Cee Lo says Danger Mouse is wrapping up U2 project

Danger Mouse is 'wrapping up his project with u2' - Cee lo Green, in the Wall street journal.
Sounds like good news indeed... in fact, it actually sounds a step towards a release compared with what Paul McGuinness said about 'the album needing some polishing'

Ho ho ho, and a happy U22011.

 

[Rachel D.]

The general silence had me worried there was just no progress, but what Cee Lo Green says suggests U2 are doing something sneaky... a covert sting operation to release an album right under our noses!

Sneaky hobbitses!

I could go for a sneak attack from U2.

 

[nirniva]

Sneaky hobbitses!

I could go for a sneak attack from U2.

As could I. Besides, after the failure of NLOTH's massive hype machine, this might actually be a smarter approach. Which headline would be more exciting to the mainstream: "New U2 album in six months" or "New U2 album in two weeks?"

 

[JamietheEdgefan]

Yeah, a sneaky album release would be amazing, especially if they didn't tell us what it sounded like. I'd love to have a 'there's NO way this is u2' moment again. U2's evolution has to be one of my favourite aspects of them. They're like pokemon

 

[nirniva]

U2's evolution has to be one of my favourite aspects of them. They're like pokemon

U2 start.com | If U2 were Pokemon.

 

[JamietheEdgefan]

U2 start.com | If U2 were Pokemon.

nice

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Even if any of it gets reworked into future projects, the rest will show up some day on a NLOTH rerelease, or a box set. Why they couldnt just be bold and release something quickly instead of The Next Big U2 record is beyond me. But whatever, if we get an album this year I can stop complaining, a bit.

okay, so yea... no, some of us won't be able to ever see songs of ascent as some finished product sitting on a shelf somewhere, no matter what.

question = answered.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

As could I. Besides, after the failure of NLOTH's massive hype machine, this might actually be a smarter approach. Which headline would be more exciting to the mainstream: "New U2 album in six months" or "New U2 album in two weeks?"

never in a million years will u2 not create hype for a new album.

we've got plenty of time left for hype. "wrapping up" the u2 project sounds no different than pauly mcg saying they're polishing it up. you polish at the end, you wrap at the end.

if it's coming before the NA tour, then it's at the end, and just finishing touches are being done. still plenty of time for hype.

 

[U2girl]

Yeah, a sneaky album release would be amazing, especially if they didn't tell us what it sounded like. I'd love to have a 'there's NO way this is u2' moment again. U2's evolution has to be one of my favourite aspects of them. They're like pokemon

Well, how many us would have predicted U2 would go with a left field, non-rock producer (unlike Lillywhite, Eno or Lanois) this time ? That alone should suggest something different is coming.

 

[JamietheEdgefan]

Good point, this is looking very promising indeed

 

[BEAL]

Few more weeks and we'll know.

 

[nirniva]

Few more weeks and we'll know.

...WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PHRASE IT LIKE THAT? Now I'll be in Anticipation Mode for the next few months.

Spoiler

 

[purpleoscar]

Well, how many us would have predicted U2 would go with a left field, non-rock producer (unlike Lillywhite, Eno or Lanois) this time ? That alone should suggest something different is coming.

Didn't Adam also say that NLOTH ended a trilogy and this is an new area for them?

 

[mama cass]

 

[JamietheEdgefan]

Didn't Adam also say that NLOTH ended a trilogy and this is an new area for them?

True, but they all said that about NLOTH when that came out. So we'll just have to let the music speak for itself this time round...
Although, Adam's comments are certainly better than 'Nah, the same old, really."
And if anyone could accurately describe the next album as different, it's better heard from him than Bono

 

[BVS]

True, but they all said that about NLOTH when that came out.

And a good portion of the album was...

 

[JamietheEdgefan]

...WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PHRASE IT LIKE THAT? Now I'll be in Anticipation Mode for the next few months.

Spoiler

I sympathise, now i'm gonna be searching the internet like a madman for the next scrap of news... which probably won't be for ages!

 

[JamietheEdgefan]

And a good portion of the album was...

Hmm, well i can certainly see a great attempt at something new in NLOTH, but i don't think it was truly realised, or as big a change as it could have been.

But to be fair, when we heard the comments about it being the next 'achtung baby', it probably was more experimental at that stage.

So good point, BVS. You've made me even more excited.

Oh wait, now i'm just gonna get even more frustrated

 

[doctorwho]

Hmm, well i can certainly see a great attempt at something new in NLOTH, but i don't think it was truly realised, or as big a change as it could have been.

But to be fair, when we heard the comments about it being the next 'achtung baby', it probably was more experimental at that stage.

AB is often considered this dramatic departure, but AB certainly had more than its share of JT and R&H moments. Is it little wonder why AB finally started pulling together with the song, "One"? That's the AB song that arguably sounds the most like JT and R&H. Take away the unusual intro to "Wild Horses" and there's another JT/R&H song (and the "Temple Bar" remix of "Horses" does just that). Some AB songs are dark, such as "Love Is Blindness", "Acrobat" and "So Cruel", but that flows with R&H. In fact, I can see all three of those songs on R&H or the end of JT. Furthermore, "Trying to Throw Your Arms" syncs with "Trip Through Your Wires" - a very different, free-flowing, even noisy, type of song.

While AB did give us new sounds with "Zoo Station", "Even Better Than" and "The Fly", I would contend that "Mysterious Ways" is just a great pop-rock song (like "Pride" and "Desire") and "UltraViolet" is a tad similar to "In God's Country" with Edge's echo effect in high gear. AB stood out as such a departure in part because that's how U2 presented it. Their images were dramatically different, especially Bono's, and their stage presentation was like nothing they had done before.

What also made AB stand out is that the songs appeared to be sharper and more well-honed than on R&H. While one theme tended to dominate AB (relationships or the break-up of them), the sounds were far more diverse. JT also had one dominant theme (the Americas, especially the U.S.), but many of the songs blended into each other.

NLOTH is similar to AB in that we have new or fresher sounds that we haven't heard for U2 in a while or ever. These are best exemplified by the title track, "Moment of Surrender" and "Breathe". Some of the slower songs, such as "White As Snow" and "Cedars of Lebanon" are reminiscent of U2's two most experimental albums - namely TUF and OS1. And this diversity in sounds is also refreshing for U2. Many tracks on ATYCLB tended to flow into each other, similar to JT. It's little wonder ATYCLB is sometimes compared to JT and loved so much by JT fans.

NLOTH does have connection to past albums, such as "Crazy Tonight", "Magnificent" and "Boots", but that's hardly unusual. In fact, it may even be expected. Some songs on TUF could have been on "War". And, as I stated above, some songs on AB could have been on JT or R&H. This is because the group still has the same four members dominating the writing. Eno, Lanois and Lillywhite may push U2 in various directions, but they too have their inherent styles. It is inevitable that there will be some connection to the past, no matter how hard U2 tries to sound different.

It's sad that NLOTH will not be remembered as the great album it is. In some ways, it seems to be a bit like TUF. It takes some digging to first find this album and then look beyond the smaller hit song ("Pride" was not a big hit at the time it was released) to really appreciate the album. However, TUF did help set up JT. This is not to imply U2's next album will be like JT or have the success of JT. However, the innovations on NLOTH may indeed help inspire the works on the next album. But do not be surprised if you see some nods to U2's past.

 

[ozeeko]

I fail to see how any of the studio songs off of R&H foreshadowed the AB album. With the exception of "God Part II"'s industrial drum sound, most of the songs see U2 following JT's American Roots and Blues influence to its logical conclusion, like the Bo Diddleyish "Desire", the Dylan collaboration, the B.B. King collaboration, the Springsteeny bar-band jukebox quality of "Angel Of Harlem", and the gospel chants in Hawkmoon. "Heartland" was a leftover JT song.

Actually, now that I think about it..."All I Want Is You" does sort of foreshadow that Scott Walker vibe heard in "So Cruel"...but it's also got a bit of the JT's desert sound, and just the tiniest hint of country in Bono's vocals.

I don't think anything they did previously is an obvious precursor to "One". Just Edge's riff, for starters, is something totally different. Throw in the bitter conversational lyrics, the slightly hip-hop looping beat, and just the overall dark atmosphere...it's a "new" U2 doing a "new" type of anthem delivered in an entirely "new" fashion.

If anything, I think some of their JT B-sides work better as set-ups. Like "Walk To The Water", "Spanish Eyes", "Deep In The Heart". But nothing really off R&H.

 

[doctorwho]

I didn't say anything about R&H foreshadowing AB. I said that some of AB's songs could have arguably fit on R&H or JT. My post was how sometimes the current U2 does reflect backwards - that was true on TUF, JT, R&H and AB, so it should not be a surprise to see this in current U2 releases.

And I agree, some of JT songs could have fit very nicely on AB, especially some of the b-sides. However, the darker tone of R&H does blend better with some of the darker elements on the second half of AB.

 

[kingofsorrow]

so after 58 pages, when is the new coming out?