JamietheEdgefan
Refugee
Can you explain how CT was "safe", and which hit did it take its formula from?
To me it sounded safe. The main chorus riff is the classic Edge riff - if you play it on guitar, it's identical to WOWY, Ultraviolet, Mercy etc (albeit in different keys). It's the classic Edge delay-chime sound, with Bono's cheesy 00's optimism lyrics, in an album full of tunes like MoS, NLOTH, WaS, FBB, with much darker or abstract lyrics. Yet they went with the familiar sound for the single.
That, to me, is safe - it's what i'd do if i wanted to guarantee a hit out of those albums. Pre-release, if i was told to choose a single that would sell best, based on the 00's success of tunes like BD and CoBL, i'd say CT is a lot safer than MoS.
U2 are a very reactive band, so i'd guess that they won't do a similar thing for the next album. They won't go with a song just because it has a familiar sound that sold well in the past. Sure, they might do if the song is good enough, but i'd bet that they are making entirely different songs now.