New Album Discussion: Electric Lady Studios

[stigman]

You know, you mention the behind-the-stage thing, at the 360 show I went to, I had a first-tier seat(i.e. the tier closest to the stage) behind the stage, and I really thought it was one of the best seats in the house in some ways, because if you have a first-tier seat in front of the stage, you're further away because all of the GA people on the floor are between you and the stage, but when you're behind the stage, when Bono/Edge/Adam make their laps around back, they're right there. Other than GA, it's about the closet you can get. I hope they do play in the round again.

I sat behind the stage in Cardiff and Rome and I loved it

 

[PhilsFan]

I totally agree with this (though it's not Adam's best performance either). Anyway Larry was having an off night when they recorded it in Chicago, some back stage stuff going on I can't talk about.

Good ole' Larry.

I don't even remember the Chicago version, I have the one they released as a B-side. Every version was weak. He changed up the pattern. That song needs him to be pounding the toms constantly and he didn't do so on Vertigo.

 

[Nick66]

I don't even remember the Chicago version, I have the one they released as a B-side. Every version was weak. He changed up the pattern. That song needs him to be pounding the toms constantly and he didn't do so on Vertigo.

True.

 

[corianderstem]

This might be a chicken before the egg thing; the whole thing sounds like a funeral march. Tempo wise, it`s way too slow.

Oh, for real. Almost as bad as I Will Follow on Popmart.

I mean good night nurse, it was just painful.

 

[BVS]

Did I walk into the wrong thread?

 

[djerdap]

There were some great Vertigo Zoo Stations. Copenhagen 2005 is an awesome version, and the version I've seen at my gig was excellent as well. The Chicago DVD one certainly wasn't a good representation.

 

[corianderstem]

Did I walk into the wrong thread?

Yes. Everything on the new album is going to be just way too slow.

 

[LadySpinHead]

It would be awesome if there was a "new album" thread AND a "new tour" thread. Because whether or not the Elevation Tour was the BEST EVAR or not, I was looking for, you know, new album news. Or rumors. Or random tweets by people not remotely connected to music at all hinting at a banjo being loaded onto an airplane in Costa Rica with a U and a 2 sticker on it. Whatever.

 

[jeevey]

Eh. It's like cats over here. They'll fight about anything, anytime. Including whether or not news is news.

 

[Nick66]

Eh. It's like cats over here. They'll fight about anything, anytime. Including whether or not news is news.

Agreed. As always, I'd like to renew my plea for calm and civil dialogue.

Remember, as U2 fans were "One" but we're "not the same".

Compromise is not a dirty word.

So say we all.

 

[lazarus]

Agreed. As always, I'd like to renew my plea for calm and civil dialogue.

Apparently your near-trolling and sarcastic smileys are part of "civil dialogue".

The Hive says hello.

 

[LemonMirrorSky]

Hmmmm. Well, first you say that there's "consensus" and it was "common knowledge" that Elevation was one of the weakest U2 tours and that you don't want U2 to repeat something like that. Then you say that if we disagree you're "all ears". But when a number of people subsequently do in fact disagree and say they loved Elevation, and actually would like to see another stripped down tour, you tell us we only like Elevation because of "personal stuff", and oh if only we could be "removed" (whatever that means) from that we'd feel differently (i.e. like you). So thanks for questioning the credibility of those of us who supposedly like Elevation because of "personal stuff" (and what is liking or disliking a show other than a personal reaction to what you've seen and heard?) After that you apparently ran out of things to say and starting posting gifs.

I understand that "consensus" and "common knowledge" (to use your words) may be very important things to you in determining somethings worth, but next time, try just speaking for yourself.

No need to reply. Or perhaps another amusing gif?

 

[gvox]

Oh, for real. Almost as bad as I Will Follow on Popmart.

I mean good night nurse, it was just painful.

Haha yeah. Didn't Bono playwear his glitter red Gibson on it also?

 

[gvox]

The Hive says hello.

This confirms what my sources have been telling me.

 

[U2girl]

I can see how some would say they weren't the most exciting setlists ever, but Popmart was far more static and yet generally people don't complain about those setlists. That would be irony at its finest.

Well, there's also the issue of the weakest Bono on helium voice, something which a lot of the Pop fanboys forget.

And the moans about big productions from a band that set the standard in stadium shows in the last 20 years show with ZooPop360...
That said, obviously they won't be competing with 360 anytime soon. I'm all for arenas worldwide, assuming Bono's voice can handle it.

 

[LemonMirrorSky]

I can see how some would say they weren't the most exciting setlists ever, but Popmart was far more static and yet generally people don't complain about those setlists. That would be irony at its finest.

Popmart had a great mix of songs! And great performances with some cool extended solos and stuff. That's what matters the most... to me, at least.

 

[digitize]

Also, I take issue with saying that Bono's voice was at its worst on PopMart. He was much weaker than he was on ZooTV, and he had at least one abysmal night, but I think his average voice quality was much weaker on Elevation than on PopMart.

 

[BVS]

So all this talk about past tours in the new album thread, I'm getting the sense that you all think that maybe this second release that Larry made reference to awhile back will be a live compilation spanning from ZooTv to now?

 

[lazarus]

I can see how some would say they weren't the most exciting setlists ever, but Popmart was far more static and yet generally people don't complain about those setlists. That would be irony at its finest.

Well, the difference is that the band was providing a barrage of content via the stage show. As with ZooTV, there was a lot of choreographed material that prevented a lot of elasticity.

So when there's so much to absorb visually at and process (one could see several shows from ZooTV/Popmart and still see new things depending where you're looking), the setlists aren't as much of an issue.

When your stage show consists of a big screen for each band member? Yeah, you need to mix it up more and play from a larger well of songs.

 

[YBORCITY]

A tweet today from Firehouse Studios today in Pasadena places Danger Mouse there working on string arrangements for the next Broken Bells record..... plot might be thickening.

 

[gvox]

Don't you mean weakening?

Or are you saying that he might be done with U2?

 

[YBORCITY]

My thinking is he is finished... I hope.

 

[chrissybaby]

Don't you mean weakening?

Or are you saying that he might be done with U2?

I think he'll probably be moving onto other projects if U2 are at mixing/wrapping up stage. He's very in demand.

 

[powerhour24]

any music-tech heads in here have a term for how to describe Danger Mouse's production sound?

to me, his stuff sounds so -- I dont know -- dry? I dont know how better to describe it. It seems very distinctive.

Heavy use of analog synthesizers, and a heavy influence from the scores to spaghetti Westerns are his biggest hallmarks (this became evident to people with his Rome album, but go back & listen, it's even in Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy"), but the best thing he does to me is give each element enough space in the mix to be heard, rather than muddled together and/or artificial sounding like so much in the mainstream now. Much as I've enjoyed his music and work with people like The Black Keys (if you never heard them before Brothers, go back and listen to Attack & Release, seriously) and Norah Jones, I look forward to his ability with mixing more than anything and hope his personal proclivities aren't heard on U2's album (though I'm writing this from a phone & only touched on a few of his 'cliches' if you will.)

If he can make Norah Jones cool, he can do anything.

 

[powerhour24]

Odd, I thought the sound on the 360° shows I went to was excellent, but it is also venue dependent, too.

Agreed, for a stadium show 360's sound was incredible, stadiums are notoriously bad for love sound mixing, but their engineers/designers came up with some secret sauce that made it sound great to my ears from the ground as well as the nosebleeds. That said, it did get muddled and echoed in the upper deck of Giants Stadium (& I witnessed shows there from both sides about the same height up), that was the only full bowl venue I saw the show in, but I suspect that might have a lot to do with it.

 

[Nick66]

Agreed, for a stadium show 360's sound was incredible, stadiums are notoriously bad for love sound mixing, but their engineers/designers came up with some secret sauce that made it sound great to my ears from the ground as well as the nosebleeds.

I loved the way Streets sounded on 360...they really opened it up and I've never heard such wide spaces in that song before.

 

[powerhour24]

Great post, I agree with every word of this. I've always thought the band really played like they meant it because they wanted to win people back post-Popmart (whatever you may personally think about that album and tour), and were genuinely grateful and moved by the reaction of the crowd. This was exactly the impression I got on the shows I went to, along with the comments the band made at the time. You just can't overstate how important that record, and tour, was to U2. And that was reflected in those shows.

And that version of Out of Control from Slane kicks ass, the best version of the song I've ever heard. I'm also quite fond of the acoustic SATS (though I love the original also).

I personally think the reason a lot of people don't like ATYCLB and the Elevation tour is because they both pretty much displayed a complete lack of irony (as opposed to the 90's records and tours), and marked in many ways a return to the "earnest" version of U2. Not saying one is superior to the other, I loved the ZOOTV tour...but Elevation was something completely different.

I've been with you on most of your judgements of Elevation up til now, not exciting in set list and Bono's voice wasn't strong but there are so many X factors that push it farther than it would seem from bootlegs, but the last bit I can't agree with. NLOTH is about as earnest a modern rock record as you can find, and that album is much more loved around here. ATYCLB isn't held in high regard because of it's safe production & composition, and a number of weak and painful lyrics on the second half of the record, and one of its focal points, Stuck, comes off as extremely cheesy if you don't know that it's actually about something quite dark, but from listening to it you'd never know.

NLOTH might have reined in some of its original intention sadly, but it was still going for a lot more varied sounds, with the exception of the trying-to-please middle 3 is fairly coherent thematically (though even Crazy Tonight somewhat connects in lyric intent if not sound), and Bono's voice and lyrics are on the whole far stronger than anything else from the decade.

It's not about lack of irony, or counterculture (ATYCLB is their most praised/successful album of this era with the masses) that puts NLOTH in higher regard. Hell, while U2 can put on a good show/use of irony like in their 90's stage shows, you're definitely a fan of the wrong band if that's what really impresses you, they are and have always been just about the most earnest and optimistic "rock stars" around both in personality and in music.

 

[powerhour24]

I got to see it live and thought Vertigo Zoo Station was extremely tolerable. Not anywhere near ZooTV but still pretty good.

To whoever said earlier that setlists are overrated, it really depends on the person, but I will say that many of the all-time great live acts do/did a terrific job mixing up their sets. The Grateful Dead, Phish, Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam never had static sets and they've made their reputation on their live performances. But again, it depends. Fans notice, but many won't.

It depends what U2 is aiming to do in their case, they build a show as both a music performance and a thematic/visual/emotional experience, and with that in mind it doesn't lend itself to as much variance (that and Bono's focusing on so many other things he'd never rehearse enough to pull out a bunch of old stuff), though there's more room for it in their arena shows as Vertigo showed (not the same kind of off the cuff set lists as PJ or Bruce, but not 360 controlled either), though Elevation had the same factors that should have allowed for it & that was largely controlled though I would imagine that had to do with their paranoia about repairing their image more than anything else. Personally I love U2 for both their music and what they try to accomplish live (it's not always a home run, but I appreciate them always swinging for the fences rather than bunting) so I'm alright with how they do it. It's true artists like Pearl Jam put a much closer focus on just the music, but then they aren't using the tour in the same way U2 does, and they're a band with a more rabid show to show following, whereas U2 has a huge audience of people who will only see the show once, & they aim to put on what they see as the best representation of what that current tour is going for each time out.

All that said, given what they did with the last shows of 360 & Bono's comments at the time, I do expect them to aim to be even more varied than Vertigo & more straight music focused than in the decade this next time out.

 

[nathan1977]

For all the love that LoveTown gets around here, I think of Elevation as much the same sort of tour -- constantly rotating setlists (according to my iTunes playlist, there were at least 50 songs that rotated in and out at one point or another), a more shambling approach to the setlist overall as opposed to a strict and structured beginning/middle/end, and some incredible moments of passion and improvisation (bringing fans up onstage to play along, etc). Bono's voice was probably the thinnest it's ever been, but that was more than made up for by the enthusiasm of the crowd and the genuine joy the band seemed to have at playing together without a lot of embellishment. It was the sound of a band becoming a band again, and we were the richer for it.

My $.02.

 

[YBORCITY]

Agreed, for a stadium show 360's sound was incredible, stadiums are notoriously bad for love sound mixing, but their engineers/designers came up with some secret sauce that made it sound great to my ears from the ground as well as the nosebleeds. That said, it did get muddled and echoed in the upper deck of Giants Stadium (& I witnessed shows there from both sides about the same height up), that was the only full bowl venue I saw the show in, but I suspect that might have a lot to do with it.

In my original post I don't think I explained myself well enough or just because I don't really have any musical training I'm not saying it the right way. The best I could describe it as there was a "bounce back echo effect" especially at Gillette Stadium I'm not sure that I'm still saying it the right way and prolly cuz of my 46 year old ears but it just sounded off especially at that concert. That stadium has a pretty big open end and they were playing towards it, there's a large medical center and hotel right over the small stands there and you could hear the sound reverberating off of it. I prolly still am not making any sense but I must admit I do like the arena tour's sound better.

But I'm happy there's been some feedback to my post about it because I wondered maybe just my hearing or something or if anyone else thought this.