Songs of Innocence - Album Discussion

[dismantlemyfly]

KROQ? I stream Live 105 (from SF) and they are owned by the same company, and they have the SAME playlist (go to their webpages and look at the playlist link). I think KROQ played U2 ONE time after they dropped their album. Radio sucks...totally a product of what big corporations want them to play.

WAAF in Boston played Cedarwood Road last night, so there's that....

 

[prbiker15]

Guy OSeary interview: Exclusive: Guy Oseary on U2's $100 Million Deal With Apple, And What's Next for the Group | Billboard

Very interesting interview:

It’s been a decade since U2 has had a true mainstream hit, so there’s a whole generation of music listeners who may just be discovering the band’s music. How do you convert them into fans without oversaturating them?
As you can see from today’s iTunes charts, clearly people are digging back into the catalog to learn more about the band, with 16 albums on the iTunes charts. That’s a statement, that people are going, “Oh, let me learn more about this band.” I’ve seen a lot of tweets from kids who are 14, 15, 16, 18 who are going, “Wow, this is really good.” They didn’t know what to expect. That’s a great feeling, that maybe someone in their collection only has hip-hop, and yet maybe someone only has country artists, or someone in India doesn’t have any Anglo artists, and they discover U2 today. The one thing all these people have in common is U2 now. The one thing everyone on iTunes has in common today is U2 and a U2 album. It’s an amazing opportunity, even at this stage in U2’s career, to make new friends.

By releasing a free album this week, you’ve missed some of the requirements for the Billboard as well as Grammy deadlines. So what’s the overall statement you wanted to make?
Look, we just went with organic, genuine feelings of “Let’s share this album with as many people as possible” and then we know that there’s a lot of unknowns. And we accept the ups, we accept the downs, it’ll be what it’ll be, but we’re really happy with this week and historical launch.

 

[purpleoscar]

Guy OSeary interview: Exclusive: Guy Oseary on U2's $100 Million Deal With Apple, And What's Next for the Group | Billboard

Looks like there will be more artwork and immersion once the retail album comes out. Guy seems to know what he's doing.


Sent from my iPod touch using U2 Interference

 

[Super Yo]

Excellent interview.
Good work, Oseary.

 

[AEON]

Very interesting interview:

wow...

There’s four brand-new songs, and Gary Kelly (Interscope’s head of retail sales) can tell you there’s a bunch of acoustic versions of songs from the album, too. So it’s probably gonna be anywhere between nine or 11 songs that were not on the standard.

 

[womanfish]

Guy O and the band know that everyone spouting their fake outrage at getting something free on their iTunes, were never gonna buy the album anyway. Gotta play the percentages and know that if you get 1 or 2% of 500million, you're doing pretty good.

I bought my wife perfume last week and they put a bunch of free samples in the bag without me asking. I immediately punched the clerk in the face and then went home and tweeted my intense hatred for the corporate sellouts Chanel!!!

 

[AEON]

Guy O and the band know that everyone spouting their fake outrage at getting something free on their iTunes, were never gonna buy the album anyway. Gotta play the percentages and know that if you get 1 or 2% of 500million, you're doing pretty good.

I bought my wife perfume last week and they put a bunch of free samples in the bag without me asking. I immediately punched the clerk in the face and then went home and tweeted my intense hatred for the corporate sellouts Chanel!!!

It's been a while, but doesn't a fresh iTunes install come with some classical songs already in the library?

 

[mama cass]

I bought my wife perfume last week and they put a bunch of free samples in the bag without me asking. I immediately punched the clerk in the face and then went home and tweeted my intense hatred for the corporate sellouts Chanel!!!

 

[CosmoKramer]

I bought my wife perfume last week and they put a bunch of free samples in the bag without me asking. I immediately punched the clerk in the face and then went home and tweeted my intense hatred for the corporate sellouts Chanel!!!

On a serious note, I went to my local diner last week and got a cheeseburger delux. When I got home, there was a shit ton of free Heinz ketchup packets. I was like "Mother F'ers who are they to throw this old ass company's ketchup packet in my bag" I immediately went on social media and ranted about how the diner and Heinz forced me to use their brand of Ketchup. I bet they get to write off all those free giveaways on their taxes...tax dodging Douchbags #bigbrother #mustardforlife #heinzisforoldpeople #heinzsucks #protaxes #Bonolovesketchup oh....wait a second on that last one.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[Super Yo]

#mustardforlife

 

[RockNRollDawgie]

Finally got around to listen to it. On first listen, I love this album!

 

[womanfish]

Finally got around to listen to it. On first listen, I love this album!

This is important. Not just that you love the album which is awesome. But here is a big U2 fan. Big enough to be part of a fan forum, and he just listened to it.

So this whole, only 200k people in the US downloaded it in the first 24 hours, really shows you that it is meaningless.

My guess is that with all the confusion of how to actually load the album, that about 100k will continue to download it each day for a little while.

 

[womanfish]

On a serious note, I went to my local diner last week and got a cheeseburger delux. When I got home, there was a shit ton of free Heinz ketchup packets. I was like "Mother F'ers who are they to throw this old ass company's ketchup packet in my bag" I immediately went on social media and ranted about how the diner and Heinz forced me to use their brand of Ketchup. I bet they get to write off all those free giveaways on their taxes...tax dodging Douchbags #bigbrother #mustardforlife #heinzisforoldpeople #heinzsucks #protaxes #Bonolovesketchup oh....wait a second on that last one.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[Rachel D.]

Remember when Bono said HTDAAB was "punk rock from Venus"? Well, I would say that SOI better fits that description. SOI is the album that HTDAAB wanted to be. It is an homage to punk rock, but with a modern twist. It's like Boy from the future. It's U2 from the early days with the added benefit of musical experience and the Danger Mouse effect. The Eno/Lanois influence was organic, ethereal, and made the songs feel like they just grew on their own. SOI didn't grow, it was built, carefully and skillfully. It's a machine, made of steel, and is aggressive, confident, and bold. U2 have made an actual rock album this time.

SOI is a turning point after the end of a trilogy, like TUF, AB, and ATYCLB before it. I've never experienced this before, since I got into U2 after ATYCLB came out, so this is very exciting and I'm loving it.

 

[lazarus]

I'd say that 'shuttlecock' has hit one out of the park!

Swings Of Innocence

 

[U2girl]

Especially if SOE is better.

Hearing DM album in full now, if SOE is more of the same...I would prefer SOA.

 

[Nick66]

I'd like to ban use of the words "fresh" "consistent" and "personal" from all future comments on this record, just to see if anyone could think of anything else to say about it. Reminds me of the time some blogger counted up how many times the final Harry Potter movie was described as "dark".

 

[owl]

I'd like to ban use of the words "fresh" "consistent" and "personal" from all future comments on this record, just to see if anyone could think of anything else to say about it. Reminds me of the time some blogger counted up how many times the final Harry Potter movie was described as "dark".

What other words would you suggest?

Furry?

 

[KUEFC09U2]

I'd like to ban use of the words "fresh" "consistent" and "personal" from all future comments on this record, just to see if anyone could think of anything else to say about it. Reminds me of the time some blogger counted up how many times the final Harry Potter movie was described as "dark".

Sexy and ace

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

I'd like to ban use of the words "fresh" "consistent" and "personal" from all future comments on this record, just to see if anyone could think of anything else to say about it. Reminds me of the time some blogger counted up how many times the final Harry Potter movie was described as "dark".

From its personal lyrics, the fresh feel and consistent sound of this album bring me back again and again...

Oops...

 

[Nick66]

From its personal lyrics, the fresh feel and consistent sound of this album bring me back again and again...

Oops...

Don't be sorry. In one sentence you pretty much just described 90% of the Interference reviews of the record (though you forgot to add "growing on me").

Fresh. Consistent. Personal. The End.

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

Don't be sorry. In one sentence you pretty much just described 90% of the Interference reviews of the record.

Fresh. Consistent. Personal. The End.

LOL...I know it's annoying, but really what Epworth and Tedder did, mixed w/Dangermouse's overall production was to update the U2 sound. It's basically the same sort of thing they've always done, but the production techniques and song arrangements really make them sound 'now'.

AB made them sound 'different' and 'new'...SOI makes them sound 'now'. That's what they were shooting for...I IMO.

 

[mikal]

Guy O and the band know that everyone spouting their fake outrage at getting something free on their iTunes, were never gonna buy the album anyway. Gotta play the percentages and know that if you get 1 or 2% of 500million, you're doing pretty good.

I bought my wife perfume last week and they put a bunch of free samples in the bag without me asking. I immediately punched the clerk in the face and then went home and tweeted my intense hatred for the corporate sellouts Chanel!!!

I've been saying it all along. Bad press can sometimes be better than no press at all. All the U2 haters really did was help advertise the album. There are countless help sites on "How to delete the U2 album" on your iPhone. To us it may seem negative, but it's really not. It's getting their name out there.

#relevance

 

[purpleoscar]

#relevance

 

[Nick66]

There are countless help sites on "How to delete the U2 album" on your iPhone. To us it may seem negative, but it's really not. It's getting their name out there.

#relevance

LOL...sounds like the title of an 00's U2 record: "How to Delete an Unwanted Album".

And you're right about the relevance bit...the worst thing for a band like U2 isn't getting bad reviews or mocked...it's being ignored. New bands need good reviews b/c no one knows who they are or what they sound like, but everyone knows who U2 is, what they sound like, and what to expect. Like a Transformers movie, they're pretty much review proof.

Most professional critics are mostly just writing for each other these days anyway.

 

[prbiker15]

I've been saying it all along. Bad press can sometimes be better than no press at all. All the U2 haters really did was help advertise the album. There are countless help sites on "How to delete the U2 album" on your iPhone. To us it may seem negative, but it's really not. It's getting their name out there.

#relevance

I agree. It's working.

 

[mikal]

LOL...sounds like the title of an 00's U2 record: "How to Delete an Unwanted Album".

And you're right about the relevance bit...the worst thing for a band like U2 isn't getting bad reviews or mocked...it's being ignored. New bands need good reviews b/c no one knows who they are, but everyone knows who U2 is, what they sound like, and what to expect. Like a Transformers movie, they're pretty much review proof.

Most professional critics are mostly just writing for each other these days anyway.

Yep. And a prime example is my cousin, who is a casual U2 fan, that didn't know about the album until one of her Facebook friends went off about how U2 invaded their privacy 'blah blah blah'. She immediately downloaded the album and then posted on her page an hour later regarding how much she enjoyed it.

 

[purpleoscar]

Like a Transformers movie, they're pretty much review proof.

Please compare them to a Harry Potter movie or Lord of the Rings, but not Transformers.

 

[Nick66]

Please compare them to a Harry Potter movie or Lord of the Rings, but not Transformers.

I don't think U2 gave any songs to Harry Potter or LOTR.

 

[womanfish]

Yep. And a prime example is my cousin, who is a casual U2 fan, that didn't know about the album until one of her Facebook friends went off about how U2 invaded their privacy 'blah blah blah'. She immediately downloaded the album and then posted on her page an hour later regarding how much she enjoyed it.

That's very cool. Love hearing those stories.

And you are so right about the negative reaction keeping their name out there. I liken it to Miley Cyrus at the VMA's last year. There were a lot of pissed, and mocking people after the whole foam finger humping thing. But guess who was the only one that people were talking about for a week. And it hasn't hurt her one bit. In fact it makes people go check out her next thing, just out of curiosity.

Bono, Edge and Guy O are probably all tweeting horrible things about themselves under fake accounts