Album 13: [Insert News Here]

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Is it just me, or everytime DM talks about U2 is in a bittersweet tone?

Maybe he's asking yourself WHY THE HELL is it taking so long, like us?

Meh... not that time. That actually was the first time he gave a reason for his not talking about it, and had the same comment about another band.

Sent from my android cause iphones are for old people

 

[YBORCITY]

I for one have stopped trying to parse everything that everyone is saying about all of this.... In the end it might just be that what we're hearing is just the truth. They have a solid number of songs finished and they have a handful that they may wanna tweak. After seeing them the other night I must admit Im so excited to see what's next but it will all work out in the end.

 

[Blue Room]

There are no b sides these days. A single is literally just that; a single downloadable song. Do cd singles still get released? In their absense, where does the b side go? May as well put them onto the album as bonus tracks.



That's if there are extra songs, which in the case of U2 I doubt. 2-3 extra songs would incur another 12 month delay at the rate they work at! It's 30 years since they did proper b sides.

U2 save any extra songs now anyway. In case they want to use them down the road. They can then tweak them and not have to work as hard. Edge has even said they have a box set worth of releasable material for when they retire someday. Whereas in the old days they were younger and hungrier and just released a lot of the material that was for the most part finished at that time as B sides rather than recycling them for the next recording session.



I also agree though that the age of B sides is over as well, for the most part anyway, so that is part of it.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

30 years?

I believe the last actual b-side they had was 'Are You Gonna Wait Forever', from Vertigo, a decade ago. Before that, Always and Summer Rain from Beautiful Day in 2000 and Big Girls Are Best from both Stuck In A Moment and Walk On in 2001.

I think NLOTH 2 would count as a legit B-Side on the Boots single. It was the first time anybody had heard the song in any incarnation.

 

[mikal]

I think NLOTH 2 would count as a legit B-Side on the Boots single. It was the first time anybody had heard the song in any incarnation.

And it was crazy that we heard NLOTH2 before NLOTH1

Sent from my Nexus 5 using U2 Interference mobile app

 

[namkcuR]

I think NLOTH 2 would count as a legit B-Side on the Boots single. It was the first time anybody had heard the song in any incarnation.

Good call, forgot that NLOTH 2 was a b-side.

 

[Blue Room]

I think of a legit B side as a new U2 song that is not on the album. If we are counting remixes/alternate versions of songs on the album, then U2 have been fairly prolific even recently.

 

[pacemaker]

I think of a legit B side as a new U2 song that is not on the album.

Totally. B-Side has become a coverall term like Q-Tip or Band-Aid. While traditional B-Sides are rare these days (Alternate Breathe, anyone?), non-album tracks have become the present day B-Side.

 

[U2DMfan]

30 songs eh? And how many new b sides will we get,maybe 1 or 2 if we are lucky.

Yeah, if we're lucky. Maybe 3 at most.

Normally I'd say that there was no way they had 30 songs. Because it's usually Bono saying such things and as most of us know - to him, a drum beat with Bongolese over it counts as a "song". But Edge said it. The idea that they actually have 30 songs "in various states of being finished" is pretty cool.

As to whether we'll get to hear them...personally, I'm not too excited about the B-side material. The top 10, 11, 12 will obviously go on the album. And I'd guess the next 8, 10, 12 best will be saved to be worked on further to see if they can turn them into something for the next album (ala ATYCLB leftovers into HTDAAB).

Leaving maybe 5 to 10 left over. And a few of those may just be permanently shelved. So yeah, in the end, I'd guess we'd get just a few B-sides.

 

[U2DMfan]

It's silly to get into the B-Side semantics anyway. A "B-Side" is quite literally the B-Side to an A-side...on vinyl...and not just vinyl, but specifically a vinyl single.

So once we leave the literal definition behind (which the entire music world did 20+ years ago), I think Blue Room's definition ("new U2 song that is not on the album") is totally appropriate.

 

[AndrewCowley]

Can someone remind me, do we know with certainty whether Ordinary Love is on the album or not?

 

[corianderstem]

Nope.

 

[subnet]

How about those AA sides? Those were good back in the day too.

 

[pepokiss]

For me

NLOTH 2 >>>>> NLOTH

 

[allbecauseofu2]

This is a band that wants so badly to release its steel wheels. Not for the exactly the same reasons as the stones , but clearly the stones were in trouble in 1988. Im not sure whats wrong with u2, but their is something.. Ever since 2000 a lot of false starts and backtracking. And frankly talking out of their ass and being obnoxious. I mean successful still but also troubled. Its proly just me but its reminding me of that situation.

 

[SecretFly]

This is a band that wants so badly to release its steel wheels. Not for the exactly the same reasons as the stones , but clearly the stones were in trouble in 1988. Im not sure whats wrong with u2, but their is something.. Ever since 2000 a lot of false starts and backtracking. And frankly talking out of their ass and being obnoxious. I mean successful still but also troubled. Its proly just me but its reminding me of that situation.

They just don't seem to have the balls these days like they did in the 90's. If they delay the release of this record for reasons like it clashing with Coldplays new album release or other stupid reasons it will just make them look like fools. June release date latest IMO. Any later..well..they will lose a lot of credibility.

 

[pepokiss]

it HAS to be before the World Cup
at least the new single HAS to come out in May

 

[Aleh_Hewson]

it HAS to be before the World Cup
at least the new single HAS to come out in May

Why it has to be before the World Cup? They'll not perform in the opening concert

 

[Nick66]

I believe the last actual b-side they had was 'Are You Gonna Wait Forever'

AYGWF should be the de facto theme song for this new record.

 

[gvox]

So once we leave the literal definition behind (which the entire music world did 20+ years ago), I think Blue Room's definition ("new U2 song that is not on the album") is totally appropriate.

Someone needs to read this...Niceman, I think?

 

[the_fly189]

There is a rumor coming from the U2 crew that tour should start in october in u.k..indoor

Rumors: Il tour degli U2 partirà in ottobre dal Regno Unito, poi Europa e Stati Uniti? | U2place.com

 

[Niceman]

Someone needs to read this...Niceman, I think?

I haven't been reading for a couple dozen pages, but I happened to check in today. What am I supposed to see?

Anyway, I'm shocked that U2 hasn't announced the new album. I don't know what they're doing at this point and I don't have any theories anymore. They had the Superbowl, and then the first night of the Tonight Show. They killed it with the new songs and the performances, but still no album announcement!??!?!?

I have no idea what they're going to do next anymore.....

 

[Reg McGowan]

There is a rumor coming from the U2 crew that tour should start in october in u.k..indoor

Rumors: Il tour degli U2 partirà in ottobre dal Regno Unito, poi Europa e Stati Uniti? | U2place.com

If tour starts in October, then album definitely released in JUNE. There is usually a 3-month minimum gap between album release and tour.

After the Fallon show, they took the plane to Dublin right away to get into the studio to work on it. Good sign that we're very near.

I'm very optimistic and happy about this

HEADACHE, GABE, MIKAL, CORIANDER STEM, REG DUDE....what say you ?

 

[Niceman]

Can someone remind me, do we know with certainty whether Ordinary Love is on the album or not?

We have no idea, but I'm beginning to suspect it will be. But we have no idea.

 

[jeevey]

I didn't think it would, but with the way it went over the other night it seems like they could possibly decide to sneak it on, probably with some last minute tweaking to differentiate it from the film version. Which would be great, since the live OL totally kicked studio OL's ass all over the room.

 

[gvox]

I didn't think it would, but with the way it went over the other night it seems like they could possibly decide to sneak it on, probably with some last minute tweaking to differentiate it from the film version. Which would be great, since the live OL totally kicked studio OL's ass all over the room.

I'm not sure I get this same vibe. Yes, I liked it, and The Roots joining in was very very cool, but one thing that surprised me most about the performance was that at the end, even when U2, Fallon and Smith had long gotten up to dance, the audience was still sitting down and took some prompting from Bono to get up. That was unusual to me. I think it went down well here, of course, but I'm not so sure there was like this huge public outpouring of admiration for it that we think there might have been.

Of course, if there are rave reviews anyone can point me to that would easily disprove my feeling here, let's have 'em!

At any rate, even if "30 songs" is really over-exaggerating and the number is more like 15-20 songs, there really is no need for them to add Ordinary Love to the album. It won't help the sales any really, since it's already long been out in the digital world, and appears on another album (the soundtrack). Is there any precedent for them including an already released song on a new album? Trying to remember but I don't think so..

 

[YBORCITY]

I noticed that the audience didn't get up, in fact if you look at Fallon it almost looked like he was prompting them to get up also.

 

[BEAL]

Yeah it's not really a rocking song. But they did perform it really well.

The next month will be interesting. Will we continue to get tidbits of info, or will it be radio silence?

They only have themselves to blame if they take their time and allow this momentum to slow.

 

[gvox]

I noticed that the audience didn't get up, in fact if you look at Fallon it almost looked like he was prompting them to get up also.

I honestly can't remember a single TV show or public appearance that U2 has participated in where the audience has had to be prompted so much to get up. It was stark to me, for some reason.

Or it could be that my memory is shot

 

[Reg McGowan]

I honestly can't remember a single TV show or public appearance that U2 has participated in where the audience has had to be prompted so much to get up. It was stark to me, for some reason.

Or it could be that my memory is shot

It's day and night compared to their "ELEVATION" performance on SNL in 2000. The crowd was so much on fire, on their feet, that Bono dragged the song for a good 2 minutes and strutted in the audience.

Ahh....the good old days !


U2 - Elevation - Live On SNL Video by mpadawer | Photobucket