LP13 Discussion - Rock Bottom: Still No F#@&*ng News!

[corianderstem]

Now you can all log off and enjoy the weather, your girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse or whatever it is that this place keeps you from enjoying.

*goes off to a corner and shoots up*


thanks, Cosmo!

 

[JOFO]

Bottom line from someone who doesn't know the band, a friend of the band, a friend of a friend of the band or anyone who lives in Ireland for that matter:

Mid August we will have single details

Mid to late September we will have have a single released and album info

Album will be out the week of or before Thanksgiving

Now you can all log off and enjoy the weather, your girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse or whatever it is that this place keeps you from enjoying.

Cosmo has spoken and you can take it to the bank. You're welcome.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

Now let's throw this giant ball of oil out the window.

 

[digitize]

Bottom line from someone who doesn't know the band, a friend of the band, a friend of a friend of the band or anyone who lives in Ireland for that matter:

Mid August we will have single details

Mid to late September we will have have a single released and album info

Album will be out the week of or before Thanksgiving

Now you can all log off and enjoy the weather, your girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse or whatever it is that this place keeps you from enjoying.

Cosmo has spoken and you can take it to the bank. You're welcome.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

I'm pretty sure that several people said nearly the exact same thing nearly exactly one year ago.


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[MrPryck2U]

Can we really trust someone who only has 642 posts in ten years?

 

[Reg McGowan]

Can we really trust someone who only has 642 posts in ten years?

It's the quality of the posts that matters

 

[Nick66]

Can we really trust someone who only has 642 posts in ten years?

I'm not sure how much that matters. We have people here who have more than ten thousands posts and have been here longer than ten years who have proven to be completely untrustworthy.

That said, as Digitize pointed out, we heard all this last year as well. It will happen when it happens.

 

[digitize]

I'm not sure how much that matters. We have people here who have more than ten thousands posts and have been here longer than ten years who have proven to be completely untrustworthy.

That said, as Digitize pointed out, we heard all this last year as well. It will happen when it happens.

At this point, I'm not even sure it happening is enough to convince me that it's happening.


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[Zimmy1987]

I'm not sure how much that matters. We have people here who have more than ten thousands posts and have been here longer than ten years who have proven to be completely untrustworthy.

That said, as Digitize pointed out, we heard all this last year as well. It will happen when it happens.

I had never even posted here and everyone believed my gut feeling.

 

[Nick66]

I had never even posted here and everyone believed my gut feeling.

Well, not everyone. But at least you were honest that it was your gut feeling and weren't trying to pretend you knew things that you didn't.

Are you still over @U2? Tell Messr. Fisher everyone at @Interference says hi, and to come joint the discussion. His voice is sorely needed.

 

[prbiker15]

I had never even posted here and everyone believed my gut feeling.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

 

[Hewson]

I had never even posted here and everyone believed my gut feeling.

Not everyone.
Large percentage here have gone to the disbelieve everything method of thinking.

 

[U2DMfan]

aside:

there's been a lot of bitching, maybe too much bitching, about U2's quest for relevance. Many conflate this aim with their aim for being on radio, getting the number one single etc. In doing so, the suggestion is that U2 will make music that panders to the masses, in an effort to get radio play and therefore Relevance.

this article features this now classic Bono quote:



love this quote. doesn't it just fly in the face of the common accusation that u2 have gone lite, safe, coldplayed, etc? that the don't just make music for themselves anymore, that they're catering to the kids... In fact - they're just making music they like. What a fucking concept.

anyway, that's all.. no need to discuss further.. nothing to see here...

Really? I mean, really?

I'm sorry but there is no conflation going on here. It is exactly what it is.

Selling out is doing something you don't really want to do for money. That's what selling out is. We asked to be in the ad. We could see where rock music is, fighting for relevance next to hip-hop. And I love hip-hop. It's the new black entrepreneur. It's about being out there, loud and proud about what you're doing. Selling it on the streetcorner if you have to. From penthouse to pavement. Advertising the new song in another song. Taking on the world.

Meanwhile a bunch of white middle-class kids are practicing in daddy's garage saying [adopts fake Midwestern whine], "No, man, that is just so uncool." And, "Hey, Bert, get me a knife. I have to cut my ear off!" It's the bleeding ear brigade. They try to find some viruses, interesting neuroses, or bad habits, to make their round washed faces look grubby enough to be taken seriously by the indie press. Hip-hop looks at this, and says, "What is this [expletive]?" I got excited about hip hop production values, the extraordinary drama to their music. They're way ahead of anyone else in terms of working their way around the studio. Someone like Timbaland.

They make pop music. As hard as it is, as ghetto as it is, hip-hop is pop music. It's the sound of music getting out of the ghetto, while rock is looking for a ghetto.We never wanted to be a garage band. We wanted to get as quick as we could out of the garage. The people who say they like the garage usually have two or three cars parked outside. Rock music is niche.

There was a survey that said 70 percent of youth culture listens to hip-hop. There are lessons to be learned from that. I don't like all the values that go with it sometimes. But I do think we need to take up the challenge. Wherever you go, you hear hip-hop. We want people who aren't in our niche listening to our music. If you pour your life into songs, you want them to be heard. It's a desire to communicate. A deep desire to communicate inspires songwriting. Rock music was most exciting when it was in the 45 [rpm single], when it was disciplined into a single. Whether it was the Sex Pistols, Clash, Buzzcocks, Nirvana, the Beatles, the Stones. When the wind starts blowing in the hair, and it meanders off, you can get some great [stuff], but it doesn't interest me as much. The 45 is the pure rock to me. That is why I wanted to be in a band

And later in the same interview (because all you need is this one interview, although there have been several)...

Radiohead just looked at the pop machine and the machinations of pop and just said, we don't have it in us, we don't have the energy, to have our way with that. I don't hear [Radiohead's] Thom Yorke singing on the radio. I want to hear Radiohead, extraordinary band that they are, on MTV. I want them setting fire to the imaginations of 16, 15, 14 year old kids. I was 14 when John Lennon set fire to my imagination. At that age, you're just [angry], and your moods swing, and it's an incredible time to be hit with something like that. I don't blame them [for not wanting to be on MTV].

But I think, what would my life be like without the Beatles? If the Beatles had just kept going on experimenting after "Sgt. Pepper," I'd be interested to hear it, of course …Our last two albums are essentially about the combo. We used the limitations of the combo. We had 10 years of experimentation. We decided to rope it in, and tie ourselves to only one thing. And that's the only discipline. Is it a great song? Is it fresh? Experimenting in rock is at its best when you dream from the perimeters and bring it back to the center. All my favorite innovators disappear into the woods and bring something back, and you get to hear the songs distilled from those experiments.

I used "Kid A" as an example, because I love the album. We did our "Zooropa," we did our "Passengers," even our "Pop" experiment. There were great ideas on that album. "Discotheque," we viewed it as our response to Peter Gabriel experimenting. We wanted it to be our "Sledgehammer." Imagine if "Discotheque" was a No. 1 pop song? Now that record makes sense. We didn't have the discipline to screw the thing down, and turn it into a magic pop song. We didn't have the discipline to make "Mo Fo" into a loud concoction of rock 'n' roll, trance crossover. We learned from that album. We'd become progressive rock! Ahhh! It's on us!

He's talking about making pop music, he's talking about getting on the radio, getting heard, he criticizes those that don't have the ambition for it in order to excuse away U2's more poppy turns, he excuses away the failure of POP through Discotheque because it wasn't a "#1 pop song"...a "magic pop song".

He has continually talked about rubbing shoulders with pop and hip-hop. Continually talked about a desire for "hits".

The question of going 'safe' is one that Bono would never cop to. But it's undeniably what they've done.

What exactly do you think he means here, without just flatly coming out and saying it?

We decided to rope it in, and tie ourselves to only one thing. And that's the only discipline. Is it a great song?

You don't think the 'experimenters' be it Radiohead or U2 in the 90's wanted to make great songs? This is not an elusive idea here. They want to get songs played on the radio, pop songs, hooks, easily digestible, less challenging by default, more familiar, more formulaic, in a word - safer.

I don't think that's true of everything they've done since POP, but I think overall when it comes to the 'single material', you should just listen to what the man said.

There was a survey that said 70 percent of youth culture listens to hip-hop. There are lessons to be learned from that.

Go with what people want to listen to if you want to be relevant. That's the lesson he's putting forth here. 'Give the people what they want'. More accessible stuff. Stuff that has ambition to be heard.

And that is allowing the desired demographic to dictate your art rather than you, the artist, dictating your art to them. Throughout the whole Kot interview, he's responding to criticism and excusing away U2's more poppy and commercial turn by both making pointed criticisms about indie (most of them spot on the mark) and by effectively saying "this is why were catering to the masses".

He's admitting it in order to defend it. And there are dozens more interviews and quotes I could use here. They want to have pop hits. They want to be relevant in the same way Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift are relevant. That's what they mean by relevance.

"If that's relevant to other people, great" is lovely all by itself, but only if he hadn't already admitted what it was all about when he felt the need to defend U2's creative choices in the middle of (IMO) their worst period as a band. That "take it or leave it attitude" that Bono wants to represent (or that you hope it represents) is found NOWHERE ELSE in their actions or words as of late. They care so much that people will take it, "please, please just take it! Love us! Love us!" it's taking them years to find "perfect pop songs". Bono said that too and whole lot of other stuff.

 

[Registered Dude]

They want to be relevant in the same way Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift are relevant. That's what they mean by relevance.

"If that's relevant to other people, great" is lovely all by itself, but only if he hadn't already admitted what it was all about when he felt the need to defend U2's creative choices in the middle of (IMO) their worst period as a band. That "take it or leave it attitude" that Bono wants to represent (or that you hope it represents) is found NOWHERE ELSE in their actions or words as of late. They care so much that people will take it, "please, please just take it! Love us! Love us!" it's taking them years to find "perfect pop songs". Bono said that too and whole lot of other stuff.

Sure - you bring up fantastic points, but that's a different Bono from Bono now. Go back 20 years and yet get another Bono still. SO MANY BONOS.

10 years after the interview you quote, and 10 years of chasing the song they're "on the verge" of irrelevance, of not mattering.

They've come to a point where their All Because of Yous, Get on Your Boots, Crazys, SUC, Magnificents, etc make no impact upon release. The songs that were borne of the band's desire to be the ubiquitous pop stars failed to make them that very thing.

that reality has left 2014 Bono to say:
"You have to make stuff relevant to you and where you're at, make an honest account of what you're going through. If that's relevant to other people, great. But we don't know."

I take this to mean: we don't know what it means to be relevant in this day in age. we're going to do our thing, because that's all we can do, and if it connects, great.

I'd argue he's re-evaluated what it means for U2 to be relevant.

anyway, I hope you dont think I pretend to know.. maybe I'm off my fucking rocker. just thinking out loud here.

 

[God Part III]

long post about U2 selling out

Why does nobody even consider that making pop songs is what excites them?
Is it that hard to believe that all they want is to write extrovert, poppy rock music with catchy melodies and iconic riffs? That's what they've been doing for most of their career, including Pop by the way, and I really think it's weird to expect anything else all of a sudden.

 

[BVS]

Interference definition of "sell out": they're not writing the songs I want them to


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[artdirector]

So here's some news...and Im not one to post unless its credible. The album will be released this year. Late October early november. Official single to come out late september/early october. The tour will be announced in December with the first date sometime in March/April. The band are looking to release a high paced single to kick off the album.

This comes from the same friend who had given me news for the last 14 years starting with ATYCLB and HTDAAB. He works at universal music in L.A. Things may change but thats what the band have agreed to. Now he did say he believes the band have struggled with this album because Paul McGuinness has not been actively involved with their day to day studio work. Looks like they need their 5 member more than ever. Thats what I know.

 

[Registered Dude]

So here's some news...and Im not one to post unless its credible. The album will be released this year. Late October early november. Official single to come out late september/early october. The tour will be announced in December with the first date sometime in March/April. The band are looking to release a high paced single to kick off the album.

This comes from the same friend who had given me news for the last 14 years starting with ATYCLB and HTDAAB. He works at universal music in L.A. Things may change but thats what the band have agreed to. Now he did say he believes the band have struggled with this album because Paul McGuinness has not been actively involved with their day to day studio work. Looks like they need their 5 member more than ever. Thats what I know.

so, 8 more weeks until new music.

 

[Nick66]

The band are looking to release a high paced single to kick off the album.

You don't say? A high paced single to kick off the album? Who could have guessed that?

Seriously though, thanks for passing this along. Inside information from credible sources is always welcome.

 

[prbiker15]

You can tell they are out of their comfort zone if they are having McG withdrawals.

 

[trevgreg]

Why does nobody even consider that making pop songs is what excites them?
Is it that hard to believe that all they want is to write extrovert, poppy rock music with catchy melodies and iconic riffs? That's what they've been doing for most of their career, including Pop by the way, and I really think it's weird to expect anything else all of a sudden.

Because if they're really making the "music they want to make", it's nothing but ambient tracks and 'experimental' things they haven't done before.

Geez, haven't we learned this by now...

 

[Reg McGowan]

So here's some news...and Im not one to post unless its credible. The album will be released this year. Late October early november. Official single to come out late september/early october. The tour will be announced in December with the first date sometime in March/April. The band are looking to release a high paced single to kick off the album.

This comes from the same friend who had given me news for the last 14 years starting with ATYCLB and HTDAAB. He works at universal music in L.A. Things may change but thats what the band have agreed to. Now he did say he believes the band have struggled with this album because Paul McGuinness has not been actively involved with their day to day studio work. Looks like they need their 5 member more than ever. Thats what I know.

Wow !

Great to have inside info, we NEEDED it badly

Back to being optimistic folks and wait confidently !

 

[Reg McGowan]

You don't say? A high paced single to kick off the album? Who could have guessed that?

They're looking for a high paced single huh ? Shouldn't they know already what the single will be ? Out of 11 tracks, the first single should immediately stand-out to the band as the main contender...I mean, they have to pick the "Vertigo" "Beautiful Day" of the bunch and voila !

What say you Jick ?

 

[zoopop]

So here's some news...and Im not one to post unless its credible. The album will be released this year. Late October early november. Official single to come out late september/early october. The tour will be announced in December with the first date sometime in March/April. The band are looking to release a high paced single to kick off the album.

This comes from the same friend who had given me news for the last 14 years starting with ATYCLB and HTDAAB. He works at universal music in L.A. Things may change but thats what the band have agreed to. Now he did say he believes the band have struggled with this album because Paul McGuinness has not been actively involved with their day to day studio work. Looks like they need their 5 member more than ever. Thats what I know.

I hope your right

Because I know I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight

 

[Nick66]

They're looking for a high paced single huh ? Shouldn't they know already what the single will be ? Out of 11 tracks, the first single should immediately stand-out to the band as the main contender...I mean, they have to pick the "Vertigo" "Beautiful Day" of the bunch and voila !

What say you Jick ?

I'm personally hoping for a blistering, face melting cover of "I Want to Hold Your Hand".

Cheers,

Nick

 

[topplehatU2]

So here's some news...and Im not one to post unless its credible. The album will be released this year. Late October early november. Official single to come out late september/early october. The tour will be announced in December with the first date sometime in March/April. The band are looking to release a high paced single to kick off the album.

This comes from the same friend who had given me news for the last 14 years starting with ATYCLB and HTDAAB. He works at universal music in L.A. Things may change but thats what the band have agreed to. Now he did say he believes the band have struggled with this album because Paul McGuinness has not been actively involved with their day to day studio work. Looks like they need their 5 member more than ever. Thats what I know.

I hope this is true, but I also hope a "high-paced single" isn't meant to be another Vertigo.

 

[mikal]

U2 is great at working in a fast paced environment!

 

[Reg McGowan]

I'm personally hoping for a blistering, face melting cover of "I Want to Hold Your Hand".

Cheers,

Nick

Face melting is the imagery here...

If U2 would record a cover song on the new album, i'm jumping off the 23rd floor balcony...

 

[Reg McGowan]

I hope this is true, but I also hope a "high-paced single" isn't meant to be another Vertigo.

Me neither...I guess the choice of the first single needs to be "Anthemic" just as "Vertigo" and "Beautiful Day" are...The song that will have "saved" them once again and will still be a staple on radio 10 years from now

 

[rennowba]

I hope this is true, but I also hope a "high-paced single" isn't meant to be another Vertigo.

Lets hope and pray it isnt another get on your boots (which came from the vertigo mould but vertigo was good boots was poor)

 

[digitize]

Rumor has it that the new single will be called "Vertigo x2".


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