mikal
Blue Crack Addict
For sure. Even my wife said she'd go just because it would be cool to see them...and she doesn't like U2 at all.
New Album Discussion 1 - Songs of..... - Unreasonable guitar album
- Thread starter dan_smee
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
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I do think they're in that territory of "Maybe I should see these legends while I still have a chance" now for people who haven't historically been fans, but not yet the "Oh, I wish I hadn't seen them this late in their career because that was just sad" stage that might kick in about ten years from now, depending on health.
I had a friend that I never would have thought would want to see U2 say he was starting to be interested if they toured again as a "one time before they're gone" thing.
I had a friend that I never would have thought would want to see U2 say he was starting to be interested if they toured again as a "one time before they're gone" thing.
TinKnight
Refugee
1000000% agree. I don't understand why Bono and Edge give themselves permission to naval-gaze about their past triumphs and make an album of songs reimagined mediocrely, but draw the line at only performing past triumphs.
I mean I kind of know why, and that's that Bono is so out of touch with the songwriting process that he thinks American Soul can be mentioned in the same breath as Bad, but still, they actually like those old songs.
TinKnight
Refugee
why am I getting worked up over a band for old people AGAIN
cobl04
45:33
I am certain that I read an interview somewhere, where Bono was talking about Phil Lynott, and he said something to the effect of, "...but I never did call up, and he never did call down". Does this ring a bell for anyone?
DancingBrft
Babyface
Just popping in to show some love for “Electrical Storm”-the William Orbit Mix. I remember when this single came out for the 90’s-2000 comp, I felt like the roll was continuing, and with the Million Dollar Hotel stuff, they hadn’t quite flipped over into the ATYCLB era, though I don’t really know recording dates to know for sure if it was a hard stop and start or if the eras overlapped
Dragonfave
New Yorker
The John Tree
War Child
Count me in with the "new music over touring" crowd.
If I'm being honest, I've found the live aspect of the band to be something of a diminishing return with each year. I've seen U2 on each tour since Elevation (minus The Sphere) and, for me, 'latter day U2' peaked at The 360 tour. That was the last time I walked away from a U2 show saying 'holy shit.' Since then, each tour has been fine, but I just don't get a rush out of hearing "okay" versions of Pride and One and Beautiful Day. If I never hear Vertigo again, I'll be okay. I'm not saying the band isn't great live - they are - but I think we're past the days of mind-blowing performances.
Which is not to say that U2's recorded output has been stellar in the last 10 years, but each album at least comes with a gem or two that sticks with me. I might not listen to 80% of Songs of Experience regularly, but I never skip "The Little Things That Give You Away," "Love Is All We Have Left," or "Red Flag Day." Getting a few more of those that I can listen to and enjoy for the rest of my life is more valuable to me than paying $300 to squint and see the band sleepwalking through the spoken word version of With Or Without You that Bono prefers these days. That's an experience that lasts 2 hours. I'd prefer a few solid 4 minute songs that'll last me the rest of my life every couple of years.
With regards to U2 ever becoming "cool" again, I think that ship has sailed. The time for that was around 2009 or so, but the band was too focused on being seen as modern and relevant - see the abomination that was I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight live. Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, Billy Joel - all of these acts just kept being themselves and let the culture rediscover them. They didn't chase it. Even bands like Creed, Limp Bizkit, and Nickelback, the easy targets of the last two decades, are seeing legit career resurgences.
U2 didn't do that - they went the Ryan Tedder route. And Bono just seems a little too try-hard. Which is not to say I care about any of that shit - I don't care if they're seen as cool by young people. I just think that opportunity has passed.
Their best bet is to have an old song go viral through a television show, or something. Metallica - who have always maintained a young audience - garnered a whole new wave of young fans when Master of Puppets was featured in Stranger Things. If they want a second wave of relevance among young people, U2 need a Kate Bush moment.
If I'm being honest, I've found the live aspect of the band to be something of a diminishing return with each year. I've seen U2 on each tour since Elevation (minus The Sphere) and, for me, 'latter day U2' peaked at The 360 tour. That was the last time I walked away from a U2 show saying 'holy shit.' Since then, each tour has been fine, but I just don't get a rush out of hearing "okay" versions of Pride and One and Beautiful Day. If I never hear Vertigo again, I'll be okay. I'm not saying the band isn't great live - they are - but I think we're past the days of mind-blowing performances.
Which is not to say that U2's recorded output has been stellar in the last 10 years, but each album at least comes with a gem or two that sticks with me. I might not listen to 80% of Songs of Experience regularly, but I never skip "The Little Things That Give You Away," "Love Is All We Have Left," or "Red Flag Day." Getting a few more of those that I can listen to and enjoy for the rest of my life is more valuable to me than paying $300 to squint and see the band sleepwalking through the spoken word version of With Or Without You that Bono prefers these days. That's an experience that lasts 2 hours. I'd prefer a few solid 4 minute songs that'll last me the rest of my life every couple of years.
With regards to U2 ever becoming "cool" again, I think that ship has sailed. The time for that was around 2009 or so, but the band was too focused on being seen as modern and relevant - see the abomination that was I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight live. Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, Billy Joel - all of these acts just kept being themselves and let the culture rediscover them. They didn't chase it. Even bands like Creed, Limp Bizkit, and Nickelback, the easy targets of the last two decades, are seeing legit career resurgences.
U2 didn't do that - they went the Ryan Tedder route. And Bono just seems a little too try-hard. Which is not to say I care about any of that shit - I don't care if they're seen as cool by young people. I just think that opportunity has passed.
Their best bet is to have an old song go viral through a television show, or something. Metallica - who have always maintained a young audience - garnered a whole new wave of young fans when Master of Puppets was featured in Stranger Things. If they want a second wave of relevance among young people, U2 need a Kate Bush moment.
elevated_u2_fan
Blue Crack Supplier
Sigh, having been a long time fan of Bono and the band I understand the way he behaves and his motivation for doing this whole Stories of Surrender project but man, I can really see how to the casual person who is unaware this would come across as a huge ego trip.
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
Interesting. For whatever reason, probably my own cynicism, but I thought the solo shows appeared to be cringy on the surface, but I did get the feels watching that.
it's early - but through an hour, the most liked comment on the Bono trailer is...
lol. I hope we don’t get this movie for free in our library.
lol. I hope we don’t get this movie for free in our library.
TinKnight
Refugee
irreversible damage, it's insane.
LordVader1
Babyface
I am the tour club, as well. Lucky all of you who had a chance to see U2 on earlier tours. Of course they're not what they used to be. But for younger fans the only option is to see them now, not in 80s, 90s or even early 2000s.
I saw some young bands recently and it made me to appreciate U2 and Bono some more, as they know how to pull people in. With these young bands I had a feeling they played just for themselves. Even though I really enjoyed the music, I felt disconnected. Whereas with U2 it really is a religious experience, as somebody else mentioned before. It's like entering into a different universe, or something...
Bono, especially when angry, upset, is a the hell of a frontman.
I saw some young bands recently and it made me to appreciate U2 and Bono some more, as they know how to pull people in. With these young bands I had a feeling they played just for themselves. Even though I really enjoyed the music, I felt disconnected. Whereas with U2 it really is a religious experience, as somebody else mentioned before. It's like entering into a different universe, or something...
Bono, especially when angry, upset, is a the hell of a frontman.
Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
I've been seeing U2 since 1997, and easily the best show I saw from them was in 2015.
which is 10 years ago, but still -- old doesn't mean worse, necessarily. and they really, really work hard, despite still being lazy, to make each tour different and distinct and envelope pushing from the last.
god love him for all the setlist changes, but a Springsteen show is a Springsteen show. same stage, same lights, same routines during the classics (like, i'm done with "Rosalita").
which is 10 years ago, but still -- old doesn't mean worse, necessarily. and they really, really work hard, despite still being lazy, to make each tour different and distinct and envelope pushing from the last.
god love him for all the setlist changes, but a Springsteen show is a Springsteen show. same stage, same lights, same routines during the classics (like, i'm done with "Rosalita").
If the philosophy of them touring for touring's sake involves them swapping out things like Vertigo and Elevation, parading them around as if they're timeless classics and not just the of-the-moment hits that they were in favor of dusting off songs like Lemon or Please, then you've got my attention. Until then, I want new music. The allure of "What will this band do next?" will always be more exciting for me than "What will this band do again?"
I'll take 2-3 mediocre albums with 4 or 5 really great songs on each over the next few years vs hearing another performance of Pride, SBS, Beautiful Day, Bad, Still Haven't Found, or as someone pointed out a very lackluster half-spoken version of WOWY for what will probably run me at least 100 bucks but I'll go anyway because I'm a sucker for this band and every show they put on is pure magic...what was I saying?
I'll take 2-3 mediocre albums with 4 or 5 really great songs on each over the next few years vs hearing another performance of Pride, SBS, Beautiful Day, Bad, Still Haven't Found, or as someone pointed out a very lackluster half-spoken version of WOWY for what will probably run me at least 100 bucks but I'll go anyway because I'm a sucker for this band and every show they put on is pure magic...what was I saying?
The John Tree
War Child
I totally agree.
With the rare exception of when the answer to "what will this band do next" is "we're doing our old songs again...acoustically this time!"
trevgreg
Rock n' Roll Doggie
In the band’s defense, I’m not sure if Billy Joel and Fleetwood Mac would be proper comparisons here. Aside from last year’s single, he hasn’t released a new album since 1993, and Fleetwood Mac only has 2003’s Say You Will to show for that time frame. As much as we complain about the lack of new material lately, we sort of are spoiled in some ways for the amount of albums this band has put out. And naturally, opinions on those will differ, as all of them have their detractors and supporters, just like anything else.
It is sort of a darned if you do, darned if you don’t situation though. Heck, I see comments on Paul McCartney’s Reddit page where fans openly hope that he doesn’t “try to write hits” for his next release! And Elton John has even said that there were some albums in the 90’s or 00’s where he really focused on having a hit, but seemed to lay off as time went along. Then what does he do? Have a Dua Lipa collaboration! Work with the acclaimed Brandi Carlile! Culture did rediscover him, of course, but there’s no doubt some of the “young blood” helps get that attention.
At the end of the day, it’s popular music. It’s not four guys performing ambient tracks in a bar and selling cassettes behind the bar after the show to maintain the purity of things. Half the reason we like them is because of songs like Streets and With or Without You, which is just solid melodies put over a B minor - G - D - A chord progression in some sort of order or key. (And which is - wait for it - 95 percent of Ryan Tedder’s forte. And half of mainstream radio’s too. So it’s not as far removed from each other as it’d seem.)
I don’t know if we’ll really have much of that or what to expect for the next release. But based on the Sphere and news bits, it sounds like they have enough public goodwill or interest still in the tank. And even after everything or our own expectations, there will be people out there listening to whatever ends up being put out there.
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monkeyskin
Refugee
I've probably mentioned this before, but I've been to a show where the band asked all ticket holders to vote for which songs they'd like to hear and then allocated 3 slots each night to play some fan favourites outside of the standard hits. We know that U2 will struggle to play many deep cuts off the cuff, this would give them some time to rehearse more than 2 alternatives and really make each night unique.
Hell, if they were really wanted to mix things up nightly they could advertise shows as being focused on a particular decade / era / album and sprinkle in standard staples around it. The demand for the JT / AB shows prove that there's an audience for shows that aren't just greatest hits plus a few new tracks.
New music first for me, though If they would quit I'm completely fine with that.
U2.com shows an advertisement for Bono's soloshow, which will be great on screen, but a statement on the death of their longtime friend Mike Peters (The Alarm), shows they're only after our money. Lack and delays of subscriber gifts, new music is showing they're not interested anymore.
After Larry's injures on his back they should have called it a day.
U2.com shows an advertisement for Bono's soloshow, which will be great on screen, but a statement on the death of their longtime friend Mike Peters (The Alarm), shows they're only after our money. Lack and delays of subscriber gifts, new music is showing they're not interested anymore.
After Larry's injures on his back they should have called it a day.
super fly guy
New Yorker
JamietheEdgefan
Refugee
Shame that he’s adamant about a release not coming until next year.
However, it’s very cool that he reaffirms that ‘sci-fi Irish folk with Brian Eno’ is the direction in which they’re heading.
Obviously a lot could change since there’s apparently a long way to go, but if it’s Edge and now Adam describing the album in that way, that’s quite promising for me.
Irish Folk with Eno influences is pretty much exactly what I’d want from them at this point. I reckon the Sphere Zoo Station intro might be a bit of a reference point, given talk of this direction started around then, and there’s clearly a blend of folk vocals with eno-esque synths in that intro.
pacemaker
Refugee
I’m trying to think of the “folk”-ier songs they’ve done over the years - Drowning Man, Tomorrow, Wild Honey, some late 80s b-sides and deeper R&H cuts - and then imagining songs along those lines with Brian Eno flourishes and, yea, I’d be really into that.
It doesn’t seem tour-able, but whatever. Maybe they’ll do One-For-Them, One-For-Us albums back to back.
It doesn’t seem tour-able, but whatever. Maybe they’ll do One-For-Them, One-For-Us albums back to back.
I really wouldn’t get too attached to the Brian Eno work when the latest news we had from edge was jacknife Lee recordings
I took Adam’s comments as he really didn’t want to say anything and kindly agreed with the host to move forward.
I still never understood the whole secrecy around the recordings. Like they won’t reach #1 if the music media and world knlw
u2 are recording new music ???
I took Adam’s comments as he really didn’t want to say anything and kindly agreed with the host to move forward.
I still never understood the whole secrecy around the recordings. Like they won’t reach #1 if the music media and world knlw
u2 are recording new music ???
ascender_RS
Refugee
U2 have never been cool in their entire career have they? I can't think of any real breakthrough cultural moments where they've been cool. They've had periods of being the biggest band on the planet with rave reviews for their music and live shows, but cool? Zoo TV was probably the closest they've come - some of the AB/Zooropa remixes made a big impact in clubs.
Both the Sphere run and Bono's solo shows got very good critical reviews pretty much across the board. So the future is as bright as it could be for a band in their 60s. Just get out and tour and release some music along the way.
I could not be more excited for an "experimental" U2 album, but it'll never happen unless they release something alongside the next main album a la Passengers.
Both the Sphere run and Bono's solo shows got very good critical reviews pretty much across the board. So the future is as bright as it could be for a band in their 60s. Just get out and tour and release some music along the way.
I could not be more excited for an "experimental" U2 album, but it'll never happen unless they release something alongside the next main album a la Passengers.
LordVader1
Babyface
I think after Adam said in Ciara's podcast that U2 would tour in 2025 and the plans changed, they are not allowed to say anything concrete about album or tour.
Completely agree with ascender_RS regarding tour and new music
Completely agree with ascender_RS regarding tour and new music
TinKnight
Refugee
The John Tree
War Child
I'd say it was an almost modern-day Nick Cave-like approach to the song, but I don't want to disparage Nick Cave's recent output, which is phenomenal.
Radio Host - “Edge recently shared some info on new music”
Adam — “Wish he’d share it with us….”
I have my doubts they’ve even recorded together haha
I know there was the talk of a guitar album….why not release a handful of songs as a EP….not everything has to be saved for some grand themed album.
Unless Edge goes back to AB/Pop guitar fuckery, I don’t really want to hear it. I’d rather hear a sci fi Eno album
Songs like Stateless or Ground Beneath would be a cool transition considering the bands age and limitations now. No more bubblegum
Adam — “Wish he’d share it with us….”
I have my doubts they’ve even recorded together haha
I know there was the talk of a guitar album….why not release a handful of songs as a EP….not everything has to be saved for some grand themed album.
Unless Edge goes back to AB/Pop guitar fuckery, I don’t really want to hear it. I’d rather hear a sci fi Eno album
Songs like Stateless or Ground Beneath would be a cool transition considering the bands age and limitations now. No more bubblegum
so when does he stop talking about gardens?
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