From @U2:
ALBUM NAME: unknown
PRODUCER(s): unknown
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: unknown
FORMATS: unknown
TRACKLIST: unknown
POSSIBLE SONGS MENTIONED:
These are songs that have been mentioned in the buildup to U2's next studio for possible inclusion:
* "North Star," a song from the How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb sessions which included a guest organ appearance from Michael W. Smith. In this CCM article, Smith describes the song as a tribute to Johnny Cash.
* "Mercy", one of the last songs to get cut from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, described in Blender magazine as "a six-and-a-half-minute outpouring of U2 at its most uninhibitedly U2-ish"
* "Lead Me In The Way I Should Go" -- a contender for Atomic Bomb first mentioned in this February, 2003, interview with Bono in Grammy Magazine
* "You Can't Give Away Your Heart" - a contender for Atomic Bomb first mentioned in SPIN magazine
LATEST NEWS
January 26, 2006: In an interview with the Associated Press, Bono shared a few comments about making the next album:
"I happen to be in really a truly great band, and experimentation has been the lifeblood of this band. We of course will look and are looking across at hip hop and see the amazing innovation in the studio...I don't know where we're going to go with all our new information and all our new friends...but it will be somewhere very special or you won't hear about it, because there's no reason for you to put out an album now unless its very special. You know, we don't need the cash."
January 23, 2006: In an interview with Benjamin Wagner (working for MTV News), Edge had this to say about the status of a new album:
"We haven't really got to the point where we're thinking seriously about the next record. We're at that wonderful place where we1re just experimenting, and trying things, just really letting our imaginations go. It's my favorite phase of making an album because there are no constraints, you just write and explore possibilities. That's where I am now: loads of possibilities, but nothing concrete."
December 3, 2005: In the January issue of Q Magazine, Bono talks about plans for the next album.
Q: Are you really recording a new U2 album in 2006?
Bono: Yes, I want to serve these men. I want to go back to working for them. They're dignified men and we're on to something here. Edge has never played like this before. We need to record some songs where we don't respect the conventions too much. Let Edge run amok. And Larry. If we concentrate we might knock another extraordinary couple of albums out.
September 21, 2005: In an interview with U2.com, The Edge talks about the next record.
So, are you writing new material on Garageband for U2 as well?
We are writing all the time. I sort of write music for recreational purposes, that is my fun! Unfortunately it doesn’t necesarily mean that it is all good but some of this stuff I’m happy with. There are some things I’m very excited about.
I’m already starting to think about the next record, I love being at the beginnings of getting something going, all the possibilities. And I think it is a very exciting time in rock n roll. Hip-Hop had its way in terms of breaking new ground and for a while there it dominated the creative zeitgeist but now I feel that bands and rock’n’roll ideas are back with a vengeance. There are so many great bands, so many new ideas in rock n roll, in guitar-based music. It’s wonderful to see, like some of the bands we have had on the road with us, and I am very inspired by all that.
December 15, 2004: In an interview with Rolling Stone, Bono suggests there might be a new U2 album in 2006.
RS: You've talked about how this album has brought U2 full circle, back to the feeling of empowerment on Boy. Does mean that U2 has an assured future, and that we can expect another album before, say, 2007?
Bono: I think there will be a record in 2006. Because we're on it now.
