Project Zero One / Songs of Ascent / New Album Discussion

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Earnie Shavers said:
Hey? Those quotes are from during the European leg. The end of it (in Rome), but it still clearly suggests that they have been working with DM already, so during the tour.



It's enough time, sure. I just doubt - given that this is U2 - that all of the material on this album was created 100% fresh during this time. They seemed to be fumbling on and off from the No Line sessions right up to when Bono busted his back, and it was that gap that seemed to suddenly propel them forward and give the whole thing some clarity. I doubt - give that this is U2 - there was any kind of overall clean break there, its just that it seems with a forced focus, the spark was truly lit during that forced break. Focus. Clarity. Creative Spark. I would bet a decent chunk of it still evolved out of the work they had been doing from No Line on.
Click to expand...

So both U2 and DM flew in France to record during European tour leg, on and off, and fly in and out of France (presumably DM has more than just U2 to work on) in total silence when they still had everyone believe SOA is the next U2 album ? It is possible...

In the September issue of RS (so presumably the interview was done in August?) Bono still mentions SOA. Come October, SOA is MIA (nost just a polite "it didn't work out" like Thomas or "we will revisit it again" like Rubin, but a complete lack of talk) and enter DM.

The back issue certainly gave them more time, but I would hope they need something less close to home than that for a spark. I just think they clicked well with DM, moreso than Rubin or Thomas...it seems like he was the spark. If Eno and Lanois were passed over for him they have to be confident about the material.

Anyway, this is all old news - South African shows should get us new band/McGuiness interviews and some new info.
 
U2girl said:
So both U2 and DM flew in France to record during European tour leg, on and off, and fly in and out of France (presumably DM has more than just U2 to work on) in total silence when they still had everyone believe SOA is the next U2 album ? It is possible...

In the September issue of RS (so presumably the interview was done in August?) Bono still mentions SOA. Come October, SOA is MIA (nost just a polite "it didn't work out" like Thomas or "we will revisit it again" like Rubin, but a complete lack of talk) and enter DM.

The back issue certainly gave them more time, but I would hope they need something less close to home than that for a spark. I just think they clicked well with DM, moreso than Rubin or Thomas...it seems like he was the spark. If Eno and Lanois were passed over for him they have to be confident about the material.

Anyway, this is all old news - South African shows should get us new band/McGuiness interviews and some new info.
Click to expand...

see, not everybody still thought songs of ascent was, ya know, a real album.

you did. not everybody.
 
in retrospect.. SOA was likely a working concept.. similar to when the Joshua Tree was "The Two Americas".. a partially realized album
 
oh, and btw... care to guess who just happened to be on a European tour during Summer 2010?

brokenbells.jpg


:happy:
 
U2girl said:
So both U2 and DM flew in France to record during European tour leg, on and off, and fly in and out of France (presumably DM has more than just U2 to work on) in total silence
Click to expand...

Yes. Exactly. They commute back to Nice immediately after most of the European gigs anyway. Only for the more far flung and back to back gigs do they generally stay in the city, even just overnight (same in the US, same in Australia.) By the time you've made it out of the stadium, they're halfway to the airport. By the time you've settled the argument with your friends about whether or not you should go for a drink and avoid the initial stampede for public transport, or if you're all too knackered and just want to deal with it and get home, they're in the air. By the time you have dealt with those 80,000 people all trying to use the same train as you, and finally made it to your home on the other side of town, they're slipping into the back of a Mercedes in Nice and heading for their homes, where there's a studio. 360 has a pretty roomy schedule. Lots of multiple day gaps. Plenty of time.

And yes, they could have easily been doing that "in total silence". They don't drop a press release every time they fart. Before DM was publicly hitched to U2, plenty of people in here were saying that there's no chance U2 will get an album done any time soon because they haven't even announced a producer. I was consistently saying that if they don't want to commit to anything, they won't announce anything, but that doesn't mean that things aren't happening. Normally they have a very long view in regards to working and scheduling. They've been off the road for a while. It's been years since the last album. They regroup. They look at a calender. They circle a Christmas 18 months away. They pace it out. They know they're going to release something then, or about then. The fanbase, outside of the most hardcore, hasn't heard from them in a while. They formally announce stuff as they go. Keep interest up. The pressure isn't on, so the commitment is easy to make, because they know it will be (roughly, give or take a few months) easily met.

I was always saying that if they were trying to put something together on an unusual timeframe, whilst heavily involved with something else (360) that they were unlikely to publicly commit to it, ie, make formal announcements about it, ie, in this case, announce a producer. But that didn't mean that they couldn't have been working with one, even part time. Even if it were just Eno slipping in and out every now and then when their schedules worked (and just because a producer is working on something else, like Eno and Coldplay, does not in any way mean they have no time for anything else).

And surprise, turns out they were more "all over it" then we thought. First we find out that on their break they've been up the hill at Julian Lennon's house, when they have a perfectly good studio at Edge's house (bit of a 'fuck you' to the beach recorders, no doubt). And then when on tour Bono slips that they've been jetting back to a waiting Danger Mouse each night, twelve songs done, looking good to release at some point soon. And you know what? That probably was a bit of a cock up on Bono's part. If he hadn't made that one comment, and started a bit of a ball rolling, might we still not know about DM? Possible.

U2girl said:
when they still had everyone believe SOA is the next U2 album ? It is possible...
Click to expand...

SOA probably is the next album, it's just not called SOA anymore.

How hard is that to understand? Is it going to completely blow your mind if Every Breaking Wave, the lead single! from this shelved album called Songs of Ascent, appears on the next album, called something completely different, with Danger Mouse's name next to it? Or Danger Mouse AND Eno on Additional or whatever? Will that open a black hole or something?

U2girl said:
In the September issue of RS (so presumably the interview was done in August?) Bono still mentions SOA. Come October, SOA is MIA (nost just a polite "it didn't work out" like Thomas or "we will revisit it again" like Rubin, but a complete lack of talk) and enter DM.
Click to expand...

Dropping the Rubin sessions is really the only unique example. The only time it seems they have actually just taken a body of work, and completely shelved it (and even then, one of the tracks at least has evolved and lived on.) And there was a fairly long time of nothing in between the brief Rubin session (which was always intended to be a feeling each other out thing) and then kicking off in Morocco.

That's not the case here. It seems they've been pretty consistent. Four left over tracks from No Line being seen as possibly good to form a foundation for a quick follow up, thematically similar, companion piece album to No Line. They continue working on trying to flesh that idea out and nail it down as the tour kicks off around Europe. Then we enter this grey period here where we don't really know what's going on. During this time they keep saying they're writing and recording, but whether they're still aiming for the fast follow up, or whether the (relative) failure of No Line has killed that idea (idea), or if the material has just moved on, or its difficult, or its all just a bit shit... or any number of reasons... we just don't know. Then it appears they really hit their stride again during the 'Back Break', and so nabbed the most shit-hot producer in the world at the moment to tie it all down. Probably a consistent evolution of the same project. A project not called 'SOA', but 'The Next U2 Album', which was provisionally titled 'SOA' for some time.

The Thomas sessions are more likely a closer match to what has happened. They didn't drop what they were working on with Thomas, and then start from scratch. A bunch of Thomas-era tracks lived beyond him and into the arms of others, evolved, and ended up on Atomic Bomb. And on pretty much every album, they do an initial session (often the one in some exotic locale), then leave it for a bit, regroup, and re-assess. And often when that happens, that break and return seems to give them the focus, or clarity, and they hit their stride and pull it together. It also often ends up being nothing like the original idea or plan. That is far more likely to be what has happened here. Somewhere between the Thomas scenario, where they've started on something with one guy, and ended with a different one, with material evolving between the two, or just the usual standard U2 early inspiration, followed by endless faffing about, followed by a sudden focus late in the game, with constant evolution of the material in between.
 
Earnie Shavers said:
Yes. Exactly. They commute back to Nice immediately after most of the European gigs anyway. Only for the more far flung and back to back gigs do they generally stay in the city, even just overnight (same in the US, same in Australia.) By the time you've made it out of the stadium, they're halfway to the airport. By the time you've settled the argument with your friends about whether or not you should go for a drink and avoid the initial stampede for public transport, or if you're all too knackered and just want to deal with it and get home, they're in the air. By the time you have dealt with those 80,000 people all trying to use the same train as you, and finally made it to your home on the other side of town, they're slipping into the back of a Mercedes in Nice and heading for their homes, where there's a studio. 360 has a pretty roomy schedule. Lots of multiple day gaps. Plenty of time.

And yes, they could have easily been doing that "in total silence". They don't drop a press release every time they fart. Before DM was publicly hitched to U2, plenty of people in here were saying that there's no chance U2 will get an album done any time soon because they haven't even announced a producer. I was consistently saying that if they don't want to commit to anything, they won't announce anything, but that doesn't mean that things aren't happening. Normally they have a very long view in regards to working and scheduling. They've been off the road for a while. It's been years since the last album. They regroup. They look at a calender. They circle a Christmas 18 months away. They pace it out. They know they're going to release something then, or about then. The fanbase, outside of the most hardcore, hasn't heard from them in a while. They formally announce stuff as they go. Keep interest up. The pressure isn't on, so the commitment is easy to make, because they know it will be (roughly, give or take a few months) easily met.

I was always saying that if they were trying to put something together on an unusual timeframe, whilst heavily involved with something else (360) that they were unlikely to publicly commit to it, ie, make formal announcements about it, ie, in this case, announce a producer. But that didn't mean that they couldn't have been working with one, even part time. Even if it were just Eno slipping in and out every now and then when their schedules worked (and just because a producer is working on something else, like Eno and Coldplay, does not in any way mean they have no time for anything else).

And surprise, turns out they were more "all over it" then we thought. First we find out that on their break they've been up the hill at Julian Lennon's house, when they have a perfectly good studio at Edge's house (bit of a 'fuck you' to the beach recorders, no doubt). And then when on tour Bono slips that they've been jetting back to a waiting Danger Mouse each night, twelve songs done, looking good to release at some point soon. And you know what? That probably was a bit of a cock up on Bono's part. If he hadn't made that one comment, and started a bit of a ball rolling, might we still not know about DM? Possible.

SOA probably is the next album, it's just not called SOA anymore.

How hard is that to understand? Is it going to completely blow your mind if Every Breaking Wave, the lead single! from this shelved album called Songs of Ascent, appears on the next album, called something completely different, with Danger Mouse's name next to it? Or Danger Mouse AND Eno on Additional or whatever? Will that open a black hole or something?

Dropping the Rubin sessions is really the only unique example. The only time it seems they have actually just taken a body of work, and completely shelved it (and even then, one of the tracks at least has evolved and lived on.) And there was a fairly long time of nothing in between the brief Rubin session (which was always intended to be a feeling each other out thing) and then kicking off in Morocco.

That's not the case here. It seems they've been pretty consistent. Four left over tracks from No Line being seen as possibly good to form a foundation for a quick follow up, thematically similar, companion piece album to No Line. They continue working on trying to flesh that idea out and nail it down as the tour kicks off around Europe. Then we enter this grey period here where we don't really know what's going on. During this time they keep saying they're writing and recording, but whether they're still aiming for the fast follow up, or whether the (relative) failure of No Line has killed that idea (idea), or if the material has just moved on, or its difficult, or its all just a bit shit... or any number of reasons... we just don't know. Then it appears they really hit their stride again during the 'Back Break', and so nabbed the most shit-hot producer in the world at the moment to tie it all down. Probably a consistent evolution of the same project. A project not called 'SOA', but 'The Next U2 Album', which was provisionally titled 'SOA' for some time.

The Thomas sessions are more likely a closer match to what has happened. They didn't drop what they were working on with Thomas, and then start from scratch. A bunch of Thomas-era tracks lived beyond him and into the arms of others, evolved, and ended up on Atomic Bomb. And on pretty much every album, they do an initial session (often the one in some exotic locale), then leave it for a bit, regroup, and re-assess. And often when that happens, that break and return seems to give them the focus, or clarity, and they hit their stride and pull it together. It also often ends up being nothing like the original idea or plan. That is far more likely to be what has happened here. Somewhere between the Thomas scenario, where they've started on something with one guy, and ended with a different one, with material evolving between the two, or just the usual standard U2 early inspiration, followed by endless faffing about, followed by a sudden focus late in the game, with constant evolution of the material in between.
Click to expand...

Did you ever know that you're my hero?
 
Earnie Shavers said:
Yes. Exactly. They commute back to Nice immediately after most of the European gigs anyway. Only for the more far flung and back to back gigs do they generally stay in the city, even just overnight (same in the US, same in Australia.) By the time you've made it out of the stadium, they're halfway to the airport. By the time you've settled the argument with your friends about whether or not you should go for a drink and avoid the initial stampede for public transport, or if you're all too knackered and just want to deal with it and get home, they're in the air. By the time you have dealt with those 80,000 people all trying to use the same train as you, and finally made it to your home on the other side of town, they're slipping into the back of a Mercedes in Nice and heading for their homes, where there's a studio. 360 has a pretty roomy schedule. Lots of multiple day gaps. Plenty of time.

And yes, they could have easily been doing that "in total silence". They don't drop a press release every time they fart. Before DM was publicly hitched to U2, plenty of people in here were saying that there's no chance U2 will get an album done any time soon because they haven't even announced a producer. I was consistently saying that if they don't want to commit to anything, they won't announce anything, but that doesn't mean that things aren't happening. Normally they have a very long view in regards to working and scheduling. They've been off the road for a while. It's been years since the last album. They regroup. They look at a calender. They circle a Christmas 18 months away. They pace it out. They know they're going to release something then, or about then. The fanbase, outside of the most hardcore, hasn't heard from them in a while. They formally announce stuff as they go. Keep interest up. The pressure isn't on, so the commitment is easy to make, because they know it will be (roughly, give or take a few months) easily met.

I was always saying that if they were trying to put something together on an unusual timeframe, whilst heavily involved with something else (360) that they were unlikely to publicly commit to it, ie, make formal announcements about it, ie, in this case, announce a producer. But that didn't mean that they couldn't have been working with one, even part time. Even if it were just Eno slipping in and out every now and then when their schedules worked (and just because a producer is working on something else, like Eno and Coldplay, does not in any way mean they have no time for anything else).

And surprise, turns out they were more "all over it" then we thought. First we find out that on their break they've been up the hill at Julian Lennon's house, when they have a perfectly good studio at Edge's house (bit of a 'fuck you' to the beach recorders, no doubt). And then when on tour Bono slips that they've been jetting back to a waiting Danger Mouse each night, twelve songs done, looking good to release at some point soon. And you know what? That probably was a bit of a cock up on Bono's part. If he hadn't made that one comment, and started a bit of a ball rolling, might we still not know about DM? Possible.



SOA probably is the next album, it's just not called SOA anymore.

How hard is that to understand? Is it going to completely blow your mind if Every Breaking Wave, the lead single! from this shelved album called Songs of Ascent, appears on the next album, called something completely different, with Danger Mouse's name next to it? Or Danger Mouse AND Eno on Additional or whatever? Will that open a black hole or something?



Dropping the Rubin sessions is really the only unique example. The only time it seems they have actually just taken a body of work, and completely shelved it (and even then, one of the tracks at least has evolved and lived on.) And there was a fairly long time of nothing in between the brief Rubin session (which was always intended to be a feeling each other out thing) and then kicking off in Morocco.

That's not the case here. It seems they've been pretty consistent. Four left over tracks from No Line being seen as possibly good to form a foundation for a quick follow up, thematically similar, companion piece album to No Line. They continue working on trying to flesh that idea out and nail it down as the tour kicks off around Europe. Then we enter this grey period here where we don't really know what's going on. During this time they keep saying they're writing and recording, but whether they're still aiming for the fast follow up, or whether the (relative) failure of No Line has killed that idea (idea), or if the material has just moved on, or its difficult, or its all just a bit shit... or any number of reasons... we just don't know. Then it appears they really hit their stride again during the 'Back Break', and so nabbed the most shit-hot producer in the world at the moment to tie it all down. Probably a consistent evolution of the same project. A project not called 'SOA', but 'The Next U2 Album', which was provisionally titled 'SOA' for some time.

The Thomas sessions are more likely a closer match to what has happened. They didn't drop what they were working on with Thomas, and then start from scratch. A bunch of Thomas-era tracks lived beyond him and into the arms of others, evolved, and ended up on Atomic Bomb. And on pretty much every album, they do an initial session (often the one in some exotic locale), then leave it for a bit, regroup, and re-assess. And often when that happens, that break and return seems to give them the focus, or clarity, and they hit their stride and pull it together. It also often ends up being nothing like the original idea or plan. That is far more likely to be what has happened here. Somewhere between the Thomas scenario, where they've started on something with one guy, and ended with a different one, with material evolving between the two, or just the usual standard U2 early inspiration, followed by endless faffing about, followed by a sudden focus late in the game, with constant evolution of the material in between.
Click to expand...

Sooo... does this mean we are getting a new album before the NA leg this year???
 
there's info in the tour section..

heard from the soundcheck were an acoustic version of Kite, EBTTRT ,and even a part of Zooropa.

I shit you not.. of course, we don't know if this was U2 playing, or their roadies
 
U2 Talk New Album, Huge South African Concerts | Billboard.biz

The Edge, who'd flown in from New York that morning, confirmed that the band was working on demos with Dangermouse. He and Bono hinted that any new studio album was unlikely to be packed with songs. "We were trying to write an album with 'No Line On The Horizon' that had a kind of narrative and if I look back on it now, it's probably too long. Maybe just by one song or two," Bono said. "It's incredible that people think 'Oh gosh I can put 17 songs on this' … it's like more cornflakes in a better box."
Click to expand...
 
What the hell?

It wasn't the length of the album that posed an issue, but the rather crap quality of the middle 1/3rd. Songs which had absolutely nothing to do with the narrative - or anything in particular. Some safe, emergency Dad Rock shoved on at the last minute that still failed to achieve any kind of commercial success.

The length doesn't matter if the material just isn't up to standards. Which I would have to argue was the case with a good percentage of No Line on the Horizon.
 
Dragonfave said:
U2 Talk New Album, Huge South African Concerts | Billboard.biz
Click to expand...

What in the name of sega genesis? After hearing it's being prepped for may, that it's being wrapped up, that amazon advertised it for may 27th, that radio stations expected a single in april...
... they're just 'working on some demos'?
And Bono's implying it won't even be a full album?
:doh:
Either they've stalled and decided not to work to put it out by the US leg (in which case they clearly won't release it after the tour, there'd be no way to promote it, and they wouldn't release something again for years), or the quote isn't as bad as it seems... maybe it was only the journalist who used the word demo, and really Edge was choosing which tracks to drop/include... but that seems like a pretty big stretch :sad:
 
I hope they still want to give this album a narrative. The lyrics on NLOTH were actually quite good, Bono (save for one or two lines). I hope they keep at least the lyrical growth consistent.

Also, either the band is trying their best to make EBTTRT work, or their roadies love playing it, because this song has been supposedly soundchecked for the past few legs and has yet to make an appearance post-2000.
 
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