Songs of Surrender - New album discussion - 6

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I was looking at the U2Songs page on 'Songs of Surrender', and I didn't know if this had been shared yet or not:

https://www.u2songs.com/discography/u2_songs_of_surrender_album

"We are told a single from the album will be released in advance of the album and it has been shared that the new recording of “Where the Streets Have No Name” has been sent to DJs to compile remixes of the new version of the song. It could be this first single, but that is not yet confirmed. We expect an announcement of this compilation of new recordings of older songs to be announced in the next few weeks."

So WTSHNN might be the lead single, and if it's getting remixed by DJs, I suspect it's not completely acoustic .
 
JamietheEdgefan said:
I was looking at the U2Songs page on 'Songs of Surrender', and I didn't know if this had been shared yet or not:

https://www.u2songs.com/discography/u2_songs_of_surrender_album

"We are told a single from the album will be released in advance of the album and it has been shared that the new recording of “Where the Streets Have No Name” has been sent to DJs to compile remixes of the new version of the song. It could be this first single, but that is not yet confirmed. We expect an announcement of this compilation of new recordings of older songs to be announced in the next few weeks."

So WTSHNN might be the lead single, and if it's getting remixed by DJs, I suspect it's not completely acoustic .
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That's awesome, and even if for some reason this one is completely acoustic, the whole album of 40 songs will not be all acoustic.
 
I can't imagine who they think is interested in 40 re-recorded U2 songs, especially if they're doing classics and hits. Old artists re-recording songs is one of those things that's usually gets the artist mocked for being old and out of ideas, so it's not going to repair their rep or endear them to a new audience. And do people who already like them really want to hear different versions of songs that are already great? And are burned into their minds? The best case scenario is that this project is mildly interesting and then forgotten, but it's more likely that it will remind people how far from their prime U2 are...and then be forgotten. They should just release a compilation of the songs Bono used to provide structure to his book.
 
Hollow Island said:
I can't imagine who they think is interested in 40 re-recorded U2 songs, especially if they're doing classics and hits. Old artists re-recording songs is one of those things that's usually gets the artist mocked for being old and out of ideas, so it's not going to repair their rep or endear them to a new audience. And do people who already like them really want to hear different versions of songs that are already great? And are burned into their minds? The best case scenario is that this project is mildly interesting and then forgotten, but it's more likely that it will remind people how far from their prime U2 are...and then be forgotten. They should just release a compilation of the songs Bono used to provide structure to his book.
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Yep. Tend to agree here. I said quite a while back that I don't really see it something that would appeal to either big fans or causal fans/gen public. It would have to be some really unique and very well done deeper cuts to really catch my interest. But we shall see. May at least get them some spotlight that I don't think will be too critical, especially with a new album soon to follow.
 
womanfish said:
It would have to be some really unique and very well done deeper cuts to really catch my interest.
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Same. A project where they were taking another crack at songs they think they didn't nail could be interesting if they did it well and picked a good batch of songs. But hearing 60 year olds rerecord a song they made when they were teenagers, or songs that are classics for a reason...I don't know why they thought that was a good idea or a good use of their time. It'll draw more attention to Bono's book, but it wont be positive attention. It'll be "look, he's written a memoir and rerecorded old songs. The last few albums have been subpar. He's totally washed up."

They can never let anything just be. A book can't be just a book, it has to be tied into a 40 song album of recordings. An album can't just be free, it has to be given to all Apple users whether they want it or not.
 
i'm interested in listening to it once.

but if it's what's been described in the rumours (reworked versions of old songs), and those reworked songs are anything like the other songs that have been reworked recently (new RHMT :yuck: ), i will probably hate it and never listen to it again.

but i will absolutely 100% listen to it once, like i do with literally anything U2 releases.
 
40 tracks is a move for hardcore fans, not the casuals. I’m all in favor of any move toward the core and away from the punters.
 
DaveC said:
i'm interested in listening to it once.

but if it's what's been described in the rumours (reworked versions of old songs), and those reworked songs are anything like the other songs that have been reworked recently (new RHMT :yuck: ), i will probably hate it and never listen to it again.

but i will absolutely 100% listen to it once, like i do with literally anything U2 releases.
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Same here (especially the point about horny RHMT).
 
DeVaul said:
40 tracks is a move for hardcore fans, not the casuals. I’m all in favor of any move toward the core and away from the punters.
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If it's 40 songs I would be truly impressed. That would be a move for the fans. And I think it would be of interest to past fans who have dropped off the U2 journey at one point or another over the years.

If it's 15 reworked big name hits. then just a sigh.
 
U2songs are rarely ever wrong about these things, and they are saying 40 songs with a 15 song version. Confirmed songs are OOC and BD, strong suggestion of Luminous Times being one of them as well.
 
Do we know whether they actually re-recorded all the songs from the ground up or whether some of them are rehashed / restitched from the original studio material? If it’s 40 genuine re-recordings then that’s really interesting. Bono’s voice is so different now compared to the past and I can’t begin to think what they’ll do. There will no doubt be hits and misses.
 
What I'd be most interested in is seeing them rework their lesser known songs, or 'failed' attempts at hits to try and give them a second chance to shine.

We've seen them do this live a few times - Magnificent went through 2 or 3 quite significant changes in arrangements for example (remember the 2015 I&E version?). They did the same (to a much lesser extent) with Miracle drug. So it's evidently something they like to do.

I'm personally mostly interested in the early 2023 album of new material predicted by U2songs, but while we wait for that, it would be cool if SoS featured at least a small handful of their songs that never came together as they liked, or were never as successful as they hoped.

Tracks like Moment of Surrender (which seems like a no Brainer given the album title, plus Bono recently said it should've been the lead single for NLOTH), and I still think SoS would be the perfect place for 'orphan' songs like Mercy or North Star, that they never quite figured out (the live ep of Mercy underwent changes to the chorus between performance and release!). That makes more sense to me as an opportunity to do something fun than to re-record already great (and greatly recorded/produced), already well known tracks like WoWY

U2Songs also says SoS will not just be acoustic arrangements, and in some cases will have quite surprising
arrangements that make the songs quite different. This seems like the perfect opportunity for them to have some fun giving such tracks a second chance.

(Having said all that, I'm not certain at all this is what they'll do - just what I think would be quite fun)
 
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Wtshnn is mentioned as first single. Imo it can only be worse. That song is so strong...
Mercy and North star should be on it, as well as the first version of Every breaking wave....
 
wolbersu2 said:
Wtshnn is mentioned as first single. Imo it can only be worse. That song is so strong...
Mercy and North star should be on it, as well as the first version of Every breaking wave....
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Streets is so upbeat as it is I’m sure they can create a re-worked version that would generate some interest. I just hope it doesn’t come across as some random DJ Remix.
 
LuckyNumber7 said:
I’m excited. Sorry if ya aint.
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I'm definitely excited for the 40. Of course I'm intrigued by the 15 as well. I just don't see myself digging into it on repeated listens too much. I'm already one that avoids the hits. But maybe they will have some really cool versions, which would be awesome. I could see Adult Alternative stations, even some rock and classic rock stations playing new mixes of older hit songs.
 
womanfish said:
I'm definitely excited for the 40.
Click to expand...

GAF always is.

Olde-english.jpg
 
No new version of a classic will get any interest beyond "huh, they did that? Why?"

There's no reason for any radio station to play an updated version of a song that was already a hit, and if it wasn't already a hit it still won't get any interest from radio because U2 will be almost 40 years on from their third album when it's released and bands that age don't exist as far as radio is concerned. I hope to hell that U2 have given up any hope of having a hit.

It's extremely unlikely that any of these reworks will be as good as the originals, let alone better. So why bother?
 
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Hollow Island said:
No new version of a classic will get any interest beyond "huh, they did that? Why?"

There's no reason for any radio station to play an updated version of a song that was already a hit, and if it wasn't already a hit it still won't get any interest from radio because U2 will be almost 40 years on from their third album when it's released and bands that age don't exist as far as radio is concerned. I hope to hell that U2 have given up any hope of having a hit.

It's extremely unlikely that any of these reworks will be as good as the originals, let alone better. So why bother?
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It's a companion album to the lead singer's autobiography.

Your reading way too much into this.
 
Bono also spoke about a serious health scare he had in 2016 during which he said his chest was cut open during a long surgery.
Click to expand...

did we already know that this surgery complication was the near-death experience that bono cryptically spoke about on/around SOE? or is this new information?

i remember a lot of speculation here but don't think we ever got anything solid before this on what specifically happened.
 
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