What's the Next U2 Evolution

[jcool]

passengers part 2
and a full reggae album..

 

[Aardvark747]

I really do think they'll only do one more studio album after this....

 

[Aardvark747]

a full reggae album..

GOD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

 

[Amsterdamfan]

Maybe country music.....

 

[chintito]

ive been feeling a little disillusioned with the band with the last 3 albums mainly cos they have ditched their 'fuck what you think, we'll do what we want' attitude. thats what made the joshua tree and AB so special. it was a band not caring what was going on around them and coming up with music they believed in.

I think the pursuit of musical relevence made them somewhat weary about experimenting too much which is why we get 'safe' albums.
I'd like to see a return a 'dreaming it all up again' approach in the next releases and have the guys do something that goes against the grain, theyve got nothing to lose after all.

2 more albums with surprises and without pretention is what'll make me a happy larry.
its time to hole yourselves up again boys. well done with the current effort tho, a very very good album.

 

[AEON]

I think they will continue to focus on great songwriting and melodies - but they will explore new sounds.

There are some layers in the mix of HTDAAB and ATYCLB that hint at the future. All Because of You, City of Blinding Lights, and When I Look at the World come to mind.

 

[adam3000]

I'd like to see a return a 'dreaming it all up again'

I agree with you. I still think they are going to follow through with the classic songwriting for at least one more album. Just to recap here are some of the genres of music U2 has covered:

Reggae - Don't Take Your Guns to Town
American Folk - Jesus Christ
Irish Folk - Vandiemen's Land
Post Punk - Boy through War
Irish Drinking Songs - Larry On Tour
Dance/Rave - the 90s

Anyone care to add to this?

 

[bedouin fire]

it depends on what will happen in the music scene until then.

If something interesting happens they will probably filtrate it into their music, just like they did with the industrial stuff and the manchester thing that were going on in the late 80's/early 90's for achtung baby.

 

[starsgoblue]

Evolution 5?

Bono vs. The Edge pay per view wheelchair battles with soundtrack done by a computer who looks uncannily like Brian Eno.

Bono on wheels!!

 

[rjhbonovox]

passengers part 2

Hey now your talking A Passengers part 2 now that would be good.

 

[onegin22]

didn't they just build a ginormus multi-million dollar studio on top of a skyscraper in Dublin? And did they even use it for HTDAAB?

 

[adam3000]

didn't they just build a ginormus multi-million dollar studio on top of a skyscraper in Dublin? And did they even use it for HTDAAB?

no they didn't. i don't think the studio/building has even been built yet. There was a contest to see who would design the building and i think there was a winner, but no construction yet. U2 recorded the album at there old Dublin studios.

Maybe this whole new "studio" situation rings true to the fact we will have multiple U2 albums still to come. And the fact that Bono is always talking about how insecure he is about needing 10,000 people a night tell him "we love you".

 

[wolbersu2]

U2 will go back to their Irish roots. They will invite Steve Wickham and use some Uilliean pipes too with their classic rock style.
Finally Wild Irish rose will be released....

 

[U2Soar]

I believe that their next album will complete the themes and styles of this trilogy. I hope they release it mid-tour like they did with Zooropa (Fall 2005). Love And Peace and All Because may be a hint for the next trilogy - an exploration of blues rock. Also, I would like them to do a an Americana album (a hint in One Step Closer) something like Larry and Lanois' album Wrecking Ball with Emmylou Harris in 1995.

 

[iota]

I think they are going to release a zooropa type album this tour. 10 scortching under-produced tracks and go back to Dublin to regroup.

What I would LOVE for them to do next would be quit these massive tours for a decade. Spend that decade traveling the world and recording maybe one album in Tokyo, one album in Iceland, one album in New York, one album in Africa, incorporating regional sounds and native lore into the art. If they push themselves they can easily make an album ever year and a half or so. They don't have to be over-produced, they just need to be a solid collection of songs that tells the story of the culture. The main point of this would be introducing different cultures to each other. U2 is a global band interested in world peace. This would be a hectic project, but nobody's ever done anything like it and they would be remembered as the greatest band on the planet EVER were they to pull it off.

Their final album in 2020 would be recorded in Dublin and would incorporate traditional irish music. They would finally tour one last farewell tour for about 3 years and retire.

THEN, the hall of fame.

 

[iota]

The reason I suggest the above is because the music needs a sense of place, and that is what lacking on the last 3 albums. A landscape that inspires the music. Too many streets and discos. Let the imagination fill some wide open spaces again.

 

[adam3000]

What I would LOVE for them to do next would be quit these massive tours for a decade. Spend that decade traveling the world and recording maybe one album in Tokyo, one album in Iceland, one album in New York, one album in Africa

While I think this would be a cool idea. U2 is unlikely to do it for a number of reasons. U2 make money on their albums, but not that much. Record companies, retail units etc. take out a heafty slice. U2 make a great deal of money through touring and t-shirts. That's why we have to wait every 4 years between albums:

Year 1 and 2: Record Album and Release
Year 3 and 4: Tour 1 1/2 years and spend remaining time relaxing.
And Repeat.

They spend an extra amount of time developing their records so that they are good enough to promote over a 2 year span and lead off a tour that will bring in the real money.

Also, if U2 quit touring they might lose a bit of that live working out of that U2 sound that always helps cement the songs from their albums.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

I think they will continue this more straightforward direction, but the next album will be heavier, like HTDAAB is rockier than ATYCLB...actually, the more I think of it, U2 are very aware of criticism and if they put out another album that seemed to draw from the '80s, they know they'd get a rather large backlash..so this leads me to think they will serve up a rock album next time but one that still has a bit in common with its 2 predessors..


After that, I think a folkier direction is probably the most likely direction.

 

[adam3000]

After that, I think a folkier direction is probably the most likely direction.

Folkier, like Rattle and Hum, that will definitely calm critizism that they are drawing from the 80's. Lol.

But seriously.

During each of the 3 previous U2 evolutions (War, Rattle and Hum, and Pop) they seem to follow their ideas out to the fullest extent. War with the post punk power rebel rock. Rattle and Hum, U2 as folk heroes/anti-heroes. Pop with U2 busting out of dance/rave/techno like a rocket.

Every critic is saying U2 is drawing on the 80's for their current evolution, but I don't see that. They don't have that "wanderer's in the desert" feel about them.

What would you classify this current era as?

U2 classic songwriting? U2 the secular angelic chorus? U2 the band at home with themselves? I don't have a handle on it yet.

But I have figured out the riddle. Evolution 5: Hip Hop U2 - Irish Gangsta's of Rythym

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

Yeah, I wouldn't want a folkier direction, but I could see them pursuing that route possibly...actually an acoustic punk direction like Fast Cars would be fascinating..anyway, I see the current incarnation as 80s influenced but also using bits of their '90s modernism as well.

 

[kakvox]

But I have figured out the riddle. Evolution 5: Hip Hop U2 - Irish Gangsta's of Rythym

Again, NO!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't even know how to begin to think about U2's next direction. Perhaps they have run out of forks in the road. Good? Bad? I know I would perhaps like a little bit of a dirtier/grainier atmospheric feel for the next album. I think U2 will always have the songs, but it's how they mess with them in the studio that plays a key role in how the records sound.

 

[PowerSurge]

I'd say retirement.

 

[iota]

While I think this would be a cool idea. U2 is unlikely to do it for a number of reasons. U2 make money on their albums, but not that much. Record companies, retail units etc. take out a heafty slice. U2 make a great deal of money through touring and t-shirts. That's why we have to wait every 4 years between albums:

Year 1 and 2: Record Album and Release
Year 3 and 4: Tour 1 1/2 years and spend remaining time relaxing.
And Repeat.

They spend an extra amount of time developing their records so that they are good enough to promote over a 2 year span and lead off a tour that will bring in the real money.

Also, if U2 quit touring they might lose a bit of that live working out of that U2 sound that always helps cement the songs from their albums.

Hopefully they can make a few albums without stressing over sales and let the artistry take centerstage over commercialization. They've got plenty of money. The question is....do they want the art or the money, because they can't sell the same thing to the same crowd forever.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

I think the point of the last 2 albums restoring their commercial dominance is a good one; it will enable them to feel they can put some more different-sounding songs on whatever they do next, without stressing about sales IMO.


Another thing to add, is that they've never done a double album...now normally these sorts of records are stuffed with filler, but with u2 having so many tracks in storage, they should do one..I mean, Levitate, Flower Child and Smile were excellent songs, so it shows that they have depth in terms of quality songs that aren't out there..

 

[adam3000]

Another thing to add, is that they've never done a double album...

This is a band who has sweated over included Mercy and Fast Cars on the album because they didn't want to have too much of a good thing. Joshua Tree was almost a double album. Some argue they should have done it then. I might agree. In any case I don't see a double album happening.

 

[adam3000]

The question is....do they want the art or the money, because they can't sell the same thing to the same crowd forever.

That's what they are struggling with now. Bono says they want to be the Best Band in the World and still write great pop tunes. It's quite a balance they've yet to fully find a grasp on. I love all they're stuff. But I miss some of the adventure that died a little bit after POP didn't sell as well as they wanted it to.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

This is a band who has sweated over included Mercy and Fast Cars on the album because they didn't want to have too much of a good thing. Joshua Tree was almost a double album. Some argue they should have done it then. I might agree. In any case I don't see a double album happening.

I think they will do it for their last album...you know, empty the vaults of good songs they've never used and go out on a huge epic album..if they wanna be seen as one of the best ever, I think they will attempt an album of that nature at some point.

 

[beau2ifulday]

I think if they gave up on always trying to be the biggest/best band in the world, we'd get alot more albums from them, with alot more better material on them.

 

[adam3000]

I think if they gave up on always trying to be the biggest/best band in the world, we'd get alot more albums from them, with alot more better material on them.

Yeah, I dont' know about that. Although I would like at least one side project in between albums to help tide me over in the 4 years spread (Yikes! that's a long time). Like Passengers or the Million Dollar Hotel Soundtrack. A way to balance U2 art/jazz experimental artistic growth and 4 minute song mainstream impluses.

 

[amniar]

I would like to hear another Passengers from them. Volume 2 would be nice. By now they don't have anything to prove to anyone and should just get on with doing what they want.