The next time people see us, there will be new things to show
Yeah, yeah, you know that the new Rolling Stone has a mega feature on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts. Love THIS shot.
Also inside is a short item (like, one column, 300 words or so, max) in the front of the magazine titled “U2 Begin Horizon Follow-up.” It notes U2 have a six month break before the next leg of the tour. After the Berlin Wall gig, the article says “Bono and the Edge headed to the South of France for a two-week songwriting session.” Then Bono is quoted as saying, “We’ve been playing really well on the tour and getting better and better, and we need to distill whatever we have into some songs.” It is then noted by the author of the article, Brian Hiatt, that the band is “debating whether the next record will consist of songs from the No Line on the Horizon sessions – the unfinished album known as Songs of Ascent – or an entirely new set of tunes.” And then Bono is quoted as saying, “I would like to put out an album quickly, but we’re only going to do it if it’s great.”
[Sidenote: check the atu2 new album information page, and add with above, we're still in a who the eff knows phase of U2 next albumness.]
Then there’s a little paragraph in the RS piece about the YouTube Rose Bowl gig and Adam Clayton says this, apparently not joking, “We started with the idea of going back to Morocco and performing No Line on the Horizon in sequence for YouTube, but we ran out of time to rehearse for that.”
Finally, about the next leg of the tour, Edge says, “Because of the YouTube broadcast, I can’t imagine that we’d come back and continue with that exact same show. We’ll want to develop and adapt it. The next time people see us, there will be new things to show.”
I thought the ‘Songs Of Ascent’ were already written (?)
A few months ago it seemed they were ready to put out the ’sister album’ to NLOTH but now they’re hesitating. Why? I suspect the debate is whether or not to put out the more experimental SOA (re: no hit singles) or a more ‘poppy’ album (re: full of hit singles) after the perceived failure of NLOTH to produce hit singles. Personally, I’d like to see SOA next … seems like a natural next step from NLOTH.
I think we got a telling answer about this from Adam back in September in this article:
Sun Media: Bono told me there is another album coming, with the working title, Songs of Ascent, the more ambient songs done with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, from the sessions for your latest album No Line on the Horizon?
Clayton: Some of it, I’m sure, is true, especially for Bono. And those are great aspirations. I’m a little bit more nuts and bolts and until there are 10 songs finished, mixed and on a shelf, then that’s not definite for me. It takes us a long time. When Bono hears two notes together he hears a song complete. When anyone else hears two notes together, we hear a starting point.
I smell Universal pressure.
Bands need to have hits, or so goes thinking in major label HQs; No Line didn’t yield one, & hasn’t sold anywhere near to expectation. Despite the tour and fans, they’re still being treated with this outdated model of being “hitmakers.” No wonder everything is vague; it means Magoo is doing his job. God forbid they scare anyone off buying an album that might be vaguely construed as creative. Such is life with a major label. Wheee!
(re photo: that would be the “Cindy Crawford”… )
The playing for YouTube idea isn’t that strange when you consider that, although they didn’t use YouTube, Radiohead did essentially the same thing with In Rainbows via podcast, and also the commercial release In Rainbows – From the Basement
I think that most of the songs from NLOTH were not well recieved by most people, and I know that there was alot of bickering as to which if any of the songs from the album should have been in the set list on this past tour. U2 hands down is a live band, so what you hear on their recordings is changed dramatically when they play it live and have a nack for turning a song that does not sound so good when you listen to it on an album and turning it into a stadium favorite. However I think even the songs that they did live from the album on this tour took much longer for people to warm up to them, which has not been the case on previous tours where the new songs just fit right in and were instant favorites. The band I am sure senses these things and now they are rethinking what they will do next.
Eno noted in an interview lately that Bono needs everyone to love the album or he feels unfulfilled. The drive for a hit might not come from the label, but from Bono himself.
I found a bit of bootleg Kingdom of Your Love and loved it. It very well may be that the energy of pop songs comes a bit from youth, and they aren’t young. I hope they don’t bury great work they’re doing in maturity out of a desire to keep attracting the young.
Sure there’s pressure from Universal, because the major labels are planning to launch a new digital mobil format to revitalize full album sales, and are (again) betting the farm with U2’s next release to be the first LP to be released using this new technology.
I appreciate Adam’s point about “starting points” of songs; but U2 are on the hook to release something (substaintial) before the 360 tour resumes. It’s not only Universal and LiveNation pressing; it’s likely Not US Limited (U2 Inc.) themselves, because the tour has not yet turned a substantial profit. New material translates in to more ticket sales and significantly more revenue-generating merchandise sales. In the end, the tour will be highly profitable, because U2 plans to donate the three massive stages to cities such as Buenes Aires that “need a state of the art outdoor concert venue”. The donation translates in to a tax write
off and accounting profits.
Prediction: SOA either become the second next album or a $50 fanclub renewal incentive gift.
Discuss.
it took me a good dozen listens to get into more than ‘white as snow’ and at first i was disappointed in the album and outraged at rolling stone’s five star review. i thought three stars, that’s it. now it’s five stars for me, and this is the first u2 record since achtung baby that i’ve loved every song on the album. i just recently got into stand up comedy. my only two remaining quibbles about the record are: 1. stand up comedy should have been named just ’stand up’ i think. and ‘i’ll go crazy’ is an awesome song, but again the title is kind of, um, ridiculous. also the chorus sort of lasts an extra four bars in my dream land — it’s almost as if they missed a really obvious hook to throw into the last part of the chorus. that’s just my senseless bitching, as i’ve loved them for 3/4 of my life and have seen them almost 40 times in almost 30 years, since i was a kid. my parents road tripped me on joshua tree and achtung tours — mom’s seen them about 20 or so times, and god help larry if that crazy old broad ever gets within 20 feet of his butt.
the tour was transcendant in places and merely very good in others. this probably was a difficult record to pull off live. perhaps we will get to hear fez, white as snow, cedars of lebanon on the next leg. and perhaps we will finally hear acrobat?
i said and i still say: play songs only from acthung, finally give zooropa and pop proper live treatment (sorry popmart was weak). and then hit on the new album and unforgettable fire. the main problem of the tour was the set list — it was kind of disjointed and didn’t fit the spaceship theme of the stage. i know it’s blasphemy and heresy, but drop all the joshua tree songs, and the 2 “return to form” records of this decade. now that would alienate and piss off fans. oh well, i can dream. and in my dream they play acrobat. i think the final encore could be acrobat + cedars of lebanon.
The complaining about NLOTH is getting tired. It’s an amazing album. People should turn their ears away from radio stuff. I’ve never felt U2 needed a radio hit, I’m pretty happy with the songs on the album. Unlike many others, I liked most of it on first listen and learned to love the album even more with times. Live, almost all songs were very good. I’ve seen 8 shows this tour and had the time of my life. U2 fans like to whine and moan about everything, but from U2’s point of few, I kind of understand their decisions. Setlist-wise I felt the tour-set was a very good balance and I’m proud they stuck to all the 7 NLOTH-songs originally played. SOA should be an album in the same vein, don’t compromise. I don’t need radiofriendly pop, I don’t even listen to radio, I want more ambient stuff. Unforgettable Fire is my favourite album. And let Bono have his say, he’s the driving force in U2, the visionary, don’t slow it down. I want to see some of this enthusiasm in Larry or Adam. I want the album sooner, not later, before the tour continues.
For me, U2 are first and foremost a live band, not an album band and not a singles band. Live is where they are truly great. Many people thought NLOTH doesn’t traslate well live, still the tour was very successful. They need to bring SOA, or whatever album they have, out before the tour continues in 2010. NLOTH will be too long ago by that time.
And most of us don’t see that NLOTH is one of the strongest selling albums in 2009. Album sales are down generally, U2 won’t turn that around. Still, their album is one of the strongest and most successful. It’s illusionary to compare it to previous album sale numbers because times are changing in the record industry. It’s an amazing album and I wish people would stop focussing on the numbers so much, it’s not a failure at all.
NLOTH is a great album! I couldn’t care less if it was a radio hit album or not. I want Songs of Ascent and not some pop, radio friendly shit. Keep doing the music YOU guys believe in….
I agree with Bobo about the set list. More 90’s stuff, more Unforgettable Fire and the last 2 albums.
MOFO
ACROBAT
Love is Blindness
GONE
Last Night on Earth
Stay
Discotheque
Even Better than the Real Thing
UltraViolet
Wild Horses
etc.
Agree with the thoughts on the setlist. Vertigo Tour focused on a lot of the Lillywhite-produced, ‘earthy’ material; 360 should focus more on any possible ’spaceship’ related material, like AB, Zooropa & Pop. The UF & Passengers are great touchstones too – ambient, zero-g feeling. And keep ‘Streets’ & ‘Ultraviolet’.
Wishlist:
Mofo
Acrobat
White As Snow
Fez-Being Born
Always Forever Now
Even Better Than The Real Thing
Gone
Last Night On Earth
Lemon
The Wanderer
I think NLOTH is a awesome ablum. It’s one of their best albums. All the songs on the ablum are outstanding. People need to quit critizening the album. They just need to listen to it over and over again. To appreciate the music. U2 did a wonderful job in the last album. Five stars boys. Good job by the way presenting the songs on tour. You guys are still superior despite what some say about the album.
I think a lot of great bands make their best material when they don’t have time to second guess themselves. NLOTH has its bright spots, but overall the record feels too tinkered-with, like the tracks were recorded and re-recorded until all the “oomph” was bled out of them.
It would be great if they revisited the Rick Rubin sessions, because Rick is known for stripping a band of its extraneous bs and getting it back to its essence. Imagine a U2 record with the gritty production values of war mixed with some of the groove of the ZooTV era? Kick ass!
OR – they could mine their vast catalog of great b-sides and flesh them out into a set of killer stadium anthems. Just my two cents…
I reviewed 54 reviews of NLOTH for the U2 conference last October. Almost 80% of the critics said it was up there with JT or AB or definitely above average. Contrary to what I read and hear, the reviews from critics were not mixed. Even on metacritic, fans like it better than HTDAAB and ATYCLB. I can’t stop playing it even now. I continue to hear new things and be moved in mysterious ways. My vote is NLOTH is a masterpiece like JT and AB.
I agree with everyone here who put NLOTH up there with JT and AB. It’s the album that was due! ATYCLB and HTDAAB presented what they did but I love the ambient work U2 do with Brian Eno so yes Unforgettable Fire is one of my favorites. NLOTH is right behind JT and AB, I prefer it to ATYCLB and HTDAAB. The sound of “Kingdom of our Love” and “Winter” give me hope in expecting another gem of an album _ its as if U2 are standing on the precipice of another great collection of songs with Songs of Ascent… let us in the sound! Please let us have another U2 album before the next year is over… waiting, hoping, praying, loving…
I may not love everything on NLOTH e.g. “Standup comedy” but there is more on this album than what others consider an entire career.
We will all have our opinions but here’s mine. I think bands like U2, Depeche Mode, etc who have been around since the 80’s really should stop writing music and releasing albums. How many artists / bands have released more than 2 great albums?Not many.It’s impossible to keep writing great songs. And I think many fans would agree that Bono stopped writing great songs on Achtung Baby / Zooropa. One or two good songs since then but not much. The problem with Bono et al is that their arrogance makes them want to perform songs from their latest album because they think the songs are great and can’t accept that the majority of fans out there don’t like them. What pisses me off is that they sell out their gigs in record time and them just stick to a crap setlist the whole tour. We all know they will never do something really great like play the whole Joshua Tree or AB in album order. I could go on, but what’s the point?Except maybe the example of The Cure – they lost their way in the mid – nineties and their shows were very boring with mostly commercial stuff. More recently, their concerts have reverted to songs from their darker period in the early 80’s which the true fans really love and appreciate. But then again, their shows are about the songs.U2 wanted to do that on the past 2 tours – back to basics – and then for this tour, their egos got to them again….
Doesn’t matter as much as it used to any more what a relatively few number of critics say – in the scheme of things. The louder voice is what the people have to say, and the internet has given them more power to be heard. Everybody is going to have their own opinion – and I have read and heard a whole lot of conflicting opinions about NLOTH. Hard to say how many diehard and casual fans liked and disliked the album, but the buzz is definitely out there. Another dull tempo album on the heels of NLOTH will not help ticket sales on the remainder of the tour – which may not have broke even yet. If the band has at least 3 rocking songs on the new album, they might just retain credibility for this era of their careers. But just delivering 3 is holding back in my opinion. They have a lot of ground to make up for.
Music is and should be a subjective experience and with that in mind I don’t think U2 should compromise themselves for the sakes of commercial success. They have, afterall, been with us for over 30 years now, they’ve had the hits, they’ve had the albums sales, they’ve got the awards they deserve, and they’ve cemented their legendary status. Therefore, they have earned the right, in my opinion, to do whatever they want musically. If the next album is more ambient than something you can purely rock out to then so be it – I’ll still buy it and if it and if I don’t dig it as much as I did NLOTH, AB or JT then I’ll just simply wait for the next release (hopefully the Rick Rubin sessions). Believe it or not there are more important things in life than statistics and cold hard profit and I believe that U2 have realized that for years and will continue to take their music wherever they feel it leads them regardless of public opinion and commercial success.
History will prove this: “NLOTH is a masterpiece” … give it more time !
Go U2 go …
It’s simple if you don’t have that strong first single you don’t get airplay, if you don’t get airplay it’s the old out of site out of mind theory that comes into play. This is exactly what happened with NLOTH. So important is the first single of any new album it is presumed to be the strongest song on the record and when it does not happen this way the rest of the entire record is presumed weak, it is at this point that all hell breaks loose within the label as they scurry to get a second single out before it’s scheduled release. That formula is set up to fail and what the hardcore fans know to be a great record never get’s the chance to develop in the market place and the record just nose dives off the charts as NLOTH did. If there is anything good to come from this for U2 it is that despite the numbers not being typical U2 numbers compared to the bands previous two releases NLOTH is one of the top selling albums worldwide for 2009 selling over four million copies to date, it is also one of the best selling rock albums in the states for 2009 out selling both Dave Matthews and Green Day’s 2009 releases to date. As far as releasing SOA it might happen but it won’t happen as rumored upon the release of NLOTH, we were told that it was possible SOA could be released in 2009 you can bet your life that was only going to happen if NLOTH’s sales were better. You would have to presume for the band to say we could possibly release a sister album during the same year that the material for the sister album is finished completed work that did not make the cut for the first record regardless of the reason for that. It is now obvious that the bulk of the finished material that was to be SOA was weaker than the material on NLOTH thus forcing the band to scrap that projected release in 2009 until a possible 2010 release maybe. Now with The Edge saying on the record that the band is writing new material and has recorded some new songs tells you that regardless of whom it is the band or the label that SOA needed to be re-worked. Im going to go out on a limb and say that the band has just recorded three songs that are going to be the singles for SOA and that this album could be released to coincide with the start of the second leg of the tour based on comments made by Edge saying the second leg will be a different show.
U2 has been having a big year. Their song (”Winter”) from the film “Brothers” is a masterpiece. I read somewhere the song was written specifically for the film. It must have been, because those powerful lyrics are incredibly moving at the end of that film.