Latest U2 News / Sightings

Originally posted by JuJuman:[..]

Yes, it is. But he also implied that commercial insuccess for a band like U2 must in part be an artistic problem. The assumption seems to be that their best work is both artistically valuable and commercially successful. If we look back, this seems largely true - though of course there'll be people who'll say that pop is the best album ever etc. Given their ability to reach everyone, when they work at their best, lack of commercial success entails some degree of lack of artistic value - at least for U2, and at least according to SL on my reading of what he said.

Will they be able to produce a best-seller? And will they be able to produce great work? I'd be interested to hear what people think.

Bono once said EBW was going to be the first single of SoA. A very good song, I think, but is it a single? Doesn't look commercial enough to me. On the other hand, if they have 11-12 songs at the level of the 4 they're playing these days, they might have a very decent album.

My 4 cents is that U2 should think about enjoy themselves, as they seem to be doing when they play live and when they write and try new songs. Fuck the sales and follow your instinct, as Yoda would say...

Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:[..]

U2 LOVE being the band on top, they love being number 1 and selling the most records. So as much as they love making artistic albums, they also like making casual fans hardcore fans, and NLOTH didn't do that really. They know they made a good album, but they were disappointed with the reaction from the majority of music listeners, not their fans. U2 love making music for their fans to listen to, but I'd bet, 100% of the time, they like making music that EVERYONE wants to listen to instead, which NLOTH wasn't, and they're upset about it, and Lillywhite is right in that respect.

Originally posted by kris_smith87:[..]

And what's so bad about that? I'm sorry but why be in a band if you don't want the world to hear and enjoy your music?

Originally posted by kris_smith87:[..]

And what's so bad about that? I'm sorry but why be in a band if you don't want the world to hear and enjoy your music?

3 hours sleep, at Newark on way to Dublin via London.. Horribly misquoted in Irish Times . expect it from tabloids...but not serious paper.
about 5 hours ago via ÜberTwitter[/qoute]

Originally posted by TheRefugee:Steady on guys, take a look at what he actually said;

"No Line on the Horizon lacked a big song and the North African ambience that it tried to recreate did not work." - fair enough.

" the sales were not what they expected because they did not have the one song that ignited peoples imaginations." - can't argue with that

"It's a pity because the whole idea of Morocco as a big idea was great. When the big idea for U2 is good, that is when they succeed the most, but I don't think the spirit of what they set out to achieve was translated. Something happened that meant it did not come across on the record." - also an honest and fair assessment.

The interesting thing is the 'something happened' bit. That's what's open to most debate. One could argue that the something that happened was they didn't have the courage of their convictions to see the Morroccon thing through because they brought in the likes of Will.i.am and Lillywhite to execute that awful 'commercially oriented' 3 song mid section of the album.
Trying to please everyone meant they fell between several stools and the efforts at radio singles were awful.

Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:[..]

I never said it was bad...I was just pointing that out! I have no problems with that, that's how U2 run, and I respect that. I just agree with Steve Lillywhite that NLOTH didn't translate as well as they thought it would.

Originally posted by scatterolight.com

Hairstylist admits last Bono haircut was failure

LEGENDARY Bono hairstylist Harry McHairywhite has said the singer’s latest haircut did not achieve what it set out to achieve and its relative failure had affected the Bono.

The haircut, unveiled on August 6, has drawn only a fraction of lady (and boy) oohs and aahs and received mostly lukewarm shrugs online, though it did get a five-star rating from Jann Wenner during a weekly skype chit chat he has with Bono to discuss how awesome they both think they are. McHairywhite, who was the haircuts’ co-stylist along with a blind guy and a guy with no thumbs, said the haircut lacked a strong biblical theme and the Jersey Shore ambience that it tried to recreate did not work.

“At the end of the day, the public are always right especially when you have a platform as big as Bono’s head,” he said. “Of course it affects him. He does not know it, but the truth is, Bono is a human. He put his heart and soul into the haircut, but the oohs and aahs did not reach the level that he expected. We must admit that it failed to ignite peoples imaginations.

“It’s a pity because the whole idea of Bono’s hair looking like he stuck his finger in an electric socket as a big idea was great. When the big idea for Bono’s hair is good, that is when the band succeeds the most, but when he ends up with a Jersey Shore / Heat Miser hybrid, then it’s time for the bass player to distract everyone by taking his shirt off. Something happened that meant our hairy experiment did not come across on his head.”

In the aftermath of this sensational article’s release, U2 fans who spend what they are sure is a perfectly healthy amount of time on the internet started arguing. And arguing. And then arguing some more. And then arguing again: “Everyone knows that real fans love this haircut!!” “The haircut is art!” “No way! The haircut is no good! It borrows from the past, pretends to be futuristic, and sucks in the middle part.” “Either way, really, who does McHairywhite think he is talking smack about the haircut?!” “And oh me oh my, what does this mean for the future – for the NEXT haircut?” “Will the next haircut now be less experimental? More mainstream? Please don’t let it be a return to the post-Pop, pre-failed haircut era!”

These arguments continue as we speak, and they shall likely continue now and forever, amen.

Meanwhile, in other developments, McHairywhite has tried to retract his statement via his twitter, claiming he never called the haircut a failure, but seemingly confirming that he did think that as a big idea, the haircut was not fully realized. Whatever in the hairheck that means.