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Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:What ever happened to Danger Mouse? Did I miss something there? And do you guys think they're getting someone other than Brian and Danny to produce beacuse NLOTH wasn't as big as a success as they thought it'd be? I'm not trying to get into that whole debate, just a few quick questions

It's not Brian Eno, he's doing fabulous things for Coldplay (he's working on their fifth album so perhaps he wasn't available for U2).

I think NLOTH was a victim of it's protracted recording - that's what Lanois hinted at recently.

And really, the only problem with NLOTH was the lack of hits - i'd imagine if they wanted to have another Vertigo on NLOTH it would have been a hit, but they wanted to do something a little different, hence the GOYB approach - which failed mostly due to Bono's lyrics and vocals (guitar, bass, drums etc were great).

At the moment, their problem seems to be Bono everyone else seems to be pulling their weight, Edge is in top form, so's Larry, Adams bass is better than ever - Bono's lyrics (and to a lesser degree singing) not so much.

BelgianBono

14 years

Originally posted by vanquish:[..]

At the moment, their problem seems to be Bono everyone else seems to be pulling their weight, Edge is in top form, so's Larry, Adams bass is better than ever - Bono's lyrics (and to a lesser degree singing) not so much.

I sadly have to agree on that

haytrain

14 years

Originally posted by vanquish:

At the moment, their problem seems to be Bono everyone else seems to be pulling their weight, Edge is in top form, so's Larry, Adams bass is better than ever - Bono's lyrics (and to a lesser degree singing) not so much.

WHAT!?!?! "I've got a submarine, you've got gasoline, I don't want to talk about wars between nations"

drewhiggins

14 years

Originally posted by haytrain:[..]WHAT!?!?! "I've got a submarine, you've got gasoline, I don't want to talk about wars between nations"

Not only that, he gets confused easily these days. ''Stand up and then sit down for your love.'' Make up your mind man!!!!

Yes, cringeworthy at the highest level.

kris_smith87

14 years

Originally posted by drewhiggins:[..]

Not only that, he gets confused easily these days. ''Stand up and then sit down for your love.'' Make up your mind man!!!!

Yes, cringeworthy at the highest level.

I don't really get the submarine/gasoline part but I still think the stand up/sit down lyric addresses people's overall apathy to things. They will stand up or get caught up in something and then quickly sit down or forget it, which is the whole "comedy" of it.

drewhiggins

14 years

Originally posted by kris_smith87:[..]

I don't really get the submarine/gasoline part but I still think the stand up/sit down lyric addresses people's overall apathy to things. They will stand up or get caught up in something and then quickly sit down or forget it, which is the whole "comedy" of it.

Aha! It does sound strange at the beginning though, especially when you're not aware of what the song actually is about - that Stand Up campaign.

He's got some real strange lyrics as of late.

JuJuman

14 years

Originally posted by kris_smith87:[..]

I don't really get the submarine/gasoline part but I still think the stand up/sit down lyric addresses people's overall apathy to things. They will stand up or get caught up in something and then quickly sit down or forget it, which is the whole "comedy" of it.

That's an obvious sexual reference to me - submarine/gasoline

Re: Bono's lack of inspiration and his voice. I think he's doing great live. He can certainly still sing... and there's 4 of them; they could help him out writing the lyrics...

JuJuman

14 years

NLOTH with EBW, BFFTS, NS and Glasto in and a few weak songs out (Stand up - a good b-side; GOYB - another good b-side; Crazy tonight - a completely forgettable song in its album version...) would have done differently - perhaps not as well as the two preceding albums, but better anyway. Just compare these songs with BD, Vertigo, SYCMIOYO (a great classic)...

NLOTH_Victor

14 years

Originally posted by drewhiggins:[..]

Aha! It does sound strange at the beginning though, especially when you're not aware of what the song actually is about - that Stand Up campaign.

He's got some real strange lyrics as of late.

Mainly after ATYCLB his lyrics seem to have come downhill, he has gotten sloppy I think... I mean, of course there was one or other song with something strange, but it usually fit the song and its mood like Somedays Are Better Than Others... and even the great ones there´s something to spoil lately, like MOS, I think it is great but the ATM machine thing throws water in my beer

The songs that I like his lyrics post 2000 are not as many as b4... I like Beautiful Day, In A Little While, Kite, Sometimes You Can´t Make it On Your Own, Miracle Drug, COBL, Magnificent....

By the way, has anyone ever noticed how Crazy Tonight´s chorus ruins everything? It is simply beautiful chorus "it´s not a hill/ it´s a mountain/ as u start out the climb/listen for me/ i´ll be shouting/ we´re gonna make it all the way to the light" that´s beautiful and then bono ruins it with "i´ll go crazy if i don´t go crazy tonight"... come on! the verss are just okay, though...

Well, I blabbed a bit too much

drewhiggins

14 years

Originally posted by JuJuman:That's an obvious sexual reference to me - submarine/gasoline

Re: Bono's lack of inspiration and his voice. I think he's doing great live. He can certainly still sing... and there's 4 of them; they could help him out writing the lyrics...

It has to be hard to write lyrics for every single song and hoping they sound good or they work the way you're expecting and not knowing what people will think of them. You'd think the others could write or contribute more than they do to the song - although after Edge's contribution to Magnificent, I wouldn't let him write another serious lyric.

Originally posted by EdgeI was born
I was born to sing for you
I didn’t have a choice but to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to

Because as we all know, Bono isn't the only messiah in U2.

Anyway, his voice is back and where the hell has it come from? It has to be in the best form since that Modena 1995 performance - he can hold the notes and he can belt them out. For someone of his age who lost it there for nearly 15 years, he's absolutely doing well. Even on NLOTH, the vocals there knock you out at how strong and confident he is at this point.

RattleandHum1988

14 years

His voice has been nothing short of amazing this tour. Especially this year. It's probably the best it's been since the Lovetown tour.
But this lyrics were pretty bad on NLOTH, have to sadly agree on that. "ATM Machine"?
I think HTDAAB had great lyrics, but that's just me. Ever since the hype for that album died down, and by hype I mean vertigo stopped being played on the radio every half an hour, I've loved that album. Great stuff on there.
I do think Bono's lyrics are going to be much better on the next album. North Star and Every Breaking Wave (especially EBW) have great lyrics in my opinion. Every Breaking Wave has some deep stuff on it, and I can't wait to hear what it'll be like when it's finished.

I just hope Will.I.Am doesn't turn U2's next album into an RnB album.

drewhiggins

14 years

I have a theory that Moment Of Surrender is about a drug addiction, depression or another kind of addiction. It could be about loneliness, and tying into the next song - Unknown Caller, which as we all know is the random text message theme on the phone, a lonely and depressed (and probably close to suicide) individual. So:

''I was speeding on the subway...I did not notice the passers-by and they did not notice me''.

If you use the ATM machine, you're getting some kind of withdrawl of product - whatever, it doesn't matter - it kinda makes sense. Which then brings us to:

''I was punching in the numbers at the ATM''.

An automatic teller machine, that doesn't work as well as if you add ''ATM machine'' to it, does it? Try saying it and seeing how it sounds. But there's the dilemma...it's now an automated teller machine machine. So Bono's stuck either way, and not just at the ATM machine or on the subway either. Glastonbury was partly first-person, for Bono anyway - ''I've been packin' since the 10th May''. So he still writes in first-person but didn't for NLOTH.

Bono has a knack for writing what seems simple but it's actually quite deep.

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