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  1. Originally posted by ahn1991:The way I see it is that U2 is now what most would consider the "old guard." One thing people have mentioned is that the U2 of old doesn't exist anymore. This is absolutely right. In fact, if you listen to their albums, I'd say that U2 has gone through 3 distinctive phases. The first consists of all their post Achtung Baby material. The second would be Achtung Baby, Zooropa, and Pop. The final stage of their evolution is obviously ATYCLB, HTDAAB, and NLOTH. Even with U2's increasing age, they have still managed to set the bar when it comes to their live act. That to me is far more impressive than releasing an album full of top 40 hits (because honestly speaking top 40 or anything of that sort consists of overplayed, cliche songs that don't deserve to be listened to).

    The article is correct in that some fans are being terribly unreasonable. They are expecting the same U2 that released Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby when the reality is that that group no longer exists. My personal opinion is that they should release albums less frequently since they obviously won't be producing at the pace they were before. In addition, they should focus on what has always been their bread and butter; their live act. As long as U2 can get on a stage and sell out venues, they are still relevant in the world of music. Once they lose the ability or desire to tour, they should stop and retire.

    And for the record, if U2 retired at this very moment, it wouldn't be long before music enthusiasts would start lamenting their loss. Just from watching the various televised musical performances from other "rising groups," none of them even have remotely the same force of stage presence that U2 has. With profits from album sales decreasing due to various factors, I believe music artists will be forced to tour just to stay relevant. When that happens, U2 is going to be the gold standard all acts are compared to.

    I totally agree with all of this, except for the last paragraph. I think the music industry is such a "bring in the new thing" business that people would forget about U2 as bands like Coldplay and Muse get bigger and better. The same thing happened with Pink Floyd and The Stones. Yes they are still revered for their live performances even now, but it's not really the same thing. They have a legacy more than they have an actual standard. No I think people might say "You should've seen U2 though, amazing", but they'll never say "Coldplay was awesome, but they do NOT compare to U2". People generally don't form their opinions like that, especially fans of different bands. And we all know how much people love bashing U2.

    Of course I could be wrong, and I hope I am, because I think what you say SHOULD be the case. Reading From The Sky Down and seeing the pictures just reminds those who saw the show how amazing it was both performance-wise and spectacle-wise. It was the show of shows, and to me nothing will really be the same. But then again, we're all diehard U2 fans around here aren't we?
  2. Long story short, U2 should stop trying to "be relevant" because it's not something that's really feasible for them to do at this point. But in most of the posts I've seen recently, it seems that people have been doing more talking about their next tour than their next album. It's not that people aren't interested in another U2 album, but it seems that people are more interested in seeing them live again.
  3. I think that's totally true, and they even touch on that in From The Ground Up if you've started reading it (it's great!). They talk about how albums aren't the focus anymore, it's all about the live show, and they discuss how NLOTH didn't really catch fire like they wanted it to and on top of that the 360 show began evolving without those tunes involved, resulting in what became the culmination of the show in 2010-2011.

    I'm still extremely interested in their next album. It's a different kind of interest. I'm excited to see them live again, but interested to see where they go next musically. Maybe it's because I'm a musician, but I'm always more excited for what's on the horizon for an artist than what they're currently doing. The prospect of what may come next is just super awesome, because it's uncharted territory, especially for a band like U2. I really hope they surprise us and progress as a band again, I don't think they've done that to a great degree since the 90's. I'm not talking about the songwriting or their abilities as musicians, because those have sure as hell improved (I really think they were the best they've ever been during the 360 tour) but in terms of challenging themselves and their audience musically, they haven't done that since Pop.
  4. I agree word by word, RattleandHum. At the 360 shows I attended, I saw U2 at the top of their game. Still, Zoo TV was legend: perhaps their best, or second best (JT first), album, and certainly the best, or perhaps second best (360 first, for maturity's sake), tour. I'm afraid we'll never be as (positively) surprised as fans were when AB came out. Though until there's voice, there's hope!
  5. Here here!
  6. Should maybe get a next album topic going.

    As for me, do I think Thu can pull something amazing out of the bag with their next album? No. Simply no. I look at Arcade Fire, Snow Patrol and even Muse and don't see U2 being able to match their recent output. Will they put on a great live show? Obviously. And I'll attend as much shows as I can afford. That's where in at. They are the same flesh and blood as the band that did Achtung Baby, Zooropa and the Joshua Tree but they aren't the same band. A damn shame but thank god we can look back at what we can and know that they'll still put on a good show going forward.
  7. Originally posted by germcevoy:Should maybe get a next album topic going.

    As for me, do I think Thu can pull something amazing out of the bag with their next album? No. Simply no. I look at Arcade Fire, Snow Patrol and even Muse and don't see U2 being able to match their recent output. Will they put on a great live show? Obviously. And I'll attend as much shows as I can afford. That's where in at. They are the same flesh and blood as the band that did Achtung Baby, Zooropa and the Joshua Tree but they aren't the same band. A damn shame but thank god we can look back at what we can and know that they'll still put on a good show going forward.

    Yeah. I mean I wasn't really around as a U2 fan before HTDAAB came out, but I remember before NLOTH came out they kept saying it that the change from Bomb and NLOTH was like JT to Achtung Baby, which didn't turn out to be true. I'm not sure if Bono's talk about "we need really good reasons to put another U2 album out" and all that should be taken seriously, but they're still enough to get me excited that they won't be putting something out unless they're damn sure they're proud of it.
  8. I personally love their latest albums (ATYCLB, Bomb, NLOTH) and would be very excited if they released something similar to that regard (refer to my fan of the month interview for more details about that).

    But in any case, it'll still be an exciting time for the band. And if they release something in mid 2013, I won't be disappointed since I predicted a 2013 album release a long time ago.
  9. I have been reading all these posts and im thinking our expectations of the band need to change. Then I thought, maybe Bono's do. There lie's the real problem.
    We want new material, you cant sell the same old thing to the crowd forever. Im feeling numb!
  10. Originally posted by Hole:[..]

    Sadly an excellent analysis.


    What really disturbs me, though, is that live they are more and more beginning to turn into those dinosaurs they never wanted to be. In a way I loved 360, but compared to, say Zoo TV, it was more great than good, more fat than feel, more impressive than inventional, more money than music. I don´t want the rest of their tours just becoming bigger, more money generating, record breaking in 105 different ways.
    But of course, the U2 I fell in love with in the mid 80´s doesn´t exist any longer - and hasn´t existed in decades. They are still great, though.


    I totally agree with you. I am also a fan from the mid 80's and that band doesn't exist any more. I think instead of it becoming bigger and more extravagant, why not smaller? Or do the arena gigs and smaller theaters instead of the big outdoor shows. I don't know. I didn't see 360 but as a returning fan I thought 360--they've come full circle. I would rather the band be about the music and not the money, the celebrity, the glitz and the hype. I still do believe they can give rock and roll the kick that it needs. Don't get me wrong, tho~if and when they tour I'm going but I know I can't expect another JT or ZooTV tour.
  11. If we're looking for tours in which the band was "all about the music," the ones to look at are Elevation and Vertigo, in my opinion the best arena tours from all regards. 360 toppled ZooTV and PopMart in nearly every aspect as well.

    So from a studio perspective, the general consensus (but not mine) is that the band was better off in the 80s and 90s than they were in the 2000s. From the perspective of their live performances, it's fairly obvious that with each progressive tour, the band has gotten better and better at commanding whatever stage they happen to be playing on.
  12. Originally posted by Penelope:[..]


    I totally agree with you. I am also a fan from the mid 80's and that band doesn't exist any more. I think instead of it becoming bigger and more extravagant, why not smaller? Or do the arena gigs and smaller theaters instead of the big outdoor shows. I don't know. I didn't see 360 but as a returning fan I thought 360--they've come full circle. I would rather the band be about the music and not the money, the celebrity, the glitz and the hype. I still do believe they can give rock and roll the kick that it needs. Don't get me wrong, tho~if and when they tour I'm going but I know I can't expect another JT or ZooTV tour.

    Sorry, but apart from the lack of a big spectacle what was the JT tour other than playing their hits? Nothing about it was inventive at all, it was them simply bashing out hit after hit as a culmination of the band they were in the 80's. It became even moreso with the Lovetown tour. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it was a bad show (wasn't even alive back then, but from bootlegs) in fact they were amazing, but in terms of expecting another JT tour, you're basically looking for the 360 tour without the stage. The 360 show wasn't solely intended to make millions of dollars. Obviously from a financial point of view that was a huge benefit, but I honestly believe the band started with the idea of wanting to play stadiums again with the idea of a 360 stage, and it just went crazy from there (check out From The Ground Up, it's all in there). I really don't think it has much to do with them musically, many long-time U2 fans have come out and said that the last tour was their best ever, even better than ZooTV. It all comes down to opinion, but the point is apart from ZooTV and it's creative show U2 has always played shows that were essentially greatest hits sets accompanied by a number of songs from their latest album. U2 WANT to be the biggest and the best, they always have wanted to. ZooTV didn't start out the way most of us remember it, the first leg was really scaled down and it was a trial run. You think they would've run along with it for as long as they had if it wasn't a success? Doubt it. It was the first tour where they could really do whatever they wanted in terms of scale, and they went all out, same as 360. The theme came with experimentation, and that has to do with more than just the show. It had to do with their new musical style, and perhaps more importantly their public image.

    Basically what I'm trying to say is while the band who is willing to take risks for the sake of art may not be any longer, their ability as musicians has only increased and the 360 show was great. I didn't spot one U2 fan in the audience at any of the shows I went to who was scratching their chin and saying "Yeah but ZooTV had a theme and was experimental, this is just a show with a big stage". No, every single person at those shows enjoyed the hell out of them, it was a great show for what it was.

    On THAT note, the band have said in the not too distant past that they foresee the next tour being indoors and being more intimate, both in interviews and in the new book (which I just finished - awesome), So as far as what U2 might do next, I don't want another JT show or a ZooTV show, or even a 360 show for that matter. I want something different, and I honestly think we're in for that. I think if you really read between the lines of what U2 have been saying lately, it really seems like they know they need to change. "We need a great reason to put another U2 record out", and all of things they had going into Glastonbury about being a relevant act and staying relevant in the recording industry. Whether or not it's something they can actually achieve is a different discussion, whether or not they try is what's up for speculation. I really hope they do. I think they had it in their hands with NLOTH but chickened out and reverted back to the Bomb sound a bit. But the songs that ARE experimental aren't really energetic and catchy, they're just interesting pieces that are good to listen to with headphones, but not at a rock concert.

    What they need to do is come up with a new sound that has enough of the U2 stamp on it but enough of something new and interesting, AND enough of what gets people excited at a U2 show. I think if they release another Beautiful Day or Vertigo it would fall completely flat. I think they need to release a song/album that will have a teenagers going "Who is this? U2? no way.."
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Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.