1. If they do release this thing in late '09 or early '10, as I hope they will, I am going to wonder endlessly whether or not, if you take the best 3 or 4 songs off Ascent and the worst 3 or 4 songs off NLOTH, if U2 didn't miss making their masterpiece. Tripoli, Every Breaking Wave, for example. Are those songs going to be the ones that could have made NLOTH better than the Joshua Tree? Just thinking. As it stands now, I think NLOTH ends on a cliffhanger, as does the movie Linear. The whole album feels like the first part of a double album. I say call Songs of Ascent NLOTH Vol. 2. Listen to me Bono. I am your musical conscience.

    I also obsess over whether or not the Clash's Sandinista would have been better than London Calling if it was a single album. I could always use my mental energies on something that would help the world in some way.
  2. Originally posted by BonoIsTheMessiah:If they do release this thing in late '09 or early '10, as I hope they will, I am going to wonder endlessly whether or not, if you take the best 3 or 4 songs off Ascent and the worst 3 or 4 songs off NLOTH, if U2 didn't miss making their masterpiece. Tripoli, Every Breaking Wave, for example. Are those songs going to be the ones that could have made NLOTH better than the Joshua Tree? Just thinking. As it stands now, I think NLOTH ends on a cliffhanger, as does the movie Linear. The whole album feels like the first part of a double album. I say call Songs of Ascent NLOTH Vol. 2. Listen to me Bono. I am your musical conscience.

    I also obsess over whether or not the Clash's Sandinista would have been better than London Calling if it was a single album. I could always use my mental energies on something that would help the world in some way.


    Maybe those songs didn't fit with the other songs
    And cliffhanger...I think Breathe & Cedars Of Lebanon really show the end of an era/album
    Songs Of Ascent will be quite different than NLOTH I suppose, which is the reason for them to release it.
    If they released an album after HTDAAB, containing Are You Gonna Wait Forever?, Smile, Mercy etc. everyone would say it's the same as HTDAAB. I think there will be quite a difference
    But we'll see, another NLOTH would mean another masterpiece
  3. Better than Pop, Zooropa, The Joshua Tree, The Unforgettable Fire, Boy, October, Achtung Baby, Passengers and Rattle and Hum combined, then I'll believe it.
  4. I am still not buying it. Between b-sides and a new song or two for the inevitable best of 2000-10, those songs are going to be released. I would love to be proven wrong, however.
  5. Originally posted by BonoIsTheMessiah:If they do release this thing in late '09 or early '10, as I hope they will, I am going to wonder endlessly whether or not, if you take the best 3 or 4 songs off Ascent and the worst 3 or 4 songs off NLOTH, if U2 didn't miss making their masterpiece.


    Exactly how I feel too. I still think NLOTH was rushed out, despite all the delays. It feels like an album put out there to meet public and record company demand after such a long wait rather than being put out because it was finished. The best four or five tracks on the next album, whenever it turns up, will be the tracks which could have been on NLOTH instead of the four or five less inspired, lightweight or clunky tracks we're stuck with. I'm hoping the band will pick up some really great ideas on the road and give us the "new direction" album we were promised but not given with NLOTH within the next two years.
  6. Alright, finally we can shut these rumours down.. Here's what Paul McGuinnes says:

    Is there a possibility there'll be a second U2 album later this year?

    I can't see how, but we did that once before on the Zoo TV tour – the Zooropa album came out. But I remember the sheer effort of flying back to Dublin every night of the European tour to work on that album and then fly out again a day or so later – it nearly killed the band. They should remember that period if they think about doing it again. Nothing would surprise me, but it's certainly not something I would have expected.

    U2 fans sometimes tend to believe in fairy tales, but unfortunately there won't be a new album this year
  7. Originally posted by Remy:Alright, finally we can shut these rumours down.. Here's what Paul McGuinnes says:

    [..]
    U2 fans sometimes tend to believe in fairy tales, but unfortunately there won't be a new album this year


    I see your quote, but i raise you the fact that they seem to have scheduled for an unorthodox amount of time in between leg two of the tour and leg three, according to what i've heard. I think if Songs of Ascent comes to be it will be in this time between the end of October and when they hit the US again for leg three. Not in between shows
  8. Originally posted by Remy:Alright, finally we can shut these rumours down.. Here's what Paul McGuinnes says:

    [..]
    U2 fans sometimes tend to believe in fairy tales, but unfortunately there won't be a new album this year


    Thank god

    It probably wouldn't make
    - the last legs of the tour any better
    - Songs of Ascent any better
    - the bandmembers any better
    - Bono's voice any better
  9. I rather have them not to, focuse on one thing at a time
    For now this tour coming up
    So im glad with the news
  10. Originally posted by Doc32:[..]

    I see your quote, but i raise you the fact that they seem to have scheduled for an unorthodox amount of time in between leg two of the tour and leg three, according to what i've heard. I think if Songs of Ascent comes to be it will be in this time between the end of October and when they hit the US again for leg three. Not in between shows


    I'm with you on this! (sorry Remy..)
    - the rumors are stronger then ever this year
    - there is enough time between the second and the 3rd leg
    - most of the songs are more or less finished
    - Bono said it was going to happen himself.. (ok, maybe not my strongest argument.. )

    I think the give-away will be the number of real b-sides on the next few singles: if they mainly consist of 'remixes', then Songs of Ascent WILL happen. (I hope it will). But as soon as we see 'Every Breaking Wave' as a b-side, then everything is lost and it's not going to happen.

    So......... any news on the b-sides of Magnificent yet?


  11. 1. Magnificent
    2. Magnificent (Will.i.am remix)
    3. Pride (Live from Lincoln Memorial)