The Lillywhite Comments

Originally posted by EyesWithPrideB3:

Originally posted by loftarasa:I don't think Lillywhite is a "good" producer anyway (at least in recent years)...I mean isn't he the reason why some songs sound TOO polished? To me it seems he always goes for the most possible mainstream sound, and that doesnt really fit U2 in a way.

Originally posted by yeah:The band's expectation was to set another milestone. That didn't happen. Failure.

Of course you can argue that the creative value is much more important than sales, reviews,... but obviously these factors are important to the band. So the "relative failure" is there from this point of view.
Can't see why Lillywhite shouldn't say so.

[..]

Got an example?

Originally posted by yeah:The band's expectation was to set another milestone. That didn't happen. Failure.

Of course you can argue that the creative value is much more important than sales, reviews,... but obviously these factors are important to the band. So the "relative failure" is there from this point of view.
Can't see why Lillywhite shouldn't say so.

[..]

Got an example?

Originally posted by loftarasa:[..]

Go Crazy. If you have a look at the credits the REALLY interesting songs on NLOTH all don't have Lillywhite in the producers credits. Also I think somewhere I once read he's responsible for the version of Cumbs we have on HTDAAB. The original version was a lot edgier. I also think his version of I Will Follow is "overproduced". Just my opinion tho! Nothing against Lillywhite!

Originally posted by yeah:[..]

I'd agree about the mentioned examples. But there are just as many "overproduced" or "mainstream" songs executed by other producers (Lanois, Eno, Thomas, Flood) and "interesting" sounds produced by Lillywhite (Fast Cars,...). Don't think one can generalize the whole thing... and I think I just have a problem with the "he's a bad producer anyway" reflex (I know you didn't say that).

LEGENDARY U2 producer Steve Lillywhite has said the band's latest album No Line on the Horizon did not achieve what it set out to achieve and its relative failure had affected them.

The album, released last year, sold a fraction of its predecessors and received mostly lukewarm reviews though it did get a five-star rating in Rolling Stone magazine. Lillywhite, who was its co-producer along with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, said No Line on the Horizon lacked a big song and the North African 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 U2," he said. "Of course it affects them. They are only human. They put their heart and soul into everything they do, but the sales were not what they expected because they did not have the one song that ignited peoples imaginations.

"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."