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  1. I hate to be honest sometimes, but U2 just doesn't get it when it comes to understanding the industry, and declining cd sales. Reading their lust for a hit single in Rolling Stone during the 2009 USA Leg of the 360 Tour, and calling No Line On The Horizon all but a huge failure sealed this opinion for me. Has anyone in U2 or Paul McGenius looked at the charts in the last 10 Years? Other than a few very minor exceptions, the few Albums being sold lately are marketed toward brain dead teanagers, and are by artists under the age of 30 at almost every turn.

    I hate to break it to U2, but a 50 something Rock Group can't possibly believe that they have top 10 singles ahead of them. They might write Top Ten worthy songs if this were say...1995 or before. As big as Beautiful Day and Vertigo were, does anybody really think that those songs really connected to anybody under 25? Sure, some very intelligent young fans get the picture, but the U2 fans I know under 25 know them by their recent new name....Coldplay.

    This sad turn of events has caused U2 to overlook a fine album. I'm not saying No Line was a masterwork or anything. What I am saying is that their overblown reaction to the low sales numbers is mind-numbing. They seem to blame the album itself rather than a huge change in how the market has evolved as a whole. They don't even seem to know which tracks to play live. They somehow take a fine song like Breathe out of the set list, quit playing The Unforgettable Fire, but hold on for dear life to their beloved I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Remix This Song Tonight. The sad thing here, is that the Crazy Remix sounds like Pop era music. Funny how they remix a song off of No Line to sound exactly like a song off of an album they continue to deny, like some bastard child. Maybe someone should tell U2 that the Crazy Remix single has not sold well, so they will put it to rest. Trust me, if they continue their mad ways, Zooropa will be out of the set list by my next show in June, while the Crazy Mix will live on....that damb Remix can't be stopped.

    I am scared how U2 tends to overreact to the media, and their feelings of U2 releases. Due to the supposed failure of Pop, U2 stopped moving forward with experimenting with their music, and played it safe with All The Things, and How to Dismantle a Disgruntled Bomb(Bad Joke intended). I loved the last 3 albums, but I'd be lying if I said there was anything groundbreaking on them. Had they included a few songs from The Million Dollar Hotel on ATYCLB, it would have at least been a little stronger without....(Wild Honey I'm looking at you kid)...

    I can remember with all the excitement about No Line on U2.com. I can remember how it was either Eno or Lanios calling "Moment of Surrender," "The Greatest Moment of my career." Wow, I thought. Not that MOS is a bad song, but somebody get Eno to a psychoanalyst quick. They played it safe again. The closest thing to being different was "Soon," which of course, was left off of the album. "Winter" also should have been on the album, perhaps with some new lyrics, as I found them to be a little lacking compared to the average U2 literary fare.

    The sad truth about No LIne was this: Very Good album, almost great, but maybe the worst of their fine career. I rank it among October, and Passengers as my least favorite. (Despite ranking it poorly among U2 albums, it is still a very good to great album) I am a die hard, who actually listens to all the albums, so you may not like my choices for their worst, but U2's worst is better than damb near anything else. Just because I don't hum Scarlet in my sleep doesn't mean I hate October. My final verdict on No Line was that they were still playing it safe. Sad that the pre-release propaganda coming from U2.com led us to believe that it was going to be Achtung Baby, War, and The Joshua Tree combined. Breathe, Magnificient, No Line, and Being Born(Hold the Fez Please) were my favorite songs. Bottom line...fine album, but no way in hell was it going to make an impact on the charts. Chart success is nearly impossible for anyone over 30, and it would take a miracle for a band pushing 50 at the time of release. Did anybody bother to let U2 in on this secret that the charts are monopolized by younger acts?

    The Future: What I am expecting from U2's next album may be a pipe dream. I am expecting 50% of it to be songs that play it safe...classic U2...songs like Boy Falls From The Sky, Every Breaking Wave, North Star, and maybe a new Studio recording of Mercy, although including it on the Wide EP probably killed that. God forbid that they put the Crazy Remix on the new album. Then again, they have put that on damb near everything else. I am hoping the other 50% will be anything goes...the U2 that took off with the trilogy of Achtung, Zooropa, and Pop. Not the same old thing of the last 3 albums.

    My advice: Who am I to give U2 advice? Well, I'm a very unsuccessful songwriter without a hit single, without much merit to give them any advice. I'll just say that I have a somewhat passable knowledge of the industry, and think that I have at least 40% common sense. My advice would be to meet us die hard fans both ways. Release the 70 best minutes of music you have on one Cd, and make that the album. If you really have tons of material, finish the rest of it, the Rick Rubin Stuff, the Club stuff, the Ambient stuff, etc...finish it all. Even if it takes a 3 Cd set, put everything that does not make the main album on a huge collection of leftovers with a decent price, say 3 cds for $29.99. This way, nobody can bitch about all the great songs they did not get to hear.

    Well, that's it. For the first time since joining this site, did I put forth any effort in a post. If anybody is still reading, I hope you can see my passion, and love for U2. If you only knew how much time I put into listening to, and studying their music. What is shocking, is that I put in nearly double the time with my favorite artist, Prince. The only comparisions I will reference in closing, is that Prince has made a mess of his career that makes it very difficult to understand his reasonings. For every dumb decision U2 makes, Prince makes 25 of them. To counter that, I love his music more, warts and all.
  2. Your passion for the band is massive, and for that I applaud you. We all just want whats best for the band, and for them to make truly great records. I, like you, am worried.
  3. mhmm
  4. I hear the passion and understand the inner frustration but you can't complain. Ultimately U2 have the final decision about what U2 does - whether they do new styles, just do the 'best of' or try to appeal to a younger audience.

    Their choices (both good and bad) have led them to the place where they are now - which is pretty amazing. Whatever is decided will always upset someone somewhere and while a big rant/letter like this is cleansing for our souls, it won't change the future.

    U2 don't like Pop - that's why they don't play it much. A tour/album that was supposed to be about making fun of consumerism turned into a joke on them when they booked a tour before the music was written. All members have lamented that the songs weren't quite ready on the CD version's and the first few shows were horrific. Who would blame a band for shying away from their biggest embarassment? This also lead U2 to the other subject that fans continue to blame them for - trying to make a song perfect. Again, they are only doing this to avoid the perceived mistakes of the past.

    I think with U2 and all things you love, you need to focus on the good things. As a U2 fan since 1998, living Brisbane I have seen them 3 times and am so grateful. I could complain that I will never see them in an arena show unless I travel overseas but I have seen them in my home city. I could complain that they didn't come here for the Elevation tour but they came here for Vertigo and 360. I could complain that they didnt play Stay, Stuck or many other songs but they did play Bad, Ultravoilet and IWF. I could complain that the setlist for all 3 concerts has been similar but hey at least I got tickets.

    You can want and expect as much as you like but will almost certainly never be satisfied. Even if your expectations are met for a concert or album what about the next one? Surrender your expectations and fall back in grace and you'll be surprised just how much more you appreciate and enjoy U2
  5. yo dawg i herd u like text so we put a text in yo text so you can read while u read...
  6. What I don't understand is that a 5 million item selling album from U2 is a big flop and a 6 million selling album by lady gaga is a fucking victory.
    I really don't like lady gaga and i love U2 but her album was the hitalbum two years ago - as far as I remember - and NLOTH was a failure (saleswise).
    This us U2world I think but I'll never really get that.
  7. Originally posted by Scott_McD:I hear the passion and understand the inner frustration but you can't complain. Ultimately U2 have the final decision about what U2 does -

    I respond: The entire piece I wrote was about U2 complaining about the sales of No Line.

    Their choices (both good and bad) have led them to the place where they are now - which is pretty amazing. Whatever is decided will always upset someone somewhere and while a big rant/letter like this is cleansing for our souls, it won't change the future.

    U2 don't like Pop - that's why they don't play it much.

    I respond: They loved Pop, until the sales figures came out, then it became the hangover they talked about in another Rolling Stone piece.

    You can want and expect as much as you like but will almost certainly never be satisfied. Even if your expectations are met for a concert or album what about the next one? Surrender your expectations and fall back in grace and you'll be surprised just how much more you appreciate and enjoy U2

    I respond: I love U2, and they have actually exceeded my expectations...I think some of what I put in here could be perceived as negative, and complaining, but it really is my response to their own complaints. For example, Bono talks about leaving the past on the Vertigo Tour, but both Pop and the 360 Tour had something big in this regard. They started out with a bang on the first leg, and by the time the tour was over, more and more, the tours became Greatest Hits outings.


  8. Maybe because Gaga had al lot of really big hits on it? And it was her debut album

    But I really like the last couple of albums! And alot of my friends who listen to hip-hop do like Magnificent and Moment Of Surrender. And I got a feelin' that Bono is aiming for that crowd.
  9. I personally think the whole marketing campaign for NLOTH was wrong.

    GOYB was never a lead single they wanted it to be Vertigo 2 but it was an unlistenable mess to the casual music buyer. Strange as it was being talked up for so long. Magnificent should have been the lead

    The NLOTH sleeve had no band image, the marketing men had to put a sticker on the case to remind people it was a U2 LP

    Taking over the BBC in the UK in a way backfired as people already sick of Bono just switched off.

    For us hardcore fans there were no extra B sides to tempt us into buying physical singles which has always got me hooked.

    Finally bands who disappear for four years inbetween tours run the risk of being forgotton whilst a new audience comes along. U2 got away with it up to 2002-2004 but but the 2006-2009 break seems to have caught up with them. They do need some new product out there soon, yes we know they are still busy on tour but to the majority they have been silent since end of 2009.
  10. Originally posted by bruno_handler:What I don't understand is that a 5 million item selling album from U2 is a big flop and a 6 million selling album by lady gaga is a fucking victory.
    I really don't like lady gaga and i love U2 but her album was the hitalbum two years ago - as far as I remember - and NLOTH was a failure (saleswise).
    This us U2world I think but I'll never really get that.


    If you think about it, No Line had Amazing sales figures considering that there is no airplay for it. Other than a brief 3 seconds of fame for Boots, I never heard another song from the album anywhere...except....and this blew me away, at a Wendy's fast food restaurant over the Muzak system...MOS.

    GaGa gets airplay everytime she blows her nose. U2 seem to forget that they are old, and airplay is a thing of the past. The sad thing about the USA now is, that radio is all owned by 3 or 4 huge corporations. The "Classic Rock" stations that support U2, have a blueprint for a new release: 1. Play the first single for 2-3 weeks no matter how good or bad it is. If it is good, maybe play it another day or two. If it is bad, the promo disc must be destroyed. Then as soon as airplay stops, go back to playing With Or Without You, Still Haven't, and One. New Year's Day is allowed all day long on Jan 1, then back to the same 3 songs over and over and over again.
  11. I feel like someone has way too much time on their hands, and that's saying something considering I'm obsessed with the band too! I for one love the Crazy Tonight remix and was really hoping they would have released that as a single. I too wih they would play more Pop as it is my 2nd or 3rd favorite album, but for whatever reason they don't. We can't control what they play, what they write or what they release. If you don't like it, don't buy it.
  12. Crazy Tonight remix does its job on the 360 tour,allowing Larry to walk the ramps with the band and bang away on that drum,my only disappointment is they don't occasionally play the original version,which was cool in Barcelona back in 2009.
    As for the times a changing,i was watching a show last year at a time when there was NO rock songs in the UK top 40 and they were asking if rock n roll was dying out,sometimes i think U2's career as a hit singles band is over,there are enough fans to get them in the charts but to do so they my have to be more mainstream songs,Magnificent as much as us hardcore fans love it was never gonna hit the heights.GOYB was and imo still is an awful U2 release.
    I actually thought the way they went in 2000 was spot on,they got it right,an amazing album,followed by a tour that seemed to have it all,some say they played it "safe",i think they played it perfectly.
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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.