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  1. Originally posted by colbourne25:[..]


    I think North Star is too good a track for them to waste and not release. Because honestly I think the band will be scraping the bottom of the barrel coming up with songs for what I believe will be their last album.

    I don't think it's right to be relating song writing to this proverbial "barrel". There is no limited barrel of songs that U2 or any band has at their disposal. U2 will write until they're satisfied with their work and career as a whole. If that means we get their worst album to date, then so be it. We could still get one of their best, though. Some may dispute that, but I think we can all agree that they're not in it for the money at this stage. They want to feel they've done all they can to fulfill their creativity.
  2. I think the fact that they feel "rushed" to release a new album might work in their favor, during NLOTH they kept taking their sweet time and that album ended up really compromised and edited to the point where it probably didn't have the feeling they were shooting for by the end. Hopefully a semi-soon release means they don't want to fuck around with the songs and just release them with that original "spirit" that was missing in so many of the NLOTH songs. IMO
  3. Originally posted by Genaro92U2:I think the fact that they feel "rushed" to release a new album might work in their favor, during NLOTH they kept taking their sweet time and that album ended up really compromised and edited to the point where it probably didn't have the feeling they were shooting for by the end. Hopefully a semi-soon release means they don't want to fuck around with the songs and just release them with that original "spirit" that was missing in so many of the NLOTH songs. IMO

    Yeah!
  4. Yeah! +1
  5. Originally posted by JuJuman:[..]

    Ouch, this is gloomy! But, alas, possibly true. Hopefully U2 will get to a David Bowie stage, and keep making music from time to time, even when they'll stop touring.


    Not gonna happen. I can't imagine a U2 that doesn't go on tour. When U2 loses the ability to perform on any stage of any sort, they will retire and stop producing music. That's how I feel.
  6. Originally posted by ahn1991:[..]


    Not gonna happen. I can't imagine a U2 that doesn't go on tour. When U2 loses the ability to perform on any stage of any sort, they will retire and stop producing music. That's how I feel.

    I'd love to hear music from U2 as long as it sounds good. As with most acts of their time, eventually the time comes when there'll be no more.

    A sad day that will be - a band that's pretty much been there for 10 years and more for me and pretty much THE ones for making me interested in rock and roll. As long as the great music keeps coming I'll be there. For touring, they might do what Meat Loaf is doing - going on one big last world tour but continue to record. Some of his finest music is coming in the last few albums, so it could be the same for U2.

    As for North Star, it's already sounding better. Re: last album - archive material is bound to happen. Who'd have thought we'd have ever heard songs from ATYCLB and HTDAAB like Levitate?

    I think the fact that they feel "rushed" to release a new album might work in their favor, during NLOTH they kept taking their sweet time and that album ended up really compromised and edited to the point where it probably didn't have the feeling they were shooting for by the end. Hopefully a semi-soon release means they don't want to fuck around with the songs and just release them with that original "spirit" that was missing in so many of the NLOTH songs. IMO


    Go analog, get rid of the keyboards and record an album in eight months, maximum. Four guys in a room just jamming - add some great jam sessions on the end of some songs and make it rock. Don't over-do it, just put it out and if people like it, great. If they don't, they don't. The music world just isn't into waiting anymore - which is why audio leaks and snippets are more so becoming a big thing.
  7. Eh, we had that "back to basics" approach already, I'd like to see U2 get experimental with sound again while keeping the songwriting at maximum, like Zooropa, Passengers or Pop. Like I said before though, not a similar sound, just a similar motivation.

    The last few songs we've had that were stripped down were songs like Boots, Blow Your House Down, Vertigo, etc. While they can be good, they also get tiring after a while.
  8. Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:Eh, we had that "back to basics" approach already, I'd like to see U2 get experimental with sound again while keeping the songwriting at maximum, like Zooropa, Passengers or Pop. Like I said before though, not a similar sound, just a similar motivation.

    The last few songs we've had that were stripped down were songs like Boots, Blow Your House Down, Vertigo, etc. While they can be good, they also get tiring after a while.

    Eh eh, agreed. I think the key will be to be inspired, even though I personally prefer a richer sound. Vertigo was fun, but Boots and Blow Your House Down, well, are not great songs - especially the latter.
  9. Less Boots and Vertigo and more No Line..., The Fly, Discoteque...
    I would love for them to come out of the blocks with an instant smash ala Beautiful Day - although doesn't have to be that type of sound. Just a catchy tune with an easy melody and profound lyrics that people easily relate to. That was the beauty about Beautiful Day.
  10. Do you think U2 could do that again though? Be that big again on the radio? Back in 2000 or 2001 it was all about Boy Bands and female pop stars, so a great rock song was a diamond in the rough. Nowadays U2 has to content with so many great alternative artists that are extremely popular in their own right.
  11. The trouble is not the competition. The trouble is with radio and the way they do rankings.

    99.9% of what people will generally consider to be the "Top 40" is garbage. All garbage. Also, 100% of what is generally considered to be the "Top 40" are ALL songs of the Pop genre. Coldplay, Muse, The Killers, and U2 are often overlooked by radio stations because they know that the only people listening to radio are teens and most teens have crappy musical tastes (no offense, but seriously).

    But perhaps the main issue is that since 2001, more specific radio stations have emerged. They figure that rather than play all genres of music, it's better to play music from all the same genre (or rather they play the same 10 songs over and over again). Given this new paradigm, the only way to really get onto a radio station is to produce something that sounds very similar to the other songs being played on the radio. This moves on to another small point in that most Top 40 songs sound exactly identical in terms of style and content. The radio industry as it is now does not promote innovation and ingenuity.

    I think U2 needs to forget about trying to be played on the radio because it's a fruitless ordeal that can sometimes leave artists stuck in the studio pumping out one mediocre track after another. I can guarantee that if I only listened to Top 40 stations, I would never hear any rock songs whatsoever. Forget the radio. It's honestly got no worth nowadays.

    U2 should strive for recognition within their own genre. That would be best rock track, etc. Album sales are another good benchmark for them, but I think their tour numbers will be the biggest indicator of their influence of all. Looking at all those numbers, there's no reason for the band to think that NLOTH or the 360 Tour failed in any sense of the word.
  12. Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:Do you think U2 could do that again though? Be that big again on the radio? Back in 2000 or 2001 it was all about Boy Bands and female pop stars, so a great rock song was a diamond in the rough. Nowadays U2 has to content with so many great alternative artists that are extremely popular in their own right.

    Yep - hard to predict whether they're still able to be n. 1. But, again, do we care whether David Bowie is n. 1? We (just!) want him to get out a great album. I'd say the same should apply to U2.
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