U2

Started by MacGuffin, September 15, 2004, 07:30:01 AM

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MacGuffin

U2 album delayed by inspiration

Scratch the new U2 album off your Christmas list. Singer Bono says the album, which had been anticipated for release this fall, will now arrive sometime in 2009. But he says there's a good reason for the delay.

"We've hit a rich songwriting vein and we don't want to stop," Bono says on the band's website, U2.com. "It gets a bit dark down here but looks like we've found diamonds not coal. I thought a while back we might have the album wrapped by now, but why come up above ground now if there's more priceless stuff to be found?"

The group has been at work since last year in recording studios in Dublin, Morocco and France, working on the follow-up to 2005's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," which won the Grammy for album of the year. They've piled up 50 or 60 tracks and are still at it, according to the website.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Stefen

I have a good feeling about the new album. Supposedly they had it wrapped and everyone was expecting it, but if they're still going to work on it and record new stuff, then it means they're taking it seriously.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

Gold Trumpet

Quote from: Stefen on September 07, 2008, 11:20:05 PM
I have a good feeling about the new album. Supposedly they had it wrapped and everyone was expecting it, but if they're still going to work on it and record new stuff, then it means they're taking it seriously.

I do too.

The band cannot be trusted for what they say about albums, but producer Daniel Laois (who worked with them on Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby and actually is reserved about judgements) thinks this is their best work yet.

I may believe that sonically, but my biggest worry is how the quality of the lyrics will be. Since Achtung Baby the lyrics have gotten less complex and more pop muddle. It was also around that time that Bono no longer was in charge of most of the lyric writing and the band started to write all lyrics by committee. In every sense of the word they are a band, but that also isn't a great thing sometimes. Bono is by far the most literary of the bunch.

MacGuffin

New U2 Album Has Title, No Rick Rubin Tracks
Source: Rolling Stone

Of the 50 to 60 songs U2 penned for their new album, none of the tracks the band wrote while under the guidance of producer Rick Rubin will make the final track list, according to the Edge. "We actually laid all that stuff to one side. Really out of deference to Rick and that set of songs we just said, 'OK, that's that,' and we drew a line," said the guitarist. "So none of the Rick material went into this project. Everything has been written subsequently. He gave us great advice as much as anything." The band ended up working with the The Joshua Tree production team of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. As for the rumored album title No Line on the Horizon, Edge says "It's an image, Bono tells me. It's like when you're moving forward, but you're not exactly sure what you're heading towards — that moment where the sea and the sky blend into one. It's an image of infinity, I suppose — a kind of Zen image." U2's new album is due out early 2009.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

U2 to release new album in March

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Irish rockers U2 have named their new album "No Line On The Horizon," and will release it worldwide in early March, their label said on Thursday.

The quartet's 12th studio album was originally expected to be released by the end of this year, but the band announced in September that it would keep writing more tunes. Recording took place in Morocco, Dublin, New York and London.

Interscope Records will release "No Line On The Horizon" internationally on March 2, and a day later in North America.

It marks the follow-up to "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb," which was released in late 2004 and went on to sell 9 million copies worldwide, according to Interscope. It also garnered U2 their second album of the year Grammy, following 1987's "The Joshua Tree."

The new album was produced by long-time collaborators Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, with additional production by Steve Lillywhite. Tunes recorded in 2006 with producer Rick Rubin, the man behind Johnny Cash's comeback, have been jettisoned.

Tour plans have not been announced. The "Vertigo" world tour for the last album ran from March 2005 to December 2006. U2 is partnered on touring and merchandise with concert promoter Live Nation Inc, which said earlier on Thursday that it bought back the band's stock in the company for a guaranteed $25 million -- $19 million more than the market price. Interscope is a unit of Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MusicForANewSociety

Poor "Associates copy band".
Die Bono.

MacGuffin

U2 Break Down 'No Line on the Horizon'
Key tracks from the band's eclectic new album

In early December, Rolling Stone traveled to London to visit U2 in the studio as Bono and Co. worked on the upcoming No Line on the Horizon. The journey was as spellbinding and energizing as you might imagine, and you'll be able to read all about it when our new issue hits newsstands on Wednesday, January 7th. To tide you over, here's a track-by-track preview of 10 choice songs:

"Get On Your Boots"
The likely first single, this blazing, fuzzed-out rocker picks up where "Vertigo" left off. "It started just with me playing and Larry drumming," the Edge recalls. "And we took it from there."

"Stand Up Comedy"
Another hard rock tune, powered by an unexpectedly slinky groove and a riff that lands between the Beatles' "Come Together" and Led Zep's "Heartbreaker." Edge recently hung out with Jimmy Page and Jack White for the upcoming documentary It Might Get Loud, and their penchant for blues-based rock rubbed off: "I was just fascinated with seeing how Jimmy played those riffs so simply, and with Jack as well," he says.

"Crazy Tonight"
"It's kind of like this album's 'Beautiful Day' — it has that kind of joy to it," Bono says. With the refrain "I know I'll go crazy/If I don't go crazy tonight," it's the band's most unabashed pop tune since "Sweetest Thing."

"Unknown Caller"
This midtempo track could have fit on All That You Can't Leave Behind. "The idea is that the narrator is in an altered state, and his phone starts talking to him," says the Edge.

"Tripoli"
This strikingly experimental song lurches between disparate styles, including near-operatic choral music, Zooropa-style electronics, and churning arena rock.

"Cedars of Lebanon"
"On this album, you can feel what is going on in the world at the window, scratching at the windowpane," says Bono, who sings this atmospheric ballad from the point of view of a war correspondent.

"Magnificent"
"Only love can leave such a mark," Bono roars on what sounds like an instant U2 anthem. Will.i.am has already done what Bono calls "the most extraordinary" remix of the tune.

"Moment of Surrender"
This seven-minute-long track is one of the album's most ambitious, merging a Joshua Tree-style gospel feel with a hypnotically loping bass line and a syncopated beat.

"Every Breaking Wave"
A swelling soul-pop song, with bright synth sounds influenced by OMD and, Bono says, "early electronica." "You don't hear indie bands doing blue-eyed soul [like this]," he adds.

"No Line on the Horizon"
The title track's relentless groove began as a group improvisation. "It's very raw and very to the point," says the Edge. "It's like rock & roll 2009."

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U2 Plot Five "No Line on the Horizon" Editions

U2 have revealed the five ways their new album No Line on the Horizon will be available on March 3rd. Besides compact disc and double vinyl, Horizon will also be offered as a $36 digipak featuring a 36-page booklet, a poster and a downloadable film directed by Anton Corbijn "featuring the music of U2." $50 will get you the same package, except this time its housed in a "soft cover magazine-style book" with a 60-page booklet. Then there's the Box Set version, which is pretty much the magazine version with a hardcover book, a second poster and a $96 price tag, according to Amazon. Hopefully the differences between the three deluxe packages will become more clear as we move closer to release date, as an additional $46 for hardcover may be a bit much with a recession going on. The track list has still not been announced, but "Crazy Tonight," featuring Will.i.am, is expected to make the final cut.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Listen to the new single, Get On Your Boots:

http://goyb.u2.com/
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Kal

I'm very disappointed with that song... hope the album doesn't suck

Gold Trumpet

It sounds better on headphones, but yea, it isn't much of an accomplishment. The better part is that it has more layers and variety than Vertigo, but it is still an average song for them. I hope the album doesn't suck too, but if Achtung Baby was introduced with Even Better than the Real Thing, I would have a lot of worries for that album as well. The hope is that this song isn't an indicator of the rest of the album.

MacGuffin

U2 gets week long gig on David Letterman show
 
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Irish supergroup U2 have found what they are looking for to promote their new album in the United States -- a five-night gig on the "Late Show with David Letterman."

For the first week of March, U2 will perform every night on the late night chat show, CBS said on Thursday. It's the first time a musical act has been booked for an entire week on the show.

U2 starts the weeklong gig Monday, March 2, and ends it the following Friday. During the week -- on March 3 -- the band and its label, Interscope Records, will release the album "No Line on the Horizon."

The band kicked off the Grammy Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles with a performance of their single "Get on Your Boots" and sang for hundreds of thousands of people at pre-inauguration concert for President Barack Obama in Washington DC in January.

Lead by the sunglass-wearing singer Bono, U2 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

The band recorded its latest album in Morocco, Dublin, New York and London. Their last album, the 2004 "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb," sold more than 9 million copies worldwide.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Pas

Quote from: kal on January 19, 2009, 09:22:48 PM
I'm very disappointed with that song... hope the album doesn't suck

nothing special indeed... but it has some qualities. Definitely more Brian Eno than Dan Lanois. I wish there was a solo and less ''yeah yeah yeahs''. It's strange in it's arena-rock-traits yet weirdly dreamy vibe.

My faith in this album is definitely lowered though

Gold Trumpet

Well, I got the album. I'm listening to it now and first impression is that it's really good. Easily beats out their last two albums and sounds like U2 trying something new. Some of the melodies remind me of Unforgettable Fire, but they experimenting with a lot new sounds. Probably their most consistently hard rock album too.

The best part is that this will take a few listens to fully comprehend. hat's the best thing I can say about a U2 album because all of their albums have been pretty easy to gage. There are a lot layers in some songs, but the Get on Your Boots sounds better in the context of the album

If anyone wants me to send it to them then leave your email and I'll forward it to you.

MacGuffin

Upon first listen, I'm somewhat disappointed. If they penned 50 to 60 songs, these feel more like the outtakes. Aside from a few tracks, the overall tone of the album feels so maudlin; so monotone. The experimental sounds sound more over-produced than making strides like Achtung Baby did.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Bono: Even More New U2 Music Coming Soon
Source: E! Online

Turns out there's even more on U2's horizon.

Still in the thralls of a virtually unprecedented publicity blitz to hype yesterday's release of No Line on the Horizon, the Irish rockers have announced they are already planning to drop another album of new material later this year.

The sister work is titled Songs of Ascent and is described as having a mellower vibe.

"We're making a kind of heartbreaker, a meditative, reflective piece of work, but not indulgent," Bono says in a new Rolling Stone interview. "It will have a clear mood, like [Miles Davis' masterpiece] Kind of Blue. Or [John Coltrane's seminal] A Love Supreme would be a point of reference, for the space it occupies in people's lives, which is to say, with that album, I almost take my shoes off to listen to it."

While no official release date has been set, Bono says that he, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. already know the track they plan to issue as the disc's first single, the anthemic "Every Breaking Wave, " which ended up on the cutting-room floor during Horizon's sessions.

The band has a track record of cranking out follow-up material soon after major releases: Rattle and Hum came out right after The Joshua Tree, and Zooropa was a quickie sequel to Achtung, Baby.

Additionally, U2's singer and chief songwriter discusses the operatic tunes he penned with the Edge for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the musical hitting Broadway next year from acclaimed director Julie Taymor and starring Across the Universe's Jim Sturgess as Peter Parker. Bono says he's hoping to pitch Clayton and Mullen the idea of releasing the music as a U2 album in the spirit of classic rock operas.

"If we do, it'll be a monster, 'cause it's the most accessible music we've probably ever written, " he says. "It could be our Tommy. We could do it with guest stars and everything." But Bono appears to have an uphill battle, with Mullen expressing his reluctance in the interview.

U2 is in the midst of a five-night stand on CBS' Late Show With David Letterman. To mark the residency, yesterday, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg temporarily renamed 53rd Street and Broadway, site of Letterman's HQ at the Ed Sullivan Theater, U2 Way.

The band isn't going away anytime soon. Aside from playing Good Morning America, the Grammys and the U.K. Brit Awards in recent weeks, U2 has also lined up a rare club gig in Boston on March 11 and plans to launch a worldwide stadium tour in July.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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