bram

I'm not usually in this position, so I hope it gives me some added protection from flaming, but I'm not really seeing this as great news. Mixed at best.

First, implicit in that blurb is that U2 is chickening out of releasing SOA, perhaps in ANY form. Considering what we've heard described (and in the Kingdom clip), this is significant blow. Some or all of the band members are unsure about it, and I think that--at best--we'll get the less experimental/different/adventurous stuff from this (i.e. Every Breaking Wave).

Second, if they're starting from scratch, I have SERIOUS doubts about their ability to get an album written, recorded, and released in one year, let alone 6 months.

I truly hate to be a naysayer, but even with U2 excited about writing and recording, this is not looking good for getting a new album soon. I wish they had the confidence to release SOA more or less as it is (or with some moderate level of finishing work), radio be damned.

mikal

fuck you bram!

no, in a way, i agree with you. i would have felt a lot better if the article had said that the band was in the studio right now putting the final touches on SOA.

i still think that they're going to use about 75% of the NLOTH sessions and add about 25% new stuff. i think some of the new stuff might even be mixed into some of the songs that already exist.....so i wouldn't be surprised if some of the songwriting Bono and Edge are doing right now is actually adding new parts to exixting songs.

Aygo

Unfortunately, I feel the same way Bram does.
What I'm afraid is if that these new 25% of new songs are the usual thing that U2 has been doing on the last albums...

I mean... on HTDAAB, those songs could not be the best ever and not enough, but it was pretty cohesive. Then, U2 brought "A Man And A Woman" (that oesn't have anything to do with the rest of the songs) or "Miracle Drug" (we know it was one of the last songs to be written then) that is not a very interesting song and both scream for radio hits.
On NLOTH we have similar issue. Fez brought landscapes and tunes like "Unknown Caller", "Moment Of Surrender", the title track and middle-eastern sounds as we all could see/ear in the early videos/clips. By the end of the sessions, U2 turned it down and decided to bring Lillywhite again, make some of the songs more "friendly/accessible" and broke cohesion again with stuff like "Stand Up Comedy" (why wasn't it kept as an eastern/alternative sound?).

I believe that what was leftover from NLOTH (due to "Kingdom", "Winter" the descriptions of EBW and the entire SOA) might be less acessible, less radio-friendly and even more atmospheric than NLOTH already was. Due to NLOTH's radio fiasco, I'm afraid that U2's gonna hide SOA (or most of it) in the pocket and bring something that not even the general public is not interested anymore.

Irvine511

so you're saying they should record in Toronto?

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mikal

unfortunately, none of us really know what's going through their heads. i do still believe that the band intends to get an album out for the beginning of the 2010 tour. if they didn't, they would be spending time with their families, sipping on martini's.

The Disciple

Which is a F*CKING SHAME.

elevated_u2_fan

YES!

I would laugh if the stuff left over from the NLOTH sessions is all top-40 Boots/SUC/Crazy sounding material and the stuff they are working on last minute is all the experimental material.

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subnet

i think bono and co. are on the beaches of Nice slamming back champagne. they will realize this is a much better life than being on the road or in a stuffy studio.

subnet

hey, do any of you think they may speak to Bob Rock if they would be in Vancouver?

popacrobat

overall, i agree with you. I don't know that I see anything to suggest that they're starting from scratch, though.

zoocarolina

I think past history (especially the last 2 albums) have us a little jaded when they start righting again bc in the past that gave us a year or multi-year delays, but why in the world would Larry let Bono say what the title of the next album would be and single earlier this year! They have to be just tweaking SOA to get a few more tunes in there or rework a couple, we'll see. but that would be a very disappointing early 2010 if that were the case. They're not going to tour for awhile again after 2010 and next tour should involve the Rubin sessions and a new era for the boys!

zoocarolina

Agreed and actually Winter was on Linear so it's already been released and won't be on SOA.

bram

Yeah, that would definitely be a great thing. Maybe I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning . And I think there's more than one way to read it--the 'negative' way would be to read it as saying that there's SOA (which is one project), and then there's new material being written that's completely separate. Like you said, I hope they're just combining them.

Tim Wallach

I hate to be less than positive too, but I agree with Bram. I was the eternal optimist, but their "process" has burned me one too many times.

If they're even remotely unsure about their material, they won't release it. And if they think they can write, tweak and record new material that they're confident in and release it within 6 months, I believe they are sadly mistaken based on track record.

They're the ultimate second-guessers.

Having said that, the pressure of having shows in June and knowing they need a "new" show may just weigh heavily enough that we get something.

On a sidenote, for my money, it'll be an absolute shame if Winter isn't on an official audio release.

mikal

and this, imo, is the difference maker....the "X" factor this time around.

even though many of us "diehard" love the new songs, the band feels that the majority of the crowd didn't feel a connection to them. i really think they want to tour with new songs next year.