Calexico Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 they don't give up. Like a virulent case of malaria....or Tom Jones.....they just keep coming back. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 U2 Looks Toward New 'Horizon'U2December 18, 2008 02:52 PM ETJonathan Cohen, N.Y. U2's twelfth studio album, "No Line on the Horizon," will arrive March 3 from Interscope. A track list for the set, which was produced by Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Steve Lillywhite, has not been announced. Following sessions in Fez, Dublin and New York, "No Line on the Horizon" was originally expected to be released before the end of 2008, but U2 was not fully satisfied with the material and continued working. "I met with the guys in U2, and they say to me, 'You know what? This album needs two more songs, and it will be exactly what we have in mind.' I go there and I listen, and I agreed with them," Interscope-Geffen-A&M chairman Jimmy Iovine told Billboard last month. "It's a great record, but it deserves the time. Labels need to work with artists to help them achieve their best work, not to jam records out that are half-baked or three-quarters baked." "I'm always the one who underestimates how easy it is to simply 'put out the songs now.' If it was just up to me they'd be out already!," Bono told fans in September. "But early next year people will be able to start hearing what we've been doing. We want 2009 to be our year, so we're going to start making an impression very early on." Among the songs expected to appear on the album are the title track, "Moment of Surrender" and "Unknown Caller." One source who has heard several of the songs in their early forms described them to Billboard as "amazing and a little out there. I hope they don't change anything." "No Line on the Horizon" is the follow-up to 2004's "How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." U2 is expected to be back on the road in 2009, marking its first tour as part of a massive recent deal with Live Nation. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Now that we live in the future, we can look at that release date and think cool! new U2 in January! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Winston Legthigh Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 12 albums in 30 years?? They're like the anti-CCR. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Azzurri Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 http://media.u2.com/flash/highlights/FatherBrianEnoDrums.swf although you can just barely hear the song in the background, pretty cool drumming... i have a feeling it's going to be a very different and potentially great record, especially with Eno and Lanois' songwriting input. Edge confirmed that one song is over 7 and half minutes long. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 The video for that song is floating around YouTube. While I'm not a big fan of Christmas songs, I have to say it's nice to hear Bono sing something I haven't heard him sing before, and I like that the song wasn't overdone. I'm curious about this album--I have high hopes for it based on what I've read, but it could also be the album that makes me give up on U2 for good. All of my favorite artists except for Carla Bozulich are either in the studio or have announced releases for the coming months. 2009 is shaping up to be a good year for music Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 The video for that song is floating around YouTube. While I'm not a big fan of Christmas songs, I have to say it's nice to hear Bono sing something I haven't heard him sing before, and I like that the song wasn't overdone. Stop bogarting that YouTube link. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Sorry, I was going to post the link in my last post, but I got a phone call. It's here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Azzurri Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 The video for that song is floating around YouTube. While I'm not a big fan of Christmas songs, I have to say it's nice to hear Bono sing something I haven't heard him sing before, and I like that the song wasn't overdone. I'm curious about this album--I have high hopes for it based on what I've read, but it could also be the album that makes me give up on U2 for good. All of my favorite artists except for Carla Bozulich are either in the studio or have announced releases for the coming months. 2009 is shaping up to be a good year for music yeah, i've heard the Christmas song, but the link i posted is for a song off the new album. i like the minimalist style of guitar playing on the Christmas song. however, bono's vocals, at least in the beginning, could have been better. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 The Edge has that chiming, echoey, arpeggio note cluster, melodic guitar down! Why can't I get my guitar to sound like that! Thanks for sharing that video. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jcroach Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 March 3rd is the day after my birthday. Happy 34th to me! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 yeah, i've heard the Christmas song, but the link i posted is for a song off the new album. i like the minimalist style of guitar playing on the Christmas song. however, bono's vocals, at least in the beginning, could have been better. I actually like Bono's vocals early in the song. Sometimes he has a tendency to oversing because he has such a powerful voice, and I was glad to hear him hold back a little. I'm doing what I did for the last album--not listening to anything except official singles until I have the CD. I'm guessing there will be a single by the end of January, so that should be enough to hold me over. I haven't been watching any of the U2.com videos and don't plan to listen to the album if/when it leaks. I did that with Sky Blue Sky last year, too, listening to it the first time having only heard the road-tested versions of What Light, Walken, and Impossible Germany. I know that doesn't affect what's on the album, but it helps me not get tired of it as quickly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bigideas Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 via Billboard: High Five: U2 Unveils Album ConfigurationsU2 December 22, 2008 10:09 AM ET Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.U2's upcoming album, " No Line on the Horizon," will be available in five different incarnations, the glitziest of which carries a $96 list price on Amazon.com. The set is due March 2 internationally and the following day in North America. Beyond the standard CD and double vinyl packages, "Horizon" will be offered in three additional limited editions. The digi-pack version, which lists for $35.98, has the CD in a cardboard folded sleeve with a 36-page booklet, a fold-out poster and "a new film from Anton Corbijn featuring the music of U2," the latter of which is available as a download. The magazine version, for $49.98, finds the CD housed in "a special 60-page soft cover magazine-style book," and also includes the downloadable Corbijn film. Lastly, the box set version comes, naturally, in a box with a 60-page hardcover book, a second poster and the Corbijn film on DVD. Although the track list for "No Line on the Horizon" has yet to be announced, Q Magazine reports it will feature songs such as "Magnificent," "Stand Up," "Winter," "Breathe," "Every Breaking Wave" and "Crazy Tonight," the latter of which sports as-yet-unspecified contributions from the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 I think I'll opt for the free illegal download. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
redpillbox Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 From the 'Q' Exclusive: Q has had a world exclusive preview of the forthcoming new U2 album, provisionally titled No Line On The Horizon. Sessions for the long awaited album were completed at a feverish pace at Olympic Studios in West London throughout November. However, recording actually began in October 2006, with U2 teaming up once more with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois after first exploring the idea of working with Rick Rubin. Between them, Lanois and Eno worked on the key triptych of U2 records - The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. "We learned a lot from Rick," says Bono. "He's head over heels in love with the concept of the song. But our feeling was, you don't go to rock'n'roll just for the songs. We wanted songs that would take us into a different world. "And because Brian and Dan are experimental in their niches, the opportunity to bring some experimentation into the pop consciousness is so exciting to them. And to us." By the time U2 arrived at Olympic Studios, Eno was shepherding the album to a conclusion with various other producers being called in to mix specific tracks - long-time cohort Steve Lillywhite and Black Eyed Peas man Will.I.Am among them. As has become customary for U2 records, tracks were being re-worked - and in some cases completely overhauled - right up to the final deadline. Q initially heard previews of seven tracks at various stages of completion as the band were winding up. First impressions were that, while the two most recent U2 albums (2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind and 2004's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb) marked a return to basics, No Line On The Horizon is more in keeping with the spirit of 1991's Achtung Baby: which is to say, a bolder, more testing collection. The material itself runs a gamut from the classic U2-isms of Magnificent, which echoes The Unforgettable Fire's opening track A Sort Of Homecoming in its atmospheric sweep, to the straight up pop of Crazy Tonight (the track Will.I.Am was taking a pass at) and the swaggering Stand Up, wherein U2 get in touch with their, hitherto unheard, funky selves - albeit propelled by some coruscating Edge guitar work, a signature feature of a number of the tracks. The latter track is also home to the knowing Bono lyric, "Stand up to rock stars/Napoleon is in high heels/Be careful of small men with big ideas." Among other instantly striking tracks are Get Your Boots On, a heaving electro-rocker that may mark the destination point the band had been seeking on Pop; Winter, featuring a fine Bono lyric about a soldier in an unspecified war zone, surrounded by a deceptively simple rhythm track and an evocative string arrangement courtesy of Eno; and the stately Unknown Caller, which was recorded in Fez and opens with the sounds of birdsong taped by Eno during a Moroccan dawn. At Olympic, particular excitement was reserved for two tracks: Moment Of Surrender and Breathe. A strident seven-minute epic recorded in a single take, the first of these sounds like a Great U2 Moment in the spirit of One, while Eno suggests the latter (at the time still a work in progress) is potentially both the best song the band had written and that he had worked on. A week after the Olympic playback, Bono treated Q to a private audience of two further unfinished tracks - playing both on his car stereo at teeth-rattling volume whilst being piloted through London's rush-hour traffic. Two versions of the title track were extant: the first is another Unforgettable Fire-esque slow burner that builds to a euphoric coda, the second a punk-y Pixies/Buzzcocks homage that proceeds at a breathless pace. "We recorded the second version just last night," explained the singer whilst enthusiastically air drumming along to it. "I'm very excited by that one," Q begged to differ, casting a vote for the more layered earlier version. One other track, Every Breaking Wave, was beginning to take shape around an emotive Bono vocal and an appropriately grand swell of a climax. "We might be on to something special there," noted Bono. And within the U2 camp, this is the general consensus around the album as a whole. A clearly excited Eno told Q No Line On The Horizon could be the band's greatest album, a view also echoed by the Edge. "We've learnt a few things over the years," said the guitarist. "So I think (the album) could be a bringing-to-bear of all those eureka moments from the past." No Line On The Horizon is set for release on March 2. And you can read more about the album in Q magazine's world exclusive U2 cover feature from December 31. That lyric scares me a bit as it's typical Bono these days, talking about "rock stars" and "Big Ideas" but I like the fact that they appear, at least, to be pushing the envelope with this one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 I just made a post over on the U2 forum complaining about the pricing of the deluxe editions for the new album, and about half a dozen people pounced on me. Someone actually accused me of being a troll and trying to cause trouble. It was hilarious...and reminded me why I don't spend much time over there anymore. The more I've read about the album this week, the more I've started looking forward to it. I know about 90% of it is the usual hype and bullshit rhetoric any band makes about a new release, but part of me does really think it could be a new direction for U2. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Preferred B Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 I had some of the same thoughts when I saw that the most expensive deluxe edition is $96. I think it's unnecessary ... but then again, I'm not going to buy it, so ultimately I don't care that much. I'll probably spring for one of the "not quite so deluxe" editions. I, too, am excited about this album. I know it's always dangerous to put too much stock in one-sentence characterizations, but I'm particularly interested in "heaving electro-rocker" and "punk-y Pixies/Buzzcocks homage." And the Eno birdsong, although "stately" doesn't excite me much. We'll see, I suppose! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 I've had enough of U2 playing the biggest band in the world game, so if this record is more in sync with Zooropa and (gasp!) Passengers, I'll be right chuffed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scalzunfield Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 March 3rd is the day after my birthday. Happy 34th to me! March 3rd is the day after my birthday as well. Sadly, I'm thinking that sharing a birthday with Jon Bon Jovi is a bigger highlight than this album will be... I'm hoping for something, but with the exception of the first half of All That You Can't Leave Behind, U2 has been no more than a U2 impersonator IMO since Achtung. My hopes aren't high, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. As for the deluxe edition, they have a ton of huge fans out there and will dupe them into spending the hundred bucks for it. Welcome to the music industry where re-packaging and selling the same shit for tons of bucks rather than the $9.99 it SHOULD cost is the norm. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bigideas Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 It's not like the normal versions aren't available, too. The multiple packagings has seemed to become a norm after In Rainbows - not that people didn't do stuff like that before, it just seems more prevelant. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scribex6 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 I don't see why anyone would be upset over the multiple formats. I'm a huge U2 fan (I bought the deluxe edition of How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb when that came out and all the deluxe reissues of their early albums this year) but I see nothing in any of the extra formats that I feel I would be missing out on. A poster and a download? Come on! It's not like with Bob Dylan's Tell-Tale Signs where you had to pay $100 to get the third disc of the set. I'm fine with just getting the normal $10 album in this case. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
redpillbox Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Ok...now THIS has me psyched: (read the Larry comments about cutting down on the Bono-isms/if you get Larry saying good things, you know they have to be pretty excited, because he doesn't b.s.): Q Magazine Previews New U2 Record December 26, 2008 Editors Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Thanks for posting this. These are really sharp descriptions of the songs, rather than just the band members or Eno or Lanois talking about them. I'm expecting a single sometime in January, and from what Bono says about the tour, stadiums this summer. U2 is probably one of the few bands left I'd go see in a stadium. They're not my favorite band anymore, but I don't think I'll ever stop listening to them. They were my first favorite band, and I more or less grew up with them. I've fallen behind with the remasters and the DVDs and all that, and I highly doubt I'll buy anything but the basic, no-frills version of the new album, but it's still nothing short of magic to be in the same space with 20,000 or more other people jumping up and down to "Where the Streets Have No Name." Hopefully I can track down Q magazine at Borders. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
redpillbox Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 http://www.atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=5164 "So could he sum up the album in three words for the fans who have yet to get the pleasure? 'It's very long,' he said with a laugh. 'My favourite song is a song called 'Moment of Surrender' and the first track is 150 BPM, the fastest song we've ever recorded,' he said..." Nice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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