As a fan, I don't want good albums from U2. I want great ones.
I think they want to make great albums, too -- masterpieces, works that can stand with the best the great bands of the past had to offer. But I also think this may become tougher the longer U2 stick it out.
I don't say this because I believe the standard assumption -- that a great rock band has a limited shelf life, that it can only be at its creative peak for a short time and then, if it does not implode, it must fade into irrelevance. Just because most bands don't last doesn't mean they can't last. Even so, I don't discount the negative impact the "live fast, die young" mentality has had on rock culture. "Old" bands like U2 have to fight harder as they go. That's why the marketing for All That You Can't Leave Behind was so aggressive. They showed up for promotional TV appearances -- on Total Request Live, on Farmclub -- that some would have considered beneath their dignity. They had to do them because "dignity" is an old-person word, and for a rock band, anything with the slightest scent of old-person about it is fatal.
Read the rest at @U2.
Posted by eshtine at April 30, 2003 06:15 AMAlways enjoy reading your stuff Angela, you're a great U2 fan. Chris Thomas is an interesting choice, but doesn't really tell us anything about what the record will sound like (as opposed to Eno/Lanois with their "atmospheres"). Ever since UF, I've been saying that Edge provides all the atmosphere you need without Eno/Lanois adding theirs in there too. But hey, I'll admit that most all of their best work has been Eno/Lanois produced, I'm not complaining. That said, I really loved War (Lillywhite), with the stripped down guitars and more "rock" mentality. I was hoping for Rick Reuben (sp?) to produce this time, had heard some rumours to that, but guess they were wrong. The 4 CDs he produced for Johnny Cash are all masterpieces, the best work in Cash's career.
My unsolicited advice for U2 would be: strip it down, record in the "loud" room that Lanois talks about, don't worry about it being perfect, more guitar-oriented, less synth. I believe Edge said "rock band in full flight"....that sounds good to me. And how about a few more real B-sides this time (like JT and R&H and AB) instead of all the so-so/crappy remixes? BTW, the David Holmes mix of Beautiful Day is a ROCKING instrumental (on Australian single)....remixes like that are like whole new songs, thanks U2!