bold take but I do agree they're still crazy for leaving Hold On To Love and Sweetest Thing off it tho
Actually think he looks pretty good here, especially amidst all the health issues of recent years! Seems like they are gearing up for stuff but it’s still a way out. The 40 re-arranged songs to go with the book, the rock album, songs of ascent (lol), I hope they get cooking on it soon, it’s been too long!
Gets me excited for more U Talking U2 To Me when Adam Scott isn’t shooting “Severance” and Scott Aukerman isn’t busy raising a child.
man the things I'd do for the original Songs of Ascent they recorded alongside NLOTH. I know it will never be released, just makes me want it more
The number 1 thing that would help this band right now would be to stop fussing over things. Empty the vaults, put out lost records, make a “loud rock album” quickly. I’m in the minority that loves Songs of Experience, but it looks weaker in retrospect just given the fact that it’s now had to bear half a decade and counting of ensuing inactivity.
they've been overcooking stuff since Atomic Bomb honestly. love em to bits, but any band who records a song like "Mercy", takes it off their album and never releases it apart from an absolutely gutted live version a decade on is their own worst enemy they've always a needed a Lanois/Eno type producer with a strong voice to push back on their insane choices as much as cultivate their good ones really
A music critic pod I listen to (shoutout to Indiecast) recently referred to The 1975 as "zoomer U2" ("millenial U2" is reserved for Coldplay) and I can definitely agree with the sentiments above about hopes for their next approach. After the release of Notes on a Conditional Form, and the hit and miss nature of it, all I wanted was back to basic record from them, and was very happy to get that this year. Who knows where they go now? Would love another ATYCLB/Bomb from U2 next. I think the Songs records match that aesthetic in sound, but the scope and rollout was nutty for both.
I posted this somewhere else but U2 got spoiled by the mainstream accepting their experiments (save for Pop) as well as warmly embracing them well into their 40's when they did their back to basics records (ATYCLB/Bomb) so it makes sense that they were still super thirsty for relevance on their recent albums. Seems like they've begun to accept their status as a heritage act which might suit them better artistically.
No. Its songs from across their career re-recorded (supposedly to sound quite different) as a pandemic project to tie in with Bono’s book. Rumor is there’s an album of new stuff coming soon too
Huge bummer. I'll definitely listen to this but I don't think it's in the cards to buy something like this from them right now.
honestly I'll take this over nothing, could be pretty cool actually Songs of Ascent ain't never comin out lol
I didn't think it was gonna be a whole new album, but something about the naming scheme "Songs of ______ " made me think maybe it would be some of the castoffs that didn't make any of those albums. Songs like "Mercy" for example.
lol fair enough, the fact that they wrote The New Album and crossed it out is just teasing us lmao it's absolutely wild to me they never released "Mercy", truly baffling
40 songs is a lot! Interested to hear but wish it was Songs of Ascent instead. At least we'll get a new UTU2TM to go with it haha.