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U2 Band • Page 5

Discussion in 'Music Forum' started by AJ Earhart, Mar 31, 2016.

  1. Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    Just grabbed tix for Detroit!
     
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  2. y2jayjk

    Trusted Prestigious

    getting mine shortly. Do people prefer GA or getting a seat?
     
  3. Aregala

    Blistering Guitar Lead

    last time I saw them in MN I did GA and it was transcendent

    It was also pouring rain the entire time which added to the experience
     
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  4. y2jayjk

    Trusted Prestigious

    Good to know. I might aim for the floor then!
     
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  5. y2jayjk

    Trusted Prestigious

    i think i missed out; im still not seeing anything. im sad
     
  6. Aregala

    Blistering Guitar Lead

    ): mine took forever to load but I managed to snag some tix

    sorry fam
     
  7. RoKKeR

    The Fly

    Keep trying! When I was buying tickets earlier this year I kept having nothing show up for GA, and then a few minutes later after a refresh some GAs popped up. Also - even if you miss out today, they usually do "ticket drops" leading up to the show, so you should be able to find something.

    They added the rumored New Orleans date, still waiting on Atlanta... come on!
     
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  8. y2jayjk

    Trusted Prestigious

    I thought i missed out! i went back to sleep and just started refreshing the GA on my mobile app and some came up! yay!
     
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  9. Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    I did GA this time. I had seats for the 360 tour. I generally prefer to be on the floor. It's a more visceral, involved experience--even if you don't end up that close.
     
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  10. sawhney[rusted]2

    I'll write you into all of my songs Supporter

    Saw them at Roo, such a fantastic show
     
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  11. RoKKeR

    The Fly

     
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  12. Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    Really hope that's true. If this gets bumped to 2018, that would be kind of ridiculous.
     
  13. RoKKeR

    The Fly

    It's entirely possible that they get cold feet again, (this is U2 afterall) but that fan account has a pretty good track record when it comes to rumors like this and clearly has some connections close to the band. The timeline certainly makes sense given the way the Joshua Tree tour is set to play out for the rest of the year, but again... this is U2. lol

    We'll see but I'm still feeling good about this year.
     
  14. Blaine Ryan Jun 19, 2017
    (Last edited: Jun 19, 2017)
    Blaine Ryan

    .

    I think I'd like Songs of Innocence more if it wasn't for all the extravagant Danger Mouse bells and whistles and super slick production. That record just smacks of desperation for the kind of mass acceptance they had in the early 2000's, which they'll likely never have again.

    The best thing they could do right now is record an album all analog, with plenty of room noise and increased emphasis on the introspective songwriting of Innocence.

    They won't, because they're far too preoccupied with their own "relevancy," but it's a dream.
     
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  15. Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    Bono's admitted that he regrets how overproduced Songs of Innocence is, so hopefully the next record is an improvement on that account. I read somewhere that Lillywhite made them re-record everything after he came in, so who knows.
     
  16. Blaine Ryan

    .

    Yeah, and don't get me wrong, Innocence isn't a bad record. I just think they need to focus more on making the best albums they can, and less on making albums everyone likes.

    It's like they think in order for the band to continue they need to keep being this huge cultural phenomenon, and it's not true.
     
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  17. Brother Beck

    Trusted Supporter

    I realize this is reeeeeally late, but for me I had to find room on the album for “Lucifer’s Hands” and “The Crystal Ballroom”. It feels to me like they are having fun making music again with those songs and I really enjoy them. The production itself doesn't really bother me on Songs of Innocence - although a more stripped down approach to recording certainly would have fit better with the whole theme of the album - but with a lot of U2’s recent output it feels to me like they are trying so hard to be the biggest band on the planet still and stay so supremely relevant that they forget to just have fun and do what they do.

    I realize that some of this idea is just how U2 makes music. I remember reading an article years ago about when they tried recording with Rick Rubin and ultimately ended up scrapping the sessions except for one song I believe. He criticized them for not bringing any actual songs to the recording sessions. I know when you are as wealthy as they are you can afford to record an album in dozens of sessions in recording studios all over the world over three years, but I feel like they could make something incredible by just writing a batch of songs, setting up some (probably the best money can buy) recording equipment in a room and recording the songs. It sounds counter-productive but I feel like they would have a better chance at achieving what they seem to be going for by not trying so hard in the wrong ways.

    It seems funny to me to have Rick Rubin be the guy who said that to them, because he is someone lately whose production seems to get completely in the way of the songs. The worst example to me is the most recent Avett Brothers album where he pretty much took the songs the band had recorded and remixed them with sound engineers and those were the versions that made the album. I feel like those songs would have been infinitely superior if the really talented people in that band has played on the recordings that made the album. I know this guy is everywhere lately and its almost a cliche at this point, but I feel like Dave Cobb producing that album would have been a dream team.

    I got off topic big time, so in closing I will just add that I like the alternate version of “The Troubles” much, much, much more even though you do lose a sweet Edge guitar solo.
     
  18. Blaine Ryan

    .

    The issue really stretches back to All That You Can't Leave Behind, which--while a huge success--was a total creative dead end for them.

    I like a lot of the stuff they've done since, but there's a pretty distinct shift there from a band following an organic creative path to one that's more oriented towards selling records.
     
  19. Blaine Ryan Jun 25, 2017
    (Last edited: Jun 25, 2017)
    Blaine Ryan

    .

    I probably like No Line the most of any of their newer records, flawed as it is, because there's at least a flicker of adventure in there.

    That said, they still put stuff like "I'll Go Crazy" and Diet "Vertigo" ("Get On Your Boots") on it, so.
     
  20. iCarly Rae Jepsen

    run away with me Platinum

    If 30 + years in without any real significant hiatus they're still making any good music I'm impressed
     
  21. Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    The thing with them is that, as far as I know, they've never really written songs in a super conventional manner. They work by going into the studio and jamming and hashing things out together, which I think has helped to keep all four guys feeling so vital to the sound for so long. And frankly, I just don't think Rick Rubin and U2 were ever going to be a match, period. But yes, they definitely have a problem where they try to chase relevance in the pop world even though they don't need it. I mean, shit, they're currently more relevant than they've been in years, and that's because of an album that's 30 years old. I wish they would just stop overthinking things and make records faster.

    I think they needed All That You Can't Leave Behind. While I like Pop, I think they kind of lost themselves on that album cycle. They needed a back to basics record to re-center, and it ended up coming at a really key time, for how that album came to be associated with 9/11 and all that. I just wish that, after that record, they'd gotten back to pushing boundaries again. Instead, they made what might be their safest record.

    No Line is three-quarters of a great record. They stumble in the middle, but there was a lot of promise on there. I wish they'd gone in that kind of production direction for Songs of Innocence.
     
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  22. Blaine Ryan

    .

    The opening run of No Line alone puts it above the other ones for me.

    ATYCLB is a good pop album, but feels totally separate from their progression up to that point. I get what you're saying, though. I'd probably appreciate it more if it hadn't essentially set the course for their next (almost) two decades of work.
     
  23. Blaine Ryan

    .

    One of my favorite post-millennial U2 songs:

     
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  24. Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    The opening four songs and the closing four songs are all great. Especially the opening trio. I guess some people don't like ATYCLB beyond the first five songs, but I love everything on that record.

    For me, that record is sort of the natural start to a new era, the same way Achtung Baby was. It's just an era that has dragged on for probably too long. But I can't complain too much, because I really like all four post-millennial records. I don't think they've ever made a bad album, personally.
     
  25. Blaine Ryan Jun 25, 2017
    (Last edited: Jun 25, 2017)
    Blaine Ryan

    .

    "Moment of Surrender" is another one that's in the running for my favorite latter-day U2 song.

    Well, Achtung was a totally new thing. They made Joshua Tree and realized they'd taken the arena rock stuff as far as it could go--they weren't going to do it any better--so they said, "What's turning us on right now?" And did that. ATYCLB is pretty much a conscious retreat, without much organic growth in it. It's taking the familiar and making it more palatable to more people--which has basically been their MO in recent years. I wouldn't call it a natural evolution, although it is a good record.

    I'm totally with you on the last part, though. It might seem like I'm knocking the latter-day stuff pretty harshly but I really do like all of their albums to one degree or another.