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Offline Stadler

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #385 on: October 26, 2021, 11:32:08 AM »
I've seen clips of the Slane concert, and it always looks really good, but I have never bought it. I guess I figure I have all I need as far as U2 goes in regards to concerts/DVDs since I have the Rattle and Hum film and then live DVDs from the Zoo TV, PopMart and 360 tours.

There's some good stuff on there; the intro to Out Of Control is creative and cool.  His outro to Sunday Bloody Sunday is heavy, and I'm convinced he was crying when he said it.  I don't know; its a different vibe from some of the other live stuff I've seen by them, including other shows from that tour (including the two I saw myself).

Offline KevShmev

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #386 on: October 26, 2021, 07:31:36 PM »
I've seen clips of the Slane concert, and it always looks really good, but I have never bought it. I guess I figure I have all I need as far as U2 goes in regards to concerts/DVDs since I have the Rattle and Hum film and then live DVDs from the Zoo TV, PopMart and 360 tours.

There's some good stuff on there; the intro to Out Of Control is creative and cool.  His outro to Sunday Bloody Sunday is heavy, and I'm convinced he was crying when he said it.  I don't know; its a different vibe from some of the other live stuff I've seen by them, including other shows from that tour (including the two I saw myself).

I have seen the performance of Kite from that show (I thought that was the one he dedicated to his dad?), which was tremendous.  I guess, for me, I so rarely bust out the live DVDs I own already that buying more seems almost unnecessary, especially since I have four already by U2.  :biggrin: :biggrin:

Offline Kotowboy

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #387 on: October 27, 2021, 03:22:01 AM »
I've probably said this before but - It's frustrating how live - their songs are nearly always better.

Like - live the songs sound like rock songs and have so much life to them. And in the studio - the drums sound like a drum machine

and the rhythm guitar is panned hard left and down in the mix ???

I can't remember which album it was but Bono said " we've finally made a rock album "

and it was the same blanket over the speakers production again.

Offline DTA

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #388 on: October 27, 2021, 05:27:55 AM »
They really neuter Larry's drum sound in the studio. There's no boom or depth to it, which does a disservice to the songs that attempt to be rock songs.

Offline Stadler

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #389 on: October 27, 2021, 06:51:41 AM »
I've seen clips of the Slane concert, and it always looks really good, but I have never bought it. I guess I figure I have all I need as far as U2 goes in regards to concerts/DVDs since I have the Rattle and Hum film and then live DVDs from the Zoo TV, PopMart and 360 tours.

There's some good stuff on there; the intro to Out Of Control is creative and cool.  His outro to Sunday Bloody Sunday is heavy, and I'm convinced he was crying when he said it.  I don't know; its a different vibe from some of the other live stuff I've seen by them, including other shows from that tour (including the two I saw myself).

I have seen the performance of Kite from that show (I thought that was the one he dedicated to his dad?), which was tremendous.  I guess, for me, I so rarely bust out the live DVDs I own already that buying more seems almost unnecessary, especially since I have four already by U2.  :biggrin: :biggrin:


I wait until I can get them on Discogs for $2.00 along with other things I buy.  I'm not sure I'd run out SPECIFICALLY to get them, either.

And yes, you're right; it was Kite ("This is for Bob Hewson").   Didn't he die like a week before that show?

Offline DTA

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #390 on: October 27, 2021, 08:52:37 AM »
I've seen clips of the Slane concert, and it always looks really good, but I have never bought it. I guess I figure I have all I need as far as U2 goes in regards to concerts/DVDs since I have the Rattle and Hum film and then live DVDs from the Zoo TV, PopMart and 360 tours.

There's some good stuff on there; the intro to Out Of Control is creative and cool.  His outro to Sunday Bloody Sunday is heavy, and I'm convinced he was crying when he said it.  I don't know; its a different vibe from some of the other live stuff I've seen by them, including other shows from that tour (including the two I saw myself).

I have seen the performance of Kite from that show (I thought that was the one he dedicated to his dad?), which was tremendous.  I guess, for me, I so rarely bust out the live DVDs I own already that buying more seems almost unnecessary, especially since I have four already by U2.  :biggrin: :biggrin:


I wait until I can get them on Discogs for $2.00 along with other things I buy.  I'm not sure I'd run out SPECIFICALLY to get them, either.

And yes, you're right; it was Kite ("This is for Bob Hewson").   Didn't he die like a week before that show?

Not sure when he actually passed away, but I think he was buried the day before that concert. Brings the emotional impact of that song to a whole new level. I love Kite but the last verse never really made any sense to me.

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #391 on: October 27, 2021, 09:06:15 AM »
Re that last line in Kite, I always thought of it as kind of like Bono writing his own obituary, perhaps in a little tongue in cheek sort of way. Wikipedia has this explanation though, which makes sense:

The song concludes with an odd coda in reference to the new media. In concert the coda is sometimes repeated, with almost all instrumentation dropped out; Bono later said the coda was intended to pinpoint the narrative by "just setting it in time, saying that's the moment, and then leaving it behind you."[1]

Just kind of signing off the song by giving you a historical frame of reference. Could just as well have been “Bono, 2000.”

Offline KevShmev

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #392 on: October 27, 2021, 06:21:31 PM »
They really neuter Larry's drum sound in the studio. There's no boom or depth to it, which does a disservice to the songs that attempt to be rock songs.

While I agree that many of their songs become better and more lively in the live environment, I never mind the mixing of the drums on their albums.  No, they aren't loud and in your face a lot of the time, but U2 has rarely been a rock band that feels the need to melt your face off with the rock.  Their music is always about mood and atmospheric and feeling, and loud drums are not needed in order for them to achieve that vibe.

Offline Stadler

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #393 on: October 28, 2021, 06:11:06 AM »
I'm probably just repeating variations on a theme now, but one thing that struck me watching the videos from the 2000s as opposed to the vid's from the '80s and '90s is the demeanor and presence of Bono.    He seems more comfortable, and the less earnest Bono seems a bit more sincere.  There's a bit of humility in the song intros, and a LOT of introspection.   I've never been a fan of heartstring activism, and so the "my God's not short of cash, MISTER!" stuff never really resonated much with me.  The subtlety of the later stuff to me is actually MORE believable. 

Offline KevShmev

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #394 on: October 28, 2021, 06:41:01 PM »
I'm probably just repeating variations on a theme now, but one thing that struck me watching the videos from the 2000s as opposed to the vid's from the '80s and '90s is the demeanor and presence of Bono.    He seems more comfortable, and the less earnest Bono seems a bit more sincere.  There's a bit of humility in the song intros, and a LOT of introspection.   I've never been a fan of heartstring activism, and so the "my God's not short of cash, MISTER!" stuff never really resonated much with me.  The subtlety of the later stuff to me is actually MORE believable.

I think Bono by his own admission in his younger days was of the "do and say anything to get the fans going" mentality at shows, while he has obviously mellowed out quite a bit over the years.  I am sure he meant everything he said back in the day in regards to politics and whatever, but he seems to do it with more candor now.  The 2021 Bono probably would not yell out, "fuck the revolution!" during Sunday Bloody Sunday.  :lol :lol

Offline Kotowboy

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #395 on: November 01, 2021, 05:14:07 PM »
I hope we get a new U2 album next year. 5 years 7 months is the longest gap between albums to date ( No Songs On The Horizon - Songs Of Innocence )...

It'll be their 15th and the whole band is now 60. It would be great if it was a career best.

I read once that someone asked them why they always take so long with albums

I think Larry or Bono said that "We only take our time on arrangements and the actual tracking is really quick"

I can believe the 2nd part. Their albums aren't always sonically the best.

Offline DTA

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #396 on: November 01, 2021, 05:47:38 PM »
I think they have too many cooks in the kitchen and listen to outsiders way too much. I'm pretty sure they've shelved multiple albums and started the entire process over because whatever idiot was producing at the time got in their ear. The original concept of NLOTH sounded really interesting and unique but they ditched the more experimental ideas and shoehorned in stuff like Get On Your Boots, I'll Go Crazy, and Stand Up Comedy.

Just get in a room, jam, and write songs and I'm sure it will be pretty damn good.

Offline Kotowboy

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #397 on: November 01, 2021, 06:01:02 PM »
And just for once make a rock and roll album with a rock and roll producer.

Not an ambient guy who notoriously hates rock ( Eno ) or producers who use nicknames (DangerMouse?)

I'd love them to make an out and out rock and roll album with a producer like Brendan O Brien or Garth Richardson.

People who always make great sounding albums.


Basically they need to make an album that sounds like how they sounded live on the Elevation DVD
« Last Edit: November 01, 2021, 06:07:16 PM by Kotowboy »

Offline Stadler

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #398 on: November 02, 2021, 06:39:56 AM »
Speaking of which....   if anyone wants to know what I imagine it's like to be a "rock star!", there's a moment on the Elevation DVD that I imagine speaks to that.  In the bonus materials, there are two songs - Elevation and Until The End Of The World - that are filmed from a camera on Bono's glasses, so you see what he sees, and the audio is his "in ear" mix (more or less).   At one point in "UTEOTW", he's out on the catwalk and singing the lines "In my dream I was drowning my sorrows... but my sorrows, they learned to swim. Surrounding me, going down on me..." and as he sang them he was leaning down, looking into the front row and touching hands.  At the last four words, he looked right at this attractive woman who was looking directly back at him, not an ounce of uncertainty in her face, and who mouthed the words "going down on you" right back at him.  I don't know what he felt - he's probably used to it by now - but it was an oddly sexy and sexual moment even through the camera.  It seemed electric - though Bono then finished the line and looked up and ran to The Edge, who was meeting him on the catwalk, so who knows what he was taking from that moment - and I'm not sure how I'd feel if I experienced that kind of electricity 125 times a year, every year, at my job.  :)

Offline Kotowboy

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #399 on: November 02, 2021, 06:51:28 AM »
I buy so much from charity shops that I forget what I own but i'm fairly sure I have that DVD and I feel like watching it actually.

Vertigo live DVD didn't have QUITE the same vibe to it and despite 360 at Rose Bowl being a massive show - the camera angles

rarely pulled back and let you see the whole thing. It was a lot of close ups.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #400 on: November 02, 2021, 06:08:59 PM »
Speaking of which....   if anyone wants to know what I imagine it's like to be a "rock star!", there's a moment on the Elevation DVD that I imagine speaks to that.  In the bonus materials, there are two songs - Elevation and Until The End Of The World - that are filmed from a camera on Bono's glasses, so you see what he sees, and the audio is his "in ear" mix (more or less).   At one point in "UTEOTW", he's out on the catwalk and singing the lines "In my dream I was drowning my sorrows... but my sorrows, they learned to swim. Surrounding me, going down on me..." and as he sang them he was leaning down, looking into the front row and touching hands.  At the last four words, he looked right at this attractive woman who was looking directly back at him, not an ounce of uncertainty in her face, and who mouthed the words "going down on you" right back at him.  I don't know what he felt - he's probably used to it by now - but it was an oddly sexy and sexual moment even through the camera.  It seemed electric - though Bono then finished the line and looked up and ran to The Edge, who was meeting him on the catwalk, so who knows what he was taking from that moment - and I'm not sure how I'd feel if I experienced that kind of electricity 125 times a year, every year, at my job.  :)

 :hat :hat

Offline Kotowboy

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #401 on: November 08, 2021, 05:12:33 AM »
RE : Slane Castle DVD...

 :yeahright How the hell is it called " U2 Go Home " and not " A Sort of Homecoming "  ;D ;D


Offline Dave_Manchester

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #402 on: February 17, 2023, 06:51:15 AM »
Rick Beato unimpressed with the news of the upcoming Larry-less Vegas residency.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=gCzG84ptYXo

I don't think it's that big of a deal to be honest, but I guess it does contribute to the metaphysical "when does a band stop being THE band" debate. U2 are such a 'democracy' that I guess I can see his point. They wouldn't dare advertise a "U2" gig without Bono, so why do it without Larry Mullen? Still, it's their business (literally) and I presume Mullen gave his consent.

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #403 on: February 17, 2023, 06:53:45 AM »
I've heard Mullen gave his blessing so with that I say it's good and I don't really see the big deal. As bands get older there will be members who don't want to tour or may want to retire. If they are cool with letting the rest of the group carry on why not. It's up to the audience to decide if they want to spend the money on the show or not.

If I were to guess a lot of people going to those shows won't even notice he is gone. Not all U2 members are equal.

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #404 on: February 17, 2023, 08:19:27 AM »
Yeah, but if you follow U2, Larry is not a hired hand. He's by most accounts the backbone of the band and I would daresay, U2 doesn't take a shit if Larry's not on board.  He founded the band, and he's driven a lot of the behind the scenes stuff to this day. 

I'm not sure how I feel about this myself, since the dynamic of U2 is a big part of what I like about them. Larry is sort of the guy that keeps Edge from falling over (pun intended) and keeps Bono sort of tethered. 

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #405 on: February 17, 2023, 08:38:30 AM »
Yea I get that, he has been there since day 1 and is integral to the band but as far as I can tell they aren't releasing new music as a new band. Should the other three guys toss U2 out and just go by the moniker Bono and The Boys? U2 (the band name) in itself has massive appeal so there is a lot of motivation to keep the branding.

This reminds me of the Alice in Chains show I saw last year and I heard more than a few folks there going "well actually this isn't really Alice in Chains." True, it's not the original lineup but if you feel strongly about it don't come to the show.

Offline Nel

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #406 on: February 17, 2023, 03:16:56 PM »
Dang, we didn't even mention that they're putting out a third "Songs Of ___" album next month, Songs of Surrender" except this time it's a bunch of re-recorded hits and instead of any of their kids being on the album cover it's photos of them when they were younger.

Multiple versions of the album. 16-track standard cd, 20-track deluxe cd, but the "main" version of them album is four discs, each named after a band member, 40 tracks total.

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Offline DTA

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #407 on: February 18, 2023, 07:47:04 AM »
They basically disown the Pop album and rarely include songs from it, but then this new album cover is all images of them from the Pop era. U2 and their creative decisions are endlessly confusing

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #408 on: February 18, 2023, 08:08:55 AM »
Dang, we didn't even mention that they're putting out a third "Songs Of ___" album next month, Songs of Surrender" except this time it's a bunch of re-recorded hits and instead of any of their kids being on the album cover it's photos of them when they were younger.

Multiple versions of the album. 16-track standard cd, 20-track deluxe cd, but the "main" version of them album is four discs, each named after a band member, 40 tracks total.



Is this release like an F'U to the music industry so they can get royalties from their songs? Or what is the purpose of this release? Any significant changes to the original songs?

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #409 on: February 18, 2023, 08:58:33 AM »
Is this release like an F'U to the music industry so they can get royalties from their songs? Or what is the purpose of this release? Any significant changes to the original songs?

My understanding from what little I've heard from it is that they all seem to be slower and more acoustic.
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #410 on: February 18, 2023, 12:34:30 PM »
I saw about the Songs of Surrender thing a few weeks and rolled my eyes. I heard the new version of Pride, which was a travesty, and have no intention of checking out the rest.  Hard to believe that they put so much time and dedication into re-imagining so many old songs, but I guess they wanted to release something.  To anyone who enjoys it, however, more power to them.

I don't have a problem with them doing the Vegas thing without Larry.  If the others want to play and he doesn't and he gave their blessing, I don't see the issue.  I doubt they'd be doing this without him if he voiced displeasure about it.  Remember that they did a show without Adam on the Zoo TV tour.  With all due respect to Adam and Larry, they aren't nearly as valuable as Bono and Edge.  If Bono or Edge cannot do a show or tour, they'd be extremely difficult to replace. The others, not so much.


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Re: U2 thread - v. Free Music!!!
« Reply #411 on: May 01, 2023, 05:20:20 AM »
Bono and The Edge: Tiny Desk Concert

I always enjoy watching how big artists and band handle an intimate concert. Even if the artist finds it intimidating to play small gigs they often times results in a vulnerable and magical moments.
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Re: U2 thread
« Reply #412 on: September 27, 2023, 05:37:45 PM »

Offline XeRocks81

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Re: U2 thread
« Reply #413 on: October 01, 2023, 04:13:44 PM »
yeah I’ve been watching quite a few these U2 inside the sphere videos and it looks absolutely incredible

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Re: U2 thread
« Reply #414 on: October 01, 2023, 06:42:15 PM »
yeah I’ve been watching quite a few these U2 inside the sphere videos and it looks absolutely incredible

Agreed, I would love to see a show in there.

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Re: U2 thread
« Reply #415 on: October 01, 2023, 07:18:01 PM »
I even looked at ticket prices.. Not cheap as expected.

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Re: U2 thread
« Reply #416 on: October 01, 2023, 07:19:13 PM »
Been watching some of these videos (which are astonishing frankly) and it’s gotten me on a U2 kick tonight actually. So kind of cool to see this thread pop up.

But also the new single/Blondie re-write is bad.

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Re: U2 thread
« Reply #417 on: October 01, 2023, 07:40:02 PM »
that one shot of the sun rising in the desert behind them as Where The Streets Have No Name is starting... it really looks like they're playing outside it's crazy