[direwolf74]

So the SOE touring cycle is almost done with 4 shows in Dublin this week, and then the final show in Berlin on Nov. 13th. Judging by recent setlists, the European shows have been much more interesting than the North American leg. They've dropped songs like American Soul, Love is All We Have Left, and Love is Bigger, and then added in classics like Zoo Station, The Fly, Stay, and The Unforgettable Fire. Obviously this was another hugely successful tour for the band, and I assume they'll take another long break after this.

So the question for my fellow U2 fans is: Where do you want to see the band go next and how should they go about it?

While the band has continually raised the bar for large scale touring in terms of technology, etc.. I personally wouldn't mind seeing them scale it back on their next tour, if there is one. Instead of stadiums or arenas, how about multiple nights in smaller venues similar to their Apollo Theater show earlier this year, which kicked ass: (Download here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://mega.nz/#!NstFALQD!GcjiVBvQCBAMn1LmVWR0fz7EbXYh0Gt9lKZe4z3M4OM">https://mega.nz/#!NstFALQD!GcjiVBvQCBAM ... KZe4z3M4OM</a><!-- m -->)

Sure, tickets would probably be impossible to get, but it would be cool to see them just rock out on a simplified stage without all the extra bells and whistles. It would also free up the setlist to feature a little more variety, as the show wouldn't be nearly as choreographed as the big arena shows.

I liked the last two albums, but I think it's time for them to scale back the way they record in the studio as well. There's some excellent material on both SOI and SOE, but some of it suffers from overly excessive/glossy production. And with all those producers, there are just too many cooks in the kitchen so to speak. Lord knows they're at a point in their career now where they could easily write a batch of songs and record an album quickly and live-off-the-floor, without over-cooking or over-thinking it. This would probably be difficult for a guy like the Edge, who is known to be obsessive about the recording & mixing process, but I honestly think it would breathe new life into the process and would energize the band in a fresh new way. They need to get into a studio with somebody like Adam Kasper or Rick Rubin and just bash it out for once.

Thoughts?

[potsie]

While the band has continually raised the bar for large scale touring in terms of technology, etc.. I personally wouldn't mind seeing them scale it back on their next tour, if there is one. Instead of stadiums or arenas, how about multiple nights in smaller venues similar to their Apollo Theater show earlier this year, which kicked ass.

Sure, tickets would probably be impossible to get, but it would be cool to see them just rock out on a simplified stage without all the extra bells and whistles. It would also free up the setlist to feature a little more variety, as the show wouldn't be nearly as choreographed as the big arena shows.

I would love to see this as well but I think it would be difficult to pull off. With small venues demand goes through the roof and tickets end up being bought and sold in secondary markets for huge profit. Scalpers benefit but the band doesn't. If you could somehow get the tickets into the hands of the true fans, it would be great.

I liked the last two albums, but I think it's time for them to scale back the way they record in the studio as well. There's some excellent material on both SOI and SOE, but some of it suffers from overly excessive/glossy production. And with all those producers, there are just too many cooks in the kitchen so to speak. Lord knows they're at a point in their career now where they could easily write a batch of songs and record an album quickly and live-off-the-floor, without over-cooking or over-thinking it. This would probably be difficult for a guy like the Edge, who is known to be obsessive about the recording & mixing process, but I honestly think it would breathe new life into the process and would energize the band in a fresh new way. They need to get into a studio with somebody like Adam Kasper or Rick Rubin and just bash it out for once.

Songs of Experience, from a commercial standpoint, was not a success. My hope is that this is the death knell for Bono's chase of mainstream trendiness, which he seems to define by radio play or Spotify spins. He needs to shut out the outside music world, forget about being relevant to millenials by getting the latest hot rapper or pop star to appear on the record and ignore producers of the moment like Ryan Tedder or David Guetta. I want U2 to get back to being a ROCK band and not a pop-rock Coldplay-like band. If I could pick one song that I'd like to define the sound of the next album it would be "Crumbs from Your Table". My feeling is that it is going to be a number of years before we hear from U2 again, which would be a shame.

[direwolf74]

I want U2 to get back to being a ROCK band and not a pop-rock Coldplay-like band. If I could pick one song that I'd like to define the sound of the next album it would be "Crumbs from Your Table". My feeling is that it is going to be a number of years before we hear from U2 again, which would be a shame.

Crumbs is such a killer song. Too bad it never made it into the setlist on the Vertigo tour, as it would have been a barn burner.

I agree, that's the U2 I like the best. I didn't get a chance to see them on the latest tour, but I went down a youtube rabbit hole recently and watched a bunch of recent live clips from the European leg, and I was struck by how awesome they still sound in concert. Bono can't sing falsetto anymore unfortunately, but the dude is almost 60, so I'm not expecting him to. But man, when they get out on the b-stage and the four of them just play without all the video accompaniment, the real rock band comes out and that's where they really shine in my opinion. THAT'S what I want to hear more of the next time they make a record.

[potsie]

I want U2 to get back to being a ROCK band and not a pop-rock Coldplay-like band. If I could pick one song that I'd like to define the sound of the next album it would be "Crumbs from Your Table". My feeling is that it is going to be a number of years before we hear from U2 again, which would be a shame.

Crumbs is such a killer song. Too bad it never made it into the setlist on the Vertigo tour, as it would have been a barn burner.

I agree, that's the U2 I like the best. I didn't get a chance to see them on the latest tour, but I went down a youtube rabbit hole recently and watched a bunch of recent live clips from the European leg, and I was struck by how awesome they still sound in concert. Bono can't sing falsetto anymore unfortunately, but the dude is almost 60, so I'm not expecting him to. But man, when they get out on the b-stage and the four of them just play without all the video accompaniment, the real rock band comes out and that's where they really shine in my opinion. THAT'S what I want to hear more of the next time they make a record.

They are sitting on a number of albums in various states of completion. Songs of Ascent, the David Guetta and RedOne work, the Rick Rubin material (only Window in the Skies surfaced from those sessions), etc. There was even an interview with Bono around the release time of No Line where he stated that they had written 50-60 songs for that album. I wonder if we'll ever see any of this material and whether it can be re-worked to their liking or whether it is shelved indefinitely. It seems as if they probably have 4-5 albums worth of songs still sitting on a hard drive somewhere. I'm not sure that any of this material, given the pedigree of the producers (save maybe the Rick Rubin stuff), is what you and I would be looking for in an "ideal" U2 album, but I'd take any of the above as opposed to having to wait another 4-5 years for an album. They could even drop a quick album without having to worry about touring to support it if they felt they needed time off from the road. In fact I hope touring and record releases are not necessarily tied together in the coming years for the band. It's such a big machine to crank up that if the two always go hand-in-hand then it seems like we'd get less of both.