U2 Bomb

[Kenley Neufeld]

What are your thoughts on the new U2 release? I have only heard the single, which sounds like rock-n-roll to me.

Peace,
Kenley

[chunnamark]

Here's my response to a message posted last week on the old school site:

At 06:37 AM 11/15/2004, MEGEARN@aol.com wrote:
Wow, that sums up my gut-reaction to How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb almost exactly. It sounds like they just threw the whole thing together at the last minute... in all fairness, I did feel similarly about ATYCLB, and I ended up liking that album (but not loving it). I also hoped that the Lanois/Eno influence would shine through a bit more, but apparantly they weren't as involved as in the past. The album is like a copy of a copy of that signature Lanois sound; it just isn't the same as the original. On that note, I think other musicians, Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Mark Howard, have effectively adopted that Lanois sound and made it their own by morphing their own musical identities into the music. U2 just can't seem to figure out how to do that without Lanois/eno doing it for them...

By the way, thanks to the Chicago radio station that played "How to Dismantle..." in its entirety about seven times in a row while I got lost trying to get downtown...


In a message dated 11/14/04 9:50:27 PM, acadie-post@neuhouse.com writes:


Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 15:25:59 -0800 (PST)
From: "Paul Viotti, Jr." <markov1986@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: pjviotti@cats.ucsc.edu
Subject: Lanois and U2

I've heard each and every track + bsides on the new u2
record, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, and I'm quite
disappointed.  Whatever involvement Lanois had, it
doesn't really 'shine' through the terse, trite mess
that I think the new album is.  I like certain tracks:
Miracle Drug (Enoesque), One Step Closer to Knowing
(the most influenced by Lanois), and Original of the
Species (a nice 70s feel to some extent).  But
juxtaposed against the subtleties of a Lanois record,
the new u2 is amateur and simplistic, which
illustrates just how pivotal the Lanois/Eno
combination has been in the past to u2's sound.  And I
thought that the band might be advancing sonically
given the nuanced terrain explored w/ Lanois in the
Million $ Hotel...  My hope is that the songs played
live will be better.  (these are just my initial
thoughts--maybe the record will grow on me).

[Wanda]

Wow. I'm not a musician, so I can't speak to the production value as well as many of you in the group. I can only speak to what I hear in each song. I hear heart and soul and a taste of every sound they have ever created. I hear from many fans who kind of departed from U2 after Joshua Tree that they love this new album because they hear the earlier sounds they loved and appreciate the evolution of the sound and the simplicity of the songs. For me, the lyrics touch me as they always have and U2 is my kind of church. I can't wait for the tour and throwing our hearts in unadulterated love and passion.

[Rod]

Well, I don't think U2's objective has ever been to take Lanois' sound and morph it into something of their own.  I also think alot of people underestimate the degree to which Lanois' sound has been shaped and co-developed by Edge.  Lanois' trademark guitar sound is the Edge's...i.e. the modulated delay into a Vox AC30.  And this is a setup Edge has been using since 1980 on U2's first album, long before Lanois came into the picture.  Only difference is that at some point before Unforgettable Fire he replaced the EH Deluxe Memory Man with the Korg SDD-3000 (and some other units as well).  Ironically, I hear people refer to the SDD-3000 as LANOIS' magic box...well, perhaps it is his, but as Lanois has said in an interview, he got the setup FROM Edge.  Lanois plays guitar much differently than Edge but the circuitry the signal flows through is often the same as that Edge has been using for his signature tone since the first U2 album.

If you listen to the early U2 recordings (produced by Steve Lillywhite) you can hear harbingers of what was to come in the Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree.  You can hear it in songs like Shadows and Tall Trees, The Ocean, Tomorrow, and Drowning Man.

All that said, U2 is a band...a ROCK band.   They may take time off to do things like Passengers and Million Dollar Hotel but they are first and foremost a rock band.  My early opinion of the new album is that it is BETTER than ATYCLB.  It was worked on over four years and five producers.  It was essentially deemed complete one year ago by Edge and Bono but they were subsequently convinced by others (Larry, Adam) that it wasn't ready.  So they spent one more year on it.  So I don't think you can say it was thrown together at the last minute (even if it sounds like it was).  And even though I'm a huge Lanois fan, this new record "sounds" better to me than ATYCLB, which was strangely lo-fi.

[er1c]

Been listening to this a lot, I am a musician, if that counts for identifying a bias, but Bomb is great. Love Dan of course, but do not miss him here .... There are Dan moments that seem like pieces from past sessions used in the mix. This is fun and beautiful. Play it loud to get the point.

[Phaser]

@rod: i can only underline your comments there. he got the sound from edge. daniel always said: "he stole it from him".

[Kenley Neufeld]

This U2 release is definitely growing on me and it is definitely a ROCK album. My favorites so far are Love and Peace or Else (Lanois/Eno!) and Crumbs from your Table (U2 politics). I may even be interested in seeing them on tour again though I have seen them numerous time.

Peace,
Kenley