Het Grote U2 Topic (deel 3)

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Op maandag 22 november 2004 13:50 schreef Werner_Koekoeksklok het volgende:
Zijn er ook cd-winkels die hem VANDAAG al binnen hebben?

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U2 set to explode worldwide

LOS ANGELES: U2 has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide and won 14 Grammy Awards during the course of its 26-year career, so you would think that there would be a level of ease that comes with a new release.

Not so, says the Irish band's longtime manager Paul McGuinness.

"There is absolutely no resting on our laurels," he tells Bill- board. "I say to people we have to break the band every time we put out a record."

And this is with an album that McGuinness expects to debut at No.

1 in "32 or 33 countries."

"How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" comes out Nov. 22 internation- ally on Island, and Nov. 23 in the United States on Interscope, which is initially shipping 2.2 million copies.

The only stumbling block that might keep the album from entering The Billboard 200 at No. 1 is labelmate Eminem's new set, "En- core." However, McGuinness expects the advance of the street date for "Encore" from Nov. 16 to Nov. 12 to work in U2's favor.

Early reports that this is the best effort from the band -- Bono, the Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton -- since 1987's "The Joshua Tree" suit McGuinness just fine.

"The group's always trying to beat their previous best," he says.

"They went into (their career) to do it as long as they could be great and then stop. They're like a championship holder. They hold the title, and they're not going to give it away. If someone wants to come and take it away, they'll have to fight them for it."

But this time at least, McGuinness feels that the job is a little easier since the band is coming off 2000's "All That You Can't Leave Behind," which sold 10.8 million copies worldwide and snared several Grammy Awards.

"With that record's launch, we were coming off a comparative flop," he says, referring to 1997's "Pop." "Mind you, it still did 7 or 8 million, but in our terms, that's not very good."

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U2's desire to be number one

U2, who release their 13th album in 25 years in the UK on Monday, are stubbornly clinging to their status as one of the biggest bands in the world.


The most popular groups in the history of rock all have several things in common.

The music must be inspired and appeal across generations and be distinctive, if not always groundbreaking.

But such success is down to more than music. They have to be compelling performers, charismatic and intelligent enough to make good decisions and keep their feet on the ground.

They also have to want it. They have to want to be the biggest band ever and not stop wanting it.

The Beatles had it, the Rolling Stones still have it, REM hold onto it and Queen were it in a catsuit. And U2 have it in spades, and keep churning it out.

Their new album, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, comes 28 years after the schoolfriends got together in Dublin and 17 years after The Joshua Tree cemented their place on the all-time rock A-list.

Desire

They may have lost some of the edginess and raw, youthful force that propelled them to the top, but they have lost none of the desire or ability to craft songs and albums.

Vertigo, the first single from the new album, went straight into the UK singles chart at number one, knocking Eminem off the top spot and giving them their 26th top 10 hit.

"The challenge is to be bigger and bolder and better - to make records the whole world will listen to," Bono recently said.

Drummer Larry Mullen Jr echoed those sentiments: "We're very competitive - we want to be on the radio, have big singles. We don't want to be thought of as a veteran band."

The band have done "everything in their considerable powers" to ensure they remain the biggest band in the world, according to Q magazine editor Paul Rees.

"This makes them hugely determined and formidable."

He added: "They are equally determined to push themselves to make music that continues to stand up.

"As such, they've constantly re-invented and challenged themselves. They are, perhaps, alone as the only rock band that has got better with age."

The other key ingredient was the fact they were highly organised, Mr Rees said. "They do everything in the right way."

The group were born when Mullen put an appeal for bandmates on a high school notice board, attracting fellow pupils Paul Hewson (Bono, vocals), Adam Clayton (bass), David Evans (The Edge, guitar) and his brother Dick.

'Very coarse'

Dick Evans soon dropped out and the four-piece were known as The Feedback and The Hype before settling on U2.

By 1978, they had won a talent contest and got noticed by a manager, Paul McGuinness.

"They were brilliant, but very coarse," McGuinness recently said. "In a way, they were doing exactly what they do now. Only badly."

They struggled to attract record company attention, later being described as "pretty damn average" and "strange and eerie" by scouts who saw them live.

They released two Ireland-only singles, which topped the national charts in 1979 and 1980, leading to a deal with Island and their debut album Boy.

The stadium-filling, anthemic sound was U2's aim from the start, and their third album, War, saw them make the breakthrough on both sides of the Atlantic, going to number one in the UK and 12 in the US.

Songs like Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Year's Day brought success and an image as a political and spiritual band - which Bono rejected as a cliche.

Global stardom

His stage performances - which included flag-waving, speaker-climbing and drum-throwing - earned him a reputation as an electric performer, and their appearance at 1985's Live Aid is widely seen as sealing their global stardom.

In 1987, The Joshua Tree broke sales records and saw the band reach the height of their powers with hits including Where the Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For and With Or Without You.

Those songs took the band's epic, atmospheric sound to a simple, powerful and popular pinnacle.

The end of the decade marked a crucial point for the band - they had reached the top but still yearned for new challenges and achievements.

These came in the form of explorations of different branches of rock and forays into electronic dance music, plus wildly extravagant stage shows, while still trying to retain their mass appeal.

The Achtung Baby album in 1991 was followed by Zooropa, Pop and their corresponding stadium tours, which featured giant olives, flying cars, live phone calls to the White House and Bono's transformation into alter-egos The Fly and MacPhisto.

He was also building a parallel reputation - not always to the pleasure of his bandmates - as a campaigner on issues from global debt to Aids.

Before the release of How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, they had sold 125 million albums around the world. But they still want more.

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Op maandag 22 november 2004 15:59 schreef m021 het volgende:

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Maar ík heb Fast Cars erbij.

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Op maandag 22 november 2004 16:39 schreef Murray het volgende:

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Straks in de trein een poging doen om Bono's handschrift te ontcijferen.

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Op maandag 22 november 2004 18:31 schreef Duvel het volgende:

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Dat zal nog best wat moeite kosten...

* Murray gaat de DVD kijken!

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Op maandag 22 november 2004 19:13 schreef Roel_Jewel het volgende:
Net vóór 19.00 uur is 10 minuten U2 op Radio 1 (jaja!) geweest. Ik viel midden in het nummer Yahweh. De reportage daarvóór heb ik gemist . Wel werd afgesloten met de mededeling dat 'Bono en z'n mannen volgende zomer een aantal dagen in de Arena zullen staan'. Ik weet dus niet wat er precies in die reportage is gezegd, maar de Arena lijkt dus definitief.

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Op maandag 22 november 2004 20:03 schreef Dandelion het volgende:

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Goh, vanochtend, even voor zevenen ook al, maar dat laatste zeiden ze niet. Misschien is het wel dezelfde reportage geweest...
Die van vanochtend kan je terug horen op de site in mijn sig, bij de nieuws sectie.
Deze reportage gaat over de fanclubdag van gister. Zit wat comentaar van Bono en bezoekers over de nieuwe cd bij.

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Op maandag 22 november 2004 20:08 schreef Roel_Jewel het volgende:

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Dat zal dezelfde reportage geweest zijn. Doen ze bij Radio 1 Journaal wel vaker (omdat niet iedereen de hele dag luistert ).
Ik zal 'm es ff luisteren en linken op m'n site; maakt 't bericht wat duidelijker .

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Op maandag 22 november 2004 19:13 schreef Roel_Jewel het volgende:
Net vóór 19.00 uur is 10 minuten U2 op Radio 1 (jaja!) geweest. Ik viel midden in het nummer Yahweh. De reportage daarvóór heb ik gemist . Wel werd afgesloten met de mededeling dat 'Bono en z'n mannen volgende zomer een aantal dagen in de Arena zullen staan'. Ik weet dus niet wat er precies in die reportage is gezegd, maar de Arena lijkt dus definitief.

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Op maandag 22 november 2004 20:36 schreef Duvel het volgende:

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Arena? Hm, U2 hoort in de Kuip, niet in de Arena...

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Op maandag 22 november 2004 20:33 schreef m021 het volgende:

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Gaat dat bestandje niet eerder over Kite dan over U2?

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Op maandag 22 november 2004 20:40 schreef Roel_Jewel het volgende:

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't maakt mij eik niet zoveel uit. ALS ik ze maar zie .

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Op dinsdag 23 november 2004 11:30 schreef Murray het volgende:
Ze besteden er zelfs op het Journaal aandacht aan, goede promostunt...

Hier staat een uitgebreid verslag.

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Op dinsdag 23 november 2004 11:17 schreef Chilly_Willy het volgende:
U2 stops the traffic, again!

Gisteren heeft U2 opnames gemaakt op een truck die door New York reed
[afbeelding]

Hierna hebben ze een gratis concert gegeven in het Empire Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn.
[afbeelding]

Dit hebben ze gespeeld:
Vertigo (Take one)
All Because Of You
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can’t…
City Of Blinding Lights
Original Of The Species
She’s A Mystery To Me
Beautiful Day
I Will Follow
———-
Out Of Control
Vertigo (Take two)