U2 Recording New Album With Danger Mouse

Ernesto Ruscio/Getty

 

By  Andy Greene

From http://www.rollingstone.com/

U2 are recording a new album with Danger Mouse, and they plan on releasing early next year. "We have about 12 songs with him," Bono told The Age . "At the moment that looks like the album we will put out next because it's just happening so easily." Also in the works is a "club" album that will feature Will.i.am, RedOne and David Guetta. "U2's remixes in the 1990s were a real treasure," Bono said. "So we wanted to make a club-sounding record. We have a pile of songs." If that wasn't enough, the band is also contemplating recording the songs Bono and The Edge wrote the Spiderman Broadway musical. "We haven't convinced the rest of the band to do that yet," Bono said. "Larry definitely has a raised eyebrow."

U2 and Jay-Z record song for Haiti

U2 and Jay-Z duetted in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate last year

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

U2, Jay-Z and producer Swizz Beatz have recorded a song together to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake.

U2's guitarist The Edge told Irish radio station 2FM the band "wrote a song, finished and recorded" last week after being contacted about the idea.
The Edge, Bono and Jay-Z, along with Rihanna, are due to appear in London for "a group performance" as part of Friday's Hope For Haiti telethon.
George Clooney's two-hour benefit show will be aired on MTV in the UK.
The Edge told 2FM DJ Dave Fanning over the weekend: "Bono got a call from a producer, Swizz. He and Jay-Z wanted to do something for Haiti.
"So Bono came up with the phrase on the phone and last night we were here, we wrote a song, finished, recorded, and sent it back to them.
"So, that might be the next thing you hear from us."
'Something amazing'
Swizz Beatz also confirmed the project on his Twitter page, saying: "Me, Bono, Hova [Jay-Z's nickname] have something to say about Haiti. Stay tuned.
"I told you I was working on something amazing for Haiti. They need us!"
It is not clear when the single will be released, or whether the artists plan to premiere the song during Friday's telethon
Jay-Z has played with the Irish rock group before, popping up for a handful of dates on last year's 360 tour, and adding a rap to their hit single Sunday Bloody Sunday during the 2009 MTV Europe Awards.

George Clooney has been organising the Hope For Haiti telethon

Meanwhile, more acts have been added to the bill for the Haiti telethon including Coldplay, who will play at "a London location" alongside Jay-Z.
Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow and Keith Urban will appear in Los Angeles while Haitian-born Fugees star Wyclef Jean, Sting, Mary J Blige, Shakira and Bruce Springsteen will be among performers in New York.
Funds raised will go to Oxfam America, Red Cross, Unicef, Partners in Health and the Yele Haiti Foundation.
The telethon will be screened live in the UK from 0100 GMT on Saturday 23 January.
In the US, the telethon is being screened live without commercials on a number of channels including NBC, ABC and CBS.

U2 to play Jackson Vienna tribute - reports

U2 are reported to be among the line-up for the Michael Jackson tribute show which will be staged in Vienna next month.

According to the Associated Press U2 will perform alongside Madonna, Lionel Richie and Whitney Houston at the event.

Event organisers have yet to confirm the line-up, stating only that members of the late performer's family will appear with "a high profile line-up of international stars".

Jackson's brother Jermaine said in a statement on the World Awards Media's web site that the concert was conceived as an annual event to keep alive not only Jackson's music, "but his spirit as well".

He added: "He loved castles. And we're going to have this huge celebration in front of a castle."

Vienna's Schoenbrunn Palace, will serve as the backdrop for what organisers have billed as a "global" farewell tribute to Michael Jackson next month.

On its website World Awards Media said: "For one incredible night Michael Jackson's unforgettable music will be brought to life again.

"Some of the world's leading artists will perform Michael's greatest hits live in Vienna in front of one of the most fascinating historical sites in Europe and celebrate the life of the 'King of Pop'."

The 85,000 tickets for the show are due to go on sale on 20 August.

Jackson - Reports that U2 are part of the line-up for tribute

Thirty Years of U2 (Photos)

The Irish rockers return with No Line on the Horizon, their first release in almost five years

Click to see the pics.. | digg story

Has U2 finally lost their relevance?

We go through the six stages that every 'It' band goes through -- eventually

By DARRYL STERDAN -- Sun Media

U2

It happens to the best of them. In fact, it only happens to the best of them. And it seems it's finally happening to U2.

After more than a quarter-century of virtually uninterrupted tenure as The Most Important Band in the World (TM), it would appear Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton have reached the ultimate plateau in a band's life -- the magical place where fame meets irrelevance.

---

Do you agree or disagree with Darryl?

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Just look at the initial response to their 12th studio album, No Line on the Horizon, in stores and online Tuesday. Oh sure, it's getting plenty of attention -- but not the same sort of attention as their previous discs. Despite its much-hyped global premiere in January, the upbeat leadoff single Get On Your Boots didn't have legs, barely denting the Billboard Hot 100 before it tumbled off the chart. Their performance at last month's Grammy Awards was met with yawns of disinterest, with many fans suggesting Bono seemed tired and out of breath. None of it bodes well for Horizon's prospects with the public, which seems to feel that with U2, they've been there, heard that and thrown away the T-shirt already.

Bet Bono didn't see that coming. Tell the truth, neither did we. But we did know it was bound to happen. As any music geek can tell you, there are several stages in the life of an artist. And every act that hangs around long enough walks the same path: Aerosmith, AC/DC, Bowie, Dylan, KISS, R.E.M., Madonna, Springsteen, and countless others. Granted, not all of them go through the stages in the same order or at the same rate. Some skip stages. Others repeat them. A few get stuck in one for most of their careers. But eventually, most get to where U2 now find themselves.

Of course, the band that blazed the trail -- like so many others -- is none other than The Rolling Stones. Now that U2 is catching up, let's follow the line that the British rock gods drew -- and that leads inexorably to the Irish icons' limited horizons.

STAGE 1
Baby Steps
Every act starts out the same: Lean, hungry, committed -- and convinced they're destined to rule the world. Any musician who tells you different is a liar.
- Rolling Stones: 1962-1964 -- From their formation to their first album. Fresh from the blues clubs, they were still basically a glorified cover band.
- U2: 1976-1981 -- From their formation to their first two albums. Boy started the ball rolling with I Will Follow, but the following dwindled after the sophomore-slump October, featuring the aptly titled I Fall Down.
See Also:
- Elvis' Sun Sessions
- The Beatles in Hamburg
- Bob Dylan's first album
- Nirvana's Bleach
- Madonna's first album

STAGE 2
Hitting Your Stride

You're not an amateur any more, but you're not yet at the top of your game -- artistically or commercially.
- Stones: 1964-1965 -- From their first album to Satisfaction. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards started writing songs -- after famously being locked in a room together -- while the band's relentless touring made inroads in America.
- U2: 1983-1984 -- War and Unforgettable Fire. Okay, maybe Fire wasn't that unforgettable. But on War, Bono found his political feet with Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Year's Day. A glimpse of the greatness to come.
See Also:
- Metallica's Ride the Lightning & Master of Puppets
- R.E.M. from Reckoning to Life's Rich Pageant
- KISS' Hotter Than Hell & Dressed to Kill
- The Clash's Give 'Em Enough Rope
- Eagles' Desperado & On the Border

STAGE 3

At the Summit

The glory days when you can do no wrong. Everything you release turns to gold (and then platinum). Every show is a sellout and every award has your name on it.
- Stones: 1965-1972 -- From Satisfaction to Exile on Main St. The era of Jumpin' Jack Flash, Honky Tonk Women, Brown Sugar, Street Fightin' Man, and nearly every other Stones classic. Even Altamont, Their Satanic Majesties Request and the death of Brian Jones couldn't stop them.
- U2: 1985-1990 -- Live Aid, Joshua Tree, Rattle & Hum. They played for millions. Joshua earned them their first Grammys. Even Bono's giant white flag (and equally outsized ego and ambition) couldn't stop them.
See Also:
- Bruce Springsteen from Born to Run to Born in the U.S.A.
- Elton John from Your Song to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
- Pink Floyd from Dark Side of the Moon to The Wall
- Michael Jackson from Thriller to Dangerous
- Nirvana from Nevermind onward

STAGE 4

Missteps & Stumbles

Self-indulgence, supermodels, substances and solo albums -- they all take their toll. And when you're at the top, there's only one way to go.
- Stones: 1973-1977 -- Goat's Head Soup to Black & Blue. Mick marries Bianca. Keith gets busted in Toronto. Bill Wyman makes solo albums. Things get so bad Mick Taylor quits the best-paying gig he'll ever have. Yep, it's only rock 'n' roll -- but they've lost it, lost it, yes they have.
- U2: 1991-1999 -- Achtung Baby, Zoo TV, Zooropa, Pop. Bono called Achtung "the sound of four men trying to chop down The Joshua Tree." It worked. High-concept tours with Bono as MacPhisto, umpteen TV screens and giant lemons didn't help. On the plus side: Clayton didn't marry Naomi Campbell.
See Also:
- Jerry Lee Lewis' marriage to his cousin
- KISS solo albums
- Van Halen hiring Gary Cherone
- Britney Spears shaving her head (and marrying Kevin Federline, and, and, and ... )
- Virtually every decision Axl Rose made between 1995 and 2008

STAGE 5

Reclaiming the Throne

F. Scott Fitzgerald said there were no second acts in American lives. Maybe he was right -- but everybody know there are encores in rock 'n' roll. And every band gets one. Sometimes more.
- Stones: 1978 -- Some Girls. Revitalized and challenged by the no-nonsense spirit of punk, they shake off the cobwebs, reawaken their inner rockers and produce their last undeniably brilliant work. And their biggest-selling CD to date.
- U2: 2000-2006 -- All That You Can't Leave Behind & How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. As Bono put it, they reapplied to be the best band in the world. And they got the job by getting back to basics with straightforward songs and shows that connect with fans.
See Also:
- David Bowie's Let's Dance
- Tina Turner's Private Dancer
- AC/DC's Back in Black
- KISS' reunion tour
- Led Zeppelin's 2007 reunion concert

STAGE 6

The Endless Plateau

You'll always be huge. You'll sell out stadiums. You might even make some great albums. But you'll never be the It Band again. You're too big, too rich, too coddled, too removed from the streets, the kids and the zeitgeist -- no matter how much your personal assistants and image consultants assure you otherwise.
- Stones: 1980 - ? Everything from Emotional Rescue to A Bigger Bang. Some of it's good. Some of it's bad. But none of it matters.
- U2: 2009 - ? It begins with No Line on the Horizon. Who knows how it will end? With one final return to greatness? Or with The Edge falling out of a coconut tree?
See Also:
- Rod Stewart
- Paul McCartney
- Madonna
- Bon Jovi
- Michael Jackson

U2’s New Album Leaks Early Despite ‘Private Hearings’

Written by Ernesto on February 18, 2009

A few months ago, four tracks from the upcoming U2 album ‘No Line on the Horizon’ leaked onto the Internet. In order to prevent the full album from leaking before launch, U2 organized “private hearings” for the press, but these failed. Today, ten hours after the album leaked, downloads on BitTorrent are 100K - and counting.

The official release date of U2’s twelfth studio album is set for 27 February in Ireland, early March for the rest of the world.

Unsurprisingly, it began to appear on BitTorrent sites just a few hours ago, well over a week in advance.

In just 10 hours the album has already been downloaded 100,000 times, which is notable for a music album. A few month ago, some of the fans already got a preview of four of the tracks, after a fan recorded them outside Bono’s villa in the south of France.

Unlike those early leaks, the quality full album that leaked today is reportedly of a quality worth listening to. The source of the leak is unknown, but it has to come from someone close to the band as there were no preview copies sent out to the press.

U2 has always taken an anti-piracy stance and wont be pleased to hear that the album is out before schedule. U2 manager Paul McGuiness has been particularly aggressive in his stance against file-sharers and has suggested that people who share copyrighted files should have their connection to the Internet severed. Skip to 2009 and the RIAA and IFPI are indeed pushing for such legislation.

It doesn’t stop there either. In order to prevent their latest album from being pirated, they refused to send out review copies to the press. Instead they organized listening parties where journalists could listen to the album in advance.

These ‘parties’ were of course surrounded by all kinds of security measures - recording devices and even mobile phones were not allowed anywhere near the hearings. Some good that did.

Despite all the effort the album leaked early, and many U2 fans are having a party of their own now. Over 100,000 of them - and counting.

Spidey musical Edges closer

Spidey's Edgy new role ... Spiderman musical is on the way

JUST call him BONO LLOYD WEBBER. Rock superstars U2 have revealed their Spiderman musical will be ready to hit Broadway this year.

Bono and EDGE have been working with director JULIE TAYMOR — who won a Tony for her work on The Lion King — and scriptwriter GLENN BERGER.

Speaking for the first time about the project, guitar lord The Edge has revealed: “It is happening. We’ve written a lot of the songs at this point.

“It’s in a pretty good state, and I hope it’ll open this year. We’re not sure where in the world, but most likely it will be in New York.”

He told Q Magazine he and pal Bono have always hoped to write a musical and have also been involved in the show’s plot and dialogue.

He said: “The overall story was really Julie working with Glenn, and Bono and myself riding shotgun with the odd idea here and there — as they do for the songs.”

The Axeman also revealed the show won’t have a full orchestra, just up to 20 musicians — string players, brass, some woodwind. He added: “The core will be a rock ’n’ roll band.”

Musicals are not normally my thing. But a rock ’n’ roll Spiderman? That might just catch me in its web.