Irish rock giants U2 are apparently working on material capable of filling up to four new albums.
U2 don’t like to do things by halves. Preparing to launch their mammoth new ‘360 Degrees’ tour, the Irish band decided to construct an enormous claw which would tower over their heads during concerts.
With that project coming to a close, U2 are focussing on new material. In typically outlandish style, the band are working on not one, not two, not threw but up to FOUR new albums at once.
Phew! A work rate that would cripple ordinary humans, U2 singer Bono recently explained the schedule to Rolling Stone. “We have Songs of Ascent, which is the meditative work that was meant to complement (last year’s) No Line On the Horizon. We’ve got a rock album. We also have a club-sounding album. And then we have the Spider-Man (musical) stuff.”
“Club sounding” eh? Oh dear. U2 spent the bulk of the late 90s in the doldrums, confusing fans with a series of albums with blurred the lines of dance and rock. Amongst the more painful memories is the sight of the band dancing in the video to ‘Discotheque’…
Continuing, U2 frontman Bono mused on how the band could release the “25 to 30” songs they have completed. “How (do) we go about releasing them?” Bono said. “Do we release them in their groups?”
Coldplay singer Chris Martin told the Irish frontman to just go ahead and release the tracks online. “Chris Martin called me and said, ‘I hear you’ve got all these albums going’,” Bono explained.
“Why not just pick the best songs from all of them and put them out now? And I’m like, ‘Hmm …'”
The move would challenge some of U2’s more industry centred instincts. “We’re not as 21st century as we think we are,” he said. “We’d be putting out more new songs online, involving our audience in the choice, if we were really modern. (Instead) we’re just sitting here arguing about them, except no one else knows about them.”
