Will The Time Gap Between NLOTH And The Next Studio Album Set A U2 Record??

[_acrobat]

I think the new album will be released in the fall of 2013... But which one? Songs of Ascent? The Danger Mouse album? Or something else?

I'd guess Danger Mouse

[jw]

I think it's more realistic to look at how much time elapsed between the conclusion of a tour and the next album.  At this point, it's only been a little over a year since the 360 tour has concluded.  So if U2 releases an album in the spring/summer of 2013 it will have been two years since the last tour.  NLOTH, AB and TJT also took two years from that perspective.  The longest period of time between a tour and album was HTDAAB which took three years.  So I think we're still on the short side of time-frames with the next album.  It only feels like a long time because they been talking about it since the middle of the tour.  If it had been released as originally intended, it would be more comparable to a Zooropa release which was done in the middle of a tour.

[bethere]

U2 are not immortal.  They grow older. And with old age comes decline in productivity. This is a scientific fact, although many would find loopholes to that statement and exceptions to the rule. 

U2 would not fall under the exception because they have no financial problems.  Check out all the bands who did "reunion tours", and even the shows Michael Jackson was preparing for before his death.  This were all "comebacks" fueled by the need to afford some bills.

U2 have a great manager and know how to maximize their profits.  Surely, at this stage in their career, they are in no hurry to make a new album.

Cheers,

J

 In U2's case I get the idea that the band is not the top priority. Everybody (especially Bono) has their seperate lives and they fit the band's activities in their schedule. They are not as dedicated as they were and it shows. E.g. In previous tours Bono always seemed restless, hungry, always in motion. I missed that in the 360 tour.
However the good news it that Bono (and U2) wants to be relevant again, so hopefully that gets the fire going again.   

               So if your in a band you can't have a seperate life? I don't see any evidence that the band is less dedicated at all. They just worked long and hard on "No Line On The Horizon". Then they pulled off the 110 date ground breaking 360 tour which ended up being the highest grossing and highest attended tour in the history of music. The band currently have 3 albums they are working on, "Songs Of Ascent", "an album with Danger Mouse Producer", and music Bono and Edge wrote when doing the Batman stage show. So the idea that their not dedicated to the band seems absurd. Yes,  there are gaps in touring and the time between albums, but most of those have existed in form or another since 1988.

[bethere]

I think it's more realistic to look at how much time elapsed between the conclusion of a tour and the next album.  At this point, it's only been a little over a year since the 360 tour has concluded.  So if U2 releases an album in the spring/summer of 2013 it will have been two years since the last tour.  NLOTH, AB and TJT also took two years from that perspective.  The longest period of time between a tour and album was HTDAAB which took three years.  So I think we're still on the short side of time-frames with the next album.  It only feels like a long time because they been talking about it since the middle of the tour.  If it had been released as originally intended, it would be more comparable to a Zooropa release which was done in the middle of a tour.

                The time between the end of the Vertigo Tour and the release of No Line On The Horizon was 2 years and 3 months, NOT 3 years. The tour ended in December of 2006 and NLOTH was released in March 2009.

                The longest time between the end of a tour and the release of a new album was ZOO TV and POP. ZOO TV tour ended on December 10, 1993 and the POP album was released in March 1997. So thats 3 years and 3 months. I don't think the band will wait that long this time. We should see a new album before the end of 2013.

[Chargedvt]

I've gone on and on about how there's no excuse for an album to take any longer than six months, a year, whatever... but going by past experience I think we all know that the next U2 album will drop in November next year, as long as all goes well.  Whether it's with Dangermouse or not remains to be seen, but this guy has been working with them on and off for, what, the last 2 years?  Surely things are coming to some sort of conclusion?  But photos of band members on holidays here there and everywhere and no studio gossip has destroyed any chance of a release in the next 12 months.  Unless it's all done and ready to go now, but we know that's not the case. So, yeah, it will be 4 years and 8 months between albums, and that is indeed the longest gap between U2 albums.

[Aqua]

I highly doubt it. They're getting older and they know it, and they are probably regard the correlation between the time between HTDAAB and NLOTH and the success of NLOTH as somewhat suspect. They've got a lot of material now- even if it's not as much as they say, there's a fair bit. I think the idea that it'll be the longest gap is coming from a place of emotion and pessimism, rather than reasoned judgement. I'd have said the same to those who correctly predicted the album wouldn't be out by the end of 2012 in late '09. Yes, you were correct, but that doesn't mean your interpretation of the scant evidence available for that conclusion was correct; it was more coincidence than anything else.

As of now, we don't know whether the album will break new ground, or whether the album will come out in a year's time or longer, and there's not enough information to go on to predict with any sort of legitimacy either of those points. 

[singnomore]

Didn't i see something about Studio of Ascents somewhere?

[jw]

I think it's more realistic to look at how much time elapsed between the conclusion of a tour and the next album.  At this point, it's only been a little over a year since the 360 tour has concluded.  So if U2 releases an album in the spring/summer of 2013 it will have been two years since the last tour.  NLOTH, AB and TJT also took two years from that perspective.  The longest period of time between a tour and album was HTDAAB which took three years.  So I think we're still on the short side of time-frames with the next album.  It only feels like a long time because they been talking about it since the middle of the tour.  If it had been released as originally intended, it would be more comparable to a Zooropa release which was done in the middle of a tour.

                The time between the end of the Vertigo Tour and the release of No Line On The Horizon was 2 years and 3 months, NOT 3 years. The tour ended in December of 2006 and NLOTH was released in March 2009.

                The longest time between the end of a tour and the release of a new album was ZOO TV and POP. ZOO TV tour ended on December 10, 1993 and the POP album was released in March 1997. So thats 3 years and 3 months. I don't think the band will wait that long this time. We should see a new album before the end of 2013.

You are correct on the time between Vertigo and NLOTH.  But I think the time for Pop to be released should be considered 1.3 years because of OS1 which was an album in its' own right.   After checking again, I think the longest period for a U2 album to be released would be ATYCLB.  It was a little over 2.5 years between that album and the conclusion of the PopMart tour.

[bethere]

I think it's more realistic to look at how much time elapsed between the conclusion of a tour and the next album.  At this point, it's only been a little over a year since the 360 tour has concluded.  So if U2 releases an album in the spring/summer of 2013 it will have been two years since the last tour.  NLOTH, AB and TJT also took two years from that perspective.  The longest period of time between a tour and album was HTDAAB which took three years.  So I think we're still on the short side of time-frames with the next album.  It only feels like a long time because they been talking about it since the middle of the tour.  If it had been released as originally intended, it would be more comparable to a Zooropa release which was done in the middle of a tour.

                The time between the end of the Vertigo Tour and the release of No Line On The Horizon was 2 years and 3 months, NOT 3 years. The tour ended in December of 2006 and NLOTH was released in March 2009.

                The longest time between the end of a tour and the release of a new album was ZOO TV and POP. ZOO TV tour ended on December 10, 1993 and the POP album was released in March 1997. So thats 3 years and 3 months. I don't think the band will wait that long this time. We should see a new album before the end of 2013.

You are correct on the time between Vertigo and NLOTH.  But I think the time for Pop to be released should be considered 1.3 years because of OS1 which was an album in its' own right.   After checking again, I think the longest period for a U2 album to be released would be ATYCLB.  It was a little over 2.5 years between that album and the conclusion of the PopMart tour.

            If you include OS1, then the longest break between tour and release of the next album becomes Elevation  ending first week of December 2001 to HTDAAB release last week of November 2004. Thats almost exactly 3 years.

[jw]

I think it's more realistic to look at how much time elapsed between the conclusion of a tour and the next album.  At this point, it's only been a little over a year since the 360 tour has concluded.  So if U2 releases an album in the spring/summer of 2013 it will have been two years since the last tour.  NLOTH, AB and TJT also took two years from that perspective.  The longest period of time between a tour and album was HTDAAB which took three years.  So I think we're still on the short side of time-frames with the next album.  It only feels like a long time because they been talking about it since the middle of the tour.  If it had been released as originally intended, it would be more comparable to a Zooropa release which was done in the middle of a tour.

                The time between the end of the Vertigo Tour and the release of No Line On The Horizon was 2 years and 3 months, NOT 3 years. The tour ended in December of 2006 and NLOTH was released in March 2009.

                The longest time between the end of a tour and the release of a new album was ZOO TV and POP. ZOO TV tour ended on December 10, 1993 and the POP album was released in March 1997. So thats 3 years and 3 months. I don't think the band will wait that long this time. We should see a new album before the end of 2013.

You are correct on the time between Vertigo and NLOTH.  But I think the time for Pop to be released should be considered 1.3 years because of OS1 which was an album in its' own right.   After checking again, I think the longest period for a U2 album to be released would be ATYCLB.  It was a little over 2.5 years between that album and the conclusion of the PopMart tour.

            If you include OS1, then the longest break between tour and release of the next album becomes Elevation  ending first week of December 2001 to HTDAAB release last week of November 2004. Thats almost exactly 3 years.

Yes.  I've somehow have gotten turned around.  My original statement was correct.  HTDAAB had the longest 'break' at three years.  To avoid further confusion, this is my list of tour dates and album release dates to more easily see the time periods between tours and albums.

LTD  = Last Tour Date
ARD  = Album Release Date
EAY  = Elapsed Album Years (years between albums)
EORY = Elapsed Off-Road Years (years between last tour date and album release date)

ALBUM                   LTD          ARD            EAY   EORY
------------------------------------------------------------------
Boy                     28-Jul-80    20-Oct-80      n/a   n/a
October                 30-May-81    20-Oct-81      1.0   0.4
War                     07-Aug-82    01-Mar-83      1.4   0.6  *
Unforgettable Fire      18-Dec-83    01-Oct-84      1.6   0.8
Joshua Tree             07-Jul-85    09-Mar-87      2.4   1.7  **
Rattle and Hum          20-Dec-87    10-Oct-88      1.6   0.8
Achtung Baby            10-Jan-90    18-Nov-91      3.1   1.9
Zooropa                 25-Nov-92    05-Jul-93      1.6   0.6
OS1                     10-Dec-93    06-Nov-95      2.3   1.9
Pop                     06-Nov-95    03-Mar-97      1.3   1.3  ***
ATYCLB                  21-Mar-98    30-Oct-00      3.7   2.6
HTDAAB                  02-Dec-01    22-Nov-04      4.1   3.0
No Line on the Horizon  09-Dec-06    01-Jan-09      4.1   2.1


*   This is harder to pin down, there was a pre-war tour, and the main tour began before the album was released
**  Amnesty Tour dates (7 performances) were not included
*** Since OS1 did not have a tour, the OS1 release date was used for the last tour date

So if you were to list the albums in order of the time it took to make, it would look like this:


October                 0.4
War                     0.6
Zooropa                 0.6
Unforgettable Fire      0.8
Rattle and Hum          0.8
Pop                     1.3
Joshua Tree             1.7
Achtung Baby            1.9
OS1                     1.9
No Line on the Horizon  2.1
ATYCLB                  2.6
HTDAAB                  3.0

[bethere]

U2's next album should come in at 2.33 on that list. I speculate that it will be released 2 years and 4 months after the end of the 360 tour in late November 2013.

[Nanda360]

I don't care how long this is going to take as long as it makes me feel glad as a U2 fan... meanwhile I will live my life as any other person in the world. C'mon please let them live in peace and give us fans a new record when it's definitely ready to go.

[miryclay]

I think I worked it out that if came out after June 2013 i would be the longest discrepancy between albums....

[_acrobat]

I don't care how long this is going to take as long as it makes me feel glad as a U2 fan... meanwhile I will live my life as any other person in the world. C'mon please let them live in peace and give us fans a new record when it's definitely ready to go.

I agree. I'd rather wait 6 years for a good album than 3 years for a mediocre one.

[Spilling Over the Brim]

Interesting results. I hadn't anticipated an even split between the first two options. Wish I could say we'll soon know whether it's going to go one way or the other, but I have a feeling we won't be getting any concrete news about the new album until early next year. Maybe around the holidays some news source will get a quote from one of the band members about how the album is progressing.