Clayton RS interview

[TheFlyMacphisto]

My view is U2 is mainly using the JT Tour as a way to generate publicity and get people talking about U2 again.   This is something they didn't do before, because they didn't have to do it before.   But now they have to re-think things especially in light of the poor reception to SOI.   U2 got used to the idea that the masses craved any new music they put out...but that is probably not the case again.   If they're going to put themselves out there with a new album this year and I&E tour next year, then they want the vibes to be positive and loving towards them.   What better way to do that than play one of your most loved albums in a summer stadium tour.

SOE is coming, I'm confident (I think).   This is marketing strategy necessitated by the new era of music.

Nailed it.

[il_capo]

I know Adam said they might end TJT segment of the show with Streets, but if they were to play it in sequence and didn't want to start on side 1, track 1, perhaps they could start with Bullet and end with WOWY.

[TheFlyMacphisto]

Uh, guys ... you said EVERY SONG IN SEQUENCE in the promotional materials. Why do these guys do this to themselves? Springsteen is out on The River Tour 2017 right now, and played two songs from it to open the tour in Perth last night.

Stop painting yourselves into a corner! This is just like the night 1/night 2 and then 'nevermind' debacle of I+E. If you don't know what you are doing yet, SHUT UP.

That interview tells me they have put very, very little thought into how they are going to do this.

I saw The River tour in the States several months back and he played EVERY track on the album. In sequence.

[LightMyWay92]

My view is U2 is mainly using the JT Tour as a way to generate publicity and get people talking about U2 again.   This is something they didn't do before, because they didn't have to do it before.   But now they have to re-think things especially in light of the poor reception to SOI.   U2 got used to the idea that the masses craved any new music they put out...but that is probably not the case again.   If they're going to put themselves out there with a new album this year and I&E tour next year, then they want the vibes to be positive and loving towards them.   What better way to do that than play one of your most loved albums in a summer stadium tour.

SOE is coming, I'm confident (I think).   This is marketing strategy necessitated by the new era of music.

Nailed it.

I agree, and it's a smart move.

[Saint1322]

Uh, guys ... you said EVERY SONG IN SEQUENCE in the promotional materials. Why do these guys do this to themselves? Springsteen is out on The River Tour 2017 right now, and played two songs from it to open the tour in Perth last night.

Stop painting yourselves into a corner! This is just like the night 1/night 2 and then 'nevermind' debacle of I+E. If you don't know what you are doing yet, SHUT UP.

That interview tells me they have put very, very little thought into how they are going to do this.

I saw The River tour in the States several months back and he played EVERY track on the album. In sequence.

Me too. However, he stopped doing that in Europe. Played two songs from The River in Perth last night.

[Saint1322]

Thanks for The Edge's quotes. I knew I had read the words in sequence somewhere. OK so that's not the official word, but it is similar to what they said about two shows on I+E.

[PookaMacP]

Do you think if you put out "With or Without You" as a single today, it would be a big hit, or has radio changed so much it wouldn't work?
I think you could put it out. I think you'd have to Melodyne the vocal. I think you'd have to squeeze and program the rhythm tracks. Eventually you'd get something that sounds familiar on the radio and it would research well, and you might get a bit of traction and it might be a hit. But I think if you put it out just as it is, it would get lost in the noise and bubble of that particular sound that's popular at the moment.

This sent a shiver down my spine. Almost as if he has too intimate a knowledge of this process...

[lucas.homem]

Do you think if you put out "With or Without You" as a single today, it would be a big hit, or has radio changed so much it wouldn't work?
I think you could put it out. I think you'd have to Melodyne the vocal. I think you'd have to squeeze and program the rhythm tracks. Eventually you'd get something that sounds familiar on the radio and it would research well, and you might get a bit of traction and it might be a hit. But I think if you put it out just as it is, it would get lost in the noise and bubble of that particular sound that's popular at the moment.

This sent a shiver down my spine. Almost as if he has too intimate a knowledge of this process...

And then they have another failure.

[BelfastBoy]

My minimum expectation is a concert where every song from TJT is performed. Anything less than that is disingenuous, if not downright dishonest. I'd love it to be in sequence, as a discrete segment of the show, but I'm having doubts it'll happen this way. The problem is that the band seem to be doing their thinking aloud in successive interviews, rather than being consistent in what they're saying - adding fuel to the fire that they aren't close to working out the details yet!

[an tha]

Do you think if you put out "With or Without You" as a single today, it would be a big hit, or has radio changed so much it wouldn't work?
I think you could put it out. I think you'd have to Melodyne the vocal. I think you'd have to squeeze and program the rhythm tracks. Eventually you'd get something that sounds familiar on the radio and it would research well, and you might get a bit of traction and it might be a hit. But I think if you put it out just as it is, it would get lost in the noise and bubble of that particular sound that's popular at the moment.

This sent a shiver down my spine. Almost as if he has too intimate a knowledge of this process...

it is a pretty sad insight into how the band think....a real shame because they are better than this.

[trevgreg]

This sent a shiver down my spine. Almost as if he has too intimate a knowledge of this process...

Well, it's not Every Breaking Wave sounded like a hip hop song either...

[miami]

Do you think if you put out "With or Without You" as a single today, it would be a big hit, or has radio changed so much it wouldn't work?
I think you could put it out. I think you'd have to Melodyne the vocal. I think you'd have to squeeze and program the rhythm tracks. Eventually you'd get something that sounds familiar on the radio and it would research well, and you might get a bit of traction and it might be a hit. But I think if you put it out just as it is, it would get lost in the noise and bubble of that particular sound that's popular at the moment.

This sent a shiver down my spine. Almost as if he has too intimate a knowledge of this process...

it is a pretty sad insight into how the band think....a real shame because they are better than this.

agreed. instead of thinking about making great songs, they are thinking about how well music translates these days and making a mark on the public consciousness. That description adam gives would rip the soul out of any good song. I hope they aren't too concerned about this concept, as it would make for pretty soulless, generic music.

if the alarm bells haven't been ringing loudly over this last 15 years, then they should be now!

[MattD]

Do you think if you put out "With or Without You" as a single today, it would be a big hit, or has radio changed so much it wouldn't work?
I think you could put it out. I think you'd have to Melodyne the vocal. I think you'd have to squeeze and program the rhythm tracks. Eventually you'd get something that sounds familiar on the radio and it would research well, and you might get a bit of traction and it might be a hit. But I think if you put it out just as it is, it would get lost in the noise and bubble of that particular sound that's popular at the moment.

This sent a shiver down my spine. Almost as if he has too intimate a knowledge of this process...

it is a pretty sad insight into how the band think....a real shame because they are better than this.

Yep, I agree. Astonishing that they would even consider butchering With Or Without You for the modern radio. That would most certainly happen with U2 today. It's sacrilege to even suggest tampering with it so to suggest that they would have to do something with it to get it on the radio today is a shocking lack of self-awareness as to why With Or Without You is a great song.

A dark omen for their next single I fear.

[an tha]

all this said he didn't say they would do it....he said that is what you would need to do....

now....the question is do they want a hit badly enough to start actually going that road?

[SlyDanner]

didn't they do exactly this with Invisible?  Ordinary Love?  You're the Best thing About me (although obviously not released)