yup, not that uncommon

Anymore links around for this?

"The Edge compared the process to how they made 1993’s Zooropa, and added that Zooropa producer Brian Eno “would love to see us making albums a bit more like that. Where we go, ‘You know what? We’re not going to second-guess any of this. Let’s just go for it.’ I think there’s a quality you get when there’s a certain momentum to the process.”

I like what The Edge is saying here, but inevitably, the album will be diluted in the mixing process when Bono and co get cold feet over the uncommercial aspect of it. Like No Line on the Horizon, Songs of Innocence is a story of two albums - one half more abstract, the other half more mainstream and more dull.

I listened to No Line the other day, and there are moments of brilliance on it that compare to The Unforgettable Fire which is where Eno's influence is at its highest (Moment of Surrender, Cedars of Lebanon, Fez-Being Born, Magnificent, etc) but it collapses and burns in the middle section of the album with U2's worst ever songs. U2's attempt to be commercial - and I could see the point if it garnered an ear worm like Beautiful Day but it is genuinely bad. By time it picks up again in the final third, it's difficult not to keep thinking about those awful songs and kills the mood stone dead - I can't help but think that Eno despaired at the more conventional tunes on this album - he even admitted he thought Get On Your Boots was a terrible single and that if they had balls, they would have gone for Moment of Surrender.

It's a shame U2 got burnt by the reception of Pop. Brian Eno gets U2 more than they get themselves I think, and most fans agree with him being tired of the desperate attempts to be pop (note - Pop was a critique on popular culture not an actual 'pop' album, they seem to have turned into the band they were critiquing on that one) - they are way way better a band when they are dark and mysterious, whether it is ambient or electronic. They can still do it, but whether they want to do it is another thing. Simple fact is, aside from a few hits, they are not a pop band and should stop trying to write pop songs.

This album is at best... not very good.

I don't have high hopes for their next album, though I'm nonetheless looking forward to it. SOI was a huge step back from the somewhat adventurous No Line, which is probably the greatest thing U2 has released since Pop.
Please no cliched shit like Song for Someone, Every Breaking Wave, or that song about California. Though I really can't imagine it being very different.

what a shame, as zooropa is one of my favorite U2 albums. as i said in another post... there's a record with BALLS. and you can never go wrong with the late great johnny cash (the ultimate badass) singing lead on the closing track

Nice to see U2 delivered on their "quick follow up" promise.

I'll have to disagree here
No Line had some of U2's worst moments. I really like only the title track and Magnificent from the album.

On the other hand I like Songs of Innocence, it's no Achtung Baby (or Pop!) but it has some really good moments: Cedarwood Road, Sleep Like a Baby Tonight, This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now, The Troubles, The Crystal Ballroom.
Every Breaking Wave and Iris are typical U2 on autopilot, but they're enjoyable. The rest is average (Song for Someone) or crap (Volcano, California).

Andy Barlow from LAMB is producing it apparently.

This is mainly and advert for Fender, but it's always cool to see (and hear) The Edge at work as he's one of my guitar heros.

Also... I think there's a snippet of a new U2 song near the end...? 4:45 in

Hope that snippet means we're getting a guitar-centric, Edge-driven industrial rock album.