Latest U2 News & Information

U2 soundman Joe O’Herlihy has revealed that following a stint in
Dublin’s Windmill Lane Studios, the band are set to do some warm
weather recording overseas.

“I’m heading out to France to begin working with them on it,” Joe
tells hotpress.com. “They decided they needed a few rays while they
were working on the new songs. But things are in full swing working
towards a new album. We’re hoping to have something in the can come
September/October. We’ll know in the next couple of months how things
shape up but that’s what they’re aiming for. All things being equal
they will more than likely tour in 2009. They love it. It’s their life
and it’s what they do.”

Joe has more to say about U2, The Undertones and his beloved Cork in
the next issue of Hot Press, out on Thursday.

- Hot Press

Rockers U2 are scrapping all the tracks they have written for their next album to start all over again - ditching a year’s worth of work.
The band has been working on the follow up to 2004 LP How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb for the past 12 months, but they’re far from happy with the results.
Guitarist The Edge reveals bandmembers have mostly messed around in the studio - and they have now decided to get stuck in and finish the record.
He tells CMUMusic.com, “We went into this project allowing ourselves the indulgence of making music without thinking about where it was going to end up. We’re starting to get serious now”.

- ContactMusic.com

After an Easter break, U2 is back in the studio in Dublin to work on its next album with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. “Everyone [is] still hoping the new album will be out this year,” reads a post on U2.com.

The as-yet-untitled disc will be followed by a 2009 tour, U2’s first since recently cementing a 12-year deal with Live Nation Artists.

In other U2 news, Universal has set a July 22 release for remastered, expanded editions of the band’s first three albums: “Boy” (1980), “October” (1981) and “War” (1983).

Guitarist the Edge is overseeing the reissues, which will include the original album on a single-disc, 180-gram vinyl and in a two-CD package featuring B-sides, rare tracks and live material.

The reissue program began last fall with “The Joshua Tree,” which featured a previously unreleased video for “Red Hill Mining Town” and a host of other rarities.

- Billboard.com

Producer Gives Update On U2 Album | CJBK

By: Don Kaye

U2 has been working on its new album since late February at its recording complex in Dublin, Ireland, where the group has once again turned to longtime producer Daniel Lanois to sit behind the sound console. Lanois recently described how the sessions were going: “It’s going well. Very inventive, a lot of hopes and dreams in the room. (Singer) Bono’s a hell of a fighter, and as long as he’s got me in there, I’ll fight along with him, you know. It’s just quality, innovation, better songs, choruses that will communicate in a stadium setting…he wants it all. He wants great bass riffs. There’s still mystery in the room and they really want to do their best. They want it out for the fall as well.” Read the rest of this story »

From his work on The Joshua Tree to, more recently, that on How To Build An Atomic Bomb, Daniel Lanois and U2 have a strong and unique bond. Lanois says the relationship is almost other-worldly.

“I think we work well together because there’s kind of a premonitional force in the room when I work with these guys,” he says. “We sense that something might be right but we’re not convinced yet and it’s still the unknown. It’s that unknown that keeps us going. We want to do something original. Bono wants to say something that has never been said before. We know we’re going to have to roll up our sleeves, put our thinking caps on and do beautiful work.” Read the rest of this story »

More images in the Gallery

Bono has insisted that the new U2 album will be “radical and uncompromising”.

The singer claimed he couldn’t give any details away but argued that it wouldn’t be worth the band’s time producing a record that was anything less than “great”.

Speaking at the European premiere of U23D, he said: “Who needs another U2 album unless it’s a really great piece of rock ‘n’ roll? You young people better watch out!

“We have to do something really extraordinary to be able to get out of bed these days.”

He added: “If I told you [about the album] I’d have to kill you. And if I did tell you they’d probably have to kill me too.”

Producer Daniel Lanois revealed earlier this week that the Irish rockers had begun work on the follow-up to 2004’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

- DigitalSpy