Latest U2 News & Information

The well-oiled musical machine known as U2 is currently cooped up in Dublin with longtime cohorts Briano Eno and Daniel Lanois working on its forthcoming album, according to Billboard. The iconic Irish rockers have spent time prior to this amassing new material on three separate occasions in other exotic locales, such as Morocco and France, and Lanois purports the results to be “prolific.”

Moreover, Lanois hinted at the much-speculated notion of a double disc due to the luxuriant nature of these sessions. The yet-to-be-titled album will serve as the follow-up to the band’s 2004 release, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

In addition to the aforementioned news, U2 has revealed a new charity single titled “The Ballad Of Ronnie Drew,” which will initially be available in Ireland only this Friday, February 22 and a week later on CD. The song boasts appearances by the Pogues’ Shane MacGowan, the Frames’ Glen Hansard, Sinead O’Connor, Andrea Corr, Damien Dempsey, Ronan Keating, Chris de Burgh, Gavin Friday and members of the Dubliners. At the request of Ronnie Drew himself, all proceeds collected through this tributary endeavor will go to the Cancer Society.

Story by: Joshua Pressman

U2 producer Daniel Lanois has been talking about the recording of the band’s new album, which resumes this week in Dublin’s Windmill Lane studio.

“We’ve had a few very successful jam sessions so far, including one in Morocco,” the Canadian enthuses. “I’m very excited about what we’re doing. Everyone has an appetite for breaking new ground and everybody wants to make a masterpiece.

“We’re not taking anything for granted. We don’t think it’s going to be easy. In fact, it’s always hard work and I like it that way. When the work is hard, you know you’re busting through something that hasn’t been done before.”

Asked what the follow-up to How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb will sound like, Lanois says: “I can tell you a little bit about the fundamental quality. It’s very much hand-played but it’s also electro.”

- HotPress NewsDesk

U2 has hit the studio in Dublin to continue work on its next studio album with longtime collaborators Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. “We’re going to try and break new sonic ground and deliver a masterpiece,” Lanois tells Billboard.com. “The sleeves are rolled up. Bono is all charged up with a lyrical angle.”

As previously reported, U2, Eno and Lanois have spent time working on new material on three prior occasions in France and Morocco, and Lanois confirms the results are prolific.

“There’s so much material,” he says, referring to speculation that the sessions could yield two new albums. “When you get Eno and I and those guys in the room, before lunch there’s like eight things.” Read the rest of this story »

The world’s greatest rock band, U2, is starring in the first ever live action digital 3D film, which premieres at South Africa’s first new generation 3D digital cinemas on 22 February.

“U2 3D” will screen at Ster-Kinekor Classic the Zone in Rosebank and Ster-Kinekor Classic Gateway in Durban.

The film is described as “a unique cinematic experience that places viewers within the pulsing energy of a stadium concert given by the world’s most popular band” by Ster-Kinekor Theatres Marketing Executive Michelle Roodt. “Marrying innovative digital 3-D imagery and multi-channel surround sound with the excitement of a live U2 concert – shot in South America during the final leg of their ‘Vertigo’ tour – the film creates an immersive theatrical experience unlike any 3-D or concert film that has come before. Ushering in a new dimension of filmmaking, U2 3D takes viewers on an extraordinary journey they will never forget.” Read the rest of this story »

They both have cha-ching album sales, they both can brag of a near-religious fan following, they’re apparently both 5 feet 6 and now they’re both . . . in 3-D. “U2 3D” opened in theaters in January, followed this month by “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour.” Which got us wondering: How do these two pop titans stack up side by side?

AWARDS | Bono – Nobel Peace Prize nominee; Miley – Kids’ Choice Award winner.

BEST 3-D MOMENT | Bono – Frontman reaches out to “wipe your tears away” during “Sunday Bloody Sunday”; Miley – Hundreds of little gal arms reach up to “catch” scads of falling onscreen confetti.

OPENING WEEKEND PER SCREEN BOX OFFICE | Bono – $15,000; Miley – $42,000.

SAMPLE LYRIC | Bono – “Is there a time for kohl and lipstick/ A time for cutting hair/ Is there a time for high street shopping/ To find the right dress to wear” (from “Miss Sarajevo”); Miley – “You get the limo out front/ Hottest styles, every shoe, every color/ Yeah, when you’re famous it can be kinda fun/ It’s really you but no one discovers” (from “Best of Both Worlds”).

- EncoreBuzz

Stars: Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jnr.
Directed by: Kathryn Owens and Mark Pellington
Reviewed by: Adam Mast, Zboneman.com
Grade: A-

U2-3-D is one of the greatest concert films of our time. It ranks right up there with the likes of The Last Waltz and Stop Making Sense. Being a massive fan of U2, there’s certainly a bit of bias to that statement, but the fact remains, this is one hell of a breathtaking movie.

Culled from several dates on their South American “Vertigo” tour, U2 3-D captures the most vital rock band of the last twenty five years in their prime. And through this amazing digital 3-D process – also used for Superman Returns and Beowulf - we the audience are not only thrust into a sea of cheering fans, but we also feel the sensation of being a rock star. This revolutionary third dimension actually allows us to explore the space inhabited by the band itself. By viewing U2 3-D, you won’t only be paying far less money than you would if you saw the band live (if you do get a chance however, they’re well worth the price of admission), but you won’t have to spend a majority of the show yelling “Down in front” at the drunk idiot swaying back and forth right in front of you. Read the rest of this story »