Eno on U2...keyword on u2's new album...joy


[email protected]
Thu, 19 Nov 1998 00:17:31 EST


Hey:)

I was checking the u2 newsgroups and I found a newsarticle talking to Eno
about the upcoming u2 album..here it is. By the way I agree with what Eno has
to say about Sarajevo..I think this might have been one of those direction
changing pivotal concerts for the band...

its by an irish music mag called Oh yeah

Brian Eno has predicted that "joy" will be the overriding theme of the next U2
album. The producer, who has been involved on best-selling U2 albums such as
'The Joshua Tree' and 'Achtung Baby', has begun working on the new project in
Dublin with the band and his sometime partner Daniel Lanois.
His remarks came to light during a talk in Belfast on Wednesday, November 18,
as part of the Belfast Festival at Queens's University. Eno was accepting
written questions from the floor. One of these wanted to know if U2 had any
ideas or themes for the new album.
"It's too early in that project to say what new ideas are coming up." he said.
"The only thing that is appearing as a theme, as an idea, is an attempt to do
the most difficult thing in music, which is to create joy. That is extremely
hard.
"It's actually dead easy to make melancholy. It's easy to make energy, its
easy to make cleverness, it's easy to make intrigue, it's easy to make
glamour. But it's very very hard to make joy. To make music that really grips
you and lifts you in some way. That's hard. So that's what we're trying to do
in some way."
This view is in line with a recent statement from The Edge, who told NME that
"this is going to be an optimistic record".

Eno stated that the band's last studio album, 'Pop' was "overwrought" and too
dependent of the superficial aspects of technology. This idea was also
suggested byThe Edge, who recently explained to NME the difference between the
new regeime and the 'Pop' sound, which was created in association with
producer Flood and DJ Howie B.
""If there's any difference between our attitude going into 'Pop' and our
attitude going into the new one, it's probably how we want to make this one
more band-centred. And if we're gonna use technology, we'll use it as an
ajunct to the band's feel and the band's sound."
Brian Eno also said that his most memorable moment with U2 was during the
band's visit to Sarajevo, during the Popmart tour in 1997.
"It was probably the most moving show I'd ever been to. It was absolutely
heart-breaking."
He remembered how U2 had dedicated a song to the UK soldiers, who had been
very demoralised at this point. "The whole audience applauded the peace
keeping force," he remembered. "These troops were in tears. The crowd just
applauded on and on.... it's a stupid thing that pop music lets people take
their defences down."



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