SOE
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U2 - Summer Of Love
 Album:
Songs Of Experience (2017)
  1. Originally posted by popmarter:Having 9 producer's is a bit alarming are U2 that insecure they need so many to put out a decent album? Why couldn't Edge along with Lillywhite have just produced it because one of their regrets with Pop was too many chef's spoiled the broth .Having made so much money over the years has allowed them to bring in all these hit makers even a pub band would knock out something as good with those guys at the helm but overall the album is not on a par with JT or AB time will tell how it ranks among the rest of their records .I'd love to know how much they spent on hiring all these guys along with the other studio engineers and technicians you'd be lucky to get some change out of 10 million IMO.
    Well, I have said this on a billion posts. It makes no sense. They have taken their desire for the dreaded relevant word almost as far as I have taken my plot against Gary Osbum and Verified Ticket Scam. I want them to let go of the desire for hits. If good music is made, the success will follow. People under 30 today do not track down aging groups for great songs. When I was younger, if the Rolling Stones or Paul McCartney had a new release, I jumped on it, even if the new single did not hit me. Kids just don't do that anymore.
    Other than writing a great song and getting in a gigantic hit movie in a memorable scene, a hit is not happening for U2. I have a better chance of a date with ten supermodels, and I actually like normal looking women, lol.
    If he were a little younger, Rik Ocasick from The Cars did a good job with Weezer, and I know I spelled it wrong! But no matter who produces, let it be someone older than 35. Ryan Teddy Bear Tedder has talent, but his production does not fit U2 at all. SOI is a disjointed mess. If it was an album by a new artist, it would be a nice try, a nice place to start out, but for U2 it was bland, pandering for a younger audience, and alienated a lot of the older audience. Many of my friends couldn't listen to it at all.

    So the songwriting has to be the first focus, and having a seasoned, veteran producer who still can be open to experimentation without chasing hits, or horrible trend following. Would it be so wrong for The Edge to hang out with Keith Richards without the drugs, and just plug up an old amp and just play without all the expected effects? I don't want a whole U2 album like that, but sometimes I want to hear my favorite band just play some rock on a few tracks.
  2. Summer of Love is still tied for my favorite song on the album (along with Landlady), and the more I think about either one of the scenarios being debated above, the less I think it matters.

    Might have raised this point already, but when it first came out that Eno/Lanois were going to be credited as songwriters on NLOTH, did anyone freak out about that (I genuinely can't remember, so am wondering)? Either way, didn't the band say something like: "we were basically giving formal credit where it's already been due for a while"...meaning, a lot of songwriting ideas from previous albums produced by Eno/Lanois probably have more of their input than we might think, they just took it a step further on No Line.

    But if this is the job of the producer, anyway, and U2 have always been open to experimentation and outside influences over the years, then does this really make a difference? I've said already that enough if Tedder came up with the guitar part, the Edge is still an amazing guitarist, and the lyrical theme of Summer of Love has U2 all over it.
  3. Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:[..]
    Right...

    So what's the problem? (I'm actually lost at this point in terms of what "U2Start" thinks of this.

    I've sort of made peace with it, but the other night when I listened to the album in full again this cropped up in my head when SoL came on. I hope that stops. Even if I am okay with it, I don't like knowing it and wish I had never found out. Even if you're definitely right about a ton of U2 songs probably being written this way, I can't think of another example that's been so blatant.


    I see where you are coming from but I highly doubt that One Republic’s “West Coast” was similar to SOL other than “I’ve been thinking of the west coast” and the guitar. I can even see it as Bono hearing that line and thinking “But not the one that everyone knows”
  4. Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:You could also make the argument that in this case, U2 was acting/writing like a hip-hop artist would. The producer provided the artist with the hook, the music, and the artist wrote the lyrics to it and completed the idea.

    The difference there is that rappers aren't always musicians, meaning they need producers to provide the music/beat for them to rap to. In this example, it was a band giving an idea to another band who's more than capable of writing their own music. That being said, U2 is also 40+ years old at this point, and there's a very good chance Summer of Love was just a better idea than one they had.

    Here's a question, what if Summer of Love kicked Book of Your Heart off the album and that WAS one written totally by U2?


    Summer of Love is way better. Book Of Tour Heart is good. But it is very skippable and doesn’t get stuck in my head. The layers of Summer of Love is so good.
  5. Originally posted by popmarter:Having 9 producer's is a bit alarming are U2 that insecure they need so many to put out a decent album? Why couldn't Edge along with Lillywhite have just produced it because one of their regrets with Pop was too many chef's spoiled the broth .Having made so much money over the years has allowed them to bring in all these hit makers even a pub band would knock out something as good with those guys at the helm but overall the album is not on a par with JT or AB time will tell how it ranks among the rest of their records .I'd love to know how much they spent on hiring all these guys along with the other studio engineers and technicians you'd be lucky to get some change out of 10 million IMO.


    I don’t see the big deal about producers. It happens in rap all the time. They have a theme and hey wanted various sounds. It’s fine.
  6. Originally posted by kris_smith87:[..]


    I don’t see the big deal about producers. It happens in rap all the time. They have a theme and hey wanted various sounds. It’s fine.
    U2 are not a some trashy Rap act they write sing and play there own songs they are well capable of producing their own albums with minimal outside help, but the quest for hits and relevancy makes them over think and 2nd guess everything they do which leads them to get the latest hip producer's to make the songs more commercial sounding.
  7. Originally posted by popmarter:[..]
    U2 are not a some trashy Rap act they write sing and play there own songs they are well capable of producing their own albums with minimal outside help, but the quest for hits and relevancy makes them over think and 2nd guess everything they do which leads them to get the latest hip producer's to make the songs more commercial sounding.
    I almost said the same thing, but I used to love rap growing up. Once it became required for all rap songs to be about shooting people while smoking pot, it became quite boring for me. It seems to be getting better now, but I still can't listen to much rap after say 1992. The auto tune and lack of imagination kills me, but I also would say us older ones should at least try to mildly respect it. I don't agree with Kris at all, but will try to respect his opinion. If everyone agreed, this would be a very boring place.
  8. Originally posted by popmarter:[..]
    U2 are not a some trashy Rap act they write sing and play there own songs they are well capable of producing their own albums with minimal outside help, but the quest for hits and relevancy makes them over think and 2nd guess everything they do which leads them to get the latest hip producer's to make the songs more commercial sounding.
    That was true maybe for the first 3 albums.

    At least from The Unforgettable Fire onwards, the albums have been heavily influenced and helped by their producers, and they've always tried to make their songs as more commercial sounding as possible, and they've been very open about it.
  9. Originally posted by popmarter:[..]
    U2 are not a some trashy Rap act they write sing and play there own songs they are well capable of producing their own albums with minimal outside help, but the quest for hits and relevancy makes them over think and 2nd guess everything they do which leads them to get the latest hip producer's to make the songs more commercial sounding.
    Yeah. That comment alone shows that you don't really know anything about rap.
  10. Originally posted by pleasegone:[..]
    I almost said the same thing, but I used to love rap growing up. Once it became required for all rap songs to be about shooting people while smoking pot, it became quite boring for me. It seems to be getting better now, but I still can't listen to much rap after say 1992. The auto tune and lack of imagination kills me, but I also would say us older ones should at least try to mildly respect it. I don't agree with Kris at all, but will try to respect his opinion. If everyone agreed, this would be a very boring place.
    That is not at all what rap is only about. JAY-Z's 4:44 is basically an opus and pushes the boundaries of rap.
  11. To everyone interested, this song was written by Ryan Tedder and Brent Kutzle, it was recorded in OneRepublic studio, it was meant to be on their album Oh My My, but eventually they didn't put it on the album. Since then their fans have been asking what happened to this song called ''West Coast'' & now we can only think that Ryan brought the demo to U2, then they re-wrote the song, called it ''Summer Of Love'' & left the chorus part from the West Coast. My opinion it's the best song on this album, but Ryan & Brent should be credited as songwriters too. Also you could see in the credits of the song names of 1R team like Tyler Spry, Nate Lotz, Noel Zancanella... It's because they were recording the West Coast for 1R & finished doing Summer of Love for U2.
  12. Originally posted by ana87:To everyone interested, this song was written by Ryan Tedder and Brent Kutzle, it was recorded in OneRepublic studio, it was meant to be on their album Oh My My, but eventually they didn't put it on the album. Since then their fans have been asking what happened to this song called ''West Coast'' & now we can only think that Ryan brought the demo to U2, then they re-wrote the song, called it ''Summer Of Love'' & left the chorus part from the West Coast. My opinion it's the best song on this album, but Ryan & Brent should be credited as songwriters too. Also you could see in the credits of the song names of 1R team like Tyler Spry, Nate Lotz, Noel Zancanella... It's because they were recording the West Coast for 1R & finished doing Summer of Love for U2.
    Yeah we already know. Kudos for registering just to tell us that