1. What I'm saying is I have to make a conscious effort *not* to get excited because it has too often led to a bad experience when I did. It's so much better this way (I also try really hard to avoid any kind of leaks or spoilers until I can listen to the whole thing, so it has nothing to live up to). But that's just how it works for me.
  2. Originally posted by canadanne:What I'm saying is I have to make a conscious effort *not* to get excited because it has too often led to a bad experience when I did. It's so much better this way (I also try really hard to avoid any kind of leaks or spoilers until I can listen to the whole thing, so it has nothing to live up to). But that's just how it works for me.
    I understand what you’re saying but if you’re having to make a conscious effort not to be excited surely that means that you are excited and you’re just bottling it up almost. You’re only kidding yourself really and I don’t mean that as harsh as it sounds I mean you are literally having to tell yourself not to look forward to something specifically because you are looking forward to that thing and are trying to lower the expectations. So therefore you are excited about it but just not dwelling on that excitement.
  3. New album (of original material) = new tour so I’m more excited about that.
  4. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]
    I understand what you’re saying but if you’re having to make a conscious effort not to be excited surely that means that you are excited and you’re just bottling it up almost. You’re only kidding yourself really and I don’t mean that as harsh as it sounds I mean you are literally having to tell yourself not to look forward to something specifically because you are looking forward to that thing and are trying to lower the expectations. So therefore you are excited about it but just not dwelling on that excitement.
    Not really. I can't answer for canadanne, but new music in general is a letdown. It's not just age either. There haven't been any shocking new developments in music in quite awhile. Autotune and songs featuring 4 artists is what sells these days, and is not what I would call innovative. I set my expectations low, and every now and then I get a nice present. The Little Things was the U2 one, and a few unreleased Prince songs let out were the others. I don't really see anything groundbreaking by the younger artists I actually like, and just getting anything from artists over 50 is something. I love "Ghost Town" by the Rolling Stones, but it hardly broke new ground. Sadly, the last song Charlie played on. Foo Fighters still come up with some good stuff, but I can't even think of one album I am waiting on. R.E.M. are too scared to get back together. So U2 in any existence is better than nothing. "Your Song Saved" is ok, and I'm glad it's there. But it did meet my low expectations. I'm not bottling anything up, either. I'm happy if I like something more than I expected, but not too letdown if something stinks.
  5. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]
    Not surprising though, I was having this conversation with someone a while back that there are people out there claiming to be fans who would rather the band just stopped which I think is insane tbh. Surely every fan likes at least 1 song per album so if releasing a new album means just 1 good or great song to the individual wouldn’t that be worth it? It would to me anyway. I’m grateful for the October album for example just for a few good songs despite ranking it way below the rest.


  6. Originally posted by deanallison:Expectations and excitement are 2 different things, sure you can pretend to yourself you’re not excited but I have to question how a fan can not deep down be excited about new material.
    Yea we all got your point by now.
  7. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]
    I understand what you’re saying but if you’re having to make a conscious effort not to be excited surely that means that you are excited and you’re just bottling it up almost. You’re only kidding yourself really and I don’t mean that as harsh as it sounds I mean you are literally having to tell yourself not to look forward to something specifically because you are looking forward to that thing and are trying to lower the expectations. So therefore you are excited about it but just not dwelling on that excitement.
    I get the feeling you don't understand what it's like to be a pessimist. :p

    At the moment I am genuinely not excited about anything because it's just way too early for that. Nearer the time, it depends if something happens to get my hopes up. I'm not sure why you think it's a bad thing. So many times I've allowed myself to get excited for something and then been crushingly disappointed when I ended up not liking it. Those experiences have taught me to just wait and see, which means I'm either thrilled with the outcome or I'm not too fussed if it isn't good. It's taken years to find that kind of inner peace!
  8. Originally posted by canadanne:[..]
    I get the feeling you don't understand what it's like to be a pessimist. :p

    At the moment I am genuinely not excited about anything because it's just way too early for that. Nearer the time, it depends if something happens to get my hopes up. I'm not sure why you think it's a bad thing. So many times I've allowed myself to get excited for something and then been crushingly disappointed when I ended up not liking it. Those experiences have taught me to just wait and see, which means I'm either thrilled with the outcome or I'm not too fussed if isn't good. It's taken years to find that kind of inner peace!
    I do generally like to be realistic more towards the side of optimistic though lol.

    That’s fair enough then, a few of you have now told me the same thing so I have to accept that without being able to properly understand it. I don’t think it’s a bad thing not to get your hopes too high, I get that in fact I’m now like that about anniversary releases. I’ll still chat about them but I honestly was 99.9% convinced AB was getting a 30th anniversary boxset with a show that hadn’t been released before. Nothing crazy rare but a Stockholm or Yankee stadium something like that so I too have had that major disappointment and learned from it. That’s a little different though in that I’m thinking ahead to anniversary releases that first of all may or may not happen then when I find out it is happening it’s down to whether or not we get unreleased stuff so that’s a much more clear line than song quality on an album. Just hearing the band talk about releasing new material is exciting for me. I did still expect a new album but it feels like it makes it official and I know I’ve got some good songs to look forward to, hopefully great ones. The band have never disappointed me with an album release in my lifetime. That doesn’t mean I love all their songs but for me a poor U2 album is actually still mostly made up of good/great songs, only October isn’t in that category. I guess other fans have different thoughts and have been disappointed leading to a different way of thinking. Anyway I accept now I just think differently.
  9. I personally am very happy they are on a break.

    I bought a house. I built a “U2 Room”. I wrote a book. And while I’ll be excited for an album when the time comes, right now I’m just enjoying some downtime. I’m enjoying a break from it all.
  10. Originally posted by u2wanderer1:I personally am very happy they are on a break.

    I bought a house. I built a “U2 Room”. I wrote a book. And while I’ll be excited for an album when the time comes, right now I’m just enjoying some downtime. I’m enjoying a break from it all.
    Yes, that too - we had 5 years of pretty intense U2 activity and I'm happy to wait a while before it all gets crazy again!
  11. 2 years is more than long enough for me from the last tour gig and more than 4 years from the last album. I’m not complaining, they’re in their 60’s now and don’t have an obligation to give us new material and I will just be glad to get the new album and tour when it comes but I’d be more than ready for a new U2 album if it was dropped tomorrow with a tour announcement to go with.
  12. Originally posted by canadanne:[..]
    Yes, that too - we had 5 years of pretty intense U2 activity and I'm happy to wait a while before it all gets crazy again!
    Yup. If you had told me at one point I’d be seeing U2 live in every year between 2015 and 2019 I’d have said it would never happen…it was great. And no complaints - but I really do appreciate the quiet right now. So yeah, quite content not to be excited.