1. nice
  2. I’m interested to see how his memoir and the associated album compares against a similar concept by Mikel Joliet from The Airborne Toxic Event, my favourite band from this side of the millennium. Mikel’s book is a gripping read; you don’t need to be a fan of the band to appreciate his brutal childhood - being raised in and escaping from a religious cult; a psychologically abusive mother, struggling with drugs and alcohol in his early teens; and then his path to redemption, including reconnecting with his father. His memoir Hollywood Park chronicles his journey but it was accompanied by a brand new album of songs that gave a sound and voice to some of the stories he tells. It’s a stunning pairing as a whole chapter of words transforms into a song, giving another dimension to the story. My view is obviously influenced from by being a fan but I really was impressed with that approach and kind of wish Bono/U2 would have done the same. Telling his story using existing songs will no doubt be informative but I can’t help wondering at this point if new songs would have added more colour to and support for the book.
  3. Originally posted by Sydney_MIke:I’m interested to see how his memoir and the associated album compares against a similar concept by Mikel Joliet from The Airborne Toxic Event, my favourite band from this side of the millennium. Mikel’s book is a gripping read; you don’t need to be a fan of the band to appreciate his brutal childhood - being raised in and escaping from a religious cult; a psychologically abusive mother, struggling with drugs and alcohol in his early teens; and then his path to redemption, including reconnecting with his father. His memoir Hollywood Park chronicles his journey but it was accompanied by a brand new album of songs that gave a sound and voice to some of the stories he tells. It’s a stunning pairing as a whole chapter of words transforms into a song, giving another dimension to the story. My view is obviously influenced from by being a fan but I really was impressed with that approach and kind of wish Bono/U2 would have done the same. Telling his story using existing songs will no doubt be informative but I can’t help wondering at this point if new songs would have added more colour to and support for the book.
    I agree. Kinda like what SOI was/intended to be, with all the early memories and the obvious & subtle references to his/their early days. It would be much better if the memoir was accompained by an album of original, unreleased songs instead of reworked versions of oldies. But maybe they felt one "teenage memory" album was enough haha.
  4. I can see wanting new songs. I think we would all like to hear something new.

    But it’s a book about Bono, written by Bono. The album would be from the band. And while it’s cool they’ve decided to revisit some of the songs Bono has singled out, I really don’t want the next U2 album to be Bono’s autobiographical notes set to music. I don’t want them to be just Bono’s backing band here…

    If we were getting new stuff? I’d love to see Bono do some solo songs. But in between writing this, doing the artwork for it, recording the audiobook, not sure he has time to write and record an album as well…
  5. I understand what you're saying but if you reduced it down to its core, a lot of the time the band is only providing backing for Bono's personal or autobiographical lyrics. How else, for example, do you look at recent tracks like The Lights of Home, Iris, Landlady, Love is Bigger. Or go right back to the start and that's what Out of Control is too. He obviously contributes to the sound, but the lyrics are often his own personal and emotional perspective.
  6. Originally posted by Sydney_MIke:I understand what you're saying but if you reduced it down to its core, a lot of the time the band is only providing backing for Bono's personal or autobiographical lyrics. How else, for example, do you look at recent tracks like The Lights of Home, Iris, Landlady, Love is Bigger. Or go right back to the start and that's what Out of Control is too. He obviously contributes to the sound, but the lyrics are often his own personal and emotional perspective.
    Good point, I think lyrics somehow appeal to all band members in some way. It would be nice to know if they have something to say on the final lyrics going into the album or if Bono has the final word always.
  7. That's pretty much the description of SOE in a nutshell so yeah, I definitely agree in that regard.

    That being said, SOI was as personal/autobiographical as it gets and still it didn't feel like as a Bono solo album - or at least much less than SOE.
  8. Bono will be at Cheltenham Literature festival to promote his book. Tickets once available can be found here: https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature/whats-on/2022/bono-one-story

  9. So it appears today 31 August is actually his wedding anniversary.

    New update from U2.com
  10. So chapter 11 is "Two Hearts Beat As One." I wonder if the chapters are chronological in terms of the songs. If so, that's nine more tracks between "Out Of Control" (which is chapter 1?) and this one.

    Lots of early tunes!
  11. I’m expecting to see songs like Cedarwood Road and Raised By Wolves in among the early tracks.