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U2: Listen To The New U2 Song Now
The new U2 song is now online. (Well, at least the drum part is). Larry Mullen Jr can be viewed laying down the drum beat for the new U2 single `Sexy Boots` now at their website.
`Sexy Boots` will be the first single from album, which expected to be called `No Line On The Horizon`.
The band [...]
Capping Bandwidth
Last month, I blogged about a story on Bloomberg.com about “The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will adopt rules barring Internet service providers such as Comcast Corp. from interfering with their customers’ ability to share videos and other online files.”
In yesterday’s New York Times‘ Technology section, it was reported that Comcast will now place a cap on monthly bandwidth. The article states:
Beginning Oct. 1, Comcast will put a 250 gigabyte-a-month cap on residential users. The limit will not affect most users, at least not in the short-term, but is certain to create tension as some technologies gain traction.
A Comcast spokeswoman, Jennifer Khoury, said 250 gigabytes was about 100 times the typical usage; the average customer uses two to three gigabytes a month. Less than 1 percent of customers exceed the cap, she said.
The article goes on to state:
According to Comcast, a customer would have to download 62,500 songs or 125 standard-definition movies a month to exceed the caps. But high-definition video and video gaming require a higher amount of bandwidth. S. Derek Turner, the research director for the nonpartisan media policy group Free Press, said broadband caps could create a disincentive to view online video.
So while the FCC isn’t going to chase after peer-to-peer sharing, ISP’s may begin the practice of metering, or limiting, the amount of monthly bandwidth one can use.
This is a post from the @U2 Blog.
Dying Man Mentions U2 in His Final Plans
What if you had just months to live and you had not reached your 29th birthday?
That’s the tragedy New Zealand’s Simon Toomey is enduring as he battles a rare cancer in his shoulder, neck, back, lungs and liver.
In this recent article about Toomey, it is mentioned that he’s writing an online diary to share his thoughts on death, and the life he will lead up until his passing, which he’s been told will be within the next year.
No funeral plans have been solidified, but Toomey made a point of saying “there will be some U2 played.”
My heart goes out to this fellow fan, who is facing so much.
This is a post from the @U2 Blog.
Dying Man Mentions U2 in His Final Plans
Selling Well on Amazon UK
This seems pretty cool: U2 - A Diary is currently #2 in sales on Amazon UK in the U2 category. That gets updated regularly, so here’s a screenshot in case it changes soon:
Number one is U2 Show, which is on a clearance price of only £5 UKP - no wonder it’s at #1.
I suppose this is all relative. If UK book buyers aren’t buying many U2 titles, this may not indicate good pre-orders whatsoever. But it still looks cool. 
U2 is not enough to close Obama’s TV deal
To the continuing chagrin of the newspaper racket, the majority of people here and in the United States get most of their information from TV.
Television moulds their impressions and firms up their views on politics, politicians and any old issue you can name.Tonight at the Democratic National Convention (multiple channels, starting at 7 p.m.; Barack Obama’s speech at 10 p.m.),
Barack Obama sells himself to the vast U.S. audience that needs to know more about him. The polls are indicating there’s a hesitancy about supporting Obama. This is where he starts to close the sale, and he must do it emphatically.
Over the past few days, watching the TV coverage from Denver has been a fascinating experience, especially those long reports that attempt to answer the question, “Who is Barack Obama?”
Each piece includes much coverage of his campaign, and what has struck me is that there’s a distinctive soundtrack. It’s U2. Always U2.
Early in his campaign, Obama chose U2’s City of Blinding Lights as a campaign song. Later, when he’d won the nomination, and when he appeared recently with Senator Joe Biden, it was U2’s Beautiful Day that boomed out at the public events.
Of course, all of these events are choreographed for a TV audience. The point is to get the clip, the report, on the TV news and use it as a commercial-by-proxy. Like any powerful commercial, the act of selling Obama and his message must have a catchy or uplifting musical accompaniment.
There’s nothing casual about Obama’s use of U2. If you go to the Internet to sites devoted to supporters of Obama, you’ll find a subgroup called U2 Fans for Obama ‘08. And that group’s mission statement is this: “Since Bono can’t run for U.S. president, Obama is the next best thing. A group for those of us who see in Obama a progressive Christian who embodies the ideas and sentiments we find so compelling in U2’s music.”
Me, I find it unnerving. The other night while watching one of those Obama profiles saturated with U2, I thought back to an evening, years ago, in Dublin. I walked out for a pint with my cronies. Along the Howth Road I passed a bus stop where two young men were waiting. One lounged against the wall, and the other, dressed in a long coat and a cap, giving him a bohemian look, paced. As I passed, the pacing fella looked at me. I looked at him. He nodded and I nodded back, in the Dublin way.
I knew he was the guitar player for U2, the guy who called himself the Edge, on his way into the city centre, to the bars and clubs where bands played. He wasn’t famous then. Everybody was in a band.
I recalled that and wondered why the music from those four lower-middle-class guys from the north side of Dublin - where I lived and learned everything I needed to know about life - had achieved such extraordinary, culture-defining impact. What possible ingredient in that place and time gave rise to the transcendent, visionary and poetic sound that could stir people, endlessly and over the decades?
It was partly the mood of the place, that oppressive sense of being trapped in absurd arguments about religion, Northern Ireland and an economy in shambles. Everyone of a certain age wanted to surmount that, if not to escape literally, then to escape in the mind, in the music, to reach some other place. It might have been the weather - the need to grasp and celebrate those times when the sun broke through and lit up grey, grimy Dublin. Certainly in U2’s case, it was the small, non-evangelical Christian group they were part of - today there are vigorous arguments about U2 being “a Christian band” or not. They’re not, really. The Christianity is too vague.
The thing is, the power of the music is in its vagueness. It’s about yearning, not achievement. It articulates aching needs. It is simultaneously all-meaningful and meaningless. As a selling tool, it’s too vague. Beautiful Day is as powerful at a World Cup soccer game as it is at an Obama rally.
If it is used tonight, Obama is still only selling yearning, and he’s not closing the deal. Like anyone selling something, he’s got to be more concrete, to deal with the stony ground.
Beautiful Day opens with “The heart is a bloom/ shoots up through the stony ground” and it’s on the stony ground that elections are won. I don’t think U2 closes the sale.
- JOHN DOYLE, GlobeandMail.com
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U2 is not enough to close Obama’s TV deal
Mullen’s Sun Conjuncts With Bono’s Moon
(Illustration of Adam Clayton courtesy of Scratch & Kerr’s The Legend of U2 And Other Things Besides, published 1989)
If you’re into astrology, then this article is for you. Californiapsychics.com has charted Bono, Edge, Larry and Adam with their “star” power. Specific emphasis on Bono’s Neptune, Larry’s “Mercury and Venus in Libra,” Adam’s “Neptune-ruled Pisces” and The Edge…well “The Edge’s Sun conjuncts Mullen’s Moon in Leo, while Mullen’s Sun conjuncts Bono’s Moon in Scorpio.”
Here’s more analysis:
Neptune, which rules mysticism, compassion and divine inspiration, is all over Bono’s chart. Neptune opposes his Mercury and Venus in Taurus and conjuncts his Moon in Scorpio, making him an unusually imaginative, sensitive artist. He’s also a bit of a mystic when it comes to music - his spiritual beliefs inspire his work, and he’s often referred to U2 as a priesthood. “I believe there’s a force of love and logic in the world, a force of love and logic behind the universe.” That was Bono at his Neptunian best during an interview with Rolling Stone in 2005.
This is a post from the @U2 Blog.
Mullen’s Sun Conjuncts With Bono’s Moon
CD Giveaway: Congrats to the Winner(s)
We’re still giving away free CDs, and last week we invited blog readers to write about @U2 (good or bad) for a chance to win. After reviewing all the entries, we’ve chosen the winner … make that winners. 
The original plan was just to pick one winner and give that person the full set of remastered CDs — Boy, October, and War. We’re still gonna do that. But in addition to the Grand Prize, we’re also going to give away a few extra CDs because we liked some of the blog posts so much. Sound good? Here we go:
Grand Prize Winner: Mimi
Mimi had us LOLing with her LiveJournal post, Hello Mimi - @U2 Whore. And it’s really not because she listed yours truly as her favorite thing about @U2 — srsly, it wasn’t that. It was the style and panache she wrote with, the “I am the normal one” line, and the fact that she refers to her friends/readers as monkeys.
Great stuff, Mimi! You win the set of three remastered CDs sets.
Runners-Up
Rather than write a missive about why these were chosen individually, let me just say that these writings as a group were just fun and/or interesting to read. Thank you for putting your thoughts/stories into this little contest we did. Congrats to:
Anna
Fernando Castro
White Noise
Fauzan Adam
You each have a choice: You can pick ONE of the remastered CDs, or you can pick the rare collectible promo CD, U2 Remasters: 1980-1983. It’s a 6-track CD not available in stores. This is what it looks like:
Warning: We only have a couple sets of the remastered CDs left, so if 3-4 of you want the same CD, we have a problem.
To All Winners
Email me (matt … atu2.com) with your full name and mailing address, and tell me which CD you want, and we’ll sort it from there.
Thanks again to all who participated.
This is a post from the @U2 Blog.
CD Giveaway: Congrats to the Winner(s)
U2 and Shakespeare on stage together!
Who among us hasn’t wondered what would happen if you combined U2 and Shakespeare???
Well, the Troubador Theatre Company in southern California has an answer to that question. They’re putting on a show called As U2 Like It for the next few weeks at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank, California. It’s a comedy that brings together Williams Shakespeare’s play with the music of U2 and lyrics changed to fit the bard’s storyline. They recently got some news coverage on ABC-7 in Los Angeles:
In addition to that good review, Variety magazine gave the production this praise:
Director Matt Walker keeps the energy high and the laughs consistent, and he is a welcome presence onstage as the court fool Touchstone. There is no credited writer for the show, yet mention must still be made of the cleverness of many of the altered U2 song lyrics and the brilliance of the scene in which it’s pointed out that many U2 songs sound the same, whereupon multiple song stanzas are sung simultaneously to the same backup tune to prove the point.
Hmmmm. The old “all U2 songs sound the same” stuff? Okay. Yawn.
In addition to the TV report above, there’s also a video collage showing what the production looks like:
If you think this is right up your alley, the production is running through September 14. Visit the Falcon Theatre web site for more information.
This is a post from the @U2 Blog.
U2 and Shakespeare on stage together!
Eavesdropping fan posts new U2 songs on web
A Dutch U2 fan put tracks from their new album on the internet after overhearing them being played at Bono's French home
John Burns, Sunday Times
THEY seem stuck in a moment they can't get out of. The launch of every U2 studio album since 1991 has now been preceded by a leak or theft of music, resulting in snatches of songs being posted on the internet or circulated on bootleg tapes.
To lose one album would be unfortunate; to lose six smacks of carelessness. As well as being the wealthiest band in the world, U2 may also be the unluckiest. They have been the victims of a bizarre medley of mugged couriers, German chambermaids and light-fingered French studio operators, as well as Dutch and Spanish eavesdroppers.
In the latest episode, excerpts of four tracks from the Dublin band's next album ended up on YouTube after Bono blared them at high volume from his house in Eze-sur-Mer in southern France. Ben van Riemsdijk, a Dutch fan, recorded the material on his phone and shared it online with other U2 enthusiasts.
Cynicism about the latest leak, which has resulted in extensive publicity about the band's album, has been fuelled by the fact that this is the third time U2 fans have been able to tape new material played at high volume in Bono's house.
In 2004, shortly before the release of U2's last studio album, a Spaniard standing on the beach outside claimed he was able to use a video camera to record How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. He subsequently posted tracks, including Vertigo, on the web.
Contributors to Interference.com, the fan website on which the latest clips were shared, pointed out last week that other "beach clips" were recorded in 2006 after another high-octane performance on Bono's stereo. The clips are always of poor sound quality, mixed with background noises such as waves and crickets, but of huge interest to diehard fans who discuss them avidly.
Van Riemsdijk said he spent July 25 on the public beach beside Bono's villa where the singer showed up at 6pm. "He starts playing these new songs really loud. The whole beach was listening and he knew that. On Interference, many of these incidents have been reported by fans," said the Dutchman, who is also a member of a U2 tribute band.
"Once I came home, I first discussed on Interference whether or not to share the clips as the quality is really bad. But some fans were curious so I posted the clips on Rapidshare and sent the link to some forum members. In no time, things got out of control. Hundreds of requests were made and after two days an article appeared in The Sun."
Van Riemsdijk argues that leaks of "beach clips" are likely to be positive. "I sometimes think that Bono deliberately turns up the music just to stir up the fanbase a little," he said. "U2 let fans listen to new material in their HQ studio. This way, the diehards keep interested and come back for more."
His clips eventually ended up on YouTube, at which point the band's record label stepped in. "We can confirm we were aware of the YouTube posting and that the leaked audio was removed at our request," said Chantal Hourihan of Universal Music. "Beyond that I am not in a position to comment."
Paul McGuinness, U2's manager, has criticised internet service providers (ISPs) for allowing theft of music. In Cannes earlier this year, he warned that "for ISPs in general, the days of prevaricating over their responsibilities for helping to protect music must end".
While Bono has praised Radiohead's decision to release their last album for free as "courageous and imaginative", U2 has no intention of following suit with its next offering, expected to be called No Line on the Horizon.
The complaint to YouTube is an indication that, officially, U2 will guard their material as zealously as usual. But the band has been the victim of a series of mishaps since 1991, when three hours of rehearsals for Achtung Baby were leaked, apparently after being dumped in a hotel bin.
Cynics pointed out that the effect was to reignite interest in U2 at a time when they were thought to be breaking up. Two years later, just before the release of Zooropa, a newspaper in Los Angeles reported that a courier carrying a tape of the album had been attacked. "He wasn't hurt, according to U2 publicists, but the mugger did get away with the tape," the newspaper said.
In 1996, songs from Pop were apparently "siphoned off" along cables feeding the band's video camera, which had been recording rehearsals at its Dublin studio. Discothèque and Wake Up Dead Man were later posted on the internet.
Other thefts include that of a suitcase full of lyrics in Oregon in 1981 and a laptop containing lyrics in 1999. Both were returned.
Copyright © 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.
U2: Pre-order No Line on the Horizon now!
If you still need a confirmation about the title of the new u2 album, ask HMW what’s going on. The music site is accepting pre-orders for U2’s new album called No Line On The Horizon. We think the official announcement from U2 is coming soon. We wonder…who rated this record? Bono himself?
Bono’s VP Connection
As everyone has probably heard, Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama has selected Senator Joe Biden as his choice for Vice President. It should be of no surprise that Bono has already met with Biden over the years. Here is Bono with a handful of US Senators when he visited the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on October 3, 2007:
Here’s a photo from the same meeting, courtesy of Comedy Central:
Bono has also said of Senator Biden on One.org:
“America’s global AIDS plan has proved to be a smart investment, paying dividends in live saved, communities stabilized and America’s reputation in the world growing a little bit brighter. This stuff works and leaders from left and right — leaders like Senators Biden and Lugar, Representatives Berman and Ros-Lehtinen, President Bush, Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid - put aside their differences and agreed to do more.”
Ironically, Bono sat next to Senator Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast and has met with not only him, but also Senator McCain earlier in the year. (Although I can’t seem to find a photo of Bono with McCain. Odd!)
This is a post from the @U2 Blog.
It’s all about teamwork
The rock band U2 has had a phenomenal run since it came together in 1976. It has won a remarkable 22 Grammy awards, more than any band in history. Critics rave over U2’s music and fans worldwide can’t seem to get enough of its songs and concert appearances. All the signs indicate that U2 is at the top of its game and will be going strong for the foreseeable future. Why has U2 been together for more than 30 years when most other bands eventually fall apart? Understanding why U2 has thrived for so long provides insight into the factors that make groups of all types and sizes thrive, including teams and organisations from committees to Fortune 500 companies.
U2 is comprised of four band members: lead singer Bono, lead guitar player “Edge,” bass guitar player Adam Clayton, and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. The band members have known each other since they were teenagers in Dublin, Ireland.
Bono has said that the way the band functions is even more extraordinary than the band’s music. He has described the band as more of an organism than an organisation. Several aspects of the band’s culture standout: a shared mission and set of values a participatory, consensus-oriented decision-making style and a caring community.
SHARED MISSION AND VALUES
To begin with, the members of U2 share a vision of their mission and values. While you might expect a band’s mission to be to achieve commercial success measured by Number 1 hits and concert attendance, U2’s mission is to improve the world through its music and influence. Bono calls it “the spark.” He feels it sets U2 apart from many other bands. U2’s songs address themes the band members believe are important to promote, such as human rights and social justice. Bono has described himself as a travelling salesman of ideas within songs.
The band values excellence in the music it produces and in its concert performances. Bono has described this value as a desire to achieve the band’s potential. He distinguishes it from envy, which is an unhealthy state of mind that exists when people want what others have in a competitive sense. U2’s members value continuous improvement to achieve their own potential, never feeling satisfied that they can’t become even better.
PARTICIPATIVE, CONSENSUSORIENTED, DECISION-MAKING STYLE
U2 is further unified by its participative, consensus-oriented decision-making style. The members of U2 argue relentlessly over their music, which reflects their passion for excellence. Bono has stated that this approach is frustrating at times but that U2 feels it is necessary to achieve excellence.
The key here is that the band’s members appreciate each other’s strengths. Bono has said that although he hears melodies in his head, he is unable to transfer them into written music. Because he considers himself a “lousy guitar player and an even lousier piano player”, he relies on his fellow band members and recognises that they are integral to his success. To Bono, U2 is “the best example of how to rely on others”.
A CARING COMMUNITY
Like all human beings, the members of U2 have experienced difficult periods in their lives. These experiences have shaped them in important ways. Bono’s mother died when he was 14 years old. Bono describes the period following her death as one in which he felt alone and abandoned. Although he longed for the emotional support of a family, his grief-stricken father was unable to comfort his son. To some extent, Bono’s desire for family was met through his friends and getting to know their families.
Having experienced what it was like to suffer alone and how the support of a family could help an individual make it through difficult periods, when Larry Mullen’s mother died when he was 16 years old, Bono reached out to console him. Thus began a close, supportive friendship. When Edge went through a difficult divorce, the band members were there to support him. When Adam Clayton became addicted to alcohol and drugs, the band members reached out to help him recover. Bono has stated that when one of the band members is in need, the band rallies around to support him and they put that need above the performance of the band. It’s no wonder that one of U2’s most popular songs is entitled, Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own.
The most dramatic example of this came when U2 campaigned during the 1980s for the observance of a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in America. Bono received a death threat that warned him not to sing the song Pride (In the Name of Love), a song about the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., at an upcoming concert. Bono described in an interview that as he sang the song, he closed his eyes. At the end of a verse when he opened his eyes Bono discovered Adam Clayton literally standing in front of him to shield him from potential harm.
Bono describes U2 as a tight-knit family and community. He has said that “people with a strong sense of family and community…are always very strong people”. The commitment to support one another extends beyond the four members of the band. The members of U2 are part of a larger community that includes their families, crew members and collaborators. Many of them have known each other for decades.
The economic profits from U2’s work are split equally between the four band members and their long-time manager Paul McGuiness. That might surprise some. Given Bono’s status as a megastar, it would not be inconceivable if he claimed more than an equal share of the band’s profits. What better way to show your team members that you value them than to treat them and their unique contribution as economic equals?
APPLICATION
Creating a culture that emulates the practices of U2 can unite your group and motivate its members. Doing so will increase trust, cooperation and esprit de corps among your group members. Identify your group’s identity (i.e. mission and/or values) that makes the members of your group feel proud. Develop a participative, consensusoriented decision-making style that makes everyone feel that they are informed and that they have a voice in the decision-making process. And finally, nurture a caring community where everyone feels valued, especially during the inevitable difficult periods of life.
Notice that each of the foregoing application points includes the word “feel”. How employees feel about their work determines how much effort they put into their dayto-day responsibilities. Feeling “fired up” or “burned out” are emotional states. Research from the Corporate Executive Board has shown that emotional factors are four times as effective as rational factors when it comes to the amount of effort employees put into their work.
The shared mission and values, participative, consensusoriented decision-making style, and caring community are a powerful combination that has held U2 together as a band for more than three decades. The resulting longevity has given them time to evolve their music and performances in refreshing and innovative directions. What could this kind of unity do for your organisation?
(Michael Lee Stallard is the president of E Pluribus Partners and the author of Fired Up Or Burned Out. All quotes in the article are from Bono by Michka Assayas.)
- Michael Lee Stallard - The Economic Times
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U2: Album leaked? Bono’s fault for our visitors
We started this poll at the beginning of this week asking to our visitors their opinion about what happened in the past days….album leaking, a smart promotion or Bono hasn’t been careful? There’s no doubt! You think it’s Bono’s fault and he did on purpose (49%). No matter what we think, the result is that [...]
U2 Tv: New schedule
Read the schedule at U2Star Tv Official Page.The chat has been disabled cause the moderators will be away for few days. See ya in September!For more info you can always send us an email.