It's all about U2. I love them, I've been a fan for about twenty-five years now, pretty much since the War album. I'm excited about their new album, No Line On The Horizon. I don't love it yet, but it is growing on me. True, I don't give most albums numerous spins, but most albums aren't released by U2.No Line was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, after the band started working with Rick Rubin and scrapped those sessions. I wonder what those songs were like, and if the band would have been better off sticking with Rubin's approach of, you need great songs before you even go into the studio (not traditionally how U2 works).
I'm also going to bring up U2's recent controversy: they've moved their base of business operations to Holland because Holland has more lenient tax laws than Ireland, and as a result people are protesting the band, and saying that Bono is a hypocrite. Does this kind of thing matter to you when you are listening to an artist? Or does an artist's work outside of the band (or outside of music) distract you from enjoying the band?
If there's time, I'll talk about My Chemical Romance's cover of Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row" which they recorded for the Watchmen film (which I can hardly wait to see), and new music by Buddy & Julie Miller (get well soon, Buddy!), Justin Townes Earle (son of the great Steve, but take him as his own man) and Outlaw Country/Willie's Place DJ Dallas Wayne.
Next week: the long-overdue and somewhat controversial new album by Chris Cornell, and also Kelly Clarkson's new album. Yes, that one.
