Why U2 didn't find everything they were looking for in 2008
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It was supposed to be the biggest album of the year, one that would help swell the coffers of Universal Music -- the world's largest record company. But U2 clearly had not read the script.
Initially mooted for release in Spring 2008, their new album was pushed back to November. But their 12th studio album -- tentatively titled No Line on the Horizon -- failed to come out then either. It is now thought that it will finally be released here on February 20, but that's if the band gets everything finished in time.
It's been a strange year for U2, one where the best laid plans did not come to fruition. Take the Norman Foster-designed U2 Tower: an eye-catching addition to Dublin's skyline, it would be Ireland's tallest building, a mixed-use scheme featuring a pod-like studio for the band on the top floor.
Now, with the country in economic turmoil, the tower is just one of a series of high-profile building projects on hold. According to a representative for Geranger Ltd, the consortium behind the skyscraper, the U2 Tower will be reviewed in October 2009. But with an estimated construction cost of €200m, it could be many years before the striking design from 'starchitect' Foster gets built.
Dublin Docklands Development Authority has said it "continues to have full confidence in this landmark project. But given the current unfavourable economic environment, more time is needed at this juncture. The Authority is confident that these uncertainties are short to medium term and that the Docklands will continue to be a vibrant regeneration project for the city of Dublin".
For the foreseeable future, U2 will have to make do with their modest studio in nearby Hanover Quay.
And similarly ambitious plans for The Clarence -- the five-star hotel in Dublin owned by Bono and The Edge -- may not see construction for many years. The project is currently with An Bord Pleanala and a spokesperson says it is hoped that work will begin in 2010. That, too, is probably dependent on an economic uplift.
The global recession could also have a profound effect on another U2 hobbyhorse, their music for Broadway production Spider-Man: The Musical, which is set to open in January.
Reportedly the most expensive show of all time with a €25m budget, the musical arrives during one of the toughest eras in the history of Broadway. Most shows have played to half-full houses in recent months. Riverdance supremos John McColgan and Moya Doherty were just two of the high-profile victims of theatreland's struggling times -- their Pirate Queen was one of 2007's biggest flops. Now U2's Spider-Man will reside in the same theatre, the Hilton.
"A lot of shows stay open for Thanksgiving and Christmas and then run out of steam," says Hilton manager Micah Hollingsworth. "This year, there are more than normal closing down. Because of the economy, there's more anxiety around."
Bono is banking on Spider-Man bucking the trend, suggesting that it will be "something the likes of which no one has seen or heard". The music will, apparently, be part punk rock and part opera.
It should be a hallucinogenic experience for theatregoers," he said. "You have the visual energy. The myth of the arachnid and the elasticity of these characters -- you can turn theatre upside down."
But U2's non-music endeavours have not always been a success. The Million Dollar Hotel movie, with a Bono screenplay, bombed at the box office and was critically mauled.
And, in the mid-1980s, along with manager Paul McGuinness, the band invested heavily in the laser-gun game Quasar, but it never caught on. And after spending heavily on venues in Germany, they discovered that games featuring replica guns were banned there.
When it comes to albums, however, U2 produce the alchemy that makes truly big sellers. Their last two albums each sold more than 10 million -- an enviable figure in an era characterised by illegal downloading. And their back catalogue continues to sell well -- The Joshua Tree is now past the 20 million mark but the reissued versions of their first three albums sold badly.
And all that serves to show how disappointed top brass in Universal must have been when the album failed to show this year as expected. The company has had a mixed time of it, with one of their expected bankers, Snow Patrol, shifting far less than expected.
For a band that have redefined the art of promoting their music, U2 tend to be much more tight-lipped about the recording process. The Edge recently told Mojo magazine that the album was largely finished -- with "between 50 and 60 songs" already recorded.
And Bono has delivered a handful of soundbites describing the new music as unlike anything U2 have done before. Similar platitudes have become de rigueur in the months leading up to any new U2 album.
For a group that averaged an album a year between 1980 and 1985, they now take more than four years between releases. It's partly down to enormous touring commitments, but also because they have become used to recording an album's worth of new material, scrapping it, then deciding to start again.
The new album has proved to be no different. Initially, the band went into the studio with producer Rick Rubin -- the man credited with reviving the careers of Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond -- but only a pair of songs were recorded.
The Edge has talked about possibly returning to those songs one day, but it seems unlikely if the early sessions of How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb is anything to go by. U2 went into the studio with former Sex Pistols producer Chris Thomas, but scrapped new material which never saw the light of day.
With the Rubin experiment not working to everyone's satisfaction, the band fell back on a more reliable source, former Roxy Music member and ambient music visionary Brian Eno, who has had a hand in production on most of their albums since 1984's The Unforgettable Fire. Long-term cohort Daniel Lanois was also re-recruited.
Other producers are thought to have had a part, too -- after all, Atomic Bomb featured eight of them -- with Bono's friend, rapper Kanye West, recently suggesting that will.i.am of hip hop group Black Eyed Peas is in studio with the band now.
Despite experiencing something of an annus horribilis, U2 still have plenty to smile about. The foursome -- along with McGuinness -- are worth €900m according to Ireland's Richest Celebrities, to be broadcast on TV3 on Monday. That's well ahead of No.2, Michael Flatley.
And while 2009 may bring no happy answers to the U2 Tower, Clarence Hotel and Spider-Man questions, it will likely see U2's financial muscle being strengthened.
HMV have reported a strong demand for pre-orders of the album, which will be supported with a major globe-trotting tour.
Their last tour, Vertigo, is the second highest grossing ever (after the Rolling Stones). It took in almost €400m and over the course of 131 shows, the band played to 4.6 million people.
- John Meagher
