U2 surprised fans with a stealth release of a 6-song EP today. Looking forward to listening it later tonight.

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It sounds like a good return to form, musically and lyrically. I've listened a couple times but need to sit with a little bit more.

It didn't end up on everyone's iPhones, did it?

No.

I'll admit, I did check the music library on my iPhone.

But I've listened a couple times on YT Music and I like the return of their older energy, while still admitting they are not young.

Hopefully new album will be out later this year.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/u2-25-s...for-new-album/

That probably means a tour in 2027. They should be able to fill stadiums in Europe and the rest of the world. I don’t know about the US unless they keep it to a half dozen shows. Maybe baseball stadiums? Doubt we could get an arena tour but hoping.

All tracks

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...eqKcYWqyjLKW08

Good stuff. Then again, I never left the bus, so I was gonna probably like it no matter what.

I dig it. Not a huge fan an probably couldn't tell you what songs go to which albums post Achtung Baby.

Great EP. They haven't sounded this great in years. Also, welcome back Larry!

Was in the hospital recently. One of the nurses was 29 years old. I had a KC Chiefs t shirt on. We got talking and I mentioned I lived close to Arrowhead. She asked if I could hear the crowd at my house. I answered no, but when U2 played there I could hear them on the front porch. She's like, "What's U2?" She'd never heard of them. Had no clue. I mention other artists like Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, etc. Had never heard of them. She had heard of Springsteen, "Isn't he a country western guy?" She'd heard The Beatles. I mentioned The Rolling Stones. She'd heard of them, "They're scary". She'd taken a music history class in college where Altamont was discussed. and it left her with the impression that all Stones concerts were like that.

And what planet exactly is the nurse from!?

I had med students working with me during the Vegas residency, and while most had heard of U2, several didn't seem to know any of their music and didn't recognize any song. It's weird for a band that was probably the biggest band in the world 30 years ago when I was their age. But yeah, they are invisible to that generation (my kids excluded ).

Also, Millennials HATE them for the iPhone thing (which never seemed like a big deal to me, but obviously is for that generation. My young associate still complains about it.

Sorry, the lyrics are kind of weak on the American Obit song. "I love you more than hate loves war?" Greed has no end, and the rich love to get rich off of war. Seems unfinished to me, I expect more of Bono as he is one of the great lyricists of this age.

Well of course it's a song written less than a month ago. But I kind of like that lyric, TBH

I was in high school when U2 burst onto the scene here with their War (New Year's Day) and Unforgettable Fire (Pride) albums. They may have been my favorite group through Achtung Baby and Zooropa in the early 90s but lost me after that. I did see them on the Pop Mart tour when they played at Commonwealth Stadium (fantastic show) but I just wasn't digging their new material anymore, although All That You Can't Leave Behind and the 2001 tour was a nice little return to form, IMO. I'm glad to see that they're still recording but, for me, those live early years with Under A Blood Red Sky and Another Time Another Place just can't be matched in terms of energy and raw emotion. Would love to see them rekindle that fire, though they're all in their 60s and are multi-millionaires many times over. The only interest I'd have in seeing them as they are now is if they played intimate acoustic sets in smaller venues (like Bono and Edge did on Elvis Costello's Spectacle show) rather than as a stadium act. That said, good on them for releasing this EP.

"Days Of Ash"

We have a 23 year-old at our office and she doesn’t know who Prince and Arnold Schwarzenegger are, among others who you would think are fairly ubiquitous. We have fun with her about it but part of me wants to tell her to get off of her phone every spare minute of the day and realize that most artists and people worth considering are not the shitty-ass dumbfucks who are famous on social media for flashing their ass or doing and/or saying stupid shit.

Yeah, I know.

Is this on CD?

I have all the U2 albums on CD and hope maybe these 6 songs are included on the next album release.

Not yet. They haven't done a CD EP in decades. I expect it in some form eventually. Wish it's as a stand alone release but expect it to be bundled in some sort of deluxe or special edition release with something else. They are nowhere close to the level of Swift but they do have a habit of paywalling songs that way (The Best of 1980–1990, The Best of 1990–2000, U218 Singles, How to Re-assemble an Atomic Bomb all come to mind). And yes I've bought three of those for the new songs even though I had the bulk of the tracks already. It was during my completest phase that I've let go of. I don't even count Re-assemble because it's got a whole album of previously unreleased content but I had to buy the deluxe reissue of Disassemble (5 discs) to get it.

They haven't announced the 2026 fan club gift yet. They may release it on CD there.

Then I look forward to getting it sometime next year...maybe.

Edit: For the rest of the class. The fan club fulfillment is a cluster. It was never great but since Ticketmaster took over (like with Pearl Jam's) it's gotten really bad