View Full Version : Rick Rubin to produce U2's next album?
BuffloSoldier
10 Aug 2006, 12:00 PM
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060809/APC05/60809070/1033
Overseeing the album is Greg Fidelman, an engineer/producer who worked with Rick Rubin on albums for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, System of a Down and Audioslave. The Robins and Fidelman will be ensconced at Sound City studio in Van Nuys (the same place where Nirvana made “Nevermind” and Tom Petty made “Wildflowers” and “Damn the Torpedoes”) through the end of the month and again in October.
Why not September? Because Fidelman and Rubin have to go to London to engineer tracks for U2’s upcoming album at Abbey Road Studios.
TheSlipperyOne
10 Aug 2006, 12:49 PM
Sweet ass sweet.
I'm undecided on how I feel about this.
Crimen y Castigo
10 Aug 2006, 12:59 PM
Timbaland was busy?
bojendyk
10 Aug 2006, 01:02 PM
Evidently, it will be engineered by Steve Albini, and the videos (by Michael Gondry, of course) will feature Owen Wilson.
I kid, I kid.
Seriously, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that this album will totally, totally suck.
CHICO13
10 Aug 2006, 08:11 PM
Seriously, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that this album will totally, totally suck.
I'll go in the total opposite direction and predict it'll be one of their best works in years.
chapulincolorado
11 Aug 2006, 01:11 AM
I'll go in the total opposite direction and predict it'll be one of their best works in years.
I think the only album he has ********ed up is The (International) Noise Conspiracy's Armed Love.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000B5KRU2.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Aside from that one, I am not sure what other ones have been stinkers.
bojendyk
11 Aug 2006, 08:45 AM
Aside from that one, I am not sure what other ones have been stinkers.
I just checked his discography, and you're right--there are a lot of gems in there. But he's also responsible for tons of godawful nu metal, and I despise the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
He gets an eternal pass for Slayer.
chapulincolorado
11 Aug 2006, 10:40 AM
I just checked his discography, and you're right--there are a lot of gems in there. But he's also responsible for tons of godawful nu metal, and I despise the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The thing with Rubin is you pretty much know what he is going to sound like with X or Y or Z band. He has this thing for The Sound of Led Zeppelin in most of the albums he has produced w/ the exception of the work that he has done with Cash. Sometimes it works (LLCoolJ, JayZ,RUN DMC, et al). Sometimes it don't. I just can't see how he can ******** it up with U2...but..its possible. :D
Rick Rubin's Production List from Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rubin)
nicephoras
11 Aug 2006, 11:00 AM
Abbey Road studios, eh? That's my neck of the woods - guess I'll have to watch out for Bono and his entourage.
obie
11 Aug 2006, 11:13 AM
Rick Rubin and Greg Fidelman? Kill me now. I'd rather have Flood back.
Crimen y Castigo
11 Aug 2006, 11:22 AM
Rick Rubin and Greg Fidelman? Kill me now. I'd rather have Flood back.
How was the Hawaii U2 gig? Or is that still pending?
obie
11 Aug 2006, 04:06 PM
How was the Hawaii U2 gig? Or is that still pending?
December 9th. But with an 11-hour flight there from NYC and yesterday's terrorist news, I now have a skittish wife on my hands. Anyone want to buy 17th row seats just to the right of the stage, lower level, Aloha Stadium? Pearl Jam is opening...
Achtung
14 Aug 2006, 01:03 AM
Observant/obsessive U2 fans like myself will also have realized that the band is known for essentially grouping their albums in "threes" in terms of similarity with sounds, and that the third album in the case of Pop and Rattle & Hum tends to be the most controversial. The next album would also be a "three", and likely point to a decidedly harder sound. This could in theory be the new "Pop". Whether you think that is a good thing or a bad thing is a matter of opinion, of course. :)
Dr. Know
14 Aug 2006, 01:09 AM
Aside from that one, I am not sure what other ones have been stinkers.
The last Weezer album was horrible.
obie
14 Aug 2006, 04:48 PM
Observant/obsessive U2 fans like myself will also have realized that the band is known for essentially grouping their albums in "threes" in terms of similarity with sounds, and that the third album in the case of Pop and Rattle & Hum tends to be the most controversial. The next album would also be a "three", and likely point to a decidedly harder sound. This could in theory be the new "Pop". Whether you think that is a good thing or a bad thing is a matter of opinion, of course. :)I'd question the "3" concept and say that it's become more like an every-other-release issue, with some throwaway / continuation / half-baked stuff meant to just keep the wolves at bay while they figure out the best way to remake their sound.
Unforgettable Fire --> Wide Awake in America
The Joshua Tree --> Rattle & Hum
Achtung Baby --> Zooropa
ATYCLB --> How to Dismantle...
The one that doesn't fit this pattern is Pop. You almost get the feeling that the whole Popmart concept did so badly that they didn't even bother with the requisite follow-up.
And this isn't to say that HTDAAB or Rattle & Hum are bad, it's just that they are (1) more of the same of the previous, and (2) not as good as the previous, either. So the big question isn't if the new album will be different, it's just a question of how different.
Belgian guy
14 Aug 2006, 04:58 PM
I didn't like HTDAAB all that much, so I don't have really high hopes for U2 albums any more. But Rubin might just be an interesting choice. Still, I'll doubt they'll ever really recapture their past greatness.
Is it wrong to think they should have called it quits after Achtung Baby? I mean, there was no way they were ever going to top that.
Crimen y Castigo
14 Aug 2006, 06:12 PM
I keep thinking of the work Rubin did with Johnny Cash.
So I think it's going to be very stripped down. Not acoustic, but very few overdubs, layered vocals and the like. Sort of a live sound. The last two were relatively straight ahead, but they were very slick production-wise. I'm guessing this one will be more raw sounding. That would take some pretty great tunes, though.
Completely unfounded speculation.
And I totally buy obie's hangover theory.
655321
14 Aug 2006, 07:28 PM
I keep thinking of the work Rubin did with Johnny Cash.
So I think it's going to be very stripped down. Not acoustic, but very few overdubs, layered vocals and the like. Sort of a live sound. The last two were relatively straight ahead, but they were very slick production-wise. I'm guessing this one will be more raw sounding. That would take some pretty great tunes, though.
Completely unfounded speculation.
And I totally buy obie's hangover theory.
Rubin tends to flesh out an artist's strength and then center around that (Slayer's suffocating guitars, Johnny Cash's voice, etc). U2 are a great live band, so you could be right on the rawness aspect.
Achtung
14 Aug 2006, 07:40 PM
I'd question the "3" concept and say that it's become more like an every-other-release issue, with some throwaway / continuation / half-baked stuff meant to just keep the wolves at bay while they figure out the best way to remake their sound.
Unforgettable Fire --> Wide Awake in America
The Joshua Tree --> Rattle & Hum
Achtung Baby --> Zooropa
ATYCLB --> How to Dismantle...
Ehh, dunno about that. Wide Awake... wasn't really an album, just a couple of live tracks and some old b-sides. The Unforgettable Fire tied in pretty closely to The Joshua Tree and R&H, with the Eno/Lanois production and the whole "America" theme. Zooropa and Pop had a lot of similarities as well. Of course I love Pop, so... maybe I'm crazy anyways. :D
But either way, I think we're all expecting something a little different. Just not as big as the transition from R&H to Achtung Baby.