U2 book stadium dates for 2009
Band will rock Dublin's Croke Park

Joe Bosso, Sun 14 Sep, 2:37 pm BST


Big concert plans for U2

U2 are still working on their new album, No Line On The Horizon, but they're already plotting a massive 18-month world tour, part of which calls for three huge summer concerts at Dublin's Croke Park Stadium.

After four years away from the concert scene, U2 will salute their comeback by playing three shows at the 82,000-capacity stadium.

Possible five-night stand
"They want to rock Croker for three nights," says a source close to the group. "They have been planning this comeback for a long time and the ultimate way to mark their homecoming is with a string of live shows in Ireland's most spectacular venue. They will have no problem selling all the nights out and there's even rumors that they could end up playing for four or even five evenings - if they can get permission for the extra nights."
The tour will kick early next year in the US to accompany the release of a new album in January - three months later than they had originally planned.

As MusicRadar reported earlier, Bono said the band are on a creative roll and don't want to stop prematurely. "We've hit a rich song writing vein. It gets a bit dark down here but looks like we've found diamonds not coal. I thought a while back we might have the album wrapped by now but why come up above ground now if there's more priceless stuff to be found? It's been maddening. There have been injuries and recoveries, no babies born that I know of, but this one is nearly ready for the new year of 2009."

U2 said they are choosing from 50 to 60 tracks they've written during sessions in Morocco, Dublin and France and they believe the new album will be a departure for the group.

i seriously expected most responses to be of the "bono's a duche" kind and then the thread would sink into oblivion

*braces self for Bono's head swelling and shifting earth's axis*

Is that better?

I wonder if u2spain.es is right about Mercy.

Unofficial tracklisting per u2spain.es
http://u2spain.babelfm.com/nolineonthehorizon.html

The comments on YouTube say this is a leftover from HTDAAB and not one of the new songs. I think that's good, because it's kind of a boring song and sounds like, well, something left off HTDAAB.

POSSIBLE SONGS MENTIONED:

These are songs that have been mentioned in the buildup to U2's next studio album:

* "Unknown Caller" - Edge talks about the song in this MOJO magazine interview. It's one of the songs recorded in Fez, Morocco, and Edge says it "seems to be everyone's favourite or second favourite tune on the album." In the beginning of the track, Edge says you can hear the swallows that were flying above the band in the open atrium of the riad in Fez where they were recording.
* "Stand Up" - in this Reuters article, Bono says the song is inspired by the Stand Up and Take Action campaign events of October 17-19; "It's not a 'let's hold hands and the world is a better place sort of song.' It's more kick down the door of your own hypocrisy," Bono says.
* "Get On Your Boots" - described in this Q magazine article as "Eddie Cochran with barbershop harmonies'; previously referred to in some articles as "Sexy Boots"
* "Breathe" - described in this Q magazine article as a "f--k-off live rocker"
* "The Cedars of Lebanon" - Daniel Lanois revealed this track in an interview with the Montreal magazine, Voir. He said the song was inspired by Jimi Hendrix.
* "Moment of Surrender" - an 8-minute-long track mentioned in this Q magazine article; Brian Eno told fans outside Hanover Quay studios in early June, 2008, that it's "the best thing" he's recorded with U2. Edge talks about the song a bit more in this MOJO magazine interview, saying it's 7-and-a-half minutes long.
* "For Your Love" - a song title seen on the band's white board, as described in this article from the Fez recording sessions; in this Q magazine article, Edge says it has one of the best riffs he's ever played
* "One Bird" - a song title seen on the band's white board, as described in this article from the Fez recording sessions
* "No Line On The Horizon" - Bono and Edge played this song for a USA Today writer during an in-the-car interview at the Sundance Film Festival. On hearing it, writer Anthony Breznican says "heavy distortion fills the car," and later adds: "The song is rough, weaving between brutal guitar blasts underscoring the mellow title refrain." Edge explains that the song "It came out of a new distortion box that my guitar tech got."
* Unknown Title - in the same interview with Anthony Breznican, Bono and Edge played a second song whose opening lyric is, "It's six o'clock...". Bono tells Breznican that numbers are significant in each of the new songs.
* "If I Could Live My Life Again" - Bono says this song is "inspired by the great Argentinian poet Jorge Luis Borges." Bono said he had just begun the song while speaking with author Michka Assayas in December, 2005. Their interview appears as the extra material in the paperback version of Bono in Conversation with Michka Assayas.
* "Love Is All We Have Left" - a song Bono named during his May, 2006, trip to Africa as one that he had recently written. "It’s like an old Broadway tune. I thought it was a Frank Sinatra song," Bono said.
* "North Star," a song from the How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb sessions which included a guest organ appearance from Michael W. Smith. In this CCM article, Smith describes the song as a tribute to Johnny Cash.
* "Mercy", one of the last songs to get cut from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, described in Blender magazine as "a six-and-a-half-minute outpouring of U2 at its most uninhibitedly U2-ish"
* "Lead Me In The Way I Should Go" -- a contender for Atomic Bomb first mentioned in this February, 2003, interview with Bono in Grammy Magazine
* "You Can't Give Away Your Heart" - a contender for Atomic Bomb first mentioned in SPIN magazine