u/Wild_Mycologist_6140

DaDa had been on my radar for a while, but I had been waiting for closer to Halloween to give it a spin. I had heard the title track in the past so I had an idea what to expect, but still wasn't ready for what came next. Former Lee Warmer - No Man's Land - Dyslexia - Scarlet and Sheba - I Love America - Fresh Blood is the most confusing sequences I've ever heard from an album. I notice a lot of similarities to The Wall throughout, likely a result of Bob Ezrin. I doubt Alice could have come up with this on his own given the state he was in. Fresh Blood is my favorite from the album and is where the Pink Floyd sound is most apparent. I Love America is fun. It's a shame that he doesn't play it live, it would be a great follow up to Elected. I still am lost as to what No Man's Land and Scarlet and Sheba have to do with anything, but I guess that's just part of listening to an album about a madman. I've seen people try to tie the album into the Steven storyline, but I don't think it works. I'm curious if Alice's book next week will add anything to this album's lore. He's not been very fond of talking about this era of his life. That being said, I've been spinning this one all day and I'm loving it.

With less than a month until the big day, I started wondering what U2 will do to celebrate such a huge milestone. A new album is a given. I assume it will be announced on the actual day. Probably some kind of "U2 Through the Ages" video on YouTube. But what else do you guys think will happen.

Today Shane MacGowan posted on his Twitter a brief video that said that something is coming. If you sign up to pre-save the song you get a short, instrumental section of the song and the promise that more would be announced tomorrow. U2songs says that it will be fully released Friday.

U2songs gave an update on the new album today. The album is finished and has been handed over to the label. It is to be released in November and will be announced sometime in September. A second single (likely Silencio) will be released along with the album announcement.

Jackknife Lee is the main producer, but Eno and Lanois contributed as "guest appearances". Lillywhite also had a hand in the album during the final week of recording. Eno has also been working with U2 on a separate project outside of this album.

Also, "another non-album single is expected in the weeks ahead." I'm very curious what this could be. My guess is another colab of some sort.

Source: https://www.u2songs.com/discography/u2_album_2026 as of 8/2/2026

This song has been on repeat for me lately. It's so strange, yet so catchy. What do people think about this one? I don't see it talked about often

Listening to people whine about Street of Dreams got me wondering "what makes a bad U2 song?" Why is a simple song like With or Without You seen as a classic, but a simple song like Yours Eternally seen as one of their worst? I tried to break it down, it's kind of interesting to understand a label we keep putting on things.

Trying to be Popular

When U2 writes a song to be popular, it usually doesn't come out well. Yours Eternally, California, Get on Your Boots, IGGCIIDGCT, and Every Breaking Wave are among the most hated U2 ever released because of this reason. Despite this, seeking success does not always equal a death sentience for songs. I've been tired of Beautiful Day for years, but it's certainly not a bad song. Same for With or Without You. Where do we draw the line?

I think the distinction is this. BD and WOWY come from a time when U2 were more creative. WOWY is a one-off pop song, whereas GOYB comes from a time where U2 is trying to regain relevance. It's about the surrounding circumstances. Even BD is close enough to that "classic U2 era" that most people are able to look past it. But today, as songs like that are becoming more common, people are calling out for the more complex side of U2, the side that gave us WTSHNN and Zooropa. If With or Without You came out today everyone would hate it. They'd say the same things they're saying now with Street of Dreams. This isn't the only reason for "bad" U2 songs though.

Mixing Decisions

Iris is a great song, but you wouldn't know it if you heard the album version. The song is swamped in generic mixes and a very confined sound. It's meant to soar like a modern WOWY, but poor studio choices make it fall flat. If you look up a live version it sounds incredible because it's free of it's confines. This is the second thing that causes bad U2 songs, poor mixing in the studio. The same is true with Song for Someone. Great song, but held back by the production. Many songs like this only come to life live because of how they were mixed. Elevation, Invisible, The Little Things that Give You Away, Your Song Saved my Life, and The Miracle (of Joey Ramone) all fall into this trap. They sound like lame pop songs. If they had been mixed differently they would be incredible, but they only stand as a shadow of what could have been.

This was never really a problem with U2 music until post NLOTH. Jackknife Lee does not know how to handle their music. This is the same problem that happened with Street of Dreams. It's mixed like a generic pop song, so people see it as a generic pop song. It will be incredible live, mark my words, but the version we have now is just a shadow of what it will become in a few months. Although this is the biggest issue nowadays, it's not the only one. Both this and the simpler style hamper these songs down.

I wish they'd make another album with Lillywhite or Eno, or maybe try someone new. I think they need a change to remind them why they started making music in the first place. They used to be deathly opposed to making a pop song, yet here they are now. I have hope for this new album, I'm just not sure how much...

When SoD came out a few weeks ago I listened to it a bunch. But recently, as it's been settling into my playlist, I started paying more attention to the themes. This song is what the EPs have been building towards thematically.

Days of Ash is all about how messed up the world is right now. The abuse of power, the lack of equality, and the need for justice. DoA is a very depressing listen as a result. It presents a problem and offers no solution.

Easter Lily gives us the answer, faith and prayer are what we need. The songs offer hope to someone who lost a friend, someone betrayed by the people in power, and innocent people caught in trouble. These people see the turmoil around them and respond with a prayer, "I will bless the Lord at all times". The EPs teach us that things are a mess and how to respond, Street of Dreams is that response in action.

SoD is about someone who has been torn apart by the world, down to his last breath of air, and he uses that breath to pray. He prays for a world filled with justice and love. Through his prayer he finds strength. He is ready to bring change to the world. He isn't going to wallow in sorrow like DoA, he is going to seek change. He is going to ride his bus to the street of dreams.

In many places, the SoD lyrics are cheesy. But in the context of the two EPs they are perfect. I'm not sure how far into SoD's development they were when they decided to make the EPs, but it seems they knew it was all meant to tie together.

I'd be willing to bet that the new album will be like this too. Knowledge that the world is screwed up, but faith and joy that it still can be fixed.

"'Street of Dreams' will be out in the coming week." - U2songs

Honestly, this isn't really a surprise. This week we were sent an email teasing upcoming news, and a new clip of the song posted to their YouTube. But today, they updated their channel to have an image of the single (as someone else posted today) and left the note "All roads point to the Street of Dreams". Right now, I just want some info on the album, name, date, cover etc. It's interesting that they release it the same week as the new Rolling Stones album, but I'm tired of waiting for something we know is coming. My guess is Friday, but any day works.

https://www.u2songs.com/news/street_of_dreams_updates

My thought was Lemon just because of how weird it is. What are your thoughts?

After several months of gathering my thoughts on the two EPs, I finally decided my opinion on them. I have biases towards both of them, DoA had the hype of being the first new material in years, EL was released on my birthday. But ultimately, my thoughts are thus: Easter Lily is a better package but Days of Ash has better songs.

The good songs from DoA stand head and shoulders over anything on EL. American Obituary has Edge's best riff in decades. The Tears of Things are Bono's best lyrics since NLOTH. Song of the Future is very catchy and sounds a lot like the upcoming Street of Dreams. One Life at a Time is beautiful and sounds like an Inhaler song. But a few things hold this EP back. It really only has five songs, with Wildpeace being a poem at the end of SOTF. Yours Eternally is one of the worst songs U2 has ever put out. The lyrics are great, but the melody and instrumentation are very boring. I don't have a problem with Sheeran, but he really brought this song down. In many ways, DoA is like NLOTH. It has monstrously high highs, but several chasms that stand in it's way.

EL is much more well rounded. There are no bad songs, but it's all shockingly similar. DoA has variety, but this feels like it's all similar ideas. Song for Hal is very good, it's this atmospheric, upbeat song reminiscent of NLOTH. In a Life is kind of boring. It feels flat and the lyrics are very repetitive. Scars is probably the best on the album. It has a beautiful intro and some clever wording. Resurrection Song I keep going back and forth on. On the one hand, it's a pop song. On the other, it's a pretty good pop song. I don't get the hype, but it's not bad. Easter Parade is the most stadium rock thing from the album. It has a great chorus and a nice intro. COEXIST is U2 at their most experimental. It's shockingly catchy, although most people outside the fan base wouldn't understand it. EL is kind of like HTDAAB. The whole thing is quite good, I'd even say great. It's a cohesive package and there's nothing wrong with it. But nothing on it can stand up to the highs of DoA (or NLOTH for the analogy's sake)

I guess which is better comes down to what you're looking for. Days of Ash has better songs. If you're just looking for something to add to a playlist, this is the one for you. But the shortness and Yours Eternally bog this down. Kind of like NLOTH which has some incredible highs, but is held back by a few duds. Easter Lily does nothing wrong, almost to a fault. It's not bad but it doesn't try anything. This is the better option if you want to sit down and listen to something in it's entirety. It's like HTDAAB. It's a great listen, but the highs of the other tower over it. I don't know which one is better, but they've both made me excited for whatever we get later this year.

Mellon Collie has been on my radar for a while. Bullet was one of the first songs I really got into. 1979 blew me away the first time I heard it, but I never really cared to listen to the whole album until last fall. Somehow, I learned about their Atum album and it seemed like something right up my alley. But then I learned that it was the 3rd in a trilogy starting with Mellon Collie. I knew that I wanted to listen to them in order, but I was put off by Mellon Collie's length (and the price as a result of that).

Last month, the 4lp was on sale so I figured that it was time. I decided that I would listen to the records one at a time, and I wouldn't move on to the next one until I felt familiar with the one I was on. This made sure that I had a grasp on each song before adding more. Over several weeks I slowly listened to it.

To state the obvious, this album is magnificent. Each song is great, but more than that, each song is distinct. Most albums today can't make three distinct songs, let alone twenty-eight. Any song could have been a single. By Starlight, Here is no Why, Where Boys Fear to Tread, and Love are all such good songs. 1979 is one of the best songs ever written, by far.

Nothing on this album is bad, but a few songs aren't as good as the rest. Tonight, Tonight is incredibly overrated. I like what they're going for, but it doesn't quite land. An Ode to No One is probably my least favorite. Take Me Down feels quite forgettable. But these songs are completely overshadowed by the mastery the rest of the album displays. Even the instrumental is a banger.

I'm debating seeing it live in October. They're playing less than two hours from me, and I'm going back and forth on whether I should or not. I intend to listen to Machina this fall and then Atum this spring. If I decide to see them live, I'll pick up Siamese Dream before hand. But now, I'm taking time to familiarize myself with the songs even more. I'm reaching the point where I'm starting to know the lyrics to the songs. I'm sure you guys see posts like this often, and I appreciate anyone who took the time to read through this one.

Today I listened to The Clash's self-titled album from 1977 for the first time. I got to the song What's My Name and something about the intro made me think of An Cat Dubh. After I noticed this, I couldn't help but notice similarities to early U2. From the energy to the politics it sounded like Boy/War. Early U2 didn't really have a developed sound, it just grabbed stuff from bands they liked. I guess it makes sense that this would have impacted them. The band had formed by the time this came out and they were still figuring things out. Bono especially has pointed to The Clash as a huge influence. Even after they had several albums, they still pulled from these guys. Sunday Bloody Sunday was Clash inspired.

I was perusing Discogs and I stumbled upon this. Is this an actual Beach Boys song or is it a fake? And if it is real, why?

Personally, I think midday. They might do something with their radio station and have it debut there first. I'd rather have midnight though, those are always fun.

What's the significance to the 16th of June anyways? Why is that the date they chose to put in the song?

This afternoon I opened U2songs and they had a discography entry for Street of Dreams. It had the single cover (the one of the band walking out of water), said it would release this week probably on Friday, and said there would be a video for it the same day but not the one from Mexico from last month. Then the website crashed and when it started back up it was gone. The link in my history now just takes me to the discography menu. When I run the cover through Google Lens it pops up, but when I click it it goes to discography. What happened? Did something change? Did Island's lawyers have them take it down? Any theories?