Bono Arrives in Iceland

Sources report that Bono spend New Years in Iceland. Bono with family and friends landed in Reykjavik for the 4th time today from Dublin.

Plans are to stay over night and ring in the New Year.  Bono arrived, waived to on lookers and offered to chance for a interview.  Alison and the kids as well as Damien Rice plan to stay at a hotel in the capital as well as visit the the surrounding areas. 

Bono and the boys have been working most of the holiday on finishing up the new project and suggestions lead most to believe the project should arrive around April 2014.

U2 Heads Back to Island

U2 headed back to where is all started for them. Island Records discovered them in the 70’s and the band left them more than 7 years ago, unhappy with the treatment at Island the boys moved on. However, the return to Island comes with new management, new possibilities and a new album.

Once Jason Iley moved over to Mercury, everything began take on a sour note.  The boys packed up and followed Jason over to Mercury a sister label to Island. Early this year, the parent company Universal closed down Mercury, moving many of the acts to a new company, Virgin/EMI, although a question mark remained over where U2 would end up, with the band and record labels remaining silent on what would happen.

Sources have confirmed that the band will head back to Island, which has had a change of management since their departure. "They are going back to their spiritual home," the source said.

U2 displayed their affection for the label by continuing to include its logo on their releases even though they had headed to Mercury.

The boys dropped by Island to meet the staff and check out their new home and everything seems to be shaping up for something big for 2014. New management, New label its clear that the band has a lot riding on this next release.

This message posted on the website may suggest that the band plans for another world tour. Or it might be just a reference to way they feel about Paul.

"Sometime soon, U2 will begin a new adventure around the world and we totally understand and respect Paul's desire to not run away with the circus – AGAIN."

Apirl 2014 U2 Arrives

U2

Maybe. Wide reports suggest that we might see a new project from U2 around April 2014.  A collection of songs partly from the perspective of an innocent and partly from a seasoned veteran.

To bring it all together the band brought in electronic dance music producer Danger Mouse to help them craft it.

Most hard core U2 fans are puzzled by the relationship between Danger Mouse and U2 while others think the possibility of some amazing new sounds.

Bono said in an interview " I think we are still trying to figure it out ourselves." 

December arrives with the boys all in New York moving about studio rooms with engineers trying different mixes as Bono sings along and in the other room Larry, The Edge and others are playing around with different rhythms. Creativity happening real time. The band seems ready for the new challenge.

Released earlier in the month "Ordinary Love" was a throwback, mid tempo song that could have found a home on an earlier U2 album, early 80's. It walks the line as U2 has done before so many times. Between personal and political.  Themes of God, Faith and Hope all seem to to be coming thru loud and clear within the song.

So what are the rumors ? Well some would suggest that you can hear traces of The Clash, Kraftwork and Sex Pistols bring the band back to their youthful years.  Its time to embrace new directions.

The question of will fans follow along or will they scream for yesterday. True fans move forward. Expect to hear more great things from U2 ahead as the marketing machine starts to kick into high gear. Its the band is going forward in a new direction and now the proof will be in the music. The boys will continue fine tune, work those late hours in the studio to bring about something new and amazing.

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Bono Remembers Mandela

‘He has been a forceful presence in my life going back to 1979, when U2 made our first anti-apartheid effort’

Bono writes that he could charm the birds off the trees.  As Bono remembered Mandela in such a way that friends and family often remember love ones that pass on. The deepest respect and love which extends beyond the work his done.

Bono has a deep respect for Mandela’s fight to bring freedom to South Africa's people of color.  Bono responded during a time when apartheid spoke loudest in a country that offered no hope or future for African people of color.

In 1985, U2 along with other bands responded to Steve Van Zandt’s call to lend a voice to speak up against apartheid. Sun City was born.  Artists in years past performed at the casino earning massive paydays, before the awakening of the people to the issues within South Africa. Most bands stopped performing in South Africa others donated their pay to causes to fight apartheid.

Bono continues to be out spoken on human right issues some might say that a rocker has no place in such matters.  Mandela like Bono believes in the human spirit that lives within each of us.

Mandela’s work lives on in each of us. Bono will continue to speak out against those issues that keep the human spirit down. This is not a time of sadness, we shall rejoice that within our life time we have seen that one man can make a difference and maybe that difference can inspire us to achieve that what seems impossible.  

(RED) equals Lots of Green

Bono / File Photo /

 This past Saturday the Sotheby’s (RED) auction held in New York City. Bono and with some help from his friends Jony Ive (Apple) and Marc Newson have reportedly raised close to 13 million and was doubled by none other than Bill Gates. The money will benefit the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Africa. Bono and The Edge had a jam session performing a cover of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky with Angelique Kidjo, Nile Rodgers and his band, Chic. We would call it a rehearsal jam session.  However during the auction Bono and Chris Martin ( ColdPlay) performed a couple of tunes on the piano that was to be auctioned.

Ordinary Love Video Released

A new song, Ordinary Love, written for the movie Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, is released on vinyl for Record Store Day on 29 Nov, 2013.

Was released earlier today on the facebook and subscriber site of U2. 

The new track comes form the soundtrack of Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom and it's called Ordinary Love.  #mandela

Post by U2.

U2 in Dublin, The North Side Story

Its unique, ringside seat at the rise and rise of U2 in their home city. An exclusive publication, commissioned from the Hot Press team in Ireland, this large-format 274-page book is full of rare and unpublished photos, reviews, interviews and original band pieces from the time.

Over the past six months Hot Press have tracked down many of the original players in the U2 story - schoolfriends, musicians, artists, promoters, DJ's and crew.

Along with their unique archive of original content, North Side Story features dozens of new interviews - from Paul McGuinness and Guggi to Jim Sheridan and Steve Lillywhite - bringing the story of the band right up to date.

The editorial lens is pulled back further with first-time translations of some of the earliest interviews the band gave as they embarked on dates around Europe.

Open up North Side Story and you'll find a beautiful pull-out wall-map, capturing landmark moments in U2's Dublin from the early years to the present day. 'North And South of the River, Wandering In U2's Dublin' has been commissioned from U2's long-time design team.

It's been a remarkable project, says Niall Stokes, Hot Press Editor, whose writers, designers and photographers' have produced the book.

'Watching Feedback play in 1976, no-one could have dreamed of what lay ahead. We've ended up with a roller coaster, blow-by-blow account of the band's earliest days, telling the story of the genesis of U2 in a unique, powerful and, I hope, fantastically captivating and revealing way.

'It's about where Adam, Bono, Edge and Larry came from and the remarkable bond that bound them together, even in the face of adversity. I think fans of the band are going to love it.'

Along with this special annual gift, subscribers access a range of other benefits including exclusive music, editorial content and as usual, access to take part in ticket presales if the band announce a tour.

North Side Story is a limited edition publication by Hot Press for U2.com.

• 12 months membership of U2.com Subscribers Site
• North Side Story: U2 In Dublin, 1978-83 Lavish, 260-page publication. Definitive account with rare photos & interviews. Limited Edition.
• Giant wall-map charting places & events of U2 in Dublin up to 2013.
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