Edge thinks about singing solo on album

The Edge has entertained thoughts about recording a solo studio album.

"I have occasionally thought about it, and I'm singing more than I have ever sung. I even contemplate the idea that I might sing something on a solo album. But there's never any time," the musician said.

"To be honest, if I was to carve out a month or two and knock out a solo album, I know I would not be happy with it. I would torture myself and run out of time and it wouldn't be fun."

"And that's the thing about working with U2 that I figured out early on when I actually did a few solo things. Whatever about it giving you the opportunity to express your artistic instincts without any other people ruining them; it's so much fun to be in a band. It's so much more fun to work with U2 than doing a solo thing."

He was speaking to TXFM Drive host Joe Donnelly to mark the release of the band's album, Songs of Innocence.

Speaking about the now infamous iTunes deal, where users were given the album for free, The Edge said: "You can't please everyone. It's a free album."

"But, I do understand for some people they felt it was an unwelcome gift. I mean, I was saying to Bono, in our heads we were leaving a free carton of milk on people's doorsteps but actually what happened is, it was placed in their fridge".

hnews@herald.ie

BONO SINGS WITH GRONEMEYER IN GERMANY

Bono made a surprise appearance     on Herbert Gronemeyer`s show at the Metropolis Hall in Potsdam,Germany on Tuesday night in .

 Bono and Gronemeyer sang his song, "Mensch," the same song they performed together in 2007 at an anti-poverty concert in Rostock, Germany.  The performance was apparently recorded for Gronemeyer's upcoming English-language album, I Walk, which is due for release in October. Bono and Gronemeyer also sang "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of" together.

http://www.atu2.com/

Man on the Train

Some months ago, we came to know that Larry Mullen Jnr was starring a movie. The name of the film is Man On The Train,  directed by Mary McGuckian ( Inconceivable).Larry's co-stars are Donald Sutherland and Graham Greene. It`s a re-make of a 2002 French film (L'homme du train starred by Johnny Halliday)
and it`s an Ireland-Canada co-production. Though it`s not the first time he acts in a film (he and Bono appeared in Phil Joanau's 1999 film Entropy), this will be his first starring role. When Bono was asked what he thought of his bandmate debut by the Canadian media, he said: "You know what? He`s been acting the bollocks for years..." 
 Now Pembridge Pictures has  shown the first stills of the movie:

  

Larry also composed the film`s original score together with Simon Clime. There`s still no date for its premiere.

www.pembridgepictures.com///popgoesthenews.blogspot.com///www.atu2.com

Bono and Edge, Turn Off The Dark

U2.com says that...

Bono and Edge joined Julie Taymor in New York a few days ago to preview 'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark' which is set to open on Broadway early next year.

'It's fun for us to work in a different idiom than we're used to,' explained Bono. 'It's great to not be writing for the first person and to step inside some of these fantastic characters.'

The Spider-Man preview, hosted by Julie, Bono and Edge, took place at The Times Center and this is what we learned.

1. 'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark' will open at Broadway's Hilton Theater on February 18th next year, and previews begin on January 16th.

2. It's directed by Julie Taymor ('The Lion King' and Beatles movie 'All Across The Universe' in which Bono played Dr Robert ) and written by Julie with Glen Berger.

3. The narrative 'follows the story of teenager Peter Parker, whose unremarkable life is turned upside-down - literally - when he's bitten by a genetically altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to his bedroom ceiling. This bullied science-geek, suddenly endowed with astonishing powers, soon learns, however, that with great power comes great responsibility as villains test not only his physical strength but also his strength of character.'

4. Costumes are by Eiko Ishioka (Coppola's 'Dracula' and the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony) and according to one early reviewer, they are 'breathtaking'.

5. Edge and Bono have written all the music and lyrics and eight of the songs were previewed by a group of actors, including: 'Bouncing off the Walls', 'Turn off the Dark', 'Bullying By Numbers' and the ballads 'Rise Above' and 'Boy Falls From the Sky'.

source:www.U2.com

Inside the Preview of "Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark" With U2's Bono and The Edge

The blog "Modern Fabulosity" has posted a review of the preview of the Broadway musical, "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark".The music and songs of the show have been created by Bono and Edge and is scheduled to premiere on 18th February 2010.

"...I headed down to The Times Center on 41st Street for a special sneak preview of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, the new mega-musical opening next January at Broadway's Hilton Theatre. The talent is tremendous -- Julie Taymor (The Lion King) directing, Eiko Ishioka (Coppola's Dracula and the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony) on costumes, and, of course, U2's Bono and The Edge, composing their first-ever score for the stage. I think it's safe to say that no other musical this decade has generated more excitement or interest, and its pre-sales -- currently available only through specialty groups -- are through the roof.

The presentation began with Taymor, who spoke at length about the elements that drew her to the project...essentially, the classical structure of Peter Parker's journey from everyman to hero. Unlike Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films (which moved from the story's comic book roots toward a more naturalistic, real-world interpretation), Taymor is, unsurprisingly, going the other way -- embracing the webcrawler's inherent theatricality, and placing him inside a stylized New York City populated with heroes and (multiple) supervillains.

Taymor addressed the question on everyone's mind right away: will Spider-Man spin webs and fly through the air? The answer was a resounding yes...the character will swing through the theatre and over the audience. She then showed a video from last year's top-secret "flying workshop" in Los Angeles, where she, stunt designers from the Spider-Man movies, and aerialists from Cirque du Soleil spent two weeks in a studio lot working on "webslinger technology" for the musical. The results were pretty impressive...the wires are visible, but the moves are so stunning you forget them very fast.

To wild applaus, Taymor introduced Bono and The Edge, and the two men ambled out onto the stage. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day -- these two global superstars, who have played stadiums all over the world and won every award imaginable, actually seemed a little nervous playing these songs to an audience for the first time! They were, if you can imagine it, even a little adorable, like kids with a new toy...playful, smart, interesting, and genuinely excited to be working on a stage musical. (Bono mentioned that they first got the idea to do a musical from Andrew Lloyd Webber, and name-dropped Rodgers and Hammerstein in their opening remarks.)

My favorite songs included two beautiful ballads written for Peter Parker which bookended the presentation, "Rise Above" and "Boy Falls From The Sky." Both were incredibly successful at marrying story to lyric; they also managed to simultaneously sound like U2 rock tracks AND Broadway classics. I also liked the title ballad, "Turn Off The Dark," a minor-chord metaphor for heroism, and an uptempo rocker, "Bouncing Off The Walls," which will have Peter taking the title literally...with walls that move to accomodate his bouncing!

Less successful were a character number called "Bullying By Numbers," a percussive track called "Pull The Trigger," and a ballad that (I think) was called "If The World Should End." The latter might have just been the female performer, who had breathing problems and sang out of tune for long sections.

All in all, though, I was thoroughly impressed...energized, even, by Taymor's thoughtful approach to the material, the dynamic execution of the designers, and the palpable energy of the production team. Can we dare to hope that Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark might be a great musical in the making? A week ago, I didn't imagine such a thing was possible. Today, I'm not only thinking it. I'm betting on it."

A very promising review and the music sounds like something we would like to hear....I guess this is not Bono and Edge´s first musical as they composed the music for Anthony Burgesss´s A Clockwork Orange for the stage in the nineties for the Royal Shakespeare Company,London.

official web site :http://spidermanonbroadway.marvel.com/

source:http://modernfabulousity.blogspot.com