One of my favorite all-time U2 songs has to be “Running to Stand Still” off The Joshua Tree. The song about heroin-addicted lovers struggling to deal with addiction and their hopeless desire to want to change their lives for the better. The line “I see seven towers and only see one way out” references Dublin’s seven Ballymun Flats tower block complex that was once one of the poorest sections of the Irish capital. Only one of the towers still stands in Dublin and is scheduled for demolition.For the song’s sake it could reference any major city in the world with public housing and they’re association with drug addiction be it Chicago, Paris, Mexico City, Moscow, or Capetown. Drug addiction is something people struggle everywhere and for that matter almost everyone has something in they’re life they’re addicted to that is bad for them.

The message is one that is universal and is delivered with a beautiful arrangement that moves with the song’s tale perfectly. The simple haunting three chord song is garnered with a rising piano, a Memphis slide guitar, and a growing electric guitar that rises as the storm in the song begins forms “Under a black belly of cloud in the rain”. The song starts slow with Bono’s low story telling voice and builds into a desperate plea in the final verse. The song may be about someone who is hopeless tied to a drug, but there is a beautiful sense of hope in the song. “Running to Stand Still” transcends the stereotypical junkie song. The track should resonate with anyone who sees someone they love veering off in a dangerous path. “Running to Stand Still” great song should do

And so she woke up
Woke up from where she was lying still
Said I gotta do something about where we’re going
Step on a steam train
Step out of the driving rain
Maybe run from the darkness in the night
Singing ha, ah la la la de day
Ah la la la de day
Ah la la de day

Sweet the sin
Bitter, the taste in my mouth
I see seven towers
But I only see one way out
You got to cry without weeping
Talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice
You know I took the poison from the poison stream
Then I floated out of here
Singing ha la la la de day
Ha la la la de day
Ha la la de day

Oooooh…

She runs through the streets with her eyes painted red
Under a black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway
She brings me white gold and pearls
Stolen from the sea she is raging, she is raging
And the storm blows up in her eyes
She will suffer the needle chill
She’s running to stand still

U2’s new album has a whole strategy behind it. This has nothing to do with the music, which is great. But U2 (read Bono) has a vision for the band. They want to become the biggest new band with the biggest album in the world. And right now, in a time of major transition for the music business, it is especially difficult to be relevent and to make a mark on the market. It’s just different now than it was when the band first started doing their work. With iPods and mp3s changing how we listen to music. We don’t listen to full sized albums anymore, but little pieces of them, whatever we happen to prefer. It’s really unfortunate for those who can’t shift their styles to fit the new system. But Bono is going to try, continuing to promote the new album in innovative ways. How fun to watch him go around that way.

The Irish pop stars U2 ‘s first three albums are all being re-mastered from the old collection tapes in digital format and will be available at all  the leading music stores across the globe from July 22^nd. According to U2, “Boy”, “War” and “October”, their very popular earlier albums, are all being readied for their die hard fans in three physical formats. One format will be the normal single CD disc; the second one will be a format that has 2 premium CD discs that includes rarities and live tracks. And the third physical format will be an LP record. All the three formats will have some exclusive U2 photos, lyrics of the songs and newer front designs with same old covers.     

An important question that lingers in the minds of many U2 fans is whether the band will be undertaking a tour across the globe in support of their forthcoming album that is slated to be released in the fag end of October this year. It is been long since the likes of front man Bono; The Edge etc have hit the roads entertaining their fans with their popular rock numbers. The fans are dying to see their superstars perform and there are reports leaking that the dreams of millions of U2 fans might eventually turn into a reality in the near future. If there is an announcement from U2 regarding their tour schedules, there is no doubt that their fans will be flooding the ticket counters.  

After enjoying a most refreshing Easter break, U2 is back at their studio in Dublin in order to prepare for their next album. At the helm of this project are producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. Fans are on the verge of begging for the album to be released this year. The album has yet to be given a title, but there’s still time to decide and it is expected that U2’s 2009 concert tour with organizers Live Nation will tide fans over till then.

In related news, U2 is set to release remastered and re-edited versions of their first three albums: “Boy” (1980), “October” (1981) as well as “War” (1983). Universal Music will reissue these albums on B-sides, 180 gram vinyls and in double CD format. Also included are rare unreleased tracks and live versions of their concerts.

U2 is also touted to play at the Slane rock concert come 2009 along with other renowned acts such as the Verve and Led Zeppelin.

The first live action movie of U2 that is presently running to packed houses and is creating box office records in many parts of Ireland and the U.K is also now becoming a huge rage in America. The Catherine Owens directed movie, U2 3D is the first movie to be shot, produced and exhibited using the 3D technology and fans are really enjoying the movie. The 3D movie featuring the U2 was shot during the pop band’s South American Vertigo tour.

The Pacific Science Center in Seattle is seeing unprecedented rush for the movie and the rush never seems to stop despite the center extending the run of the movie. The Seattle Science Center has further on increased the shows and now there will be two extra shows daily at 7:15 pm as well as 9:30 pm. The revised schedule of screening the U2 3D movie will be effective till the 3rd of April and fans are thrilled about the increase in the show timings.

The lead singer of the famous rock band U2, Bono, who is always in the news, has said that the new album that the U2 band is recording in their Dublin studio will be totally uncompromising as well as a far-reaching album. Bono said that he could not reveal much about the album right now, but opined that the album that the U2 band is currently producing will be no less than a great album. He says that the new album will be enjoyed by both the young and the old alike and that the band is working day in and day out to produce an album that is totally extraordinary.

Bono is pretty confident that the new album will definitely shock many people once it is released. Bono has hinted that the upcoming album will have Moroccan influence in some songs and also said that the listeners can feel a bit of the trance and the metal in the album. Bono felt that this new album will bring a few people on to the dance floor. The producer of the U2’s new album has confirmed that the Irish rockers have already started work on the follow up of the U2’s 2004 album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

The Dublin Legend Ronnie Drew was given homage by the firmament of musicians last week. The stars that came to sing the praises of Ronnie and his legacy included the rock band U2, Shane Mac Gowan, Andrea Corr, Sinead O’ Connor, etc. All these stars gave a fitting tribute to the music supremo of Irish music industry. The leader and the star singer from U2, Bono, described Ronnie as the “greatest voice in the world”. Ronnie Drew, the founder of the Dubliners band, was wearing a black suit and a patterned red scarf. This humble man told Pat Kenny that he does not deserve such honoring and is totally knocked over by the gesture.

The “late late show” saw the singers in a one–off performance. They sang the song written by Ronnie while he was undergoing treatment for throat cancer. The song was composed by Bono, Robert Hunter, Simon Carmody and the Edge and was titled “The Ballad of Ronnie Drew”. This was recorded at the Windmill Lane and will be released in March this year. Bono, paid homage to the Irish singer and praised the powerful voice of Ronnie by saying that after hearing Ronnie, the Nirvana sounds like a girl band.

The U2 band is pondering on ways and means to bring out their next studio album and is determined to make it mind blowing for their fans as well as music lovers all over the world. The work for the new album by U2 is going on a hectic schedule in their Dublin studio and word is that the album is expected to hit the music stores in October 2008. The producers for this new studio album by U2 are believed to be Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. So far, there has been no mention on the name of the album as well as the formats and track lists, but the buzz is that “No Line on the Horizon” is one of the likely songs that will be present in their new album.

The lead singer of U2, Bono as well as Edge played this song to an interviewer during the Sundance Film Festival and there are rumors that numbers are a significant part of all the songs in the album. The possible tracks that may be included in the new studio album by U2 are “It’s six o’ clock”, “If I could Live My Life Again”, inspired from the works of the famous Argentinean poet Jorge Luis Borgre, “North Star”, acknowledging the efforts to Johnny Cash, “Mercy”, an U2ish song and “Love Is All We Have Left”, that sounds similar to a Broadway tune.

U2 and Kila are set to host a special tribute to Ronnie Drew along with some of Ireland’s finest singers. Some of the musicians work on ‘The Ballad of Ronnie Drew’ are Shane MacGowan, Christy Moore, Damien Dempsey, Sinead O’Connor, Andrea Corr, and Moya Brennan. This week producer John Reynolds said that the feeling was something very special as everyone came into Windmill Lane Rings End Road studios. After talks of poetry and lyrics singer Simon Carmody decided that they wanted to make a tribute to somebody that they truely admired as a musician. Carmody was excited when he approached Grateful Dead wordsmith (and fellow Ronnie Drew fan) Robert Hunter with the idea and he decided to become involved. The song ”The Ballad of Ronnie Drew’ became a joint effort between Hunter, Edge, Carmody and Bono with other artists signing on shortly after. The performances are amazing with Shane MacGowan, Bono, Christy Moore and Damien Dempsey all singing different verses while Sinead, Andrea Corr and Moya sing the choruses. Some of the other artists involved in the project are Brian Kennedy, Bronagh Gallagher, Billy McGuinness, Chris de Burgh, Eleanor McEvoy, Ronan Keating, Duke Special, Gavin Friday, , Jack L, Jerry Fish, Joe Elliott, Mundy, Mary Black, Mary Coughlan, Mick Pyro, Paddy Casey, and Paul Brady.