New Album in the Works

USA Today (1996-05-15)

Fans, record retailers, promoters and the band themselves are anxious to get new U2 music to the public ear.

The Irish quartet’s last albums, 1991’s Achtung Baby and 1993’s Zooropa, were chart-toppers that sandwiched the spectacle-packed Zoo Tour, which raked in $64 million to become 1992’s highest-grossing pop attraction.

Can U2 top itself?

“It’s too early to talk about specifics, but we’ll definitely go bigger and better rather than smaller,” bassist Adam Clayton says of a tour tentatively slated to start in May 1997. Details of U2’s nearly sealed deal with a promoter are expected soon.

The band and producer Flood began work on the new songs in October. They spent the past two weeks overdubbing tracks in a Miami studio and next plan to narrow 30 demos to 20 finished cuts that will be pared further for an album.

“If things get rolling and we finish in time for an October or November release, we’ll be very happy,” says Clayton, admitting he’s nervous about relaunching the U2 juggernaut. “You start to worry that you’ve been gone too long or enjoyed being anonymous too much.”

The rock-oriented album is heavy on guitars but also “takes on board everthing that’s happened musically in the last five years,” he says. ‘We’ve had a real rhythm education.”

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