Adam Clayton - U2

[dmccombe7]

18 minutes ago, ubit said:

 

 

I created a thread ages ago asking why so many didn't like Nickelback. Some said because they are shyte and various other insults. I like them and saw them live a few years ago. They were great and had a superb sound. They are one of the most successful rock bands ever so I guess they don't mind too much.

I bought one of their albums and was quite impressed how good it was. Every song was a good listen. 

Dave

[Hellzero]

36 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

I bought one of their albums and was quite impressed how good it was. Every song was a good listen. 

Dave

Was it their Best Of ? 

[dmccombe7]

3 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Was it their Best Of ? 

"All The Right Reasons" for buying it 

Dave 

[leroydiamond]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

I'm not really a U2 or AC fan but i just think what U2 does seems to work for them as a successful band.

 

 

That it a nutshell IMO. Each member taken individually, from a technical perspective are nothing special. The Edge has a very individual sound, that depends significantly on all sorts of processing and good look to him. Put it all together and you get the U2 sound, with Bono having an instantly recognisable voice.

They were never my cup of tea and Bono just gets on my tits.  

[paul_5]

2 minutes ago, leroydiamond said:

They were never my cup of tea and Bono just gets on my tits.  

 

Maybe Clayton is a victim of association, it's not really his playing that some folks have a problem with, it's just that he's in a band with Bonob.

[paul_5]

Personally I lost interest after POP, but Aching Baby is one of my all time favourite albums; such a creative use of technology and some great songwriting.

[leroydiamond]

1 hour ago, paul_5 said:

 

Maybe Clayton is a victim of association, it's not really his playing that some folks have a problem with, it's just that he's in a band with Bonob.

🤣. In their  early days they were very rough. When the astute Paul Mcguinness came on board as manager, he spotted the potential and made the difference. When they first came out,  my mates and I in Ireland were big Lizzy and Rory Gallagher fans and thought U2 were nonsense, as in comparison their technical ability was down the toilet. Was watching a vid some years ago of the making of some U2 album or other,  when Bono compared their drummer with JH Bono. Enough said.

Edited November 23, 2021 by leroydiamond

[ubit]

12 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Yeah I’ve got a couple of their albums and think they’re a good band, the hate thing may well come from how popular How You Remind Me was, it was everywhere when it came out.

 

 

Personally, I think they are too commercial for the heavy metal fans and too heavy for the pop fans. If you go past their singles they have some great songs.

[ubit]

11 hours ago, leroydiamond said:

They were never my cup of tea and Bono just gets on my tits

 

 

Funnily enough, I am not a huge fan  but I have all of their albums and when they come on on random I quite enjoy them but I totally agree about Bonio. He is an annoying twatt!

[la bam]

Just my opinion, but back to AC using the sub harmonizer - I see lots of players saying this is an octave etc (which it is), and thinking of it as an extra effect, but it's just my suspicion that this is there to try and mimic the classic ampeg 3d magic sound, which it doesnt really manage to do, hence most people not using it.

[Marvin]

ITV, a few years ago, aired a documentary to mark the 25th(?) anniversary of the release of Achtung Baby. Throughout the film they played several of the demos, that the Edge and Bono had made, for the album to present to Clayton and Mullins. The bass parts were already there, and are the lines you hear on the album. Solid and reliable he is, but it made me wonder what is it he does other than be solid. How much does he bring to the writing process to get that writing royalty cut he gets?

 

I don't find what he does interesting. Others might say the same about the bassists I like, Mike Mills, McCartney, Jimi Goodwin (Doves). To me these players seem more musical  and more interested in music, they have 'something'. Clayton strikes as someone who just wanted to be a rock star.

 

I don't like U2, but that's not the reason I don't find Clayton interesting.  I'm not a fan of Rolling Stones, but I find Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood musically very interesting. 

 

Competent,  but beyond that I don't see someone who is of interest musically 

[Nail Soup]

33 minutes ago, Marvin said:

How much does he bring to the writing process to get that writing royalty cut he gets?

I suspect that to some extent he is being paid to "not contribute". I'm sure equality, that they are school friends etc also plays a part.

If royalties are based on contribution then it is an incentive for members to make unnecessary contributions or 'shoe-horn' songs on the album.

 

For Bono and The Edge it probably makes long-term sense for them to do a four way split.

[Lozz196]

Who knows how much of the initial songwriting he does? Look at Motley Crue, Nikki Sixx does similar to AC (but even less) yet is the chief songwriter.

[Linus27]

11 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

I suspect that to some extent he is being paid to "not contribute". I'm sure equality, that they are school friends etc also plays a part.

If royalties are based on contribution then it is an incentive for members to make unnecessary contributions or 'shoe-horn' songs on the album.

 

For Bono and The Edge it probably makes long-term sense for them to do a four way split.

They are all mates from School and they equally contribute to songwriting and coming up with ideas. The Edge and Bono are the main songwriters but Adam and Larry contribute as well. It just works for them to do a four way split. In my old band, the singer and I were the main songwriters, the other two didn't really bring much but as were were mates and a band, we split writing credits and royalties four ways. No arguments and makes it fair for all.

[Hellzero]

Motley Crue is certainly not a good example...

 

That said, concerning U2 one of my close friend is more than a huge fan and he said that they decided from the start that they would divide the royalties in 4 equal parts whatever happens as long as they play together.

 

That's the very nice part of the story.

Edited November 24, 2021 by Hellzero
F*cking small smartphone

[Lozz196]

4 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Motley Crue is certainly not a good example...

 

That said, concerning U2 one of my close friend is more than a huge fan and he said that they decided from the start that they would divide the royalties in 4 equal parts whatever happens as long as they play together.

 

That's the very nice part of the story.

Agree, difficult to say the Crue are a good example for anything 🤣

 

But I like that U2 agreement, and from what I understand Coldplay do similar. Saves the arguing & resentment, after all a quarter of mega-millions is nice enough.

[Steve Browning]

Along similar lines, the Manics were putting aside Rickey Edwards 'cut' for a long time after his disappearance. May still do, as far as I know.

 

I believe Queen eventually did the same. I do know that Roger Taylor got the same royalty for I'm In Love With My Car as FM got for Rhapsody as they were both on the same (single) disc.

[Daz39]

Rush did the same: viewing it as equal contribution to the band being the band - beyond just writing and arranging. 

All the give and take in bands that the members' bring: 'this part's rubbish, try this,' 'How's this for an album cover idea?' etc. 

It makes sense unless you are literally the one who does everything. It avoids complicated arguments and legal wranglings later: The Smiths, Pink Floyd, etc. etc.

[Nail Soup]

The first few Ramones albums were jointly credited, but after a while they started individual credits - even though the song writing was always mainly single member or sometimes two-member. They weren't best mates by the end as far as I can tell.

[Marvin]

With regard to Achtung Baby, Clayton's contribution seemed to be nil, apart from being incredibly negative when he heard the demos 

[BigRedX]

IIRC the arrangement with Queen regarding splitting the royalties equally between all of them was so that the best songs got released as single irrespective of who wrote them.

[RhysP]

23 hours ago, paul_5 said:

Yeah, I've poked fun at AC's abilities, but the fact remains that he's made more money playing fewer notes than any other bassist you'd care to mention. 

 

Working by the formula Cost per note = Massive wealth / note then he's probably the most expensive bassist on the planet per note.

 

 

I'd think John Illsey Would be a contender for that title too.

[RhysP]

20 minutes ago, Daz39 said:

Rush did the same: viewing it as equal contribution to the band being the band - beyond just writing and arranging. 

All the give and take in bands that the members' bring: 'this part's rubbish, try this,' 'How's this for an album cover idea?' etc. 

It makes sense unless you are literally the one who does everything. It avoids complicated arguments and legal wranglings later: The Smiths, Pink Floyd, etc. etc.

Neil Peart should have had money taken off him for some of his lyrics, especially on the later albums. 

[RhysP]

18 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

I bought one of their albums and was quite impressed how good it was. Every song was a good listen. 

Dave

I took my stepson to see them live ages ago. I was very pleasantly surprised, bloody good live band, excellent sound.

[Daz39]

1 minute ago, RhysP said:

Neil Peart should have had money taken off him for some of his lyrics, especially on the later albums. 

Working on that basis; Jon Anderson should be flat broke!