U Talkin’ U2 To Me? - U Talkin' U2 To Me? - All That You Can't Leave Behind

Episode Date: April 30, 2014

This week Adam Scott Aukerman are back from their break of slowing things down to talk U2 as they delve into U2's tenth studio album All That You Can't Leave Behind. They’ll discuss how U2 went back to basics while recording this album, their first impressions of the single "Beautiful Day," U2’s moving performance on SNL, the Elevation Tour, and their thoughts on each of the tracks. Plus, they'll talk about the amazing fan fart they've received. This episode is sponsored by: TrunkClub: Go to trunkclub.com/u2 to save on better fitting Men’s Clothes.  Squarespace : Build your own website. Use offer code EDGE for a free trial and 10% off.  Qello : Instantly stream full length HD concerts. Go to www.Qello.com/VIP/U2talk for a free trial.  ProFlowers : Use offer code U2 for a great deal just in time for Mother’s Day.

This episode of You Talking U2 to Me is brought to you by Squarespace. Squarespace is the all-in-one platform that makes it fast and easy to create your own professional website or online portfolio. For a free trial and 10% off, go to squarespace.com and use the offer code EDGE. From boy to boots Getting The boots on That is This is you talking U2 to me? The comprehensive

And encyclopedic compendium of all things U2. Welcome back to the show for another week. Happy week to you all. Here we are, back in the studio. My name is Scott Aukerman, the host of the Comedy Bang Bang podcast and TV show. Ooh, Engineer Sam bringing up the levels a little bit. Didn't have enough. Whoa.

He's like, I need a little leftovers on that. Let me introduce my co-host. It's safe to say that you're not my guest. You're co-hosting this, right? Yes. I'm co-creator. Wait, you co-created this? Yes.

Okay. Let me introduce him. He is, I can, by the way, I'm motioning. If I sound distracted, I'm motioning to Engineer Sam that I, yeah, I can sort of hear in the headphones, but I like them nice and loud. You know what I mean? Like, turn it up to 11. Oh, like in Spinal Tap. I don't know what that is.

Oh, it's this comedy film from the early 80s. I'm going to switch headphones while you're giving me this boring explanation about this stupid movie one of the characters played by Christopher Guest Christopher Guest of Best in Show Waiting for Guffman

fame he says he's playing a rock star rock and roll star rock and roll star guitar player and he

in a quite a funny bit that a lot of not many people know about. Is this an episode of I Love Films? I think it is. Well, hey, welcome to I Love Films. This is your host, Scott.

Hi, this is your co-host, Scott. And we're talking about- And co-creator talking about a movie that i've never heard hide nor hair of before something called spinole tube no it's called spinal toosk toosk yeah That was I Love Films. Hey, great episode. Let me introduce the co-host of this and co-creator of this particular podcast. You know him as co-creator of one thing, this podcast.

Other than that, he is an interpreter of other people's creations very true and it's very very important to me that from now on you um id me as co-creator every time i will every time you talk to me every wait every time i talk to you not even about this show every single time a lot of people think that we don't ever talk about anything but this show. Is that true? You mean in our daily lives? Yes. It's become that.

We primarily text and email each other about you two. But you know what's funny is we talk now more than we ever did before. So it's great. See, I think that this show, it's a lot like playing poker or sports or something like that. It gives us an excuse to hang out. I feel like the listeners, while getting more information here

than they ever will anywhere else, about you two. About you two, of course. They will also be listening and bearing witness to a burgeoning friendship. Oh, my God. Well, I thought that our friendship was burgeoning before this. No, it was smoldering for years.

I think it's a blossoming friendship. I mean, we've known each other for years. I remember we played poker together once in probably 2004, probably earlier, I think. I think I've known you since the 90s, my good man. I agree, but what I'm saying is you interrupted me. We were playing poker in 2004. Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up. And you, from across the poker table, kept talking about Torque to me. Torque?

Do you remember that? Wait, was that a movie you were in? It was a movie I was in. I think it was soon after Torque came out because from across the poker table, you kept saying, Adam Scott, star of Torque. It sounds like something I would do. That said, I don't really know what TORC is. Maybe I did that week.

I think you're fine. Adam Scott, star of TORC, is here, by the way, co-creator of this very podcast. You talking, well, you too to me. And boy, let's play catch up a little bit. Ketchup and mustard, if you know what I mean. On my hot dog. By the way, we're in a new studio. The reason why we're a little discombobulated right now, I were, you know, it doesn't feel

exactly the way it always feels. Now, uh, this is the very first podcast ever to be recorded in the new Earwolf studios. So that's quite an honor. It's really nice. It's very airy in here. Very airy in. There's three white guys in here. It's very airy in.

There's only white people allowed in this building, right? And it's, yeah, it's a nice big room. It's more of a headphones issue to me. I can, I'm still, yeah, that's the full sound that I'm talking about. I need it full and rich. There we go. I'm glad. Yeah, I'm good.

I'm glad that it's working out for you because I was about to suggest that you take those headphones and shove them straight up your ass. Why do you need to talk to me like that? Well, I was sick of hearing about it, quite frankly. You know what? We got very contentious on our last episode. You got very contentious. I did.

We need to talk about the last episode, okay? I need to apologize to the listener. I need to apologize to engineers such as Sam. I don't know if you were there last episode. I can't recall. No, he wasn't. If you're going to talk, get on mic. I can't recall.

No, he wasn't. If you're going to talk, get on mic. And I need, most of all, to apologize to you, too, the band. Because... What about Paul F. Tompkins? Fuck him. Fuck you. He was like, what crossfire am I caught in the middle of?

It was an interesting episode. We taped two that night. Oh, boy. We did. And both of them were coming up on two hours long. Yes. And I was just loopy by the end of that second one. Well, not only had we recorded two episodes, I was feeling it by the end of the second one, but also you had recorded two other comedy bang bangs that same day.

And those are not brief shows. Those are not brief and they're not easy where I'm just like asking dumb questions of some stupid actor about some dumb band that he likes. That's right. That's right. You actually have to work. So that was a rough day for me. If people did not get enough U2 on that last show, I apologize.

Because I know that is my balawick on this show. What is that word? My responsibility. Oh, I see. And I know that I'm the one that you all look to for U2 knowledge, such as who are the band members. Yeah, and what their names are what their names are which by the way on a comedy bang bang episode that i recorded that day i got them wrong so i don't know what you remember band names yes i was talking about the bassist larry mohan so am i qualified to host this show and be co-creator?

Would you say I'm co-creator, by the way? Well, let me do a couple of calculations. Adam is counting on two fingers. He's just pointing, alternating at both of these two fingers. Oh, my gosh. Now he's like Mozart. He's playing air flute. Now he's turned into a Native American.

More like Robin Williams' impression of a Native American. Yes. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. This is, look, this is you two talking to me. No, what is this called? It's called, are you talking you two to me?

And we have proved week in and week out that, yes, we are talking you two to you. Yes. Correct? Yes. That yes that's that's what that's what that's the whole point of the podcast is to prove to all the listeners that we are talking you too to them they are they are being talked you too to to at Yes. That's what they're here for. That's what they're here for. And we're going to just delve into it. Look, last week we had an episode where we didn't talk much U2, and for that I'm sorry.

Right. We did Pop, and then the following episode was Nothing. We talked to Pop F. Tompkins. Well, we talked a lot about the first time he ever heard of you too we covered that extensively so this episode we're gonna go full bore we're gonna go full bore on you too and we're gonna discuss um their one of their many comeback albums all that you can't leave behind is that what it's called all all that you can't leave all that you can't leave behind is that what it's called all all that you can't leave all that you can't leave behind but before we do that you on the way up this is a new studio we

parked yeah um we parked next to each other we were directed by a very confused security guard he thought that this building was much further down the street but said i could still park here wait he thought the building he's guarding. I gave him the address. I said, is this this address? And he said, no, no, no, that's down there. And I said, oh, okay, well, can I park here? He goes, yeah, park anywhere.

Nice guy. As far as my relationship with him, I said, I'm with him. And I pointed at you and I went, huh? I said, I'm with him. And he went, huh? I said, that guy over there, I relationship with him i said i'm with him and i pointed at you and i went huh i said i'm with him and he went huh i said that guy over there i'm with him huh i said i'm with earwolf i'm with him he went huh i said i'm with him he said oh yeah park with him so that was a good good convo He's earning his dollars. You never know. He may be paid in Bitcoins. I hope so.

I think we all should be paid. Are we being paid in Bitcoins? Oh, yeah, definitely. Yeah. It's the monetary... It's the currency of the future. Currency of the future, yeah. What was I going to say?

Monetary device? Yes. What is money? Oh, boy. Oh, wait. Is it time for another one of our shows i think it is it's time for what is money yes or is it what don't we have one about money it's called all about money oh yeah let's do that one instead hey that's my own side podcast, What Is Money? No, hey, welcome to All About Money. And I'm your host, Scott.

This is Scott. And, um, bitcoins. Currency of the future or of the recent past? Scott, I'm here to tell you that bitcoin is the currency of the future. I think you need to be bullish on bitcoin. I think you need to get it now.. I think you need to get it now. And I think you need to ride it into the ground. What about all the people

who have lost their entire savings on Bitcoins? I think those people are foolish. I think those people are playing the market wrong. And I think those people need to stop and think about what they're doing and get the Bitcoin and run it in to the ground. The people who already lost all their money should get more Bitcoins? Those people have learned their lesson.

They're ready to get back in the saddle. It's America, goddammit. This is all about money. Hey, good episode. Great episode. Maybe the best. Probably. Probably. Probably.

So, in any case, before we get to... In any case? How am I... Is that the wrong expression? No, it's great. Look, I get it. This is payback for the last show. I was rude to you. To the band. by putting out such an unprofessional show.

I think it added a very real spice to the show. And it's going to make for a very funny, exciting episode. It really will. And this is the climactic conclusion of will we do more shows? Yes, we will. We're here. You know, we did discuss an idea for the future of the show this past week. We did.

Do you want to talk about that? Well, I think that we should run this one into the ground before we talk about the future shows. Okay. But if you have future ideas of what, look, we've covered almost everything about U2 at this point. I mean, we have discussed the names of each member of the band. Not only that, but we've also discussed the instruments they play. It would be easy enough for another podcast to just say someone's name.

Right. And just go, you know what? John Smith. Hey, there's a name for you. Hey someone's name. Right. And just go, you know what? John Smith. Hey, there's a name for you. Hey, sure thing. Right. But what we do is we tie that information together with, okay, what else about them do you need to know?

What instrument do they play? What do they do? What band are they in? And what function do they serve within that band i.e spiritual i.e the monk of the band god i cannot hear that enough um and in this case we're talking about the band you too hue too no you too hue as in hue downs too2. Hugh, as in Hugh Downs 2. Not at all. U as in just the letter U.

Wait, half of a W? No, it's a separate letter from W. It's not half of anything. It is its own letter, U. Hugh. No. T, T, T-U? No.

U. Hugh, T, U. Do you have a piece of paper? I could write it down. Oh, yeah, sure. Here you No. U. Hugh T. U. Do you have a piece of paper? I could write it down. Oh, yeah, sure. Here you go. Okay. Okay, thank you.

Do you have a pen? Oh, yeah. Here we go. Okay. Boy, you are a hard writer. Yeah. It takes me a while to write U2. Okay, there's U. Do you see that? Do you see too. Okay, there's you.

Do you see that? Do you see that? Okay, yeah, okay. You. Hugh. Okay, I think it's just a pronunciation thing with you. It may be because I see that as a Hugh. Okay.

What would you say if you pointed to me and you said, hey, you? He, Hugh. Okay. It is a pronunciation thing. You do understand that this is just a letter. Pronunciation. Well, okay. Again, it's a pronunciation thing. You do understand that this is just a letter. Pronunciation. Well, okay. Again, it's a pronunciation thing.

Pronunciation. Sure. Because you pronounce words. You pronounce words differently than I do. Yes. Correctly. Exactly. Correctly.

Correctly. And you say correctly. Mm-hmm. The second symbol in the name of the band is just can i see that piece of paper yeah here we go okay give me that pen too okay i'm writing the second symbol this is a strange sound effect yeah you have you have an odd writing style well it's i i was born in mesopotamia okay two is the second symbol so so is this like two u's like a w no the like the w hotel the number two it's the letter u and then the number two and you put them together, what do you get?

Double hue. Nope. You get U2. That's the band. That's the band, the titular band in hue talking hue to, i.e. double hue to me. You know what? We'll work on it. Next week we'll have it straight.

We'll have it down, definitely. So we rolled into this place. We were high on the hog. You have to admit. You're driving around your sweet ride. I'm driving around my sweet ride. It's another night in LA. Oh, man.

Hollywood nights. Windows down, radio cranked. Fucking cranked, man. When I say cranked, I fucking drilled i'm i'm also talking the crank soundtrack oh yeah for sure so good you have i have the crank 2 soundtrack they're both interchangeable to me because they're just on a loop one two two one we burned our own cds because we both bought the soundtracks on itunes What photo did you put on your Crank soundtrack CD? I put Amy Smart, like, when she was jumping over the camera

and you can see her vagina. That's the one that I put. Cool. Does that really happen in that movie? Yes, from Crank 2. Because I had Amy Smart and Jason Statham when they're having sex on the horse racing track. That's the same scene, I think.

Oh, it is? Yeah. So we're just fucking, we're living it. Okay, now you guys can have this lifestyle as well. All you got to do is fucking get a TV show. Shit, bro. Get a TV show. Oh, you know what I did?

Speaking of TV shows, you know what I wanted to hear an update from you about? Weekend update? What? Musical guest. Can you say, and your host? And your host, Adam Scott. Will we ever hear those words? And your host, Adam Scott from Parks and Recreation.

They don't usually add a credit. I think for you, they would have to kind of explain. I think that you might hear the golfer. The golfer before you? Why don't you host? Have you ever looked into it? Honestly, seriously, have you ever had your person look into it? Why aren't you hosting SNL?

No, I have not. Paul Rudd hosts three fucking times yeah and you not once great job come on he's your friend you have to say that he's my friend too technically technically what is technically like you guys you guys are old friends right i am an acquaintance of his i would say i've hung out with him yeah you guys have known each other for a long time. We've known each other for a long time, but not in the sense that you guys. You guys have shown each other your penises. But what the fuck, man? Why not you?

Why not Hugh? Again, you're mis- No, I was talking about Hugh Downs at that point. Oh, Hugh Downs has hosted SNL. He's like one of John Goodman, Alec Baldwin, Justin Timberlake. He's in the 20-timer club. Yes. Yeah.

The thing I wanted to talk to you about, speaking of TV shows, was you passionately kind of went after parenthood a few episodes back for having an unrealistic depiction of a recording studio. Oh, do you mean the uh what's it called the luncheonette the luncheonette i just wanted to to because i watch that show as well i just wanted to do a little parenthood update with you oh great okay i haven't seen the last two episodes oh you haven't are we able to talk about it we can sure are they are they in the luncheon as far as you've gone i just want to hear your impressions of where Parenthood's at.

Oh, just an update on Parenthood? Yeah. What did I talk about in the last one? Just how unrealistic it was that this band was recording an album for so long at the luncheonette. Isn't it the same? And the lead singer in that band is the lead singer of a real band, right? I think so. And he was a good actor, too. Yeah, he did a good job.

Yeah, he's good. What are you trying to lead me to? Nothing. I just thought it was funny that you took such issue with a small detail of a TV show. Yeah, that TV show has some unrealistic subplots. Sure, all TV shows do. Well, I mean, I strive in my TV show to have a certain sense of realism. Right.

Nothing that would strain credulity. Okay. Credibility? I think I'm saying it right. Okay. But no, there's just certain things. I love that show, but the mayoral race and the luncheonette are two things that I kind of laugh at a little bit. But I haven't seen it in a few weeks, so I'm not really, it's not the freshest on my mind

right now. Look, I'm a busy guy. I'm out there driving around cranking up the radio. Right. Listening to crank. But why aren't you at least the musical guest? That's what I, you know what? That's what I should really shoot for is to be the musical guest.

Why not for Parks and Rec this year? Just go, you know what, guys? I'll do a, what is it, seventh season? Yeah. I'll do a seventh season. Throw me one SNL. You know, that's a really, really good negotiating stance. It's the same network.

Well, yeah, and I have tons of leverage for something like that. I think that's a great idea. Tell Amy, nudge Amy one of these days with your elbow. That is something that I would absolutely do. Just nudge her with your elbow. Go, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, Ames. You call her Ames? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Ames.

Give me on Snull. Do they call it Snull? I think they call it Snull. Is that why for short they just call it the snail? Yeah. As we all know, for the first 30 years, everyone said, you watched the snail last night? Right. And then it changed after 30 years.

They changed it. To just Snuh for a while. And now it's just snull. Get me on snull, Amy. Why not? Why not? How bad could you do? Get me going on snull.

How bad could you do that they won't let you on this? Pretty bad. You'd be good at it. I don't know. Seriously, you would be just as good as Paul Rudd. Don't you think? I don't know. Paul's a funny guy. as good as Paul Rudd. Don't you think? I don't know. Paul's a funny guy.

You're a funny guy. It's equitable, I think. You know what this feels like? This feels like an aunt talking to me about something. Who has no idea how show business works. Look, the difference is I know how show business works. Look, I'll go to Parks and Rec, season seven, no problem. Tell you what, you want me to do 22 episodes?

I'll do 21 and one SNL. Then I'll sit out the other episode. That's a good, good idea. It's a solid idea. Just give me one week off. I'll jet over to NYC. I'll go on a Monday. NY, I just call it NY, especially in emails.

Sure. It's quicker, I understand. Yeah, and also it's not especially in emails. Sure. It's quicker. I understand. Yeah, and also, it's not like I'm going to be going to Rochester. I'm going to New York City. Sure.

We all know where we're going if we're going to New York City. Everyone knows that. Everyone knows. I'll jet on over on a Monday. I'll come back on, look, I'll even come back

Saturday night after the show. Sure. If you want me to. Red Eye. Sure. No problem. One of those classic 2 a.m. Red Eyes.

Yep. And I'll be back in L.A. Sunday morning to start shooting Parks and Rec again. Sunday morning, yeah. When we always start. As long as, okay, I'll do 21 eps, one SNL. Which is episodes. Yeah. One SNL.

I want to make sure that I do Californians. Because I got it. And also, I want to throw into the mix part of the deal. I want to do one Californication episode as well. Of course, yeah. Look, parent companies being what they are, I'm sure Showtime is. I'm sure it falls under some umbrella somewhere. Some umbrella somewhere.

Comcast. Com. Yeah. Or at least like. CBS umbrella somewhere. Comcast. Yeah. Or at least like CBS, whatever. Let's be honest. The United States government owns everything anyway. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

Thank you for saying that. You know what? You are quite welcome. Thank you. I don't know why you don't do that. You're like, you're a pussy or something. Okay. I'll do 21 Parks and Recs uh one snore and one californication and what was the

other one that's all i had but i mean you have to do a california one deck one dexter one dexter okay yeah they gotta bring dexter back yeah for me to do who do you want to play in that um i want to be like dexter's buddy. Dexter's bro. Yeah, just like, let's go kill someone. An enabler. Yeah, and then he kills me. What? Yeah, because you're only doing one episode.

I'm just doing one. So it can be a, they call that a capsule episode. No, what do they call it? They call it a one and done. One and done. Or they call it a superstar comes in for five days yes yes yes so you like that one you want to be the guy who like taps dexter on the shoulder and it's like hey dexter hey i figured out what you do and i like it and then he turns around and that's all you want to do

one line kills me yeah but i want to take like seven days to shoot it. Can you imagine if this were to happen in 2014? Yeah. September of 2014, big Parks and Rec premiere, season premiere. To promote it, all of a sudden we got musical guest, Hugh Too, and your host, Adam Scott from Parks and Recreation. I wonder when they're going to do SNL. How long has it been since you two did SNL? They, I believe, okay, they did it for All That You Can't Leave Behind.

Yes. I think they did it one other time. I'm not sure. I don't have that information in front of me. Did they do it for Atomic,'m not sure i don't have that information in front of me did they do it for atomic uh how to dismantle an atomic they may have done it for the for the for uh the other album the one after that they did not they did not okay then they did remember they did letterman for five nights yeah maybe they've only done snl once then yeah didn't they do that for new line on the horizon letterman all week yeah they probably did wait that was pretty great i have to say

that was awesome we're not at that episode i don't care what you think of it yet but how great would that be if it was like i feel like we know that he's a fan so musical guest hugh too hugh again hugh too how great would it be i feel like you, and I'm not saying we should discuss this album. I'm just saying from what I've gathered, you really didn't like No Line on the Horizon. I actually have a very interesting opinion of No Line on the Horizon, but I don't want to talk about it. And I also feel like you didn't like How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. We will talk about that in perhaps the next episode if we ever get to it. Okay.

But we're talking about all that you can't leave behind right now. Clearly. But look, I got to talk about this because I've been hyping it for the entire time. When you pulled up. Yeah. You got out of your car. Oh, yeah. You slammed the door.

You didn't even look back at the car. You were just like so confident about the slam. You're just like, shagoon. That's how I get out of my car. And you were just like, you moved on. You were like a car. You were just like so confident about the slam. You were just like, shagoon. That's how I get out of my car. And you were just like, you moved on. You were like a shark. You were just moving forward. Hey, show business is like being a shark.

If you stop, you die. Uh-huh. Okay? Uh-huh, uh-huh. It's like business. And we got into this elevator. This is a dynamite elevator, by the way. It goes up four floors.

My compliments to the chef, Sam. Chief. dynamite elevator by the way it goes up four floors my compliments to the chef sam sheaf um and you turn to me and you got a wild look in your eye you got a hair up your ass sure obviously and you you turn to me and you say you ever been to chop house shop house shop is that what it's called a shop house shop house You ever been to Shop House? Yeah. And I said, we went back and forth about what it was for a bit, and I finally figured out what it was and where it was.

And I said, no, I haven't. And I said, why? Is it good? And you said, let's save it for the show. So here we are in the show. What do you got? How is Shop House? Well, here's how i heard about shop house have you ever been on netflix and you're going through and they have all those like documentaries inside mcdonald's yes inside and they have inside chipotle oh i haven't seen

that one yeah it's all about the stuff that we eat they're very popular yeah i had never watched one of these before i watched a couple i watched but i watched the chipotle one which is moderately interesting but at the end they said we were starting this new restaurant it's the same basic idea as chipotle except it's asian cuisine and it's uh cuisine yeah. I don't think people in glass houses should throw stones at my pronunciation words. Pronunciation, sorry. And it's called Shop House. So tonight, a little time to kill before the old cast. By the way, what's going on?

Why do you have time to kill? Usually you're the one saying let's come in at nine. Yeah, tonight I... Your kids went to sleep early for some reason? No, I finished up what I was doing today, and I had two hours until it was time to be here. What? Yeah. What were you doing today?

You're not filming the show. It's none of your business. None of my business or none of the listeners' business? No, the listeners, it's totally their business. Oh, go ahead and tell them. No, it's none of your business. I'll take off my headphones. No, I don't.

Look, this is not a completely soundproof room yet. I don't trust you not hearing what I was up to today. Shit. So anyway, I went, I sauntered into Shop House. I was like, what do you got, Shop House? Just cock of the walk. Oh, man. Just going in there.

King. How often, and this is, man. Just going in there. King. How often, and this is, this is, I'm, I'm genuinely interested in this. Yeah. How often do you walk in a restaurant?

How often does someone behind the counter say, Hey man, I just want to say, I'm a big fan of what you do. You're co-creator of this podcast. Nothing else. I have to say in all honesty, in all honestly, since we started this podcast, at least 10 times a day,

I get people talking to me about you talking to me. About the podcast? It's a great fucking show. I'm just kidding. Not one person. Not one person? Okay. Actually, I have, but it's mostly like people

already know it's not like right strangers people online they love it they do they love it so much great fan art there is a new one we'll talk about the fan art after the break okay i gotta get the shop house review oh it was it was good it's good asian fast food healthy healthy in what way uh yeah vitamins well no i didn't die while i was there eating the food so your health continued abated as far as i know my health has not been affected by the food except you just had a gross burp what are you tasting as that comes up some sort of curry what did you have you had uh what the shophouse curry special talk when i talk about cuisine is it time for this is how i talk when i talk about cuisine. Yes. All right.

Hey, welcome to This Is How I Talk when I talk about cuisine. I'm your host, Scott. And this is Scott. And I'm talking today about Shop House. Shop House is a new Asian cuisine restaurant from the creators of Chipotle. You walk in, very similar to Chipotle. You pick what base you want in your Asian bowl.

You get rice, salad. Noodles? Noodles. Whatever you want. Then you pick a protein. You got chicken. You got steak. You got some sort of meatball.

Carnitas. There's no carnitas. This is an Asian cuisine restaurant. Mm-hmm. And then you continue down the line. You pick out some sort of garnish. Pick out a veggie. Then a sauce.

By veggie, I got to stop you right there. What do you mean when you say veggie? Vegetables. You got green beans. You got some other kind of vegetables in there. You mix it all up in the bowl. Bok choy? Bok choy, whatever you want.

They got it there. Shophouse. Then you move on down the line. You throw on a sauce. You want mild, you want medium, or you want spicy. You choose it right there. They'll pour it on for you. They pour it?

Well, it's a ladle situation. They don't drip it? No, they squirt it out of their butt. Hey, this has been This Is how i talk when i talk about cuisine good app yeah so so how was it man it was good i feel um yeah it was good it was good yeah um yeah it was good it was good yeah why that's all you wanted to tell me about it you you had a fire in your belly you wanted to talk about shop house hey listen i saved it for the show and i saved it for the show and i just let it out it was good that's all you have to say it was good all right i hope they sponsor the show. I think they will, especially after I said they squirt the sauce out of their butts.

All right, we have to take a break. When we come back, we'll talk about some fan art. We've been getting some great fan art, and we'll continue our discussion of all that you can't leave behind. And we're going in-depth. Do we have anything left to say about all that you can't leave behind at this point? I don't know. We'll try to come up with something. We'll be right back.

And we have another word from our sponsor, Quello Concerts. Quello Concerts. Amazing. If you love music, this is something you have to check out, okay? And I know you love music because you're listening to us sit here talking about him for a couple hours. Quello Concerts is the world's largest collection of full length HD concerts and music documentaries. Oh, this sounds amazing to me already. You can instantly stream the best artists and performances of all time on your mobile phone or tablet.

best artists, and performances of all time on your mobile phone or tablet. That's iOS, Android, Windows, computer, smart TV, Amazon Fire TV, PlayStation, Roku, Apple TV. They got you covered. And it's all kinds of great stuff, like full-length concerts from U2. Oh, click. That's me stopping this ad because I'm going to go there right now. That's me stopping this ad because I'm going to go there right now Not only just you two Foo Fighters, Daft Punk, Metallica, Lady Gaga, Santana, Linkin, Pahark And more!

Do you want to check out classics like Rush, Nirvana, The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson? Maybe you want to go really classic You can go all the way back to Beethoven, Pavarotti, Winston Marsalis, or B.B. King. Do it. Plus, there's amazing music documentaries as well. You can watch a whole concert, or you can be the artist and create a set list of your favorite performances from multiple artists to share with your audience of friends. Yeah, that's right. You can stream that from any device for your and their listening and viewing pleasure. So go to QuelloConcerts.com slash VIP slash U2Talk for a free trial to get a taste of how awesome this is. That's Q-E-L-L-O. Don't put that U in there for Quello.

Q-E-L-L-O Concerts.COM slash VIP slash U2Talk for a free trial. It's QELLOCONCERTS.COM slash VIP because you're a VIP. Then U2Talk for a free trial. One more time. QELLOCONCERTS.COM slash VIP slash U2Talk for a free trial. Guys, by now, you know all about it. You've been listening to this show since the beginning. I've been talking about them ceaselessly, but let me tell you about Squarespace once again. Squarespace, that's right. One of our favorite sponsors, the all-in-one platform that makes it fast and easy to create your own professional website or online portfolio. You know they have the greatest designs. You know they have the most constantly improving features and the most beautiful style options on the web.

But did you know now every Squarespace plan is fully able to support commerce functionality? What? You say? What does that mean? Well, let me explain it to you. That means that all of your Squarespace customers can now begin selling products online. What? That's amazing.

Are you not a customer yet? That is the wisdom of a fool. Start your free trial with no credit card required at squarespace.com. If you decide to sign up for Squarespace, which I know you will, make sure to use the offer code EDGE, like the guitarists at YouTube, to get 10% off and to let them know that we sent you Squarespace, everything you need to create an exceptional website. Welcome back.

Welcome back to Adam, who just took a squirt in the restrooms. How are the restrooms? Nice. This place is very new. There's no soap in the dispenser and there's no towels because I think this literally, this place just cracked open like fresh bread today. Like a fresh butthole.

I love it like a fresh butthole, like a baby. Like a baby's butthole? Yeah. Is that legal to say? Hey, look. Babies gotta crack baby's butthole? Yeah. Is that legal to say? Hey, look. Babies got to crack open they butthole. Isn't that a Sir Mix-A-Lot song?

I'm not saying anything that I want to do to it. I'm just saying they're cracking them open. I'm going to refrain from commenting on that. Oh, why? Because you have so much

to protect with your NBC contract? How about doing, you know, tell you what, go back to NBC and go, look, I'll do one for you, one for me. You know, that's what I really respect about some of the bigger stars. They do one for them and one for themselves. So it's like, look, I'll do one episode of Parks, then I'll do one of SNL, one that I find fun. And then one of Californication. One of Californication.

Just one for you, one for me. So you end up doing 11 shows of Parks and then 11 just crazy other NBC shows that you want to do. But do a Revolution or something like that. Grimm. Do a Grimm. I don't give a fuck. Can I do canceled NBC shows as well?

Yes, of course. Do Seinfeld. Manimal. Manimal. Do Matthew Grimm. I don't give a fuck. Can I do canceled NBC shows as well? Yes, of course. Do Seinfeld. Manimal. Manimal. Do Matthew Starr. I'll do the marriage ref. Don't do the marriage ref. So, okay.

So you were going to talk about fan farts. So we've gotten, and I'm so sorry that, you know, we're taping this so many weeks in advance, but we've gotten so much great fan fart. Adam and I are constantly emailing. By the way, how does email work? Have we talked about this at all? Oh, yeah. Email, to me, is one of my primary modes of communication with my family, with my friends, your fans, with my fans, constantly emailing your fans always.

Yeah. And giving them the updates about what you're up to and about what movies you're in. Yes. And what's next for me, really? Like today, for instance, I got an email from Scott Aukerman. He emailed me. He said, hey, we've moved studios. Here's the new address.

Here's how to get there. Here's a little info on parking, how to, you know. Sure, a little bit, the tiniest bit of info. Tiny bit of info, but guess what? I didn't even need i didn't need more than that so it's perfect it was the perfect amount yeah not too much not too little told you where to park and that's really all you needed to know and uh i just took that email i was like great hit reply said thanks scott see you there no you. No, you did not. No, I did not reply to that email. In fact, I wondered on my way over here, did he get that email?

Right. And then was very happy to see that you made it. But you know what? I don't think you need to say thank you to just something like that. Just like, you know what? If I didn't get the information, I'll send you an email of like, hey, what the fuck? Where do I park? Yeah.

Or, hey, I didn't get this email. So what are the fan farts that we? Well, we got a great, here's one of the most recent ones. First of all, there was a beautiful one that took the poster of Rattle and Hum. Oh, yeah. And put our faces on it. Awesome. We were real, that was just beautiful.

By the way, Adam and I are constantly emailing these to each other saying, hey, did you see this? Did you see this? I like to stick to email. But you text stuff to me all the time. No, I like to email. Oh. But so it's going, it's not going unnoticed.

We really enjoy it. But here's a great one, which is you talking U2 to me, and it has several – what do you call – are they nestling dolls? Is that what they're called? The dolls that fit inside one another. There's a slightly smaller doll. Yes. Inside that doll, there's a slightly smaller doll. Yes. So it says, all your favorite podcasts in one.

Adam Scott Aukerman hosts Earwolf's number one YouTube podcast for analysis of REM, Bruce Springsteen, and college girls. And it has nestling dolls that say all about houses. I love films.

I love, I love films. Talking about money. What's this one diff diff something different i can't i don't have this one did you send that to me uh i don't know but it also says in memory of harris whittles and there's a terrible picture of harris on it oh yes yes i have that one um so yeah what is that podcast called different chin different chin we did yeah we did it recently um i'm gonna blow it up it says did did did different okay i don't know we should start one called different chin yeah someone also crossed our faces with you two members' faces, and it's very weird. Here's kind of a femetti.

I don't know if you know that word, but it's a comic book made out of photos. And the first panel is Ames, your co-conspirator on Parks, getting a back rub from Bono, and the caption is, So Bono, about those t-shirts. And then the next photo is her kissing Bono, and you see the caption, And the Emmy goes to Amy Poehler.

And then the next photo is of the two of you on set, and it says, Later. And then she says, Cong of the two of you on set, and it says, later. And then she says, congratulate me on my Emmy. And you say, did it come with a T-shirt? Oh, yeah. I saw that somewhere. Did you send that to me? I may have.

I don't know. But this is the kind of wonderful thing people are sending to us. Here's one of me as Bono with the Bono glasses, and you with, I guess those are Larry Mullen glasses, the circular ones. No, those are Harry Potter. Oh, that's right, because you have the Harry Potter scar on your forehead. You talking U2 to me, BW, I love films. The premier U2 podcast for analysis of Huey Lewis in the news, English beat, Men at Work, Stray Cats, and other high-quality rock and roll music. Anyway, we love this fan art.

It's fun. It is. It's fun. Do people send you fan art in your other job? No, not really. So this is new to me, and I love it. It's fun. I love that people are listening to this show. It's really nice.

It's really nice that people are listening, and it's really nice to see these things because they're taking the time to do stuff that we have not, and it's really cool. Yeah. Here's one. And it's cool that people actually like the show because after you kind of introduced me to it,

I started reading a couple of reviews on iTunes. Those are really funny. We talked about those last week. Some people really hate it. It's great. I love it. And look, I want to be clear about something. People think this is a prank show or something,

like a, you know, a candid camera. Right. Like we're some sort of, like we're spoofing something. Like we're Johnny K. Knoxville. Yeah. Like we're getting punked, like we're spoofing something. Like we're Johnny K. Knoxville. Yeah. Like we're getting punked on each other. Yeah. We're not doing this show saying, hey, you know, let's do a show where we barely ever talk about U2.

No. We come in here every week wanting to talk about U2. And you would not believe the amount of research that we do about these records. And then we forget or we just talk about other stuff but we love you too and that is why we are talking you too to you to you speaking of you too here's a poster someone made of you as Scarface in the uh behind Scarface's table and says first you you get the edge, then you get the t-shirts, then you get the college girls.

Can I see that one? I don't think so. Here you go. So thanks so much for your fan art. It means a lot to Scott and I. And now you're just looking at all my pictures. No, it had moved. I'm just going to say that this this one it doesn't look like it was

particularly difficult to me no it doesn't but funny i enjoyed it i like the one of both of us as taxi driver oh yeah with our heads coming out of the taxi driver uh neck yeah i enjoy that one you know you're jody foster and i'm oh okay because there's two different ones oh yeah there's a different taxi driver one where it's Robert De Niro's head. Yes. It's pretty great. Some pretty great stuff. Here's one where it's...

Oh, look, there's a U2 poster on the wall in the back. Yeah. A mirror image of a U2 poster. That's awesome. A lot of detail. Here's one, you talking U2 to me, Earwolf's premiere U2 podcast for critical discussion of Live Aid's Gritty Polity, Prefab Sprout, and the Pet Shop Boys. And it's a, what do they call these, the circles that intersect?

What do you call these, Adam? Seth Meyers talked about them on his first show. Oh, right. Anyway, there's- You talked about this one, right? Yes. The rattle and hum one. The rattle and hum one. Yes, the rattle and hum one.

That's beautiful. Jucation. That's what this podcast is called. Jucation. Oh, jucation. Jucation. Okay. I love this one, too.

The I love films one. Oh, and the Hollywood sign kind of thing. I know that you guys can't see these, but we should... I mean, they're all in the Earwolf message boards. Go over to Earwolf.com in the message boards. So. Okay. Yeah. We haven't talked in a couple of weeks.

Yeah. Is there recent U2 news? Not really. I mean, it's pretty much more of the same, right? I mean, it's not a lot of updates about the new album we don't know anything but i will say that before we get to all that you can't leave behind you wanted to talk you you texted me just in a tizzy yeah is that safe to say you were in a tizzy oh i was inconsolable scott inconsolable and your wife tried to console you i know because she's good at

that yes she's a loving person yes but there was no talking to me you because what i had done yes is i had gone on youtube after our pop episode. YouTube. Yeah, I'd gone on YouTube. You got so interested in Pop. We talked about Pop at length. Well, you said you had just watched the Pop Mart live from Mexico City, I think, DVD. And I hadn't seen it in a while. And I feel like on the podcast,

I kind of dismissed the Pop Mart tour a little bit and kind of said how when I went to see it, the stadium was half full. It was a bit of a bummer. But I watch on YouTube, they have a bunch of the DVDs up there, and I watched a good bit of it. And it's amazing what they did. I have to say, when I saw it i was i kind of felt the same way as you i was too far away yeah it wasn't having the effect but that dvd is really really good it's amazing you know what's really cool about it and is that it was what 17 years it was 97 97 so

17 years 17 years ago it looks more modern than any show that I've seen recently crazy and also I thought it was so cool how they all entered the stadium surrounded by guys in tuxedos

yeah it was a little different than when I saw it right the second show of the whole tour if they hadn't figured it out so by the time they shot this

it was all tight and great and all the guys in the band enter the stadium surrounded by tuxedos it's like a boxing entrance yeah and i thought it was such a cool on such a large scale a stadium show doing like a

happening like that like yeah you know i mean that's a badass entry i would love to it's so cool i would love to do an entrance like that in anything and they have cameras everywhere so the whole audience can see their entrance up on the 120-foot-high screen. That's a lot of feet, by the way. Yeah, 120. I have two of them. Like, think of that times 60. That's how tall that is.

No, 120, not 60. But my two feet? Oh, right. Think of those two times 60, and then that's how tall we're talking? I mean, come on on well how what size shoe do you wear uh like a 12 okay i wear an 11 okay so um and then watching the performances uh the performances of the songs i was which by the way were by the band you too yeah you too larry mullen jr adam claytonCray Clayton, they call him now.

They do? Yeah. The Edge and Bono. Watching them perform. It was a cool. And you know, once that tour was done, it was their most successful tour to date. Once they finished the tour. Once they finished.

When they started it, it was like hey we don't know if this is going to be success or not i mean this is our first show right then once one show was down they're like look we can't call it a success yet we've all we've done is one show by the end of it they're like look that was a success that was a success let's go home. So I just wanted to amend. It was pretty, it's pretty, if you watch it now. It's super impressive, the things that they achieved. And this is what I was trying to say when Harris was on the show. By the way, rest in peace, Harris Whittles.

Yeah. Sorry, he's. Well, I'm not really sorry. No. He was a pain in the ass. Yeah. He didn't add a lot to the show to be honest i actually that that the episode he was on is just sort of like a vacuum in my mind it really is not our best

idea bringing him on to the second show no it's like let's establish the rhythm you and i first and then get the dumb shits in here exactly um i will say though even though it's totally impressive and really cool point but yes i will say though even though it's totally impressive and really cool point but yes i will say that still conceptually it's not totally clear what they're what they're saying no but but my point with harris was he likes his rock stars to be regular dudes right and a regular dude wouldn't achieve something as crazy as that tour. It's nuts. The lemon, the arches.

But just the fact that they created those screens for that tour is – and they're not screens that you see a lot of people bringing out there these days. Like what's the biggest band that you've seen or the biggest tour that you've seen recently that you can think of? Boy, I haven't been to a big show in a while. What's been going on, man? I don't know.

What about you? Well, like, okay, so a big band maybe out there right now would be the Arcade Fire or something. Right. And they got like Puppet Heads. Yeah. You know, maybe they have some screens. I'm not really sure.

I saw them at the Palladium. The biggest show right now is the Miley Cyrus tour. Okay, Miley Cyrus, yeah. I'm sure she has screen, or KT Perry. Mm-hmm. Giant shows. Giant shows. I'm sure they have giant screens.

Timberlake's show is supposed to be very impressive. Yes, I wish I had seen that, actually. As far as all that goes, yeah. But still, I don't think that you could, I don't think their technical innovations hold a candle to what these guys were doing and still remain doing, if that makes sense. Like, Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus are doing, like,

oh, yeah, we brought a big screen. Yeah, I don't know what they're doing, like, oh, yeah, we brought a big screen. Yeah. I don't know what they're doing, but I've heard those shows are pretty mind-blowing as far as, like, stagecraft and all that. Okay. Well, maybe they're great. Yeah. I don't know. But for 17 years ago, it's crazy.

Crazy. I mean, like I said, I watched the – no, what is it called? Rattle and Hum. Yeah. You're listening to you talking to you too to me. I watched Rattle and Hum and then I followed it up with Pop Mart and it's like two different bands. It's only 10 years between those.

A nine-year difference. So weird. And it's crazy, the technical innovations. Anyway, so you, was there anything about that show that you were like, you know what, that was fucking solid musically? What show? Pop Mart. Pop Mart. Pop Mart. Oh. Pop Mart. Pop Mart. show that you were like you know what that was fucking solid musically what show pop pop pop oh pop pop pop yeah i mean it's it all you know some of the like they come in doing mofo and then i mean the you know again the the songs on pop to me aren't as strong although by the time they had them they were playing them live

they were a little more fully realized than they are on the album but they're a little like our favorite dave chappelle movie half-baked a little half-baked a little half-baked on the album but you know i i think it would be cool if they dug up a couple of those songs for the a couple pop songs for the next tour, don't you think? Like if they played Last Night on Earth, that would be kind of cool. Do you think they'll ever play

anything like that ever again? Probably not. I think that they're a legacy band now. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like just protecting it. Maybe.

I think that they, one thing that The Edge has said in a lot of interviews is he doesn't want, oh, the guitar player for U2. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Is that he does not want to become a legacy band but uh but yeah i don't know that's why they're

keep delaying their album is they want to make sure to make something relevant that's true i mean like have you ever seen the rolling stones or anything any of those big bands you know they they play stuff off the new record but it's not like they're out there playing like, oh, this is a deep cut from... Right. I don't know. All right. Well, we got to take a break.

Hopefully that was enough U2 talk for you fucking critics out there. You happy iTunes people? We talked about them. What are you drinking there? It's a soda, but sorry, there's nothing left in it, so it was just a slurp. That's just a slurp, bro. Save those slurps for the outside world. We're talking you too.

Do you think during the break you can film this cup with your cum? We'll be right back. Guess who's back? Back again. That's right, YouTube fans. We've got Trunk Club sponsoring today's show. They're back.

What is Trunk Club? Let me tell you. Trunk Club is the outfitting service for men who don't like to shop. Usually it would end there. You don't like to shop. Usually it would end there. You don't like to shop? Well, you don't get to wear any clothes. But men who like to look good and who don't want to shop, what do they do? What do they do? They go to Trunk Club. That's right.

Whether you need so many new items or just a pair of pants, Trunk Club makes it easy. items or just a pair of pants, Trunk Club makes it easy. Trunk Club, they search high, they search low. I hate the searching low. Personally, I'm a tall person. Anytime I have to crouch, it's the worst day of my life. Trunk Club, thank you for crouching for me. They search high, they search low for the very latest in men's apparel. They box it up. They send you a trunk of your items to your door, which is convenient because if they left it on the sidewalk, other people could take it. Plus, each and every customer gets their own stylist who makes trunk selections based on what you like or what you don't like. So here's how it works. I used it myself.

They sent me some stuff. I tried it on. Some stuff made me look pretty damn good. I kept that stuff that I loved. Then I boxed up the stuff that I didn't like so much using their prepaid shipping label. I sent it right back to them and they had to take it. If you don't like what your stylist sent, you can easily send it back and it's free of cost. If you can put pants on, my friend, you can use Trunk Club. And I sincerely hope you can put pants on. Otherwise, we're going to have a weird dinner. Look, go online and check them out today.

Head to www.trunkclub.com slash U2 to learn more about this great service. Make sure to use trunkclub.com slash U2 so they know we sent you, okay? And, again, thank you, Trunk Club. Mommy, Mommy, I gave you the best present. No, Mommy, I gave you the best present. No, Mommy, I gave you the best present. All of you kids, shut up! You know who gave me the best present? This is Mom talking.

The person who gave me a gift from ProFlowers.com. That's right. Thank you, Mother, for putting up with me. That's right, thank you mother for putting up with me And here is a beautiful 100 blooms bouquet Oh, beautiful, it smells so fresh Plus, guess what, a free vase Haven't you ever wanted a free vase, mother? Mother, I love you.

Well, here is a 100 blooms bouquet plus a free vase from proflowers.com for just $19.99. Hey, good enough for me, but some of you out there want to upgrade, baby. I get it. Upgrade to 100 blooms with a pink vase and chocolates for just $29.98. Boy, that's not even $10 more. That's $9.99 more. Pro flowers are guaranteed to last a full week, okay? Or you get your money back.

I don't know which you'd prefer, but I would prefer they last a full week. Ordering's easy. You pick your delivery date. It is guaranteed to get there on that date fantastic and here is the only way to get this amazing mother's day deal go to proflowers.com click on the blue microphone in the top right corner and then type in your favorite band you too that's proflowers.com. Click the blue microphone, type in U2. This deal expires Friday at midnight, so make sure you order today and tell your mommy you love her for once. Mommy,

proflowers.com means I love you. welcome back we are talking you two to you um and we've gotten to it we've gotten to it. We've gotten to their big comeback. Now, when we last spoke you to Pop Mart, they are in a slump. They don't know what they're doing. Bono and The Edge, they're like at each other's throats going, hey, man, I think pop's good. Yeah, well, I think pop's good too, but people didn't like it. What do we do now? Well, I don't know. let's take a few years off let's take three approximately three years off and try to figure it out okay that

sounds good to me but don't talk to me in that tone they finally work it out and they go you know what we're brothers we come from Ireland we've known each other all our lives your dad put in five thousand dollars five thousand pounds 500 pounds sorry 500 pounds to get the band going your dad did the same thing 500 pounds we've known each other all our life we owe each other we owe it to each other to stick this out let's see it through and let's shake on it yeah and so they shook hands in front of god and everyone yep and they remained brothers for sure and pop 1997 all that you can't leave behind comes out in 2000 is that right 2000 so three years and in those years, they say to each other, you know what? This dance bullshit.

Why are we trying? What are we doing here? You know? Like, we like it. No one else likes it. What are we doing? Let's put the drum machines down and pick up our instruments. Like, this last record,

where all four of us played a drum machine simultaneously, no one liked it. Let's put that down. Let's put it down. Let's pick up other instruments, including the ones we have traditionally played. Guitar. Bass guitar.

Drums. Vox. Keyboards. Sure sure a little bit of keyboard sometimes piano piano ding ding ding ding ding ding ding my favorite youtube is that from walk on i was singing new year's Day. So they decide. Take over. Obviously, you want to talk about this. Well, they decide that they want to go back to the studio and make a bit of a back-to-basics record.

There's no better way to record an album than going back to the studio. I think they got the feeling that people had had enough. They'd had it up to here. And were, they'd had it up to here. And by here? Had it up to here. What here was yours? Well, to be honest, I was about tits high. Oh, I was going eyebrows.

The tits that are traditionally known as the tits above your eyes. The tits of the face. You were going full on salute. Yeah. Wow. So you're all up to the tits of your face. I'm justits high on this but look we're like enough of this enough guys pop not popular yeah you know only sold seven million copies can you imagine is it what a bummer for them am i right about seven million look i don't have any of my information here today.

I feel like I read that today, but maybe that's... I'm sure it did. Maybe that's... Worldwide, I bet it did. Yeah, I think it's 7 million. But look, morale is low. Yes. It's not a good time to be in U2.

They're a little bummed out and that's why they went back into the studio pretty quickly after the pop mart tour ended because look these guys they fucking love to take their time you know what i mean they love to sit around go oh what do you want to do i don't know what do you want to do let's go't know. What do you want to do? Let's go back into the studio. I'd rather take a sauna. Okay. After this sauna, let's go back to the studio. Couldn't it be before this song? Okay.

So they're back in the studio. They like you know what we gotta do a record called all that you can't leave behind and it has got to be good yeah it has got to be a barn burner ripper we've got to get back on the road. We need 11 tracks that can rock the house. So what do they do? You know what they do? They go, you know what? We're not working with fucking Jack Knife Lee anymore. Do I have the right guy?

We're not working with Howie B anymore. These dance impresarios. Yeah, it was like Howie B and Flood. Flood. Hey, Flood like Howie B and Flood. Flood. Hey, Flood, save it for the Noah movie. That's a good burn. Wow. That they said. That was a creeper for me. That took

a minute. So they go, let's get back to Baysocks. And by Baysocks, they mean good old sourpuss, Brian Eno. Hey, Brian Eno, come shower us with your grimaces yet again. They got Eno. Who else they got?

Lily White, is he back isn't he back for a little bit yeah he's he's in there he's in there what about Lanois

Lanois's in there Lanois's in there it's primarily Eno Lanois again mixing it up mixing it up and they I gotta say

they really go for it you know what they did not take this task lightly they did not phone it in even though at the time email was becoming and people had cell phones people did have cell phones and they could have phoned it in they could have phoned it in and it would have been way more convenient than any other time in history they all could have just made the album from their separate homes. They could have. But no, they went in the studio in late 1998 and got into a circle facing each other and played their instruments together. Yes, they pulled down their pants.

Yeah. Yes, they started pulling on their puds at each other in this circle. That's what I mean by playing their instruments. What did you think I meant? pulling on their buds at each other in this circle. That's what I mean by playing their instruments. What did you think I meant? So what do you think of this album, Scott? Okay, let me tell you where I'm at at this point with U2. Did you listen to this album today?

I did yesterday. Okay. Is that okay? Yeah. Where are you with U2 in the year 2000? I liked pop, as we talked about. I liked the bold new direction. Yeah. That said, they haven't really sounded like the U2 that I loved of Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Try.

Right. For quite a number of years. I like, what's that album they did after Rattling Home? Octoon Babel. I liked Hawkton. Did you like Hawkton? I liked... Did you like... But they've been working in this kind of like electronic field,

Zoropa and all this for quite a while. A decade almost. And to be honest, they don't, you know, like the irony angle from the jump with Macfisto, I'm not really on board with them being incredibly ironic. I'm not on board with them doing The Village People. I'm working in comedy at this point. Yeah.

Okay? And you're like, leave comedy to the professionals. Pop was the first U2 record that came out since I had started working in comedy. Okay. And because Zoropa, I was still in diapers? No, I was still in college. Right. And then I I was still in college. Right. And then I went to work in comedy.

And so pop was the first one where I was like a working kind of, I believe I had just started on Mr. Show. You're a comedy person. I was a comedy person. Leave the comedy, if not to me, to the people I work with. But were you also like, I'm a comedy person. Here's this band I like. And everyone around me is making fun of this? Yes.

What I was trying to get Paul F. Tompkins to talk about last episode is, yeah, I saw him on stage just obliterating Bono. Right. And just his persona, his lyrics, his award speeches, just making fun of them all. Right. his award speeches um just making fun of them all and they're a band that i like and that actually i was djing at the night that that um we ran the comedy night we ran at this place called pedros which is no longer with us but over across the street from the uh los feliz three and um i was

djing and i would play a lot of pop yeah Yeah. And people goes, is this U2? And people were turning up. It's how quickly people were turning up. They were on top of the world with Actung Bebe. Yeah, I feel like I remember that people were starting to just be like, oh, okay. Look, Actung Bebe and Zeropa, you got 1991 and 93. They're on top of the world.

Then you have Hold Me, Thrill Me. People love that song. That's 1995. Yeah. Boom, 1997, people are sick of them. What happened? Well, I think it's that classic U2 pattern where they just... Hey, people like this, people like Actung Baby and Zuropa and Macfisto and The Fly,

let's do it a ton. Well, I think maybe what they're doing is we're not done being interested in electronic music and dance music, so let's make another album like that. But we can't make a sincere album of this stuff, which they actually mostly did, but the kind of whole campaign of the album and the tour the market has to be some big it has to top zoo tv kmarts yeah but ended up being a little yeah muddled but still high quality

rock and roll uh music so i at the time i'm still a youtube fan i didn't turn off of them like i did with the other people because i genuinely like pop for the most part. Right. And I'm one of the only people who's kind of like, you know what? I like it. I'm getting all the singles. I'm getting the dance mixes. I like this style of music.

I tend to like dance music more than a lot of me and my friends. Right. A lot of me. Yeah. Your other personalities. your other personalities so I liked it but at the same time I wouldn't mind hearing a little bit of high quality

rock and roll music sure so beautiful day the single comes out what are your thoughts let's hear a little bit of do you remember hearing this song for the first time beautiful day I do Scott I do remember hearing it first of all that keyboard and and that drum machine you were talking about.

It starts out. It doesn't sound like Back to the Basics U2 to me. It sounds like more of that... Well, there's a regular drum. All right. At least one. I think right about here is where Edge starts creeping in. Hey, Edge. get in here.

Edge, where are you? Here it is. Oh, there's that guitar tone. There it is. I hear this song, and I am with my former girlfriend, whom I married. So your current wife, then girlfriend. Yes. Okay.

And I go, that's a pretty good song. Right. On the radio? Was it on the radio? song right on the radio was it on the radio it was on the radio and probably a video as well

and I'm like this is pretty good and I kind of check in with her like is this good right like is this legitimately good right

and she's like I love this yeah and that that's to me that's a sign of quality if two different people can agree on something

then you got something. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, it's hard enough getting two different people to agree on anything. It's hard to get two people to agree on a place to go eat dinner. Seriously. Let alone agree on a rock and roll song.

Exactly. So, yeah, I heard it and I was like, wow, this is like a legitimately good song. And then the more I heard it, I used to make mix CDs for her. And it was track one. Sure. Because it's a fucking anthem. It's a good opener. The more I heard it, the more I liked it.

And I was like, this is back to basics. Yep. This is what I'm talking about while still sounding new. It's a great single. It's a great first single. It's a great introduction to the album, but it's also just a great kind of rabble rouser, if you will. You know what?

I tend to like the rabble to be subdued because I don't want them to rise up against me. Sure. Rich people like me. Gotta be careful with the rabble to be subdued because I don't want them to rise up against me. Sure. Rich people. Gotta be careful, you know, with the rabble, but occasionally you got to throw them a bone.

Yep. You got to let them feel good about their life. Otherwise then they'll rise up in the opposite direction. You know what I'm saying? I remember you being so excited for a new YouTube album and they had a website. Well, they have U2.com, but U2.com at the time was really kind of rudimentary. And I remember they had little 20-second clips of five of the songs from the new album. And I would listen to those clips every day.

Trying to figure it out. Yeah, and the one clip from Beautiful day was at the end of the song um the very it was the last i think 20 or 30 seconds of the song um and it was a little bit of walk-on but i listened to these let's hear a little bit of the last 20 seconds of beautiful day. So there's that guitar tone. It's great to hear that again. And I remember hearing that last kind of, when they're really kind of jamming.

Because it's so great. It's a great kind of classic U2, you know, land wall thing where it starts as one thing and becomes a completely different song by the end and really opens up and expands and it's just a great song. Like a baby's butthole.

Yep. So I was very excited. And then the single came out and I just listened to it so much. And the video was good. So you bought the single. Did you buy the UK single or did it come out in an American single?

I think it was an import, but then it eventually came out in America but import was out first had summer rain on the summer rain not so great no what is your what are your friends think what are the people that you're in a relationship think well my former girlfriend now wife came with me to Tower Records at midnight to get this album. Do you mean like the show at midnight?

Points! Oh, yes. Why don't you go, by the way, why don't you go to NBC and you go, you know what? I'll do

20 Parks and Recs. One SNL with the Californians, one Californication, one Dexter, one at midnight. How about five at midnight? Why not?

A whole week. Did you hear Arnold Schwarzenegger on Nerdist, by the way? No, I did not. Why would I have? I don't know. It's really good.

Wait, did he did he ever say that he would be back? Do another episode? I.e. be back? So she came with me to tower records to buy and i remember i bought two cop i bought one for me two cops for her one for her what does she care she doesn't but she let me do that and i think i may have purchased a cassette as well because

i didn't have a cd player in the car or something. What are you driving back then? I believe it was a Toyota Paseo. Okay. And what TV shows or movies are you in at the time? Is this Torque? No. This is Pre-Torque? Oh, yeah.

This is – I was – I believe I was doing a play with the album. All right. Not a lot of money in there, but you're buying, you're spending. I was spending Buco Dolores on. Wait, is that your wife's name by the way?

Buco Dolores. Yeah. She's beautiful. Thank you. I've seen her in magazines. I have to commend you. Yeah, Buco Dolores.

So yeah, I was super excited, loved the song and then bought the album and just kind of went apeshit. And they were on SNL pretty soon after the album came out, I believe. Right. Now, are you an SNL fan at the time, or are you watching for them? Okay. So are you watching SNL going, you know what?

That short blonde girl. Oh, yeah. I'm going to marry her on television one day. And make out with her constantly. It was interesting because I think every once in a while on SNL, they let the musical guest have three songs instead of two. Yeah, they did for Pearl Jam, I remember, back in 1995. Did they for U2?

They did for U2, yeah, because they let them close the show. They did for REM once, too. Oh, nice. What year? What tour? It was Monster. Oh, okay. Not the...

They always... They chose weird songs to do for Monster, because they did, like, I Don't Sleep, I Dream, which is a weird one to do. Plus, you know what? Like, that is a reaction to the previous record, too. Like, it's like, oh, REM.E.M. will do it. Let's get three songs. Well, not three songs from Monster.

Well, there's some great songs on that album, but I thought I Don't Sleep, I Dream maybe wasn't the premier choice. Right. So anyway, they let U2 do three songs, and my recollection of it is they did the two in the normal spots you got the pre weekend update yes cecily strong yes but as you know cecily strong was not she was not at the time she may have been in diapers for all we know i don't even think that it was really with seth and amy yet no no it wasn't it It was, who was it?

Norm MacDonald? No. No, it would have been Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallone, I believe. I think you're right. So they did the pre-weekend update with Jimmy Fallone. And it was a beautiful day, I'm sure. Beautiful day, I'm sure. And then they did the about a quarter of one slot,

which I don't know what song they did then. Probably Stuck in a Moment? Probably Stuck in a Moment. But then to close the show, whoever the host was. Val Kilmer. Val Kilmer. Valley K. He abdicates the throne and goes,, hey, here's one more U2 song.

And then the camera just pans over. U2 is there. They start rocking out. Was it a classic song? Do you remember? I don't remember. I think it was Elevation. Oh, okay.

And they're over there just rocking out while the cast, who normally is just sitting there like waving at their grandma, they get front row seat. Yep. And Amy P., your future castmate, I believe is so overcome with emotion, she and much of the cast start wiping tears from their eyes. Oh, I don't remember that,

but I do remember him like going around, going up into the audience and then going and hugging cast members. Yeah, it's a great moment. Look, regardless- And Amy was one of them. Regardless of what you think about U2, like their music or not, someone that famous comes over to you and starts paying attention to you. It's cool. Yeah, great.

Yeah. So in general, there was this sense that they're back. Like they're back to playing to not only playing their instruments, but being this open-hearted, sincere band. But there was something extra special about it because they had all that irony like holstered with it. Like there was something. It wasn't just a return to like Joshua Tree days.

It was them with all of that mischief and everything that they'd accrued over the past 10 they've learned some lessons they weren't so achingly sincere yeah that's that's what they were annoying but they were back to they were back to singing about things like it being a beautiful day yes and about like uh stuck in a moment like you know reaching out to a friend in need right not singing songs like discotheque about which is about going from what i just going to it but also the the other kind of sincere the the songs on pop that are sincere like last night on earth gone please they're all very dark and very personal yes these songs were sincere but they were kind of open.

And they were about community and a sense of community. Yes, the world. Like, Walk On is such a heartfelt, moving song, I think, even now listening to it. You're crying. But it's not a song you would find on pop because pop was either about completely disposable, trashy. Ibiza. Yes.

Or about kind of dark, very personal, closed off things. Yes. About daddy. Yes. Why are you a jerk? And Last Night on Earth is just about someone who's just a drug addict. Right, yeah. And that's it.

So this just felt like it was a sense of community again. And the shows, right now we're talking mainly about the good parts about this. The shows, how many did you see from this tour the elevation tour i saw once just once did you see anaheim or did you see state you must have gone to anaheim no i yeah anaheim the the arena yeah so you they played staples as well yeah so you went to see when they first came out you drove all the way down to Orange County. How was that for you? I was in the backseat of Joey Slotnick's Volvo. I got a ride.

And we got down right at the tip of the heart. Did you think I was going to say tip of the penis? You were in the backseat of his Volvo getting down to the tip. And it was a great show. show okay let's talk about the show because for people who don't know did you see that tour i saw it twice i saw anaheim i liked it so much thought it was one of the best rock and roll shows i've ever seen absolutely i had to go back to stay how were your seats in anaheim uh i was on the floor for both uh i was not inside the heart i was outside the heart i was on the floor for both yeah I was not inside the heart. I was outside the heart.

I was on the floor for both. Yeah, I was outside. General admission. I was outside the heart. Were you at the tip of the heart? I was not at the tip of the heart. Were we at the same show? I'm sure we were, although they played several nights, so maybe.

Who could have predicted two little boys. They wanted to be big boys. At the Elevation Tour 2001 at this point. Spring of 2001. Who could have predicted 13 years later. 13 years later. They'd still be talking about it. Let's talk about the show and the differences

because you have the Pop Mart Tour, which is in stadiums, massive video screens. This was intentionally, and by the way i watched both dvds this this tour was so good they made two different dvds of it two different that's right you have live from boston and live from ireland slain castle live or go home or whatever you two go home live from slain castle um same show minor set differences in both because they were about six difference, uh, six months apart. And Slane Castle's outdoors. Slane Castle's outdoors.

They had to expand the heart a bit, but the, the aesthetics of this show, it was basically all about just saying, Hey, enough with the bullshit. We're a band. We're a band. What did they do? How did they come out on stage? What happened in Pop Mart? They came out.

Bono was wearing a muscle T-shirt, a T-shirt meant to imply he was a boxer with muscles. They had guys in tuxes. They came out like a boxing ring. In this tour, the house lights are still on. They never go down. You hear the song Elevation start to play. They just walk out on stage in full lights yep pick up the guitars pick up and you know larry mullen's case two drumsticks two drumsticks puts his feet i think probably one on a bass drum one on a cymbal i don't know

how to play drums no i think you're exactly right. That's just my best guess. And then Bono comes out. He comes out. He grabs, I'm guessing, a microphone, much like the ones we're talking into now. I have to say, one of the best openers to a show ever, when they come out, house lights are on. They play three quarters of the song. With the house lights up. With the house lights on.

And everyone's going crazy. And then right at the bridge for Elevation, all the lights go out in the arena. It's pitch black. And then when the song kind of revs back up again, boom, you got the stage lights on. People went

absolutely apeshit. People went crazy. People are jumping up and down. They're saying, this is the U2 that I enjoy. This is what I pay Buco Dolores for. I also think

it doesn't hurt that so many of these songs from this record became hits by the time the tour came out because you can't come out to Elevation

and have everyone going, is that a new song what is that right it it was on the tomb raider soundtrack and actually was played a lot huge hit um so really big hit and you have stuck in a moment was a big hit almost from the jump beautiful day was a big hit from the jump and walk on they're all really big hits and so they played those on the tour and yeah and and people were really into it. And they were kind of instant classics. I remember the first time I heard the album, at least for the first— On cassette?

Either cassette or compact disc. And this is your copy of the record? Yeah, it was mine. It was not my former girlfriend's, now wife's. Whatever happened to that copy, by the way? Oh, I have them both. Really? No, I don't know.

But from the first time you heard that album, I don't know if you felt the same, but at least that first half of the album, you're like, wow. This is amazing. Right. That tour, I just felt like such a great, they were playing classic songs again. Yep. They were playing them in ways and the, and the staging,

when we talk about the heart and the tip of the heart, they normally in a arena show, the band is on one side of the arena and it's ovular. And so the people on the other side are really super far away. They brought out a heart-shaped ramp that jutted out into the center of the arena, and the guys came, and they had wireless mics and wireless guitars, and they would come out on that heart and be playing a lot closer to everyone. Yes, and then they would set up, like they did on Zoo TV, they would set up at the tip of the heart,

like a little mini acoustic stage sort of. How did Joey Slotnick feel about that? He thought it was great. We should get him in here. We should get him in here. I know. He's the best. So that, it was so good that I went back.

I saw it with my former girlfriend, whom I married, the first time. Then we broke up. Oh, did you? Yeah, we did. And so I had no one to go with, so I took my former manager. You know, by the time... Yeah, okay. Whom I did not marry and am not still with.

Who is that? Great guy. Don't want to say. Okay. But great guy and super rich because he's a producer on Game of Thrones. Oh, wow. But great guy. And he was he's a producer on Game of Thrones. Oh, wow. But a great guy. And so he, and he was like, yeah, this is good.

But it was just one of those things where you just felt like hugging everyone around you because they're playing these amazing songs. And it was, I think they used the same amount of technology, same amount of technological know-how as they had put into Zoo TV and Pop Mart, but they had made it appear simplified. They had one screen for each band member. And black and white, not color, and not moving. As the show went on, the kind of pyrotechnics and the images on the screens got a little more complex and involved. technics and the the images on the screens got a little more complex and involved but there was something very simple and intimate about the staging willie williams kind of designed for this

and it was i thought it was brilliant yeah it was it that is a great tour i would say maybe their best tour maybe in my opinion i it's the only one that I was like, I got to go back and see this again. So what was different about the Staples Center? It was post 9-11. Yes. Oh, that's an important part about this album that we should talk about. It came out in 2000.

They started touring. November of 2000. They started touring and they did the first leg of this tour before 9-11 happened. 9-11 happened. 9-11 happens and some of these songs became sort of like anthems for America in a way. Yeah. They played the Super Bowl in January of 2002, the first one that the Patriots won.

Some people call it the best Super Bowl halftime show of all time. I say Prince is better. Not me. Prince just did a big medley. No, he didn't. I just rewatched the U2 one, and it was pretty great. You don't know what you're talking about. But, yeah, it was pretty good, but they, they played a walk on and Bono had an American

flag sewn in the inseam of his jacket that he revealed and that became an iconic image. But also they had that big silk with all the names of the victims of 9-11. So this album became sort of very, um, very important to people in that sense. So, yeah, I saw the Staples, which was several months after 9-11. I think they started figuring out what songs did not work. Anytime you see a U2 tour at the beginning, you're seeing them taking stabs at songs that don't end up working and that they weed out of the set list. Yeah.

So, for instance, when that Anaheim show, I'm pretty sure they played New York. Yeah. It was a big kind of centerpiece of the show. Yeah. It was a big performance piece. They figured out at some point someone tapped Bono on the shoulder and said bro that song sucks and he said what and so it was not they didn't play that at staples i don't believe they did um i will say that in the live at slain castle not in there that the slain castle was um second leg and it was gone by then.

And they were just playing more of the typical U2 songs. But the certain signposts were always the same. They always came out to Elevation. They always then followed it up with Beautiful Day. Around two-thirds of the way through, they played Where the Streets Have No Name. Where he runs around the heart. He runs around the heart, yeah, exactly. But in the middle, they kind of changed.

Sometimes they would play New Year's Day. Sometimes they would play Desire. When you saw them at Staples, did they play Kite? I think they always played Kite. Yeah. Because they didn't play Kite in Anaheim. Oh, they didn't. No.

Maybe they did in Anaheim. I can't remember. That's a great song. All right, well, let's talk about the record. Let's go track by track through this mother slapper. Are you saying T by T? T by T. Which to Noah, who's good friends with Flood, that means two by two.

Like a piece of wood? No, by animals. Two by two. Oh, right. Two by four is what you're thinking of yeah you're exactly right okay so beautiful day beautiful we agree that's an incredible incredible song um stuck in a moment you can't get out of not a typical u2 song not at all kind of a ground for them let's play a little bit of that kind of a gospel Yeah. How do you feel about this song now,

listening to it now? Love it. Me too. I love this song. I listened to it today and I found it very moving. By the end, all those horns

kick in. It's kind of an Angel of Harlem type vibe. Yeah, it really is. But maybe even better, like it really, by the end, when all the horns are in

and he's really, everyone's kind of firing on all cylinders. It's really something. How's it make you feel knowing it's about Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of In Excess? Isn't it also a little bit about someone else that he said it's about, I guess it's essentially, it's mainly Michael Hutchins yeah

Michael Hutchins of course committed suicide and but didn't he do it jerk him off I thought so but I think

it's not a true suicide if you're jerking off but I think some people think he did kill himself it's very sad either way if you're gonna kill yourself

I guess jerk off while you do it sure why not hey go out go out go out swinging go out If you're going to kill yourself, I guess jerk off while you do it. Sure. Why not? Hey, go out swinging. Go out kicking the green animal. I made that up as an expression for Mr. Bell. I like it, though.

Let's get some fan art about that, kicking the green animal. But it's kind of like that Alanis Morissette song You Oughta Know everyone's like oh man a feminist anthem powerful and then you find out

it's about Dave Coulier from Full House you're like you know what and the video I remember the video for Stuck in a Moment it's a really like

slick well made video Joseph Kahn directed it who also directed From the Wrath of Kahn? He also directed the Elevation video and guess what else he directed i couldn't even hazard a guess torque oh fuck you did you ask you must have been oh absolutely he told me all kinds of youtube stories that you can't repeat no no no. It was like him would travel around on their jet with them.

The Vertigo jet? Before it was the Vertigo jet? It must have been the Elevation jet or something. But yeah, I mean, his stories were all about how cool they were and how fun it was doing those videos. But I remember seeing this Stuck in a Moment video, and it was all about football. Do you remember that? Yeah. do you mean soccer uh no sorry american football oh okay i know you're very european and all your references

okay i didn't know what you were talking about i know you were completely lost when i said that um and i remember thinking like okay they're really going for like American audiences with this like football music video. American football. Did you feel like patronized? No, because it was a fine video and stuff. I just thought it was a little whatever. Boy, that curry is still coming up, huh? Did it sound like curry?

So then you have Elevation. I maybe prefer the Tomb Raider mix, but this is the album mix. Yeah, do you have the Tomb Raider? I do. Let me look for it. I think this is a great song, too. Yeah. Do you mind if I take a second and you talk a little bit while I look for this?

The Elevation... So the only video for Elevation is the Tomb Raider movie soundtrack music video, right? They didn't make another one. Yeah. That's one thing about YouTube. They're constantly making different videos. It's too hard to... Remember the days when David Lee Roth would make one video and you'd watch it over and over again

and be like I still watch his videos over and over again they're so good I think the Elevation boozy boozy bop diddy bop I just read something

where someone was criticizing Elevation for just being nonsensical which I think is totally fine I to have a rock and roll song that's nonsensical

I will say I know what they mean. Yeah, totally. It's getting in to get on your boots territory. Elevation. I don't know. There's a little bit of rhyming dictionary, a little bit of that vibe to it,

but I think it's totally fine and super fun, and it's a great pop song. I only have the Influx mix. Hold on. I feel like I have the Influx mix, hold on. I feel like I have the Tomb Raider mix. Yeah, I must. Why don't I have the Tomb Raider mix? This is the Influx mix.

It would be. If engineer Sam would turn it up. Oh, this is, no, this is not the right one. Yeah. Wee-oo! Here, let me pass this shit over to you bro where's b-sides look up the search function b-sides jesus christ search um the search function isn't like here we go oh no that's not it god you drive me crazy okay here, here we go. Let me find it here.

All right, pass this over. Here you go. This is Adam Scott with the Tomb Raider mix. This fucking better be worth it. Here we go. We're talking a lot about U2 this episode, by the way. Ooh, heavier guitars. I think I prefer the album version as far as I remember.

I haven't heard this in a while. It's heavier. Yeah. I like it better. It's busier. The guitars are heavier. What they always do with single mixes, I find, is they just get straight to the hook right away

rather than kind of building up to it. And I like it when they kind of build up to it. Great for fishes, get straight to the hook right away rather than kind of building up to it. And I like it when they kind of build up to it. Great for fishes. Getting straight to the hook. What'd you say? Great for fishes. It's great for fishing. Wait, can we hear, can you be a little louder?

I just want to hear it. So! So! As good as this song is, it's just one step away from Get On Your Boots. You know what I'm saying? Like, you can see the progression from this to Vertigo to Get On Your Boots. Yeah, I think Vertigo's a better song than this.

Okay. Give me that thing. But I do... I can't believe you don't think Vertigo's a good song. That's crazy. I will talk, it's not time to talk about Vertigo yet. You just, just let an opinion seep out about Vertigo. I did not.

All right, then you have on the record, you have Walk On. Amazing song. And here I am, their first, their biggest singles, tracks one, tracks two, tracks three, tracks four. Amazing. Amazing. These are all huge singles for them and great songs. Great songwriting.

What does this remind you of with an album where all of side one, it's all hits? I tell you, it reminds me of the Joshua Tree. Me too. it's all hits I tell you it reminds me of The Joshua Tree me too

although track 5 is not a hit but it's a classic instant classic yes track 5 let's skip over track 5

Kite is a beautiful song amazing and the first song recorded for the album you don't say I do I wish you wouldn't so

yeah this is by the way one thing I have to say about these first five songs is the melodies yeah are great yes they are different than the choruses yes uh the the the verses are different the choruses are sweeping. He's singing really well. Apparently he had vocal problems that he had cured by this point. And hooks aplenty. Lot of hooks.

Lot of hooks. That is Kite. Then we go over to another one of my favorites in a little while. Great song. Let's hear a little of that. This is a terrific song. And this is not a typical U2 sounding guitar riff either, nor arrangement. It's what you may call a throwaway, but it's not.

It's a really... It's such a good melody, you can't throw this away. So good live, too. Especially the chorus is so great. Yeah, it is. I was listening to this today. I was like, wow wow this is so solid so here we are we have six in both you and i opinion classic songs yes stone cold class stone cold classics

where you're thinking this may be the best youtube record of all time yes well then my friend what happens it all falls down around their ears now this has always been really weird to me even when it was out and everyone had the album and loved it i always it always bugged me about this album that after those six songs, the album just drops. Such a huge drop. It's crazy. It's like you've written six amazing songs. Write four more. Not even amazing, like classic. Some of the best songs of your career.

Just write four more. Write four more. But today I was driving around listening to it, and I thought, wow, all those songs are so perfect. It must be so fucking hard to make these great big huge epic pop songs and then they must have just been like fuck we we gotta stop like we have we have to put five more songs we gotta put out a record yeah and and here's the other thing the last song track 11 i'm fine with it because it's a closer yeah yeah so it's like hey you know what you got seven

and songs on a record track nine i really like a lot you can't be talking about new york can you no no let me look at what it is when i look uh i don't even i can't even let's put on put on wild here's the next song okay now this is a song that the members of you two say yeah this isn't very good do they yes good um but bono's kind of like well we needed a change of pace in the middle of the record do you mean change of pace from quality bono more like bozo when you say something like that let's hear wild honey by the way i don't think this is a bad song i just think that this is such a throwaway like i can't even sing it to you it doesn't it doesn't even the weird thing is it doesn't sound like the rest of

the record no it doesn't fit on the album at all it's like if if you made this for the jungle book i'd be like hey that's kind of charming yeah it should be on a soundtrack an animated song about a bear going around you know yeah hitting beehives, trying to get honey and like slapping his dick up against beehives. Yeah, it's weird. It doesn't sound like the rest of the record. It's not about the lyrics don't seem to be about the stuff that the rest of the record or at all. And the weird thing about it, too, is that it's it sounds like they're trying. It's it's trying to sound sort of

loose but the production is a little too tight it sounds a little too produced it sounds a little too kind of thought out to be really loose and kind of spontaneous yeah it's it's just a shrugger where you're like well and if that were if that were the only one you're like well you know okay there's a clunker then you have peace on earth with conceptually sounds good to me peace on earth hey wouldn't mind that happening in my lifetime yeah but this song man here we go let's hear some of it this is peace on earth i gotta say when I read the Rolling Stone five-star review of this album, they said, Peace on Earth, an old-school U2. I can't wait to see them live and watch people hold their lighters up to this classic U2 power ballad.

Did you write another letter to them where you used the F word? Did your daddy help you with that one? But then when I heard the song i literally thought maybe i have maybe the cd has the wrong version or i don't know the wrong track listing yeah it's fine i don't know i don't know it sounds very unfinished to me. Yeah. It sounds to me like they did not finish this song. I'll say at least it fits in sort of like conceptually with the rest of the record. But I think to a fault, that's probably why they put it on the album.

Because there's some B-sides that would be way better. What B-sides do you like better than... Well, I have my reworked All That You Can't Leave Behind. Okay, so this is Peace on Earth. We haven't gotten to the hook yet. So I'm going to let it. I don't think there really isn't one on this song. See, doesn't it sound almost like a demo?

A long, long time. I don't know. Don't like it. Okay. So then you have When I Look at the World. This song you say you like. This is a good song. I can't even hum it. I don't even remember. This is a good song. I can't even hum it.

I don't even remember. Like, I see the title and I don't even know what it is. It's got a really good chorus and it's good. It's not ringing any bells to me. I just listened to this record. Remember this? Not really. That's the problem with some of U2's stuff is like, I just don't even remember it.

A second after. I feel like this is a good album track i don't think it's like a classic but i i would keep it on the album i don't think it's like a bad song it's not bad but here's here's where we're getting into trouble is the first six songs being such classics yeah how can you then put out the rest of the record being stuff that is just okay? Right. But I think this song is more than okay. I think this is a very good song.

Okay. And fully produced and realized. I think this song is... Sonically, it sounds okay to me. It sounds to me that it's exactly what they wanted it to be. I don't even know what the chorus is. Can you turn it up just slightly? Stop yelling at him

Here it is In the guitar solo The bridge is really great I like the guitar sound on it I guess I don't really love the melody. It's just okay to me. I don't know. But then.

Then you have the outright stinker of the record. Okay, you've had a record that's all about openness, togetherness, reaching out to your fellow man. You know what this record needs? Is my personal feelings of one city. Yeah. Are they personal feelings? Because I couldn't make heads or tails of it today when I was listening to it. Not only that, but this comes out pre-9-11.

It's a song called New York, if you wonder what song we're talking about. It's a song called New York. This comes out pre-9-11. If this song was any good at all, remember the days after 9-11, how they were playing Ryan Adams' I Still Love You, New York over and over and over? If this song were any good at all, that could have been a similar situation. But let's hear a little bit of it. Are you saying it failed the 9-11 test? It's like, guys, if you're going to write a song, try to make it about 9-11 before 9-11 happens.

I will say that at the Elevation Tour, when they played New York, it was a cool effect they had with the big scrim, with the shadows. It was pretty cool. It was a cool effect, but man, I looked at Kulop and I was just like, oh boy. And she was like this. Let's read some of these lyrics.

In New York, freedom looks like too many choices. In New York, I found a friend to drown out the other voices. Voices on the cell phone. Voices from home. Voices of the hard cell. Voices down the stairwell. In New York, just got a place in New York. Who gives a fuck where you just got a place?

Weirdo. In New York, summers get hot. Fuck you. But what comes after that? Well into the hundreds. Like I said, unfinished. You can't walk around the block without a change of clothing. Hot as a hair dryer in your face.

Hot as a handbag and a can of mace. In New York. I just got a place in New York. It's not good. It's not good. It is not good. Irish, Italians, Jews, and Hispanics, religious nuts, political fanatics in the stew, living happily, not like me and you.

That's where I lost you, in New York. By the way, I was reading about this song yesterday yeah and he cut out several verses he cut out a verse about are you taking a picture of me yeah because i just got a text from my betrothed that said are you guys still talking about you too um um yeah he cut out several verses uh like one verse about Frank Sinatra. He's like, I didn't think that I could write a song about New York City without mentioning the man who sang about it. Oh, blue eyes, Frank Sinatra.

This is where Bono gets annoying to me. Well, like I've said before, I think one of the great things about the band and about him is that they overreach sometimes, and that's the only way you can achieve greatness, I think. And I think without that overreaching, they wouldn't have got those first six songs. But as a result, you kind of,

when you're bringing your arms back from that overreaching, if you get my metaphor, sometimes you bring back a couple stinkers that didn't quite survive the overreach. Adam, that's not funny. Oh, Nick Offerman returned. I wasn't trying to be funny, Scott. Adam, that's not funny. Thank you, Nick Offerman returned. I wasn't trying to be funny, Scott. Adam, that's not funny.

Thank you, Nick. There is a point at the end of the song where he's just singing New York over and over again, where I was thinking today, I was like, if everything that led up to that was better, that could be kind of a cool thing. I feel it's also like appropriation he was also trying to like write about lou reed yeah i thought of that today too because it sounded a little velvet undergroundy in some parts and i thought maybe they were trying to tip the hat to i don't know i don't know what was happening but it's just a pure shit show. It's just crazy that those songs made it onto an album that was clearly so strong.

Just write four more songs. Someone say, hey Bono, leave your personal musings of the Big Apple at home. But that's the thing is they did have some other strong songs that... Let's hear the last one this is grace which is an album closer which is is you know it's it's a lot like 40 maybe where it doesn't have to be the greatest song although i like 40 a lot i would say 40 is a better song yeah but this is this is fine i think i remember they would play this as people were at lights come up and people are leaving the it's cool i think i think for an album like this it's a good it's a good closer yeah i like i like it when albums close with a little

something a little more yeah i like an epic closer oh yeah what about epic movie love epic movie but they usually mellow out for their closer right yeah they're a little somber at the end they it was weird when i saw epic movie i don't know if you stayed till the end of the credits oh yeah they showed all the victims of 9-11 in the credits it was inappropriate especially since they made fun of each name and turned their name into a fart pun. Because they spoofed each name. Yeah. It's like, it's not time to spoof, guys. Why even include that at the end of your movie in the first place?

It's like, I get it. You want to spoof Magneto and the X-Men. Right. But the victims of 9-11? Man, those Magneto jokes were strong. So what would you do to fix this album, Scott? This is Scott talking. Yeah, this is Scott.

That's a good question. I was actually listening to all of the B-sides. Yeah. Summer Rain, Always, which is just the beautiful day in early version. Not as good. It's good, though. It's not bad, but it's not beautiful day. Big Girls Are Best, which is actually a pop

from the pop sessions sounds like pop yeah yeah um and and then i was listening to there's some uh on the uh the record of of b-sides that they put out called rem Remastered, Rebaked, or whatever. Unreleased and Rare. Right. Okay, there's certain songs from the All That You Can't Leave Behind sessions. I'll play one right now, Levitate. I don't like any of the B-sides.

I found some that I liked a lot. What do you like? Love You Like Mad? All right, well, let me look for that. Okay, Love You Like Mad. This is Levitate. let me look for that. Okay, Love You Like Mad. This is Levitate. I think it's okay. I just don't think that it fits in with the record that I like.

Yeah, I thought it was just okay. Let's hear Love You Like Mad. This is Love You Like Mad. From the all? I think it needs a little work, but the chorus is pretty outstanding. Is this the one that goes, love you like mad? I don't know. Can I sing it again?

Yeah. Love you like mad. What do you think of my singing? I love it. You actually have a decent voice. I can't sing, so I don't even. How do you think of my singing? I love it. You actually have a decent voice. I can't sing, so I don't even... How do you feel about that? Like, when you go to a U2 show, do you ever sing along, or do you just go, you know what?

I lip sync. Really? Yeah, just so everyone thinks I'm singing along. You put on a show? Yeah. And everyone, they can't even watch the band. Okay, wait, the chorus comes pretty quickly. Let's hear the chorus.

I think this is all right by the way what did you tell your betrothed i said yes okay here it is the pain never felt so good no no that's not the course yeah this is the lead up here it comes Give us the lead up Here it comes I love you I love you like that It's catchy It's good

It's certainly better than some of the Yeah, and it sounds like it would be a great live song I think that if he added some of the chimey guitar to it Yeah On that part, it would probably sound even better But it sounds like they didn't finish it. I don't believe they did. I also really like the unfortunately titled Flower Child.

Oh boy. Do you know that song? I have it right here. I can't even get past the title, but let's hear some of it. I know, the title's really bad. He has some bad titles. But they never even say the words Flower Child in the song. Yeah, so don't call it Flower Child. But this, I think if you want to put something like Wild Honey on the album, put this on. This is a way better song. This sounds like an Oasis song. so don't call it flower child. But this, I think if you want to put something like Wild Honey

on the album, put this on. This is a way better song. It sounds like an Oasis song. Yeah. Let's hear a little bit of flower child. Not bad.

Yeah. But not, not really all that, I can't, all that you can't leave behind either, I don't think. I think it's okay. Well, let's hear your... Okay. Here's my, your better track listing. My track listing for all that you can't leave behind.

I would go one through six. I would leave it alone. Leave it alone. It's perfect. It's perfect. You know perfect you know what you think come on i toyed with moving in a little while to later in the album i don't think you have to didn't work just didn't work you listen to this version within a little while later yes you said the flow doesn't work doesn't work they knew what they were doing they knew what they were doing

with this sequencing so but after and it goes beautiful day stuck in a moment elevation walk on kite in a little while side two starts really so that that's just side one that's the best one that's the best side one in all of rock history that is five no no no side two starts within a little while of course because kite is the fifth song okay side two starts within a little while While, of course. Because Kite is the fifth song. Okay. Side two starts with In a Little While. Right. Cool little palate cleanser.

This is side two. In a little while. So I designed it as if it were Joshua Tree. Side one is all hits. Okay. Side two is no hits, but epic. Okay. What do we got?

In a little while. In a little while. And then second song on side two, Electrical Storm. Oh, from their upcoming best of. Which was an all that you can't leave behind song okay i can see that great song i'll play a little bit of that do you like that song yeah i do i think it's not my good it's i don't think it's like wow that's so incredibly catchy it's a really good album track. It's kind of a big scope. Yeah, it didn't grab anyone, I think, as like a great, not the best single maybe, but I always really, really dug that song. Right.

I'll play a little bit of it, by the way, but keep going. So after Electrical Storm, I have Love You Like Mad. Okay. Yeah, good. After Love You Like Mad, I have Flower Child. Oh, boy. All right. like mad okay yeah good after love you like mad i have flower child oh boy all right because hoping they you know use a different title this is the william orbit mix by the way of electrical is there another mix of it i must have it somewhere hold on um william orbit is the only one i have really you have a different mix of that i have the

just regular regular okay this is better it's better i've never heard this electrical storm i've only heard the william morbid one oh okay yeah they they put out the william morbid one as like the the official version oh this must be the all that you can't leave behind this must be yeah okay so flower child I thought could be like a palate cleanser sort of okay and then I have when when I look at the world I kept that song okay cuz you like that okay and then the closer to the album is ground beneath her feet ground but We haven't talked about that. The Ground Beneath Her Feet. Which they saved. Because that was a bonus track in parts of the world

on All That You Can't Leave Behind. The Ground Beneath Her Feet was on the Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack, which came out previous to this record. It's a really good song. I'm going to look for it.'s a really good song. I'm going to look forward to that. It's really good, yeah. And it's a great closer because you know how the song

explodes at the end? Sort of like in a very U2-like finish. Yeah, kind of like my cock when I take a look at pictures of you. It explodes and the walls are covered

in dick parts. By the way, Bono, come on the show on the show love to have you on do you think it's gonna happen oh yeah here's the ground beneath their feet uh this is a good song i listened to it the other day it's good there's also by the way other uh songs from that record. Stateless, right? Oh, yeah, from... From Million Dollar Hotel. That might work on... This is a good song. It's really good.

This would have worked out fine on this record. Don't you think it's a good closer, though? Yeah, wouldn't be bad. I think it's a real bummer that one of the songs I chose is called Flower Child. Yeah. I like the song, though. I listened to it a bunch today.

Yeah. Or twice. I can't get behind it. Flower Child, yeah. Yeah, just retitle it. Bono, you're constantly rewriting your- Do you think if it was retitled, it could sit on the album,

or do you think I should get rid of it and just have it be a 10-song album? 10-song album isn't bad. I know. You know? Maybe I would just go Love You like mad to when i look at the world we'll never know oh my god what are we doing what are we doing with our we are both busy people i know look i Look, I have a 6.45 a.m. call. Oh, my God. And it is 11 o'clock.

I have children. Yeah. Are your children going to listen to this podcast in the future when you're dead and go, this is what daddy spent his time on? I hope not. This is stateless, by the way, from the Million Dollar Hotel record. Where did you get that other mix of Electrical Storm? It's on the B-Sides disc of The Best Of. Does that make sense?

Yeah, but I have all that shit. Yeah, it sounds like you don't. So let's assess this album now. We're 14 years in hindsight. 14 years ago. We've lived through it. Years ago. We've listened to it again.

I have to say that this, it's still, the first six songs are still so good. The first six songs? Yeah, are still so good that I I enjoy listening to this record but you know I turn it off after track six yeah

never really listened to the to it after track six you weren't even familiar with when I look at the world I can't remember it I can't even remember

it right now we just heard it I can't remember how it goes yeah you know today when I listened to the album all the way through

I was I hadn't I hadn't listened to the album all the way through i was i i hadn't i hadn't listened to peace on earth or new york or grace or wild honey all the way through in years because those are always just right skip them yep yeah i think it's just the on the strength of those six songs though it's a classic album there's no avoiding it yeah i mean here's here's i had this thought um it's this is to me the the first of two albums where you two kind of said we give up in a way and said, you know what? We're not going to try to make anything artful. We're going to make 11 four-minute songs that sound really good,

that are really great choruses. They were going to try. Yeah. But we're not going to make an artistic statement with this record akin to the statement that we made with The Unforgettable Fire or Joshua Tree or Pop even. I think that they were making an artistic statement with Pop. I don't think just doing what you're really great at

and writing great songs is an artistic statement. It's a different kind of statement, and you know what? I wouldn't begrudge anyone just saying, hey, I'm going to go back and do what I do best. I'm just going to do it. Yeah. That said, I think that when they went from war to Unforgettable Fire and they called up Sourpuss and they said, hey, man, smile once in your life and get over here and produce the Unforgettable Fire. But you have to be smiling.

You have to smile once for us. Just once. Can you do that once? Right. I think that they were trying to not be the who. Remember we talked about that in a previous episode. They weren't trying to just make pop songs. They were trying to make an artistic statement.

I think that on this record, they're kind of like the who for me. They're like doing- All that you can't leave behind. Yeah. They're doing pop songs. And they're kind of like The Who for me. They're like doing. All that you can't leave behind. Yeah. They're doing pop songs. And they're doing, you know, they put together a collection of 11 songs, six of which hold together really well and are sequenced really well,

and five that are just whatever. Yeah. But there's nothing so, they're not shooting for the moon or anything. So you don't think those first six songs are so good that they transcend that a little bit? They probably do. And if all 11 were this good, I still would kind of go, hey, where are the kind of weird one-minute instrumentals? Where are the ambient textures? Yeah.

You know, I think that this record is them just kind of going, you know, hey, let's give them what they want. And I think that continued for a couple of records. And that's my only knock on it because I think the six songs are great. I really love them. But I kind of would have to say, guys, you got these six songs. Now fill it out with some interesting stabs at making interesting music instead of five stabs at just subpar songs. That's my only thing about this record

and why I can't say that it is a classic record. I think those six songs are fantastic. Yeah, I guess I would hold back from calling it a classic record just because a little less than half of it. Or I say four songs I think aren't great because I like When I Look at the World. But I think saying this is a return to form and saying this is their Back to Basics album,

I think it actually isn't. I mean, there's so many electronic flourishes on this album. No, it actually is a lot like pop in a way. Yeah, their next album is way more Back to Basics. It's like they're in utero in a way. It's really just an electric guitar album. It's not time to talk about that. But I will say that we've talked about U two on this episode, I have to say.

The band? Yeah. If you've never heard of them, undoubtedly you know. Is this a two-hour episode? I believe it is. Yeah. That went by quickly. A little over two, I think.

It went by quickly. You know, this is the only one we did tonight. Maybe that's how we do it. This was a good episode. I had had fun i hope you had fun i had fun we did uh we got i love films in there we haven't talked about harry potter any harry potter update we got uh talking about money in there too we did we didn't get education no harry potter update unfortunately. What's going on with you? We just haven't gotten back to it. Do your kids just go, you know what, that Harry Potter, you know that chapter it ended with a big cliffhanger? I'm not interested anymore.

Yeah. I'm not interested in wizards. Really? They're just not interested? They don't give a shit about cliffhangers. But they did love the Sylvester Stallone movie, Cliffhanger. What if that had ended in a cliffhanger? That would have been the greatest movie of all time.

Just all of a sudden he's like hanging off the top of a cliff and goes, I don't know how I'm going to get out of this. To be continued. We should end this episode on a cliffhanger. We really should. Hey, man, put that away. Why? Because.

I don't like you pointing. Hey. How about this? What? why because I don't like you pointing hey how about this what or this or that we'll see you next week and you'll find out

what happened on by the way we hope you found what you're looking for. Next week, get ready for how to dismantle an atomic bomb. Maybe, maybe. And a big bombshell. Once again, thanks to Quello for sponsoring today's episode. Make sure to stop by quello.com slash VIP U2 Talk.

That's Q-E-L-L-O dot com slash VIP slash U2 Talk for a free trial. And you can see some great full-length HD concerts and documentaries from your favorite musicians. This has been an Earwolf Media Production. Executive Producers Jeff Ulrich and Scott Aukerman. For more information, visit EarwolfRadio.com The wolf dead. Hey, Queeros. It's me, Cami Esposito, and I'm here to tell you about my podcast, Queery. You can sit in on hour-long conversations between me, Cameron Esposito,

and some of the brightest luminaries in the LGBTQ family. Query explores individual stories of identity, personality, and the shifting cultural matrix around gender, sexuality, and civil rights. Plus, it is fun. We have had some incredible guests. Emmy winner Lena Waithe? Yes, definitely. Congressman Mark Takano? You bet. L Word creator Eileen Shakin? Yes. President and CEO of GLAAD, Sarah Kate Ellis? We definitely have. We've got celebs, people like Trixie Mattel, Evan Rachel Wood, Tegan and Sarah, the band, and the people, separately, on two different episodes. We also have activists and change makers

in our community. I think it's a one of a kind show full of chats you have never heard before. It's identity, it's community, it's query. You can find query every Monday on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.