the NLOTH>>>>>>POP connection

[kingofsorrow]

if anybody is getting the same impression let me know. for some reason i keep being reminded of POP when i listen to this album. i can't put my finger on what it is exactly , but there is some sort of connection somewhere.
magnificent especially is giving me the same vibe as Mofo. i saw someone else post something similar on another thread about the song.
maybe in a few years after the album has aged y'all might look back and feel the same or if you do now, pipe up.

 

[The_Pac_Mule]

magnificent especially is giving me the same vibe as Mofo

 

[zooropop40]

magnificent reminds me more of "do you feel loved" or "disctotheque" than mofo.

but yea i get the vibe, I think this is what U2 always wanted pop to be (even though I think they are both great just as they are). I remember U2 saying that the wish they could "redo Pop"... maybe this was it?

 

[macfisto]

I second that!

 

[Flaming Friar Sr]

listen to the verses of unknown caller; sounds popish to me. that's a good thing.

 

[gweeps]

Can't we just let NLOTH stand on its own?

 

[MrPryck2U]

Maybe you're getting this feeling because both albums were released on the same day. Pop came out on 3/3/97 and NLOTH is scheduled to be released on the same day, but in 2009.

Seriously, though, the comparisons don't seem too farfetched. With Pop, U2 ran out of time on their self-imposed deadline, but decided to release the album anyway even though they felt it was "unfinished". Where as with NLOTH, they ran out of time on their self-imposed deadline, but then said "fuck it", its not finished, let's give it more time. Which, I think was a pretty good idea.

 

[zooperson]

Yeah, I think Bono's performance is very reminescent of Pop. I think the way he restrains himself at all the right moments is very similar to the way he approached Pop. He uses a lot of the beautiful subtle vocals and really soaring, powerful, and solid vocals when it is appropriate rather than being flashy and abbrassive (like with HTDAAB). Its got that Pop attitude in these ways.

 

[Salome]

it reminds of the 20 years delayed successor of Unforgettable Fire

 

[phillyfan26]

Other than Get on Your Boots sounding a little bit like some Pop rockers and Cedars of Lebanon sounding a little bit like Wake Up Dead Man, I don't see this.

 

[pmickey]

I tire of comparisons, but they can be fun. I agree on the whole "Pop" vibe running through the album. Pop is quite underrated.

I described this album to a friend as "The Unforgettable Fire" played on top of "Pop." Atmospherics and beats all rolled up into a great listen.

 

[what a bomb!]

huh? what are you guys smoking? lol

 

[Earnie Shavers]

it reminds of the 20 years delayed successor of Unforgettable Fire

Unforgettable Fire, via Zooropa, circa ATYCLB.

 

[gman]

If this album has to be compared....then it has the same mellow vibe running through it as UF.

 

[rjhbonovox]

Nope I have the same feeling about the album. It is very alike to Pop which in fact has been mentioned in the new Q review. Although I disagree about Magnificent and Mofo, I actually think the title track has the Mofo vibe about it. Cedars is a cross between WUDM and IYWTVD. Breathe is not far removed from Gone as well. And there is a definite connection between Boots and Discotheque. I like the new album, best they have done this decade but it still falls short of AB, JT and Pop in my opinion. Probably on a par with UF, Zooropa. Still a real quality album.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

I don't get this vibe. Pop was a lot more experimental and daring. NLOTH carries on with the mature, adult contemporany vibe but with a bit more excitment. Pop was more dance like and NLOTH is more electro so that's the only similarities between them, those genres, in my opinion. Also that they have a lot of procution to them.

 

[Tripoli]

if anybody is getting the same impression let me know. for some reason i keep being reminded of POP when i listen to this album. i can't put my finger on what it is exactly , but there is some sort of connection somewhere.
magnificent especially is giving me the same vibe as Mofo. i saw someone else post something similar on another thread about the song.
maybe in a few years after the album has aged y'all might look back and feel the same or if you do now, pipe up.

that was me and i said that the edge shouldve used that guitar in the intro throughout the song. it wouldve done for magnificent what the 747 sound did for mofo

 

[mandrake]

I think everyone is overlooking the biggest connection...both were albums by U2.

 

[blue screen]

magnificent reminds me more of "do you feel loved" or "disctotheque" than mofo.

but yea i get the vibe, I think this is what U2 always wanted pop to be (even though I think they are both great just as they are). I remember U2 saying that the wish they could "redo Pop"... maybe this was it?

That's exactly how I feel about this album..it's what Pop probably should've been...

They have pretty much the same structure, and by that I mean that there is no connection musically or soundwise in the songs, or lyrically..no real cohesiveness...it's just a collection of different sounding songs, but actually finished...

In fact the more I listen to NLOTH, the more I get this feeling that each song represents an era in U2's career (NLOTH could fit perfectly on AB, Fez on Zooropa, etc.).

Nice to have other fans feel that way too.

 

[deltau922]

I agree with this thread. The overall engineering and production reminds me of Pop. And yeah, Magnificent is reminiscent of Do You Feel Loved, Cedars is much like Wake Up Dead Man, and of COURSE Breathe harkens back to Please. And I loooooove me some Pop.

 

[quadcaster]

i get a similar vibe to some of the slower pop songs when i listen to cedars

 

[U2387]

Cedars and the title track give me a little bit of a Pop vibe, Stand Up comedy I think, in some parts, sounds a little like Gone.

However, I see NLOTH as heaviest on elements of UF and AB.
NLOTH:could have fit right on AB.
Magnificent:UF meets a little bit of JT.
Moment:UF meets a little bit of ballad Pop w/some brand new elements for U2 mixed in.
Unknown Caller:UF meets a little of 00's U2, more UF than anything else, though. Different songs, but the instrumental parts remind me a little of love comes tumbling, our UF B-Side.
Crazy Tonight:Could have fit on any of their albums really, except the first 3. JT had trip through, R and H Angel of Harlem, AB trying to throw your arms, etc. The sound in this song is great, nice ringing guitar, guess it sums up the traditional U2 sound the best of any on the album. U2 by numbers in the best of ways.
Boots:AB and Pop with some new sounds as well. Q was right in essentially saying Boots marked the end pt they were seeking on Pop.
SUC:AB meets Gone for me, with the edge breaking some new ground.
Fez-BB:UF alot, Zooropa alot, AB some.
White As Snow:UF or JT, more UF to me.
Breathe:AB-gives me that Acrobat vibe.
Cedars:AB or Pop, take your pick. WUDM/IYWTVD makes it more Pop to me, the AB comparison comes from LIB.

Despite these comparisons, I am firmly in the camp that NLOTH is something in and of itself, something new and different and the sounds that can be picked up by us die hards from other albums are there because they represent the cumulative work of U2 as opposed to a conscious effort to make each song sound like something off a previous albums. The sounds from UF or AB or Pop are there, but in most cases, they are developed upon and used completely differently to create something new.

 

[zooropop40]

yea. breathe does give me an acrobat/ gone vibe that I cant explain... i think it may be the way bono sings, or the guitar or ... ahh i dont even know.... but I Love it!

 

[zooropop40]

Nice to have other fans feel that way too.

thats what interference is about!!

 

[kingofsorrow]

magnificent reminds me more of "do you feel loved" or "disctotheque" than mofo.

now that you mention it, Magnificent is more reminiscent of DYFL.

 

[ShipOfFools]

The intro to Magnificent makes me think of Pop, it has the same sound. Then it goes into the main song, which is more The Unforgettable Fire.

 

[ozeeko]

I don't get the connection at all. The only similarity i see between POP and NLOTH is that with a little extra time these albums could've been flawless. Whereas i find nothing wrong with the songs on POP, in fact i love them all, they would've benefited from a better production. On NLOTH, i love most of the songs except for CT and SUC. If those songs were dropped and replaced with songs that were better (but dear God not Winter!), then the album would've flowed smoothly beginning to end. If CT was on HTDAAB it would've been one of the best tracks, and if SUC was a b-side it would just be what it is...a fun lighthearted number akin to Big Girls Are Best.

Also, one minor complaint, I wish that Breathe was given a more otherworldly production style, more ambient and less rockish. It's still a great song, probably a song that U2 were trying to write since before Bomb, but i feel it's still a little awkwardly placed between WAS and COL. Don't get me wrong, i like the song alot, it just could've been executed a lot better.

 

[Nate Dogg]

I listened to No Line while wearing my Popmart shirt yesterday. Does that qualify?

 

[bonoz]

Can't we just let NLOTH stand on its own?

THANK YOU!!!

PLEASE. Let's just stop this comparative analysis and just look at the album as the band's only.

You hear traces from all the previous albums because: well guess what? despite the fact U2 has changed their sound over the years, they are still the same band and there will always be some aspect of their music that remains static throughout the years. To be honest, on every listen I am reminded of all sorts of previous albums from JT to UF, AB to Zooropa, Million Dollar OST to Passengers. Even though it has some elements from previous albums, it still sounds like the 2000s U2. And that's okay what that has produced is a really good album. I don't know if it is a masterpiece - but it definitely is a really good album and after 5 years of wait I'll take whatever shit they come up with.

In the end really.. it's U2. U2 have not become Bon Jovi or Oasis. They're still the same band and it's no surprise people are getting flashbacks to older albums. But why stain NLOTH's image? why not let this album be what it is? why not let it be a 'person' of itself.

 

[nicv]

I thought this from the first time I heard. I hear Pop and even AB Definitely MOFO, Gone and Disco.......

AB's Even Better and NLOTH title track are similar to me