After a year...what do you think about NLOTH?

[popshopper]

It's not really that coherent an album which is the most disappointing thing. Individually the songs are of a good quality but it never really recovers from the middle 3 songs which simply just jar. Not really sure of the thinking behind grouping the 3 weakest songs on the album together in the middle, they'd have maybe have gotten away with it if they had split them up, and I always think you can have a weak second track or second last track if you have a cracking opener (which NLOTH has) and a decent closer (I like Cedars of Lebanon a lot apart from some weak lyrics in some of the verses)

 

[Roland of Gilead]

I recently used the album rating program again. No Line finished 4th (down from 3rd), but the score went up.

March 2010
JT- 8.45
AB- 8.42
UF- 8.10
NL- 7.91

March 2009
JT- 8.45
AB- 7.92
NL- 7.36
UF- 7.20

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Hasn't really changed in my rankings. Comfortably in sixth position, that may seem misleading but I really do love the album, it hasn't lost its touch for me at all.

Although I feel lonely for being one of the few that actually like Stand Up Comedy. I just can't hate it.

 

[bonocomet]

me too
I know lots of people talk about the middle 3 being the weakest but I never saw it that way
and obviously the band didn't either considering their choice of singles including the lead single. I love GOYB.

 

[Roland of Gilead]

The middle 3 on my album playlist is greatly enhanced at the moment with the CT U2360 Remix and the Boots Fish Out of Water Remix subing their originals.

 

[SeattleVertigo]

I have a hard time ranking the albums, but I totally love NLOTH. One of my U2 favorites.

The song No Line on the Horizon is one of my all-time favorites, and Magnificent is very high on that list as well. Moment of Surrender is a very solid song.

The only songs I frequently skip are Stand Up Comedy and Get On Your Boots, depending on my mood.

I even like I'll Go Crazy now, when it used to be my least favorite on the album. Maybe that has to do with falling back in love with my college sweetheart/fellow U2 fanatic; I kind of like sappy right now, I have to admit!

 

[the tourist]

01. The Joshua Tree
02. The Unforgettable Fire
03. Boy
04. War
05. October
06. No Line On The Horizon
07. Achtung Baby
08. Pop
09. Zooropa
10. Rattle & Hum (if it was studio only, it'd be #5)
11. All That You Can't Leave Behind
12. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

 

[God Part III]

Their best since Zooropa. I still listen to ar least one of the tracks on a daily basis.

 

[purpleoscar]

2nd fav. AB is still the freshest sounding for me.

You can't complain with:

NLOTH
Magnificent
MOS
UC
Fez-BB
WAS
Breathe

It's criminal that Breathe and MOS didn't get single status.

 

[God Part III]

Following the tourist's example:

1. Achtung Baby
2. The Joshua Tree
3. Zooropa
4. The Unforgettable Fire
5. No Line On The Horizon
6. All That You Can't Leave Behind
7. Boy
8. War
9. Pop
10. Passengers
11. October
12. Rattle and Hum
13. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

 

[LemonMelon]

My rankings have gotten a good shaking over the past year:

1. Zooropa (A+)
2. The Joshua Tree (A+)
3. Pop (A)
4. Achtung Baby (A-)
5. Boy (A-)
6. War (B+)
7. NLOTH (B+)
8. Passengers (B+)
9. TUF (B)
10. R&H (B)
11. HTDAAB (B-)
12. ATYCLB (B-)
13. October (C+)

Compared to my ranking in May...

1. Zooropa
2. Joshua Tree
3. Pop
4. Boy
5. War
6. Achtung Baby
7. NLOTH
*Passengers*
8. HTDAAB
9. R&H
10. Unforgettable Fire
11. ATYCLB
12. October

 

[U2387]

#1 - JT/AB
#3 - NLOTH
Then: POP/UF

Replace Pop with War and that is my list.

Only difference is I sometimes put NLOTH in #3 and sometimes put it in the "Then" category at 4 or 5.

For me, I know JT and AB are better than NLOTH.

As for UF and War, it completely depends on the day.

I find it hard to rank albums, I still think U2 has not made a bad album and that each is brilliant in its own way.

My opinion has stayed about the same- great, great album but not quite to the same level as JT and AB. NLOTH does, however, indicate to me that they clearly have it in them to get back to that level.

I agree with alot of others- NLOTH, Magnificent, MOS(especially), WAS, Breathe, Cedars are some of the best songs U2 has ever recorded.

 

[Niceman]

Replace Pop with War and that is my list.

Only difference is I sometimes put NLOTH in #3 and sometimes put it in the "Then" category at 4 or 5.

For me, I know JT and AB are better than NLOTH.

As for UF and War, it completely depends on the day.

I find it hard to rank albums, I still think U2 has not made a bad album and that each is brilliant in its own way.

My opinion has stayed about the same- great, great album but not quite to the same level as JT and AB. NLOTH does, however, indicate to me that they clearly have it in them to get back to that level.

I agree with alot of others- NLOTH, Magnificent, MOS(especially), WAS, Breathe, Cedars are some of the best songs U2 has ever recorded.

My only problem with War is that I think it's an uneven album. The best songs are amazing, but some of the others...aren't. I guess that's true of POP too.... But Gone, Discotheque, Please, Wake Up Dead Man, Do You Feel Loved?, Mofo..... I mean there's sooo much on that disc that I love!!!

I've reached the point where I can't rank the catalogue 1-10 or anything like that. I have to have levels:

Level 1: JT/AB
just below that - NLOTH
Level 2: UF/POP
Level 3: BOY/R&H/HTDAAB
Level 4: October/WAR/ZOOROPA/Passengers
Level 5: ATYCLB

Or something like that.....

 

[Salome]

01. No line
02. Unforgettable Fire
03. All that you can't
04. Joshua Tree
05. October
06. Zooropa
07. Rattle & Hum
08. Achtung Baby
09. War
10. How to dismantle
11. Boy
12. POP

Zooropa has gone down my rankings
Bomb is low in the rankings considering I listen to it more than half the albums ahead of it

 

[Galeongirl]

Nothing changed. I still don't think the middle three are weak and still think the only weak track on that album is the closing one. Still think it lacks NLOTH2 as closer, but yeah..
Comfortably at a 2nd place for me.

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

I don't listen a lot of U2 these days.... more Muse and harder things, but NLOTH stayed on top of my list (N° 3 or 4). Songs are still fresh, new, innovative, I like it a lot!
HTDAAB seems to be 20 years old now.... NLOTH seems new to me.

Great work, great album!


Forgot to say that the 360 tour is below my expectations though, and the band isn't as good as previous tours...

 

[wolbersu2]

For me it's still one of their best albums to date. I think it will stay there for a while. I'm hoping for more of this in the future.

 

[An Cat Gav]

As many others have said, other than Crazy and SUC in particular it is a very strong album. Magnificent, Cedars, MOS and NLOTH are some of U2's best. I had originally ranked it around #5, but now I have it around the same level as War and Rattle and Hum fighting for the number 8 or 9 spot, but far ahead of ATYCLB and Bomb.

 

[An Cat Gav]

Currently it's :

1. Achtung Baby.
2. The Joshua Tree
3. The Unforgettable Fire
4. Passengers
5. Zooropa
6. Boy
7. Pop
8. October
9. No line On The Horizon
10. War
11. Rattle and Hum
12. ATYCLB





13 Bomb.

 

[ozeeko]

listening to MOS on painkillers right now (i had surgery). What a trip!

 

[Bono's shades]

I think the album as a whole may have sunk a bit with me. I don't listen to it nearly as often as I used to. But I still think MOS is one of their best songs ever (at least the best song they've done this decade, hands-down.)

 

[Jeef690]

NLOTH, MOS, and Magnificent, Crazy Tonight, and Breathe are all fantastic songs that keep this album in rotation on my ipod.

Do I enjoy listening to it all the way through as much as other albums? Not as much anymore. I think they screwed up the flow of the album by adding in the "rock" section. Breathe would have been so much more powerful as the lone quick tempo, uplifting powerhouse at the end of the album. Imagine if Boots was slowed down and stripped of the electronic elements for more of a Bloc Party vibe... The problem with the album, for me, is the mixing on those three middle tracks, Crazy, Boots, and SUC.

 

[gherman]

#2 just after Achtung Baby

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

listening to MOS on painkillers right now (i had surgery). What a trip!

here's to wishing you a speedy and full recovery

 

[BVS]

listening to MOS on painkillers right now (i had surgery). What a trip!

Here's to wishing you a speedy recover and enjoying those pills, but only as you need them...

 

[prbiker15]

NLOTH has some good songs. But some of them could have been more U2, I think the public isn't used to see U2 compose an album like this. It is one of their greatest albums. Might not beat Achtung or POP (Bless those two albums), but it deserves recognition.

 

[BVS]

NLOTH has some good songs. But some of them could have been more U2, I think the public isn't used to see U2 compose an album like this. It is one of their greatest albums. Might not beat Achtung or POP (Bless those two albums), but it deserves recognition.

This is an interesting post, do you mind elaborating a little bit for us?

I mean, what does "could have been more U2" mean? Achtung Baby has definately become a defining moment for U2, but at the time people were saying the same thing "it could have been more U2". And Pop? Pop is probably the least U2 sounding U2 album when it comes to the general public.

 

[PhilsFan]

U2 are a terrible judge of their own material, as usual.

I liked it, didn't love it. It's probably in the middle as far as U2 albums go, maybe 5th or 6th? Feels about right.

 

[trevgreg]

Back when the album came out a year ago, I tried to gauge the reaction of two other U2 fans in my family, my brother and aunt. Both said that they weren't really big on the album in the end. And at the time, I pretty much agreed with them. A year later, I'm not too far removed from what I thought earlier, but I do feel that this isn't one of their best works (though I know a lot of people here will disagree with me here).

For me, it's probably somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of album rankings. I still think Magnificent ranks with the best work they've done, and both versions of the title track and Breathe are very good songs which I still listen to regularly. Other than that, I can't say I really listen to much else off of the album. MOS and UC have increased in my respect for them after seeing them live though, which I guess is a plus. I was never fond of Boots as a single, and I'll only play it every so often (did enjoy it live though). And I still think Crazy Tonight was a bit too safe for the band with not much going for it, though I love the remixed and live versions of it and still listen to those regularly.

 

[Joey788]

Second favorite album behind Achtung Baby for me. The opening trilogy is just perfect and my appreciation for the second-half songs (WAS, Fez, COL) has shot through the roof. I actually like the middle three but my opinion of Boots and Crazy Tonight have gone down a little since the live versions blow the studio versions out of the water.

I'm hoping U2 will continue down to take more risks like the ones that are found on many of this album's songs. I'm excited to see what the material on Songs of Ascent is like (if it ever gets released that is).