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

[cobl04]

not nearly as keen as i was after the intial listens, but it's pretty damn good. felll behind Paul Dempsey's Everything is True and The Flaming Lips' Embryonic for my top albums of 09.

NLOTH, Moment of Surrender, Fez and Cedars are all still great in my mind.

still very strongly dislike Magnificent.

 

[lov12113]

3rd favorite U2 album behind AB and JT (in that order). It really is a great album but not anything like commercial pop, so I am not surprised it didn't get a lot of radio play. But now days, that doesn't mean much. The album rocks!

 

[Saracene]

I still feel roughly the same way about NLOTH. I still love Magnificent and White As Snow, but like rather than love the rest of the songs. And the middle section still feels very much out of place. At the same time, it's still one of the few U2 albums that I'd actually listen to from start to finish, so it's a bit hard to try and rank it against, say, Achtung Baby which has much stronger individual tracks but which I also never really feel like listening through.

 

[gweeps]

I think Larry is the MVP of the album. He hasn't drummed on a studio album with such style and intricacy since Achtung Baby.

 

[last unicorn]

I love it, it means so much to me. It's still the U2 album I listen to most.

 

[digitize]

Probably still second favorite U2 album, after Achtung Baby. Pop is very close behind it.

 

[Rafiennes]

After a year, it's just kinda there for me.
It's a good album, nothing earth shattering.
I revisit some songs, and others people rave about, I still don't see the big deal. But thta's just me.
What it has made me do, is go back and fall in love with POP again.
Not sure the connection, but POP seems to be all I want to listen to these days.

 

[djerdap]

My album ranking would be something like this:

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

It feels more like an album than the last two records, and I really enjoy the last third of it, but the middle section hurts it a lot and the first third, which is hugely popular around here, lacks that "umph" factor (for the lack of a better word), that made the great U2 records so special.

 

[xtrmx]

It beats only Boy for me, and Boy is at the bottom on my u2 albums lists.
I Barely listen to it anymore, also never had the "urge" to listen to a NLOTH song. The only song I do play sometimes is crazy tonight, because it makes me happy.

Although I really loved NLOTH the first months, my interest has totally gone to zero.
Also, I will never listen to those 30 seconds previews again (at least not 1000 times as I did when I first got them), those 30 seconds were the best part out of every song it seems.

 

[Acrobat51829]

Roughly the same as a year ago. Last third: brilliant. First third: great. Middle three: Boots is still a fun quirky little song, and it's relatively harmless --if only it had two better songs bookending it.

My opinion on the title track has changed drastically--I thought it was bad elevator music when I first heard it, and now I think it's one of their all time best. Breathe still wins the decade for me though.

 

[alanah]

Love it.. well, I still have to skip GOYB whenever I listen to the album but it's still in my top 3 U2 albums though.

 

[youarenotimmune]

best album of 2009 for me, alongside Merriweather Post Pavillion

 

[Serena Vox]

About the same as I did a year ago.

It's okay. It ranks near the middle. It has a few good tracks, and a few tracks I wish I never heard in the first place, just like the last album.

 

[mikal]

best album of 2009 for me, alongside Merriweather Post Pavillion

 

[youarenotimmune]

have u seen oddsac yet mikal? i really wanna watch that!

 

[secretly alone]

I rank it at about number 8...for now. Cedars is really the only song I'm not in love with. It was a little hard to rank at first, putting it higher than albums I'd known and loved for years didn't seem right. But now it's had plenty of time to sink in. I would say that #8 is about as high as I could ever rank it, because #s 1-7 are never going to move down the list.

In short, I love No Line

 

[phommel]

An amazing album. Still listening to it a lot. And it still has that 'fresh sound'. Especially the first 4 tracks are sublime. The album even grew on me ( I appreciate Uknown Caller more and more, in the beginning I didn't like it). The 'weaker' part is the middle section, but we already have/had a discussion about that in another topic. Although I like every single song, this makes the album as a whole a little less perfect. Still a huge step forwards after ATYCLB/HTDAAB. Let's hope the (by U2 standards) disappointing commercial success will not decide them not to bring out those earlier mentioned meditative, future hymns...I am afraid we will ahve to do it with a single/ep just before the rest of 360.

In my ranking it is just below AB and JT:

1. AB/JT
2. UF/POP/NLOTH
3. ZOOROPA
4. WAR/ATYCLB/HTDAAB
5. BOY
6. OCTOBER

 

[FlamingRudy]

1. Achtung Baby 10/10
2. Pop 9/10
3. No Line on the Horizon 8/10
4. Zooropa 8/10
5. The Joshua Tree 8/10
6. ATCLB 7/10
7. Boy 7/10
8. The Unforgettable Fire 7/10
9. Rattle & Hum 6/10
10. HTDAAB 6/10
11. War 6/10
12. October 5/10

 

[phommel]

Ai I even forgot to mention Rattle and Hum....
Let's place it just above october...

 

[BluRmGrl]

Now that the inital excitement of having a new album has worn down, NLOTH has settled comfortably into in my Top 5, if for no other reason than that the opening 3 tracks are the best IMO since the Holy Trinity of JT.

 

[Jdelbove]

tied with TUF as my third favorite behind AB and JT - if suc didnt exist and another great maybe slow meditative song was in its place the album might be my favorite - I still listen to the album all the time straight through (minus suc) on my way 2 and from school - try listening to mos on a rainy day on the subway and tell me the "speeeeeeding on the subway" line doesnt hit u

 

[mikal]

have u seen oddsac yet mikal? i really wanna watch that!

you know, i haven't yet. but i definitely plan on it too!

 

[Aygo]

NLOTH still is, after a year, the 4th best album, after AB, JT and Zooropa. It's a great effort from U2 and it could be one of U2's two best albums if it didn't have SUC and it had Winter (Linear version, obviously) included.

WAS still is my favourite track from the album and Magnificent still is my second favourite, even though it feels a little tired.

 

[Mac Phisto]

I don't mean to be a dick, especially since picking your favorite U2 album is a subjective process, but how could anyone rate NLOTH as the greatest album the band ever released?

The album certainly has its high points (read: Tracks 1-3), but after that the album settles into a collection of hits and misses.

 

[65980]

I have discovered that I like this album more once I deleted "Crazy Tonight", "Stand up Comedy", and "Take off your Boots" from my playlist. The whole thing flows better, and without those tracks it's still longer than many classic rock albums, so good enough. And yes I think "Winter" would have worked well in this context, which makes the album darker, deeper, and more cerebral in feeling and mood, which is probably what they were going for, generally speaking. The kernel of a great U2 album is there in NLOTH, but somehow it doesn't go far enough in any one direction to really impress me (that is, by U2's enormous standards).

"Magnificent" and "Cedars of Lebanon" are the two most fully-realized tracks, I think. I don't think they could possibly sound any better than they do. "Cedars" is actually my favorite track on the whole LP, which is a bit odd. This kind of Cohen-esque character study I found very successful (unlike some of the hyper lyrical pretensions of, say, "Breathe"). "Magnificent" is sort of a classic U2-sound, but it's so good it just works.

Definitely would be a good move by the band to get out another piece of plastic very soon, though, I think.

 

[An Cat Gav]

I have discovered that I like this album more once I deleted "Crazy Tonight", "Stand up Comedy", and "Take off your Boots" from my playlist. The whole thing flows better, and without those tracks it's still longer than many classic rock albums, so good enough. And yes I think "Winter" would have worked well in this context, which makes the album darker, deeper, and more cerebral in feeling and mood, which is probably what they were going for, generally speaking. The kernel of a great U2 album is there in NLOTH, but somehow it doesn't go far enough in any one direction to really impress me (that is, by U2's enormous standards).

"Magnificent" and "Cedars of Lebanon" are the two most fully-realized tracks, I think. I don't think they could possibly sound any better than they do. "Cedars" is actually my favorite track on the whole LP, which is a bit odd. This kind of Cohen-esque character study I found very successful (unlike some of the hyper lyrical pretensions of, say, "Breathe"). "Magnificent" is sort of a classic U2-sound, but it's so good it just works.

Definitely would be a good move by the band to get out another piece of plastic very soon, though, I think.

I agree with all of this.

 

[mikal]

I have discovered that I like this album more once I deleted "Crazy Tonight", "Stand up Comedy", and "Take off your Boots" from my playlist. The whole thing flows better, and without those tracks it's still longer than many classic rock albums, so good enough. And yes I think "Winter" would have worked well in this context, which makes the album darker, deeper, and more cerebral in feeling and mood, which is probably what they were going for, generally speaking. The kernel of a great U2 album is there in NLOTH, but somehow it doesn't go far enough in any one direction to really impress me (that is, by U2's enormous standards).

"Magnificent" and "Cedars of Lebanon" are the two most fully-realized tracks, I think. I don't think they could possibly sound any better than they do. "Cedars" is actually my favorite track on the whole LP, which is a bit odd. This kind of Cohen-esque character study I found very successful (unlike some of the hyper lyrical pretensions of, say, "Breathe"). "Magnificent" is sort of a classic U2-sound, but it's so good it just works.

Definitely would be a good move by the band to get out another piece of plastic very soon, though, I think.

you know, i actually had a double album/EP theory based on your thoughts:

Dawning

1. No Line On The Horizon
2. Magnificent
3. Moment Of Surrender
4. Unknown Caller
5. White As Snow
6. Fez - Being Porn
7. Cedars Of Lebanon

Midnight

1. No Line On This Horizon 2
2. Stand Up Comdey
3. Get On Your Boots
4. Crazy Tonight (single mix)
5. Breathe
6. Winter (Linear)

i realize that they're uneven, but as far as flow is concerned, it works very well.

 

[chrissybaby]

I have discovered that I like this album more once I deleted "Crazy Tonight", "Stand up Comedy", and "Take off your Boots" from my playlist. The whole thing flows better, and without those tracks it's still longer than many classic rock albums, so good enough. And yes I think "Winter" would have worked well in this context, which makes the album darker, deeper, and more cerebral in feeling and mood, which is probably what they were going for, generally speaking. The kernel of a great U2 album is there in NLOTH, but somehow it doesn't go far enough in any one direction to really impress me (that is, by U2's enormous standards).

"Magnificent" and "Cedars of Lebanon" are the two most fully-realized tracks, I think. I don't think they could possibly sound any better than they do. "Cedars" is actually my favorite track on the whole LP, which is a bit odd. This kind of Cohen-esque character study I found very successful (unlike some of the hyper lyrical pretensions of, say, "Breathe"). "Magnificent" is sort of a classic U2-sound, but it's so good it just works.

Definitely would be a good move by the band to get out another piece of plastic very soon, though, I think.

Sums up my feeling perfectly. Cedars is the one I keep going back to, it's a beautiful song. Eno, Lanois and U2 come together in perfect harmony on that song. It's everything I wanted the album to be and everything I hope SoA will be...

 

[bram]

Yes, yes, yes. It's interesting how many of us are on the same page (or almost) with this. There's a great NLOTH mood that just seems to get tampered with in the middle of the record.

 

[zoopop]

Reading everyone's comments I feel like I'm the only one who enjoys "Crazy Tonight" after UC

To me it just reiterates the joyfulness in UC.