NLOTH - everything ATYCLB and HTDAAB wanted to be ?

[Irishteen]

I've always found the opening songs of Joshua Tree very overrated, I think U2's best openings are

1. A Sort of Homecoming ---> Pride ---> Wire ---> The Unforgettable Fire ---> Promenade
2. Zoo Station ---> Even Better Than the Real Thing ---> One ----> Until the End of the World
3. No Line on the Horizon ---> Magnificent ---> Moment of Surrender ---> Unknown Caller

 

[Salome]

it's 3 classics in a row
that's 3 classics more than most bands write
and 2 more than the lucky few write
it can't be overrated

 

[Irishteen]

it's 3 classics in a row
that's 3 classics more than most bands write
and 2 more than the lucky few write
it can't be overrated

I Still Haven't Found isn't that good a song, I like it but it's near the bottom of Joshua Tree for me. The opening of the Joshua Tree has never striked me as being amazing, it's a great opening, on a great album, nothing mindblowing

 

[ozeeko]

perhaps Bono is not trying to save the world (actually I don't see any evidence in his songs that he's trying to save anyone) but is just offering different perspectives
it would be a bit sad if pushing 50 he was still trapped in a 1-dimensional world
it would also limit him as an artist which I don't really see the point to

I think it's pretty limiting to keep writing virtually the same song over and over again. "Stand up for you love, walk on, walk out into the sun burst street and sing your heart out, oh you look so beautiful tonight, you don't know how beautiful you are, it's a beautiful day, everywhere you go you shout it you don't have to be shy about it, squeeze out bits of light you know i'm gonna go crazy if i don't go crazy tonight" - i'm gonna go crazy if i hear one more song about how beautiful everyone and everything is and how we all need to stand up and walk out and walk on and do something crazy.

I just want to know:

WHAT THE HELL ARE WE STANDING UP FOR!!!!!??????? WHY ARE WE PROTESTING?!!!!! WHY ARE WE GOING INTO THE LIGHT? WHAT IS THE DARKNESS, DAMMIT????

These songs are like self-motivational pieces. I guess if you really need that in your life then great, you are most fortunate to have Bono as your conscience and motivator. But i want something new. I'm singing along to Moment Of Surrender, White As Snow, Cedars of Lebanon, Being Born....i like the Bono that tries new things and writes from a different perspective.

It's like....what if Bob Dylan just kept rewriting The Times They Are A- Changing? What would he be accomplishing besides just delivering the expected? Beautiful Day, Walk On, Stuck in a moment, Original of the Spieces, Crazy Tonight, Breathe, Get On Your Boots, Stand Up Comedy... these to me are all just the same theme recycled over and over again.

I get it, we need to remain optimistic and stay positive in the face of danger.

You know what keeps me positive? NEW FUCKING IDEAS!!!!!

 

[BVS]

I think it's pretty limiting to keep writing virtually the same song over and over again. "Stand up for you love, walk on, walk out into the sun burst street and sing your heart out, oh you look so beautiful tonight, you don't know how beautiful you are, it's a beautiful day, everywhere you go you shout it you don't have to be shy about it, squeeze out bits of light you know i'm gonna go crazy if i don't go crazy tonight" - i'm gonna go crazy if i hear one more song about how beautiful everyone and everything is and how we all need to stand up and walk out and walk on and do something crazy.

I see what you are saying...

In a way this is how I feel about Depeche Mode, NIN, and other such artists...

DM have been writing the same song for years now; a little sex, religious imagery, and talk about darkness a lot and it will sound poetic.

NIN, seriously Trent how can you still be caught up in teenage angst? You're almost 44 years old...

Even Vedder one of my favorite lyricist I've found to be a little repetitive in recent years...

Ryan Adams has started using certain metaphors too much...

It's hard. One thing you and I have talked about before is writing about optimism is hard. Think back and the majority of your favorite lyricist probably have much more melancholy than optimism or joy. This is something as a hobby song writer that I struggle with myself...

My theory is that it's easy to stop and reflect on the dark times. Break ups, death, loss; it's human nature to stop and reflect when these things happen. In times of true joy you don't want to stop, you just want to keep living it because it may end. I think that's why so many love songs or joyful songs can sound very forced or cliched... that's just my theory.

In fact this gives me a good idea for a thread...

 

[Salome]

I think it's pretty limiting to keep writing virtually the same song over and over again.

if you want to lump every song with a slightly positive twist together as being virtually the same then you could just as well bung all U2 songs into 3 categories:
religion
politics
addicition

if according to your logic Stand up Comedy is virtually the same as Beautiful Day then surely Mofo is virtually the same as I will follow, MOS virtually the same as Running to stand still which is virtually the same as Bad
and so on and so on


I can understand you are not a fan of certain Bono themes
but I think it is a bit of nonsense to make out that it's the only repetitive theme in his career

 

[U2girl]

So 53 minutes is cool but 58-60 is too long?
That doesn't seem like much of a difference to me.

I just say, put what you made on there if it's good enough.

If it's 53 or 63 minutes, fuck it, most people just want access to the songs anyways.

I wish more people could have had access Mercy the last time around.
Now, it's forever buried because U2 didn't want to bore the listener.
And yet...they did anyways.

It may not be a difference purely in minutes, but it can be in the feeling of listening to an (over)long album.

I wish Mercy would get out, but not on an album like Bomb. Not a 6:30 song on a record full of 4:00, 4:30 singles. Not a loose shaped song surrounded by classic verse-chorus structure songs. Much like Ground beneath her feet and Stateless would feel out of place on a pop album like ATYCLB.

(Mercy will be out on SOA according to Larry, and Edge said they're trying to find a place for it. apparently they want to play it live)

 

[Amiarockstar]

Mercy!

 

[ozeeko]

if you want to lump every song with a slightly positive twist together as being virtually the same then you could just as well bung all U2 songs into 3 categories:
religion
politics
addicition

if according to your logic Stand up Comedy is virtually the same as Beautiful Day then surely Mofo is virtually the same as I will follow, MOS virtually the same as Running to stand still which is virtually the same as Bad
and so on and so on


I can understand you are not a fan of certain Bono themes
but I think it is a bit of nonsense to make out that it's the only repetitive theme in his career

I got nothing against a theme of positivity and remaining optimistic during harsh times, but I'm just sick of it at this point. Everytime U2 tries to be "old school U2", they have to tack on these reassuring words of wisdom to every song. CT, SUC, Walk On, Beautiful Day, City of Blinding Lights, OOTS, Breathe- it's all the same message...we're all beautiful, we will survive these times if we walk on, go crazy, stand up, and shout it out. It's like selfmotivational tapes put to music.

I Will Follow and Mofo may be linked because of Bono's mother (so is Lemon), but they're all done in a subtle fashion, and Bono's mother doesn't have to be the main point of the song. It's a starting point. Lemon is more about tapping into artistry, it's about the muse, imagination. MOFO is like a midlife crisis, looking thru the trash for spirituality. I Will Follow is about having a suicidal urge to follow ones mother in death. Yea, all starting with Bono's mom, but branching off into different territories. That to me is more interesting. That's something the new songs don't do. They may start a little different, but by the end they're all neatly wrapped up in Bono's optimistic and reassuring mantra- that everything is going to be alright if we just stand up, go crazy, walk on, walk out, and shout it, because we are beautiful, we may not know how beautiful we are but we are and HEY IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

 

[Cactus Annie]

I think NLOTH could be described by the quotes used by the band for the previous two albums, especially "we're making an album about the joy of being in a band, with or without an audience", "if this would be our last album it would be ok" and "some of our best work" or "we waited 20/25 years to make this album".

Yeah, we make music for ourselves regardless whether other people like it or not.

Well if ATYCLB and HTDAAB were initially intended to be written without any noticeable catchy hooks and melody's then I think they've fulfilled this ideal with NLOTH. I like songs to contain hooks that are big enough so that I can fit my entire wardrobe on and melodies that feel like a hot hair drier blowing in my face. These are two most important ingredient for any song. When there was that thread on here that asked us what we would/wouldn't like to hear on this new album never in a million years would I have thought I should post the reply "big melodic, catchy songs", because I always asumed that was THE thing that songs must always contain. It's like making a film without a plot or getting fish & chips for diner and coming home with just a load of newspaper with a pile of salt & vinegar but no chips or fish. When I go home latter I'm going to have a ham sandwich. The ham and the bread will be optional items.