NLOTH – why the album is a real masterpiece!

[ramblin rose]

My review, with thoughts at the end about what it takes to be a masterpiece.

If anyone cares for an old man's (U2's age) point of view, that is

Cool review!!

 

[rihannsu]

My review, with thoughts at the end about what it takes to be a masterpiece.

If anyone cares for an old man's (U2's age) point of view, that is

Someone described COL as sort of an audio version of film noire. I thought that was very apt and may give you a key to enjoying the vocal delivery. You do know it's from the point of view of a war correspondant right? That's why it is more spoken than sung.

Dana

Almost forgot, I meant to post this link which gives a good defense of masterpiece status for this album.

http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/blog-no-line-on-the-horizon-is-u2s-finest-hour-197505

 

[revolver]

I believe, from what I've been reading on this board, that Cedars of Lebanon is somewhat of a dividing line for this album; there are those who like it and those who don't. I believe, perhaps unfoundedly, that those who really like it may think less of the album as a whole than those who don't like it as much.

I personally think it is possibly the best closer they've yet written, and I wish the rest of the album was up to the task of matching it. As I said before, "Stand Up Comedy" is a good song, but it doesn't belong on an album with something as subtle, graceful, technologically sound as "Cedars."

Taken a step further, because with all the Pitchfork-bashing that goes on here I know most will understand what I'm saying, I think "Cedars" is a song that a website like Pitchfork will especially like. Because its something other, something restrained, showing the cool and unique power of the band and at the same time showing something new-ish.

To me its the perfect closer to an album they didn't end up making.

 

[Mark Freedman]

Someone described COL as sort of an audio version of film noire. I thought that was very apt and may give you a key to enjoying the vocal delivery. You do know it's from the point of view of a war correspondant right? That's why it is more spoken than sung.

Dana

Almost forgot, I meant to post this link which gives a good defense of masterpiece status for this album.

BLOG: No Line On The Horizon is U2's finest hour | musicradar.com

Thanks for the insight, Dana. I did not realize that. I'm definitely digging COL a lot more since I wrote the review (you can tell how often I've been listening), and now knowing its point of view, I have a better perspective.

Thanks for that link, also. That is the best article I've read about the album, yet. Makes a lot of sense.

= Mark

 

[Mark Freedman]

I believe, from what I've been reading on this board, that Cedars of Lebanon is somewhat of a dividing line for this album; there are those who like it and those who don't. I believe, perhaps unfoundedly, that those who really like it may think less of the album as a whole than those who don't like it as much.

I personally think it is possibly the best closer they've yet written, and I wish the rest of the album was up to the task of matching it. As I said before, "Stand Up Comedy" is a good song, but it doesn't belong on an album with something as subtle, graceful, technologically sound as "Cedars."

Taken a step further, because with all the Pitchfork-bashing that goes on here I know most will understand what I'm saying, I think "Cedars" is a song that a website like Pitchfork will especially like. Because its something other, something restrained, showing the cool and unique power of the band and at the same time showing something new-ish.

To me its the perfect closer to an album they didn't end up making.

Interesting. I hadn't noticed the pattern of COL fans.

I also find it extremely interesting that, although the vast majority seem to love the album on a whole, the ones who don't, make a very strong case, and are very definite about their stance. Fascinating.

= Mark

 

[Catman]

I believe, from what I've been reading on this board, that Cedars of Lebanon is somewhat of a dividing line for this album; there are those who like it and those who don't. I believe, perhaps unfoundedly, that those who really like it may think less of the album as a whole than those who don't like it as much.

I suppose I am what you would term as "sample error"

Cedars of Lebanon =

NLOTH (as a whole) =

 

[digitize]

This first post is spot on, though I would argue the point of NLOTH being better than AB (which I personally view as an almost accidental work of extreme genius - it connects personal feelings to a worldly view almost too well), but it is about on par with JT for me at the moment (JT isn't always my second favorite U2 album, though).

The real genius of this album is how the characters are not only sung convincingly by Bono, but how they add up with the "out-of-character" in a metaphorical sense, with the album actually "meaning something". Although characters weren't involved in AB per se (except The Fly), I feel like it has a similar effect - that's why it's my favorite album (not just U2 album), and why NLOTH sounds better to me every time I listen.

 

[digitize]

I suppose I am what you would term as "sample error"

Cedars of Lebanon =

NLOTH (as a whole) =

Proud sample error here, too.

 

[deltau922]

I'm not as familiar with the lyrics as I will be once I get the actual CD and start memorizing stuff, but what blows me away in this album is the crazy vocal harmonizing. It's what I'd call "precisely imprecise," as in, that can't possibly have been written on staff paper, or someone has to be off-key or something, but it sounds completely badass.

 

[ZOOTVTOURist]

The real genius of this album is how the characters are not only sung convincingly by Bono, but how they add up with the "out-of-character" in a metaphorical sense, with the album actually "meaning something". Although characters weren't involved in AB per se (except The Fly), I feel like it has a similar effect - that's why it's my favorite album (not just U2 album), and why NLOTH sounds better to me every time I listen.

– and as @Mark (thanx for sharing your review!) has repeated, of course only time can tell, if NLOTH is a widely accepted 'mastepiece' or not. And it will be interesting and challenging, how hopefully a lot of these tune will be performed live. I do remember, that I had a perspective on the tunes of AB, when the album came out. I got a new on, when I heard the songs live in '92 – and the sum of these impressions reflected to, how I've listened to the album since then.
On the other hand, we already have a lot of fine definition, what a masterpiece is or not in general. And a lot of the parameters are to be connected with NLOTH, which is a real piece of art for me. Plus: the individual emotions, everyone of us has inside, to call it his/her masterpiece even now ...

 

[Vlad n U 2]

NLOTH, masterpiece? I think it is, as good as AB or JT, time will tell.

 

[doctorwho]

Agreeance with this thread.

Also, I think Bomb will be looked at differently in say, 5 or 10 years. The hate right now is out of control for Bomb, like a snowball. The snow will melt eventually.

There's 2 songs on HTDAAB that I don't like and a few that are so-so. However, half the album I love, and that speaks volumes. As such, I really love HTDAAB and feel it's better than anything U2 produced since AB.

Then along came NLOTH. Still deciding on that album, but it's up there. I'm so proud of U2 for not trying to create an album of "hits" so that the youngsters will still love them. If they get hits from NLOTH (and GOYB was a Top 40 hit), it's because of the quality of the work, not some effort to remain relevant. And that's the beauty of the album - it may be relevant for the very reason it wasn't trying to be relevant!

 

[edgeplaytheblue]

This album is sooooo perfect. We have listenend to the album for days now. Over and over again. There is such a greaaat moood on the album. And most important none of the eleven song can be compared with eachother. None of the songs sound to same.
Lots of influences, lots of moods ....

It's a complete album. Everytime I listen to it I hear new things on it and it's getting to me.

And then EDGE is back how he used to play in the 90s ))))

Time will tell if it is a masterpiece, if I will play this album in let say 10 years.

 

[ZOOTVTOURist]

There is such a greaaat moood on the album. And most important none of the eleven song can be compared with eachother. ... It's a complete album. Everytime I listen to it I hear new things on it and it's getting to me.

– and thanx for sharing ...

 

[edgeplaytheblue]

– and thanx for sharing ...

You're welcome ... listening to the album once again. I really get the creeps over and over again ... even boots is getting there

But moment is still better and better. It is sooooo perfect .. amazing.

 

[gvox]

This thread does not intend to go into details about the different tunes or an album review (there are a lot of those threads around now), but to look at NLOTh from a broader point of view, to see it on a wider horizon, to share opinions about this. My feeling towards the album is, that U2 and their music making producers really reached for and entered a level, where they have never been.

You can look at this fact from the musical side: The compositions are really complex, with a legion of sounds and instruments (not only Moroccan drums, but even classical ones as Cello, Strings, French Horn) fixed to exact the timing, where they are thought to have the desired effect. There are walls of sounds to be built, while you find also the moments of near silence. There are breaks and harmony changes, that surprise you, push you out of the songs – only to draw you in a second later. U2 really are seducing us this time. And: You can actually hear every band member crystal clear – with the feeling, that Larry, Adam and The Edge are nearly always doing something, are always spot-on. Plus: Every song, though puzzled together from the different jams, was given space. Every tune has air to breathe, to make instrumental parts possible, even to let the guitar in its various colours 'sing' alone to the tune. And every track has a real ending, no tune has been faded out –so U2 create even a kind of live atmosphere. Listen to the album alone in the dark – and you known, what I mean ...

Another perspecive is the way of songwriting and singing, that Bono delivers. The point, what lyrics he does sing - but also, how he does this. Bono is giving it all, singing high volume, singing with timbre, with falsetto – even giving us a laugh, while belting out his "craziness tonight". There is the full throttle, reflective, medidative voice – and the shouter, the classic story-teller and the crowd-teaser. there are the different personae, the different characters, Bono successfully creates by 'being' them in the songs – so successful, that we become them, too. You get the picture, this singer knows, what he wants to sing, he's found his voice, he's born to sing for us (as he even admits in one tune).

My conclusion can only be: Such a perfection, such an overwhelming and challenging, even kind of cathartic and esoteric-religious effect on me, U2 only have achieved on very rare occasions in the past. Always then, when they really have created a masterpiece (which by the way has nothing to do with a commercial masterpiece, or the kind of PR-bla-bla surrounding every U2 album ...).
While in my ears, NLOTH is far better than the beautiful, but somehow unfinished 'POP', I will go further: NLOTH might be even 'better' than 'Achtung Baby' and en par with 'The Joshua Tree' – which we really can judge after a certain time, after the live versions, that lead to another level of understanding for the studio album, too. 'Better' does not mean, I'd bash 'Achtung Baby' now – which I still estimate as a revolutionary masterpiece, too. But I do see NLOTH a touch more broader, more musicality, more mood, more feeling(s), more emotional landscapes. U2 still haven't found, what they are looking for, are still curious, courageous and hungry as artists, are still on their journey towards now musical lands – and thankfully don't see any horizon there yet. Wow – what a gift, a classic album with courage for new soundscapes and the 'old' spirit of U2 at the same time. The question, many here raised after HTDAAB, the band has answered as artists: They took their time and created a new masterpiece. Congratulations!

You've said what I would take about 3 pages to explain. Well done.

 

[ZOOTVTOURist]

You've said what I would take about 3 pages to explain. Well done.

Thanx, mate – and I am really curious for other opinions, too

 

[jamaral]

You've said what I would take about 3 pages to explain. Well done.

I can use just two words: no masterpiece

 

[U2Girl1978]

Does anyone sense an 80's type of vibe on some of the songs?

 

[ZOOTVTOURist]

Does anyone sense an 80's type of vibe on some of the songs?

Don't know, if it is, what you feel – but I might connect this with Bono's voice, that is full, emotional and pathetic. This reminds me of earlier times, too and is so beautiful ...

 

[purpleoscar]

Does anyone sense an 80's type of vibe on some of the songs?

It sounds like a classic U2 album I haven't bought yet.

 

[catlhere]

Does anyone sense an 80's type of vibe on some of the songs?

Being Born (not the FEZ part) is TUF to me without a doubt, but maybe it's just me.

 

[yolland]

Does anyone sense an 80's type of vibe on some of the songs?

My exposure to the album thus far is limited to a few semi-distracted listens to the MySpace stream, but in fact that was my first major impression... "Wow I can't believe how strong an 80s feel so much of this has". I haven't yet tried to break down why it struck me that way though; it definitely wasn't any one aspect, it was a holistic thing.

 

[gvox]

I can use just two words: no masterpiece

Just got off the phone...Larry has two words for ya

 

[shart1780]

I don't think I'd call it a masterpiece, but I like it a lot.

 

[norsehorse23]

I also hear alot of 80s type sounds in there too, and while someone else might have already mentioned this in another thread about the title song, did anyone else hear the guitar riff from The Fly in it?...

I think you nailed the sentiment I have about this album, ZOOTVTOURist. There are so many moods on this album, light and dark moments that really force you to listen carefully each time you start it. It's not an epic in the mold of the Joshua Tree, or even Achtung Baby, the two albums that are universally hailed as their previous masterpieces, yet are distinct from each other. This creates an entirely new mold for them, that combines bits and pieces of older elements with new ones. I think that I definitely had higher expectations for this album than Bomb or even ATYCLB just because of all the hype that I heard from Eno, Lanois, and even Larry. At first listen, I was probably a little disappointed because what I determined to be epic was a Joshua Tree/Achtung Baby hybrid that would just blow me away. That's not to say that there wasn't anything that did blow me away, because I noticed right away that Bono's voice was incredible. Then after a few more listens I came to the realization that this was, like I said before, a new type of epic, one that we hadn't heard from them before. One person's masterpiece, is another man's piece of crap, so to to each his own. More appreciation should be given to the fact that they aren't sitting on their arses and regurgitating the same old sound over and over, which they may or may not have done on ATYCLB and Bomb, depending on who you talk to. When it's all said and done, it's too early to label this with the word masterpiece simply because, as some of you have noted, I want to hear what kind of live atmosphere some of these songs will create. It's not a coincidence that on the last two tours the songs that got the loudest and craziest audience responses were mostly JT, AB, UF, and War songs, with the possible exception of Beautiful Day. If Breathe, Magnificent, Crazy Tonight, No Line, or maybe Unknown Caller create that vibe, then we can talk about it being a masterpiece. That doesn't mean that I don't think it's heading towards that distinction though!

 

[Catman]

I don't think I'd call it a masterpiece, but I like it a lot.

I think I am inclined to agree with this. Above all else, it gives me hope for the future of the band (as far as my interest in them goes... I like that this is more of a "headphone record").

...And this may just be me, but even the more HTDAAB-oriented tracks (IGCIIDGCT, GOYB, SUC) are, for the most part, more interesting than most of that record (or at least more solidly realized).

The album is just fantastic Good job, U2...

 

[eas]

Does anyone sense an 80's type of vibe on some of the songs?

Yes, the first time I heard Fez/Being Born I thought it was music to be played over the closing credits of Dune. Great song, weird vibe to it.

 

[macphisto54]

Wait ( approx 4 years ) for the next album and this 'masterpiece' will be slaughtered just like 'bomb' is now.

Its a U2 fan thing

BsB

I don't think so. From my own point of view HTDAAB never felt 'right' as an album. There doesn't seem to be a running theme or sound. It's a mixed bag of singles.
ATYCLB is still a fantastic album, I don't remember it being slated when Bomb came out (maybe that's because I'm new to the forum!) It's an album of singles, but they work as a unit. It was the right move for the band at that time, and I believe it's still up there with their best work.
NLOTH is brilliant, and is up there just behind my personal faves (Achtung, Behind, Zooropa, Joshua Tree).
It won't get picked apart. And the next album will be in a years time (supposedly!)

 

[icebergy]

i think this album is great and shares one thing with all the other good U2 albums...it sounds like they can improve. I feel that the greatness of the albums yet feeling that they can improve is vastly important for them to not take an album off and keep pushing toward new levels of greatness