No Line On The Horizon (Alternate Tracklist)

[Earnie Shavers]

Winter is too similar to White as snow thematically, and inferior. Plus it was written for a movie specifically.

And there is no need for the ultimate Edge-on-autopilot U2 song to take up valuable space on U2 albums.

But then... Stand Up Comedy. Seriously.

 

[JamietheEdgefan]

Winter is too similar to White as snow thematically, and inferior. Plus it was written for a movie specifically.

And there is no need for the ultimate Edge-on-autopilot U2 song to take up valuable space on U2 albums.

Yeah, i completely agree with this, i never thought winter was a particularly impressive song - if it had been polished up a bit, it might have been decent, but still inferior to white as snow, and given they're pretty similar thematically, it seems a bit redundant.

That being said, SUC was begging to be dropped from the album. Every Breaking Wave should have been in it's place, imo.

 

[intedomine]

Linear

 

[Fly-2000]

Sorry to drag this topic up again, but I've found a tracklist that's been very much to my liking recently:

1- FEZ - Being Born
2- I'll Go Crazy If I don't Go Crazy tonight
3- Unknown Caller
4- Magnificent
5- Moment of Surrender
6- Stand Up Comedy
7- Get On Your Boots
8- White As Snow
9- Cedars of Lebanon
10- No Line On The Horizon
11- Breathe

 

[Bobvancleef]

My track order. Note; both Boots and Comedy are dropped because they don't fit the album at all. Also, they are no more than half-decent B-sides. Also, I'll Go crazy if I crazy if you crazy if we go crazy... whatever it's called...should be renamed simply 'Crazy Tonight.'

1. Fez (drop being born title)
2. Magnificent
3. Moment of Surrender
4. Breathe
5. Crazy Tonight
6. No Line On The Horizon
7. Every Breaking Wave
8. Unknown Caller
9. White As Snow
10. Winter
11. Cedars of Lebanon

 

[YBORCITY]

Here's mine:

1>. Get On Your Boots
2>. " " " "
3>. " " " "
4>. " " " "
5>. " " " "
6>. " " " "
7>. " " " "
8>. " " " "
9>. " " " "
10>." " " "
11>." " " "


'NUFF SAID!

 

[powerhour24]

1. Soon
2. Breathe
3. No Line on the Horizon
4. Magnificent
5. Unknown Caller
6. Moment of Surrender
7. Fez - Being Born
8. Winter (Brothers)
9. White as Snow
10. Every Breaking Wave
11. Cedars of Lebanon

Slows down and becomes somber after track 4-5, and yes White as Snow and Winter are both about soldiers, but they compliment each other, if we had another song from that era I would consider replacing it, but the existing middle 3 are a no no. Barring that, and maybe hearing the original recordings, this album easily could have been my #3.

 

[JOFO]

I don't have a tracklist yet, but I'll say IMO they should've:

-Thrown Boots and SUC in the fucking toilet.
-Shortened MOS slightly (yes sorry Eno your opinion is shit compared to mine lol)
-Replaced the robot choruses of UC with something...I dunno....musical?
-Finished Mercy (first single harking back to UF), EBW, and Winter and put them in there somewhere.

For me, if they did all that: completely different album, completely different critical reaction/popularity/sales/U2 wisdom...for the better.

Also, Bono looked much better AFTER his back surgery than before it.....what was with the eyeliner and umbrella early on? Fucking mistake.....

 

[JOFO]

1. No Line On The Horizon
2. Mercy
3. Magnificent
4. Every Breaking Wave
5. Moment Of Surrender
6. White As Snow
7. Winter
8. Unknown Caller
9. Being Born
10. Breathe
11. Cedars Of Lebanon

To me, that would've been a classic U2 album....almost would've reminded me of The Joshua Tree in a lot of ways....oh well.


When I list just "Being Born" I mean skip that first 1:30 or so of Eno's bullshit (Fez)....start it right at the Being Born stage....

 

[dabiggestu2fan]

What about adding "soon" to the mix! I think it would have fit well in the album just not sure where! Maybe if there was a longer version, It could have been a good opener? Or maybe I'm just crazy

 

[powerhour24]

Nope, see my track list a few posts above? I agree.

 

[Bobvancleef]

Another alternative track list;

SIDE 1
Fez (drop 'Being Born')
Magnificent
Moment of Surrender
Breathe
Crazy Tonight (renamed)
Kingdom (formerly called 'Soon')

SIDE 2
No Line On The Horizon
Unknown Caller
Soldier (formerly White As Snow)
Winter
Cedars of Lebanon

Side one opens with Fez and consists of very strong, loud material. The side ends with 'Kingdom' as a signal that the album is going to change direction somewhat. Side 2 is slower and more meditative. It's an album of 2 parts.

 

[bobsaget77]

1. Fez
2. No Line
3. Magnificent
4. Moment of surrender
5. Get on your boots
6. Stand up comedy
7. I'll Go Crazy...
8. Winter
9. White As Snow
10. Breathe
11. Cedars of Lebanon
12. Unknown Caller

 

[HansaTonImbiss]

I know that I'm ultra late to the party on this, but since we're talking about it on another thread I figured I'd put it here. I had an alt version based on the remixes of the album cuts and Kingdom, and another I made after hearing the live version of Mercy.

1. Kingdom (Soon)
2. No Line version 2
3. Mercy (live 2010 version)
4. Breathe
5. Moment of Surrender
6. Fez/Being Born
7. Magnificent
8. Unknown Caller
9. Crazy Tonight (single ver./renamed "The Climb")
10. White As Snow
11. Cedars of Lebanon

Otherwise, sans Mercy I follow close to one listed above: 1. Kingdom, 2. NLOTH v2, 3. Magnificent, 4. MoS, 5. Breathe, 6. Fez/Bb, 7. Unknown Caller, 8. Crazy (single version), 9. WaS, 10. Cedars.

On both I took a Side A/Side B approach, and love the feel of both alt listings.

 

[Hollow Island]

1. Soon
2. No Line
3. Fez/Being Born
4. Winter
5. White As Snow

6. Unknown Caller
7. Breathe
8. Moment of Surrender
9. Cedars of Lebanon

Magnificent doesn't fit and would make the album too long for a single LP, and conforming to those time constraints should be the determining factor for every album, unless they decide to go over 70 minutes for a double LP. This album would be longer than their first four.

 

[HansaTonImbiss]

1. Soon
2. No Line
3. Fez/Being Born
4. Winter
5. White As Snow

6. Unknown Caller
7. Breathe
8. Moment of Surrender
9. Cedars of Lebanon

Magnificent doesn't fit and would make the album too long for a single LP, and conforming to those time constraints should be the determining factor for every album, unless they decide to go over 70 minutes for a double LP. This album would be longer than their first four.

It would have been damn fascinating to watch them promote this. Not a true single there, maybe Breathe, but sometimes that's when this band is best. This to me would be closer to Passengers or Zooropa than anything contemporary, being meditative and moody, even polarizing. Still, I'd have loved to watched it play out.

All told, I love Magnificent and could see it as track 3 here. I'd always presumed that Winter, like Mercy, would have been trimmed for any album version.

 

[dudeman]

1. Soon
2. No Line
3. Fez/Being Born
4. Winter
5. White As Snow

6. Unknown Caller
7. Breathe
8. Moment of Surrender
9. Cedars of Lebanon

Magnificent doesn't fit and would make the album too long for a single LP, and conforming to those time constraints should be the determining factor for every album, unless they decide to go over 70 minutes for a double LP. This album would be longer than their first four.

This might be U2's 'A Moon Shaped Pool'.

I'm gonna try it out.

 

[HansaTonImbiss]

This might be U2's 'A Moon Shaped Pool'.

I'm gonna try it out.

I love the records where U2 break convention and make people stand up and listen. TUF, AB, JT, Zooropa, Passengers, that's true with those. Unsurprisingly, those are my favorites. This would have fit a similar mold, I feel. They compromised way too much on NLOTH- it's a classic in hiding. Removing that soulless pop middle bit and biting hard on the experimentation or artistic edge takes it there. It's a heavy listen.

 

[Scorpionac]

I've been using this tracklist for years:

01. No Line on the Horizon 3
02. Magnificent
03. Get on Your Boots (Extended Intro)
04. Fez - Being Born
05. Unknown Caller
06. Breathe
07. Soon
08. White as Snow
09. Moment of Surrender
10. Cedars of Lebanon

Like most of my alternate tracklists seem to do, it starts with a bunch of rockers and ends with a bunch of ballads. I used to have Winter instead of Soon, but outside the chorus and ending vocal it's U2 on autopilot.

I think I'm going to try making a new tracklist here. I've recently become enamored with the idea of opening with Magnificent, so I'm going to try that (I saw only one tracklist in this whole thread that did the same). I'm also going to drop my hybrid NLOTH 3 (the original NLOTH with NLOTH 2's ending tacked on after the bridge) and replace it with a slightly sped up version of the original NLOTH.

Has anyone tried adding Every Breaking Wave to the album? The only version I like is the acoustic studio take, so I'm going to try adding that, as well.

 

[xana dew]

1. Fez
2. Magnificent
3. I'll Go Crazy
4. Moment of Surrender
5. No Line on the Horizon
6. Unknown Caller
7. White As Snow
8. Breathe
9. Cedars of Lebanon

47 minutes long, standard length for an album, at least it was back in the old days. I cut Boots and Comedy as I feel they never really gel, yet I like how a snippet of Boots is used in Fez. Fez makes a weird, dreamy opener as opposed to the usual bombast they lead off with. I still have a fondness for this record and I've used this sequence for years.

 

[deltau922]

deleted post

 

[AtomicHorizon]

Side 1
1. Fez/Being Born
2. No Line on the Horizon
3. Magnificent
4. Moment of Surrender
5. Unknown Caller
Side 2
6. Soon
7. Breathe
8. Every Breaking Wave
9. White as Snow
10. Cedars of Lebanon

 

[ImOuttaControl]

Side 1
1. Fez/Being Born
2. No Line on the Horizon
3. Magnificent
4. Moment of Surrender
5. Unknown Caller
Side 2
6. Soon
7. Breathe
8. Every Breaking Wave
9. White as Snow
10. Cedars of Lebanon

Side 1 looks great and overall I could sign on to this. Side 2 though, I'd make some changes. Every Breaking Wave,, IMO, doesn't fit in the forms that we've heard it as it is from the Songs of Innocence sessions. I'm curious as to the version that they had finished at the time and how that might have fit.

I would also add Get On Your Boots. I know it gets a ton of (IMO unwarranted) criticism here and I will concede it was a terrible first single, the song is very cool musically and absolutely rocked live. Had it not been the first single, I don't think it would get nearly as much flack around here. I still think that NLOTH, MOS and Magnificent should have been the singles.

I also really dislike White As Snow. I can never get O Come O Come Emmanuel out of my head when I hear it. A shame they didn't commit to an original melody as lyrically the song is solid. I'd put either version of Winter in place of it on this tracklist.

Crazy- I like the song but having it omitted is fine. I do think it flows quiet well out of Unknown Caller though.

Stand Up- Should have been a b-side. A shame, once again, because musically this is pretty cool and it features a fantastic bridge, both vocally and musically. ( I love the phasing on Edges guitar)

 

[Nick66]

Ah, another NLOTH reappraisal.

Despite being flawed, and compromised, U2's last album remains one of their most adventurous and interesting, with some incredible highlights to match the deep valley that is the middle three.

I look forward to hearing what that band might do in the future, should they ever decide to record again.