LyricalDrug
Rock n' Roll Doggie
oh, the boys must be real confident.
Exactly. Releasing the weakest track as the first single -- and it's still a fun track at that -- is one of the most swagger-iest moves ever.
NLOTH Reviews Pt 2
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Exactly. Releasing the weakest track as the first single -- and it's still a fun track at that -- is one of the most swagger-iest moves ever.
thelaj
Refugee
"It’s also really loud. I’m sure someone will do a Death Magnetic comparative chart when the time comes."
Not liking that bit, but the rest sounds good.
Not liking that bit, but the rest sounds good.
catlhere
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
I don't think people would have the same opinion on Boots if they had heard it for the first time with the rest of the album. We all sort of have a tainted view on it now that we've listened to it on repeat (or 1 time for those who hate it) I'd love to have waited to hear the entire new CD in one sitting for the first time, but hell if I'm not going to check out a new U2 single RIGHT AWAY 
last unicorn
Blue Crack Addict
Me neither. I hope it isn't that loud. NLOTH sounds like a really loud track, but the others .... I don't know.
purpleblackeye
War Child
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
- Messages
- 742
can't we at least get 30 second samples of songs? the wait is just horrible
Dalton Brother
The Fly
can't we at least get 30 second samples of songs? the wait is just horrible
Yes....I really enjoyed getting those 30 sec clips before ATYCLB was officially released.... No leak or beach clip has ever ruined my experience or enjoyment...
ozeeko
Refugee
I'd like to ask Walt : HOW IS THE PRODUCTION? Is it too loud and annoying or is it well balanced with space in there?
schnumi
Refugee
Yep that will be the big question. But my guess is that it will be a lot better then HTDAAB.
That was just one loudness fest with no space for the sound to breathe. But that's really the current trend in musicworld.
That was just one loudness fest with no space for the sound to breathe. But that's really the current trend in musicworld.
some of you have been asking about the production.
Very similar asthetically speaking to achtung baby. Lots of bleeps and digital glitches that sound like a modern updated version of AB. One brilliant aspect of the production is that songs jump from feeling compressed, treated and claustrophobic to being completely lush and sparse in the chorus, it's a great dynamic. It's all starting to fade from my mind now but the most promising thing is that the songs go to unexpected places, and it sounds like an album that will reward slowly as oppose to flashing itself, and then fading away.
(several pages back)
I don't think people would have the same opinion on Boots if they had heard it for the first time with the rest of the album. We all sort of have a tainted view on it now that we've listened to it on repeat (or 1 time for those who hate it) I'd love to have waited to hear the entire new CD in one sitting for the first time, but hell if I'm not going to check out a new U2 single RIGHT AWAY
That's a good point. It's pretty ideal that Boots is in the middle of the album. It will be a familiar interlude/intermission for the album on the first few listens.
cdirani
War Child
In my opinion, singles aren't the strongest links on albums. However, I don't think Get On Your Boots is weak. Maybe if one is dying for the remaining tracks the single tends to be overlooked.
EAS - couple quick questions - sorry if you already answered...
Is the Dallas clip on U2.com = Cedars?
Is the Larrystuff clip = Stand Up Comedy?
Any sounds from the Daniel Lanois film make it onto the album (we know the UC chorus did), but how about the rest?
Thanks
Is the Dallas clip on U2.com = Cedars?
Is the Larrystuff clip = Stand Up Comedy?
Any sounds from the Daniel Lanois film make it onto the album (we know the UC chorus did), but how about the rest?
Thanks
RademR
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
damn like i couldnt get more excited about this damn album. great reviews and all of bonno's lyrics look really great.
The_Edge89
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Not sure on the first one, people seem to think this is White as Snow actually.
Yes to the second one as far as I can tell.
I hope someone who had a listen could tell us which of the u2.com clips are on the album already!
Earnie Shavers
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
A loudness fest is what we would definitely have received from Rubin. I am forever unbelievably thankful that they dumped those sessions, for whatever reason.
SamuelSmeloc
War Child
Sorry if it was already posted.
Time Out Sydney
U2's new album reviewed
U2 return with a new album. Sadly, it's Brian Eno's.
Island/Universal
By Andrew P Street
Disclaimer: This review is based on a single listen at the Universal Music offices rather than a week or so living with the album and being able to explore its nuances.
First impression is this: bully to U2 for trying. Here is a band that could plonk out any old bunch of songs secure in the knowledge that it would sell like sexy, sexy hot cakes regardless of quality. But no: after the longest break in their career, they've tried to incorporate some new sounds and textures into No Line on the Horizon, including Middle Eastern percussion and loads of squiggly keyboard sounds.
That said, they've also brought in their three most frequent producers – Steve Lillywhite, Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno – so any envelope-pushing is being done in very circumscribed areas. Eno is all over the album: damn near every song begins with some of his burbling mono synth action, which usually has a barely tangential connection with the song that follows. And for all that's new, there's no way that you'll mistake it for another band. The Edge has evidently found the bag of effects pedals he used circa The Unforgettable Fire and everything's covered in sustain and delay. Bono's still howling wordlessly away in most of the choruses. Larry Mullen, Jr pumps out his searingly competent drum work and Adam Clayton... well, he plays bass. As much as he usually does, anyway.
(Note for musical types: in fact, with everyone apparently so worried about the dangers of irresponsible drinking at the moment, why not use this opportunity to play the Adam Clayton Root Note Drinking Game? It's simple: take a shot every time that Adam plays anything that's more than two frets from the root note of the chord. You could play it with vodka filtered through absinthe and still be sober enough to pilot a commercial airliner.)
First impressions aside, let's get on with the tracks:
1. 'No Line on the Horizon'
A Bo Diddley beat heralds the beginning of Brian Eno's new album, featuring U2. In fact, the cluttered production and layers of keys sound not dissimilar to what Eno did with James circa Whiplash. And then they staple some ethnic percussion to the thing for no good reason.
(Clayton Root Note Drinking Game: No drink)
2. 'Magnificent'
Kind interpretation: this harkens back to Zooropa, especially in the electro introduction. Less-kind version: hey, it's REM's 'Orange Crush', as rewritten by short-lived 90s synth darlings Republica! It's here that Bono's lyrics come to the fore and you realise that he's followed Bruce Springsteen into the late-period creative cul-de-sac where he's incapable of speaking in anything other than clichés and meaningless waffle. "Only love can leave such a mark," he declares, leaving the listener to answer the question, "what the bloody hell is he on about?" for themselves.
(CRNDG: No drink)
3. 'Moment of Surrender'
After the Vangelis-via-Eno synth intro, Bono delivers a husky, passionate vocal for the album's first ballad, including what an early contender for Dumbest Line of 2009: "Playing with the fire, 'til the fire plays with you." The Edge pulls out a rudimentary slide guitar solo and then there's an oh-ah-oh wordless singalong that should be a hit at the half dozen shows where they try this one out before never playing it again.
(CRNDG: No drink)
4. 'Unknown Caller'
Eno has a good old fiddle until The Edge remembers what he did for 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' – which will make a sweet segue during the tour. There's some genuinely great tasteful fingerpicking here, but it's about this point you'll start thinking "Hold on, aren't U2 best known for their stick-in-your-head choruses? What happened? And how did the last song go?"
(CRNDG: Don't be fooled: that's some down-tuned Edge guitar you're hearing for the first third of the song, not bass. No drink for you)
5. 'I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight'
There are two ways that a song with this title should go. The first and most obvious is a Bon Jovi/Poison good time blues-rock party anthem, with a kick-ass guitar solo (preferably heralded with Jon Bon Jovi/Sebastian Bach screeching "Guitar!") and maybe some sweet harmonica in the coda. The other, less obvious but equally suitable way would be as a Bryan Adams/Aerosmith power ballad, which would also have a kick-ass guitar solo but would be less about partying and more about how crazy the love of a woman can drive a man, which would be a thinly-veiled sex metaphor. "I'm not perfect baby, as anyone can see," Adams/Steven Tyler would sing just before the chorus, "And though you drive me crazy, I'm still as crazy as a man can be." See? The song writes itself. The third option, which is the one that U2 went for, is to do an unmemorable mid-paced song with lyrics like "She's a rainbow, she loves the peaceful life" and a guitar riff lifted from Altered Images' 'I Could Be Happy'. My versions are so, so much better.
(CRNDG: No drink)
6. 'Get on Your Boots'
The first single, and oh, Escape Club – how wonderful you must be feeling at this moment! Ever since 'Wild, Wild West' vanished from the charts in 1988 you've been waiting for a sign that you were something more than just another one hit wonder, so hearing U2 re-write the song must warm the cockles of your heart. And Elvis Costello must be smiling too, humming 'Pump It Up' under his breath as he dials his lawyers and wonders what sort of settlement to demand.
(CRNDG: It's a repeated riff bassline, so take a few much-needed shots)
7. 'Stand Up Comedy'
Sorry, Red Hot Chili Peppers: just in case you were thinking of recording a version of The Stone Roses' career-ending 'Love Spreads', be advised that U2 have beaten you to the punch. Bono says something about the Twin Towers and falling down and standing up, and then drops the line "Cross the road like a little old lady". You'd think that a band of U2's status could extend a deadline so that their lead singer could write some lyrics, surely?
(CRNDG: Sure, take a drink. Who cares?)
8. 'FEZ - Being Born'
Starts off like incidental music from the last Prince of Persia video game, then snaps into a prog rock section while Bono sings about fire. Dammit, we should have started a drinking game based on references to fire. Too late now, I suppose.
(CRNDG: No drink)
9. 'White as Snow'
The absolute highlight without any doubt: a superb country lament. Bono makes a decent fist of it with Edge's down-tuned guitar the perfect accompaniment, but it would have been utterly perfect for the late Johnny Cash to wrap his weathered voice around (and would be one hell of a companion piece to the Cash/U2 collaboration 'The Wanderer'). Bono's nature references – seeds, earth, snow, fruit – make perfect sense in this context. See, Bono, you can do it when you try.
(CRNDG: No drink)
10. 'Breathe'
Frantically bowed strings hit harmonics over Mullen, Jr's thundering tom toms, before the rest of the band burst in at cross-rhythms and Bono starts up a scansion-free declamatory vocal like a third-rate Bob Dylan. Still, once it locks in the chorus it all makes sense. Either the album's picking up towards the end or I'm undergoing some sort of musical Stockholm Syndrome in which I fall in love with my captors as a coping mechanism. That said, Edge does pull out a three-note guitar solo that suggests he's never even seen a guitar before, and it's nice of Tears For Fears to let U2 use their keyboard sounds.
(CRNDG: Yeah, Edge and Adam lock on a riff. Have a quick one)
11. 'Cedars of Lebanon'
Yep, they close on a ballad – and it's about world suffering. "Squeeze a complicated life into a simple headline," Bono sighs, and we all agree. "Yes, Bono," we weep, as one. "Oh media, when will you learn?" Then we go to a different perspective, that of a displaced person in a warzone. "A soldier brings oranges," Bono sings, "he got out of a tank." And with that clanging line the magic is dispelled, like the unexpected slam of a toilet door. It's a nice idea, and the tune's a good one, but honestly: some sort of lyric editor would have been wise.
(CRNDG: There's a breakdown where Edge and Adam play a riff with slightly dodgy intonation. Have a deep, last drink)
Time Out Sydney
U2's new album reviewed
U2 return with a new album. Sadly, it's Brian Eno's.
Island/Universal
By Andrew P Street
Disclaimer: This review is based on a single listen at the Universal Music offices rather than a week or so living with the album and being able to explore its nuances.
First impression is this: bully to U2 for trying. Here is a band that could plonk out any old bunch of songs secure in the knowledge that it would sell like sexy, sexy hot cakes regardless of quality. But no: after the longest break in their career, they've tried to incorporate some new sounds and textures into No Line on the Horizon, including Middle Eastern percussion and loads of squiggly keyboard sounds.
That said, they've also brought in their three most frequent producers – Steve Lillywhite, Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno – so any envelope-pushing is being done in very circumscribed areas. Eno is all over the album: damn near every song begins with some of his burbling mono synth action, which usually has a barely tangential connection with the song that follows. And for all that's new, there's no way that you'll mistake it for another band. The Edge has evidently found the bag of effects pedals he used circa The Unforgettable Fire and everything's covered in sustain and delay. Bono's still howling wordlessly away in most of the choruses. Larry Mullen, Jr pumps out his searingly competent drum work and Adam Clayton... well, he plays bass. As much as he usually does, anyway.
(Note for musical types: in fact, with everyone apparently so worried about the dangers of irresponsible drinking at the moment, why not use this opportunity to play the Adam Clayton Root Note Drinking Game? It's simple: take a shot every time that Adam plays anything that's more than two frets from the root note of the chord. You could play it with vodka filtered through absinthe and still be sober enough to pilot a commercial airliner.)
First impressions aside, let's get on with the tracks:
1. 'No Line on the Horizon'
A Bo Diddley beat heralds the beginning of Brian Eno's new album, featuring U2. In fact, the cluttered production and layers of keys sound not dissimilar to what Eno did with James circa Whiplash. And then they staple some ethnic percussion to the thing for no good reason.
(Clayton Root Note Drinking Game: No drink)
2. 'Magnificent'
Kind interpretation: this harkens back to Zooropa, especially in the electro introduction. Less-kind version: hey, it's REM's 'Orange Crush', as rewritten by short-lived 90s synth darlings Republica! It's here that Bono's lyrics come to the fore and you realise that he's followed Bruce Springsteen into the late-period creative cul-de-sac where he's incapable of speaking in anything other than clichés and meaningless waffle. "Only love can leave such a mark," he declares, leaving the listener to answer the question, "what the bloody hell is he on about?" for themselves.
(CRNDG: No drink)
3. 'Moment of Surrender'
After the Vangelis-via-Eno synth intro, Bono delivers a husky, passionate vocal for the album's first ballad, including what an early contender for Dumbest Line of 2009: "Playing with the fire, 'til the fire plays with you." The Edge pulls out a rudimentary slide guitar solo and then there's an oh-ah-oh wordless singalong that should be a hit at the half dozen shows where they try this one out before never playing it again.
(CRNDG: No drink)
4. 'Unknown Caller'
Eno has a good old fiddle until The Edge remembers what he did for 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' – which will make a sweet segue during the tour. There's some genuinely great tasteful fingerpicking here, but it's about this point you'll start thinking "Hold on, aren't U2 best known for their stick-in-your-head choruses? What happened? And how did the last song go?"
(CRNDG: Don't be fooled: that's some down-tuned Edge guitar you're hearing for the first third of the song, not bass. No drink for you)
5. 'I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight'
There are two ways that a song with this title should go. The first and most obvious is a Bon Jovi/Poison good time blues-rock party anthem, with a kick-ass guitar solo (preferably heralded with Jon Bon Jovi/Sebastian Bach screeching "Guitar!") and maybe some sweet harmonica in the coda. The other, less obvious but equally suitable way would be as a Bryan Adams/Aerosmith power ballad, which would also have a kick-ass guitar solo but would be less about partying and more about how crazy the love of a woman can drive a man, which would be a thinly-veiled sex metaphor. "I'm not perfect baby, as anyone can see," Adams/Steven Tyler would sing just before the chorus, "And though you drive me crazy, I'm still as crazy as a man can be." See? The song writes itself. The third option, which is the one that U2 went for, is to do an unmemorable mid-paced song with lyrics like "She's a rainbow, she loves the peaceful life" and a guitar riff lifted from Altered Images' 'I Could Be Happy'. My versions are so, so much better.
(CRNDG: No drink)
6. 'Get on Your Boots'
The first single, and oh, Escape Club – how wonderful you must be feeling at this moment! Ever since 'Wild, Wild West' vanished from the charts in 1988 you've been waiting for a sign that you were something more than just another one hit wonder, so hearing U2 re-write the song must warm the cockles of your heart. And Elvis Costello must be smiling too, humming 'Pump It Up' under his breath as he dials his lawyers and wonders what sort of settlement to demand.
(CRNDG: It's a repeated riff bassline, so take a few much-needed shots)
7. 'Stand Up Comedy'
Sorry, Red Hot Chili Peppers: just in case you were thinking of recording a version of The Stone Roses' career-ending 'Love Spreads', be advised that U2 have beaten you to the punch. Bono says something about the Twin Towers and falling down and standing up, and then drops the line "Cross the road like a little old lady". You'd think that a band of U2's status could extend a deadline so that their lead singer could write some lyrics, surely?
(CRNDG: Sure, take a drink. Who cares?)
8. 'FEZ - Being Born'
Starts off like incidental music from the last Prince of Persia video game, then snaps into a prog rock section while Bono sings about fire. Dammit, we should have started a drinking game based on references to fire. Too late now, I suppose.
(CRNDG: No drink)
9. 'White as Snow'
The absolute highlight without any doubt: a superb country lament. Bono makes a decent fist of it with Edge's down-tuned guitar the perfect accompaniment, but it would have been utterly perfect for the late Johnny Cash to wrap his weathered voice around (and would be one hell of a companion piece to the Cash/U2 collaboration 'The Wanderer'). Bono's nature references – seeds, earth, snow, fruit – make perfect sense in this context. See, Bono, you can do it when you try.
(CRNDG: No drink)
10. 'Breathe'
Frantically bowed strings hit harmonics over Mullen, Jr's thundering tom toms, before the rest of the band burst in at cross-rhythms and Bono starts up a scansion-free declamatory vocal like a third-rate Bob Dylan. Still, once it locks in the chorus it all makes sense. Either the album's picking up towards the end or I'm undergoing some sort of musical Stockholm Syndrome in which I fall in love with my captors as a coping mechanism. That said, Edge does pull out a three-note guitar solo that suggests he's never even seen a guitar before, and it's nice of Tears For Fears to let U2 use their keyboard sounds.
(CRNDG: Yeah, Edge and Adam lock on a riff. Have a quick one)
11. 'Cedars of Lebanon'
Yep, they close on a ballad – and it's about world suffering. "Squeeze a complicated life into a simple headline," Bono sighs, and we all agree. "Yes, Bono," we weep, as one. "Oh media, when will you learn?" Then we go to a different perspective, that of a displaced person in a warzone. "A soldier brings oranges," Bono sings, "he got out of a tank." And with that clanging line the magic is dispelled, like the unexpected slam of a toilet door. It's a nice idea, and the tune's a good one, but honestly: some sort of lyric editor would have been wise.
(CRNDG: There's a breakdown where Edge and Adam play a riff with slightly dodgy intonation. Have a deep, last drink)
djerdap
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2004
- Messages
- 7,605
Haha, that review is the best one yet. Bloody hilarious.
I can't wait to see some mad Interference reactions now...
I can't wait to see some mad Interference reactions now...
Wow your right, i guess you couldnt deal with people being positive and looking forward to the album?,
of course there will be bad reviews,
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
stealthboy
War Child
Whatever, it just sounds like Andrew is not a fan. Some people hate U2 no matter what song or what it sounds like.
oceane
Refugee
Well, he comes across as someone who strongly dislikes U2, so that does not tell us much about the quality of the album. We'll get some less glowing reviews, that's to be expected at some point.
djerdap
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2004
- Messages
- 7,605
Jesus. Sense of humor, please.
SHIT, he kept that line!!!!! Bono how could you!!!! Stand Up Comedy was the track I was most looking forward to as well, NO!!!!
This reviewer comes across like a right wanker, as if he's gone in with a preconceived idea that he won't like it and has just tried to get as many jokes out of it as possible.
And is he a bass player?? If not then how the fuck does he know what Adam is playing and what he isn't? And since when did an album need exemplar bassplaying in order to make it great??
That review was actually pretty funny. It could be taken more seriously if the writer didn't obviously dislike U2 and Brian Eno.
This review is just as bad as the other one yesterday where the reviewer was an obvious fan and was gushing over everything.
Note to self: don't plan an album listening drinking game.
This review is just as bad as the other one yesterday where the reviewer was an obvious fan and was gushing over everything.
Note to self: don't plan an album listening drinking game.
SamuelSmeloc
War Child
Sometimes you read a review of how bad a song or album is, and realize partway through that it's really a review of how full of himself the author is.
Seems like the case here.. or at least this sounds like a guy who felt shafted by the band for only getting one listen.
Seems like the case here.. or at least this sounds like a guy who felt shafted by the band for only getting one listen.
Gonna Run 2 U
New Yorker
Wow this guy is definitely not a U2 fan
...and a fucking deuche bag to boot.
...and a fucking deuche bag to boot.- Status
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