A 9 Song Album?

[paultjr]

So I've listened to NLOTH numerous times now and I keep finding myself skipping GOYB and SUC. It's not that I dislike either song - I actually think they're both pretty cool. They just kill the mood of the album for me. It got me thinking that some of my fave albums are only 9 songs (Depeche Mode "Violator", The Cure "Bloodflowers" just to name a few). Why not U2 keeping it at 9 songs? They've always been about brevity anyways. It still clocks in at 46+ minutes, almost the length of the previous two albums.

"...Crazy Tonight" is the necessary uplifting track in the middle from keeping it too heavy/moody. And it segues into FBB quite nicely in my opinion.

Just a thought - I guess it doesn't matter since I can always skip the songs anyways. But since U2 have made such a big deal about making an actual album instead of a collection of songs, it just makes more sense to drop GYOB and SUC for mood and flow sake.

 

[U2Fan101]

Ironically Crazy, Boots, SUC and Breathe were written by U2 and U2 alone. The other tracks Eno and Lanois had a heavy hand in. That's probably the mood change you are feeling with the album, especially with Boots and SUC.

Makes you wonder if Eno and Lanois had no part of the album if we would have had more of a rock-type album if U2 just did it by themselves if Crazy, Boots, SUC and Breathe are of any indication.

 

[sadisticpenguin]

I'd love a nine song album...of course, I'd accomplish that by removing Crazy and that god-awful Unknown Caller. What an amazing album this could have been!

 

[monke]

i actually remove MOS and FEZ, i just dont like em

 

[BonosTheMessiah]

Crazy, Boots, and Stand Up are all calls to action. They follow from the first four songs, which deal with moments of awakening or conversion to the larger world around us. The final four songs deal with the consequences, the exhiliration and danger, of acting on your convictions. You can't take out Boots and Stand Up without missing the whole point of the album, which is about moving beyond the narrow horizons in which we view, and live, in this world.

 

[paultjr]

Crazy, Boots, and Stand Up are all calls to action. They follow from the first four songs, which deal with moments of awakening or conversion to the larger world around us. The final four songs deal with the consequences, the exhiliration and danger, of acting on your convictions. You can't take out Boots and Stand Up without missing the whole point of the album, which is about moving beyond the narrow horizons in which we view, and live, in this world.

That's very true - I guess the music speaks to me more than the lyrics so far. It is a very dense album. Still need more time to digest it.

 

[gweeps]

"Let me in the sound."

sound = A long, wide ocean inlet. sound - definition of sound by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

inlet = A recess, such as a bay or cove, along a coast. inlet - definition of inlet by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

 

[last unicorn]

Yeah, let's remove all the songs we don't like.

We will have a 0 song album after that.


The album is fine the way it is.

 

[paultjr]

Yeah, let's remove all the songs we don't like.

We will have a 0 song album after that.


The album is fine the way it is.

Did you even read my initial post?? I never said it wasn't because I didn't like those songs - I'm talking about flow and mood.

 

[digitize]

Did you even read my initial post?? I never said it wasn't because I didn't like those songs - I'm talking about flow and mood.

Guess what? Magnificent destroys the flow of the album for me. And my taste in music is better than your own, and certainly better than that of the makers of the album. So let's nix Magnificent.

 

[gweeps]

Guess what? And my taste in music is better than your own, and certainly better than that of the makers of the album.

 

[paultjr]

I should have known better than to start an intelligent debate here.

Nevermind - go back to our regularly scheduled programming people - bashing others, saying how much you hate HTDAAB, discussing Mercy to no end, blah blah blah.

 

[RademR]

Did Eno really not have a piece in BREATHE? I don't hate lillywhite, but i hated his production on HTDAAB i just dont see him making a song like BREATHE, which is my favorite on the album.

eno said BREATHE was the best song u2 has ever done...he really would have said that about something he didn't have a hand in?

i figured they recorded this with eno/lanois, and lillywhite came in and did final production (which is why some people think the beach clip is better...after all, he managed to butch some of the beach clips from HTDAAB)

 

[Slapnutz]

eno said BREATHE was the best song u2 has ever done...he really would have said that about something he didn't have a hand in?

That was a misquote that has been repeated in the press far too many times. He actually said Breathe was the one song on the album that sounded the most like U2.

 

[Slapnutz]

It flows better if you delete the sugar-coated Crazy Tonight (Jimmy Iovine is weeping somewhere) and go ten track.

 

[BGD75]

I'd love a nine song album...of course, I'd accomplish that by removing Crazy and that god-awful Unknown Caller. What an amazing album this could have been!

Those are the exact 2 songs I would remove... I don't hate them, but they are the ones I like the least on the album.

 

[nadie]

Yeah, let's remove all the songs we don't like.

We will have a 0 song album after that.


The album is fine the way it is.

QFT... If anyone has such a problem with some songs (and why are they always ones that I love >_<) why not skip them.

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

It flows better if you delete the sugar-coated Crazy Tonight (Jimmy Iovine is weeping somewhere) and go ten track.

end of story, agree totally

 

[Acrobat08]

I go 3 tracks. Magnificent, Unknown Caller and FEZ. Perfect EP.

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

I go 3 tracks. Magnificent, Unknown Caller and FEZ. Perfect EP.

close to my 3 fav songs on the album.....

 

[RademR]

That was a misquote that has been repeated in the press far too many times. He actually said Breathe was the one song on the album that sounded the most like U2.

really? didnt know. thanks for the info.

ya, i enjoy CRAZY but it has no place on the record.

 

[Slapnutz]

end of story, agree totally

It's incredible how much the album improves by dropping Crazy Tonight. I've already deleted it and quite honestly I'll be a very happy man if I never have to hear it again. It's death by blandness.

 

[LPU2]

The only song I'd remove is Unknown Caller, but others seem to love it, so what do I know. There are parts of it that are gorgeous (french horns, edge's solo), but I can't get past those lyrics.

I'd leave the rest, but get NLOTH and Breathe in the OR for some minor surgery. Like OOTS on the album before, Crazy needs total reconstructive surgery. The souls of epic rock and roll are present in these songs. The songs just need some tweaking to uncover them. I know just what to do. Next time, call me, Bono.

 

[super fly guy]

I'd love a nine song album...of course, I'd accomplish that by removing Crazy and that god-awful Unknown Caller. What an amazing album this could have been!

^^ Is that tongue in cheek? Unkown caller is the best song on the album!

 

[elfyx]

Well, that's what is so great about modern technology; I have already made NLOTH a 10 track album by giving boots the axe. I will never, ever hear boots again as I do not generally listen to radio, and should I go to the concert, it will be my go-get-a-beer song for sure.

What I am hoping is that U2 releases an original b-side for one of their singles which I could slot in track #6.

We all like to play armchair quaterback/producer on an album. Sure there's a lot of things I would change in the studio if I got the chance as I think we all have a creative side that would like to be expressed.

For some it might be giving UC and CT the axe, but personally those are the two best songs on the album for me, while boots is an abomination so terrible it starts to make me physically ill (seriously).

 

[super fly guy]

Boots rocks,and even more so live.

 

[Catman]

i actually remove MOS and FEZ, i just dont like em

 

[Yahweh]

I wouldnt change anything its got good flow and the songs fit together well. I like them all.

I cant wait to have the CD and listen to the songs in perfect sound.

 

[U2Fan101]

Crazy, Boots, and Stand Up are all calls to action. They follow from the first four songs, which deal with moments of awakening or conversion to the larger world around us. The final four songs deal with the consequences, the exhiliration and danger, of acting on your convictions. You can't take out Boots and Stand Up without missing the whole point of the album, which is about moving beyond the narrow horizons in which we view, and live, in this world.

I like this, very much. You put the album in words far better than I ever could. Thank you for this.

 

[coolian2]

it's fine.

i'd argue it's too damn short, tbh.