Next Album Rumours Thread IV - 2 Sing 2 Furious
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dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
NLOTH suffered a shitload in the mastering and balancing as much as anything. I’d say this was part of the move away from Danny and Brian, but both channels were smashed full of sound.
I remember just using audacity to create a mix of the album just using the right channel, and a mix just using the left, and then a third mix where I used one, the other or both to create so more space/dynamic range for each of the songs. It wasn’t perfect, and the limited tools didn’t help, but it solved a lot of problems with the album. It made me angry that someone with no skills or experience could do that with free software, but the released version was so flawed.
I remember just using audacity to create a mix of the album just using the right channel, and a mix just using the left, and then a third mix where I used one, the other or both to create so more space/dynamic range for each of the songs. It wasn’t perfect, and the limited tools didn’t help, but it solved a lot of problems with the album. It made me angry that someone with no skills or experience could do that with free software, but the released version was so flawed.
womanfish
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
While I agree that the final product was a bit crushed, I think it’s about 4th on the list of No line’s issues. We all know POP was hobbled by Disco being the first single, it’s video, the Kmart thing, the rushed release and tour, etc…. But even after that Staring at the Sun, and If God… got a decent reception. It was the 90’s, so that helped. In 2009, U2 was coming off two big albums and successful tours, 8 grammys from Bomb the whole thing. They have a vision of a double concept album and they…. lead with Boots.
This is where I wonder if the whole squabble with Eno and Lanois was not just songwriting credits, but I just don’t see a universe where the man that wanted to destroy the Streets recordings would let those 3 fucking songs on this album.
Anyway, i digress. Even with Boots, and file sharing in full effect, the album sold almost half a million in its first week in the US and was number one in like 24 countries. Ok great, but because of Boots, the general public never gave the album a chance and it sank quickly. The saddest part is that there are so many great songs that just went undiscovered.
I finally added Winter to my revised No Line, along with Soon, leaving out the triad of dis pair. and I’ve listened to it like 3 times today. I fell in love with it. I would say again, but those middle 3 annoyed me so much that I, a super-fan, pretty much shelved this album for over a decade.
So I’ll expand on this tomorrow but my brother and I recently ranked the U2 albums. My ranking sort of took into consideration the albums that I really like to listen to most and not straight up quality ranking. So, for the last couple months I went album but album and rated each song on a 1-10 scale. And today I re-rated No Line with the new tracklisting. It went from a bottom 5 album to a top 5 album. That’s just how disastrous those middle 3 are. It could have been brilliant. It has the grit of Achtung, the space of UF, yet a new sound all its own. the right balance of darkness and some light. Lyrics are strong (with a few minor exceptions) Edge is still in fine form, vocals sound great, you still feel the passion and drive. and it has a cohesive atmosphere from front to back. All by changing out 3 god damn songs.
I think the album wouldn’t have just been better received, I think that it would have been critically praised. The Rolling Stone review would have actually been correct, I think even Pitchfork would have been favorable to it. It’s a tragedy really. It’s a beautiful piece of work, or at least it easily could have been.
If this album were released in 2022, as a lifetime fan, I would be proud to see it as a final release. One that has depth, stretches their boundaries a bit and has that elder statesman quality.
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dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
I know what you’re saying, but it’s actually quite eye opening to do the experiment with the channels. I’ll see if I can dig up the files. Some transitions were a tad clunky (lack of professional software), but the songs had fresh life with some dynamic range.
womanfish
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
That interests me. I have my degree in audio engineering, and I use Adobe Audition. if you want to send me some files let me know.
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
Well I do put a heavy asterisk on it that this is a 23 year old music fan with no ability or training in audio engineering - just someone who thought they could have done a bit more work on making verses more interesting and build differently.
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
I’ll send it in a few hours - basically it’s:
NLOTH
Magnificent
MOS
UC
Soon
Winter
Crazy
SUC
Fez-BB
WAS
Breathe
Cedars
All but MOS and Soon are edited (didn’t need it). I can’t find the file for Fez yet, but I’m sure it will turn up.
I did it because I noticed that the drums bass and voice were equally slit across both left and right channels, but guitars, keys, synths and others were in one or the other. I just wanted to weave some layering and interest into some of the songs that were a bit flat start to finish. Crazy Tonight, SUC and Breathe are the biggest impacted.
NLOTH
Magnificent
MOS
UC
Soon
Winter
Crazy
SUC
Fez-BB
WAS
Breathe
Cedars
All but MOS and Soon are edited (didn’t need it). I can’t find the file for Fez yet, but I’m sure it will turn up.
I did it because I noticed that the drums bass and voice were equally slit across both left and right channels, but guitars, keys, synths and others were in one or the other. I just wanted to weave some layering and interest into some of the songs that were a bit flat start to finish. Crazy Tonight, SUC and Breathe are the biggest impacted.
the tourist
Blue Crack Addict
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Since we’re talking No Line now, I’m just going to bang my standard drum and say that the “let me in the sound” part of Get On Your Boots is one of the single best parts of any song they’ve released in the 21st century. Shame about the rest. If the whole song had been like that, I think it would have done a whole lot better.
monkeyskin
Refugee
The ‘let me in the sound’ part pops up again in Fez. On my first listen it really grabbed me and the rest of Fez-BB was such a shift in sound. Not having Boots on the album would lessen that impact, I just wish Boots was a better song in its own right.
(Are there many albums that feature callbacks to previous tracks? All I can think of is Quadrophenia.)
Also, which version of Winter are people using?
(Are there many albums that feature callbacks to previous tracks? All I can think of is Quadrophenia.)
Also, which version of Winter are people using?
Hollow Island
New Yorker
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2011
- Messages
- 2,947
I use the Linear version of Winter.
well they made, like 3 social posts.
phanan
Blue Crack Addict
DaveC
Blue Crack Addict
sgt. peppers, abbey road, and dark side of the moon come immediately to mind and i'm sure there are plenty of others. the white album makes reference to tracks on previous albums too (glass onion).
womanfish
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Its crazy how many times I will think something one day and the next day someone posts it here. After my many listens yesterday, I thought. shit, Am I not giving Boots the credit it deserves? Is it as ill-fitting on the album as I remember?
The answer was yes and no. For the most part yes, but there are sections of it, most notably the Let me in the sound, that work incredibly well, and sound really cool. Just little pieces where you feel like there may have been another more fitting version of this song that got fucked up in the end. My conclusion was that the song itself could have been much better for the album with 2 changes.
One, just say "get on your boots." Don't say Sexy Boots. Again, clashes with the introspection and feel of the album.
Two - It's too fucking fast. It's got this frenetic feel to it, from the riff to the drumming to the vocals. If they would have played this at a slower tempo, changed some lyrics... Hell even throw out half the lyrics and give it space like the rest of this album has, and it could be a good addition.
I slowed down a section of the song, with mainly the riff. Slowed it by about maybe 35%. It came out kinda cool. The riff sounds more like an Ozzy or Zeppelin riff.
womanfish
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
No judgement here! I'm far from a pro. Haven't been able to use my degree much over the last 15 years. But would be cool to hear what you came up with, don't really care if it's rough.
Thank you!
womanfish
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
For the most part this is pretty standard mixing setup. You think of it like a stage setup. Vocals in the middle, Drums straight behind, so those are going to be full across the mix. But drums usually get panned out to create space, so kick - center, snare slightly off left, toms panned both off a bit right and left, cymbals panned out a bit further. Then guitar is going to favor one side a bit more, as the bass would to the other side. Any other additions like synth or extra rhythm guitar, or random percussion are usually panned a bit harder to one side
Not to say this is what you will always see, this is sort of what you see most. So the bass being center definitely could be a reason why the mix feels too crowded. Looking forward to hearing what they sound like.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Boots is definitely a bit out of step sonically, but the vocal melody on the "You don't know..." section sounds slightly exotic in a Beatles experimentation sense. So that connects it to the Morocco sessions enough for me to include it on the album.
I can't imagine removing this song from the album but retaining SUC and Crazy Tonight, the first of which is even more tonally inappropriate (and just pretty awful in general), and the latter just desperately vanilla and clearly a last-minute bid for radio airplay. They're both axed from my playlist.
My unconventional move is including both versions of the title track; if memory serves the alt version leaked before the actual album did? And I remember being disappointed upon hearing the album version because the alt was so bouncy, energetic, and new wavy, could have actually been a single. So while I've come to appreciate the official No Line in a deeper way, I can't listen to the album without wanting to hear both, so I've featured it as a reprise in the way that FEZ reprises Boots.
1. No Line
2. Magnificent*
3. Moment of Surrender
4. Unknown Caller
5. Winter
(side break if you're old-fashioned, 30 min. into a 60 min. playlist)
6. Soon
7. No Line (alt. version)
8. Get On Your Boots
9. FEZ-Being Born
10. White as Snow
11. Breathe
12. Cedars
So I've retained the original beginning and ending like most of you and just messed with the middle, but in a different way. I thought about putting the alt. No Line right before the end as a more naturally-placed reprise, but I think Breathe does fit the bill as U2's typical penultimate track showstopper (Acrobat, Exit, Dirty Day, Please), and the orchestral elements keep the album on that grander stage as it heads to the finish. Soon serves as a bit of an intermission between halves here, and while most seem to like it before Winter I think it connects similarly place after it.
*not gonna lie, I started to type "Magnificock" at first because old habits die hard, shout-out to the OG Shuttlecock crew
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I gave the Sing2 song a better listen over the weekend and it grew on me quite a bit. The ending is still a mess as it feels like they just quit on it.
I would have repeated the "I was broken now Im hoping..." which I think is the best part of the entire song. It flows great from the falsetto with Edge, and has kinda that longing/wandering spirit Bono has sung about forever. We get the falsetto to transition.....then into another falsetto....it feels really off. I feel like it needed another melody from Bono in the same "broken" vein, and then to fade out the song with falsetto.
I do think U2 have gotten really really good at writing melodies now. They're up there with anything else I've listened to....the issue is they've lost that U2 space with the Edge. Now it has to be a 3 min pop song, and even then they seem to screw it up by not having a 3rd chorus.
I don't mind if they continue down this pop song path, but at least bring some of the space that made them unique. It's too much of a Bono show, and we need quite a bit more from the Edge again. Songs that noodle along but take advantage of their pop chops
I would have repeated the "I was broken now Im hoping..." which I think is the best part of the entire song. It flows great from the falsetto with Edge, and has kinda that longing/wandering spirit Bono has sung about forever. We get the falsetto to transition.....then into another falsetto....it feels really off. I feel like it needed another melody from Bono in the same "broken" vein, and then to fade out the song with falsetto.
I do think U2 have gotten really really good at writing melodies now. They're up there with anything else I've listened to....the issue is they've lost that U2 space with the Edge. Now it has to be a 3 min pop song, and even then they seem to screw it up by not having a 3rd chorus.
I don't mind if they continue down this pop song path, but at least bring some of the space that made them unique. It's too much of a Bono show, and we need quite a bit more from the Edge again. Songs that noodle along but take advantage of their pop chops
womanfish
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
I don't mind it. I like the pre-chorus and chorus. But something stood out on repeated listens, and now it bugs me every time. Bono rhymes Four with For in the first verse, and then in the end falsetto part they are "rhyming" Life with Life. I mean... come on.
maybe instead of
Your song saved my life
The worst and the best days of my life
Your song saved my life
Through the darkness and the light?
They do use "tonight" the next time, but still. Bono has had to be a part of this movie production for at least a year or two. I feel like this song was maybe whipped up in a week.
And was seen by the band as more of an obligation than a moment of creativity.
i also did one with Mr. Noodle from Sesame Stree that, uh, turned out differently.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
No Linguini on the Horizon
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
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