At least it comes out of it and ends pretty well. But, yeah, the middle is bad sauce, and Stand Up Comedy is…..shit
I don't mean to objectify her or anything, but I think I love her.
No? My grand return faux pas.
What middle? I have this in my car/on a playlist as NLOTH:
1. Soon
2. Breathe
3. No Line on the Horizon
4. Unknown Caller
5. Moment of Surrender
6. Magnificent
7. Fez-Being Born
8. White as Snow
9. Winter (Brothers)
10. Every Breaking Wave (Bono/Edge live obviously)
11. Cedars of Lebanon
Fuck you, that's completely acceptable. You don't have to preface that statement with anything. You're not a fucking bad dude for saying you love some celebrity you've never met. We all do that.
Also: I really like Wild Honey. And I dearly love ATYCLB. No Line, Moment of Surrender, Fez and Cedars are really the only songs from the latest album that held up for me.
Also also: nice to see other faces in here, hello VP I had the opportunity to see The Orb at Donko Fest last weekend, but got too drunk. Dave Gilmour did an album with them.
If you substitute a lot of MDH for the back half of ATYCLB you have a much better collection of songs, not a great ALBUM mind you because it wouldn't gel much thematically/sonically (as it doesn't now) but it'd be a stronger representation of their abilities at the time.
I don't think ATYCLB suffers from a lack of cohesion per se, though I do prefer the original track order. The songs explore different pop avenues but at least they mostly sound from the same sessions, producers, etc.
M$H really has nothing in common with that material and would be so much more out of place than anything else.
In that case, why not throw in material from Rare & Unreleased while you're at it too? Because some of that fits in a lot better with ATYCLB.