Re-Ranking NLOTH

[CosmoKramer]

That would make it more boring.

MOS is an average song only of note because of its length, and good god Breathe's verses are cringeworthy. Not as cringeworthy as Boots or Comedy, but still pretty bad. Shut up Bono. Stop trying to be clever.

Breathe is my 2nd favorite song on the album and "Jew, Jew man" and "cockatoo" are so cringeworthy(the chorus is great though). I find NLOTH is full of these "lyrics"(GOYB, SUC, CT). Even where Unknown Caller tries to be "clever" lyrically, it fails (for me) miserably. Thats one thing about SOI, lyrically it is far superior in my opinion. It is a much more straight forward album that connects with the listener much more easily than NLOTH. Personally, I can't remember the last time I checked my Chinese stocks


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[Axver]

How fortunate we are that SOI doesn't have these moments.

Well it has none as nauseating as NLOTH's worst moments.

I suppose there are always "shut up Bono and stop trying too hard to be clever" moments, even on the best albums, but there are so many of them on NLOTH (and the two albums beforehand) that it's almost physically painful.

Breathe is my 2nd favorite song on the album and "Jew, Jew man" and "cockatoo" are so cringeworthy(the chorus is great though).

You might be pleased to know that "Jew, Jew man" is in fact "juju man".

For cringeworthy, I'm not sure anything on the album can top Unknown Caller's chorus. Good grief.

 

[CosmoKramer]

1-Magnificent 10/10
2-Breathe 9/10 (has some suspect lyrics though I can over look them due to the overall song being great)
3-Moment of Surrender 8/10 (too long of a song, should be shorter)
4-Crazy Tonight 8/10 (fun song that would be a 9 if not for those voice cracks and some dodgy lyrics)
5-Boots 7/10 (good beat but those lyrics)
6-NLOTH 5.5/10 (very meh)
7-SUC 5/10 (decent sound but again...lyrics and that "love" backing throughout the song...barf)
8-Unknown Caller 4.5/10 (so much potential but the lyrical choices were terrible. The original lyrics I heard in the "making of" would have connected with me much more....force quite this song (see what I did there)
9-WAS 4/10 (sounds country to me and I just find it bland)
10- Fez 3.5/10 (never got into it)
11- COL 3/10 (lost me at "oranges from a tank")

Cohesiveness of the album- 5/10

Overall album for me- 6/10

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[Wilson8]

1. Moment - 10/10 Just perfect.
2. Magnificent - 9/10 Very dynamic u2 song.
3. Breath - 9/10 Why ruin a great song with striptease and a weird bird.
4. No line - 8/10 Solid.
5. White as snow - 7/10 Pretty good.
6. Cedars - 7/10 Basic song, nice ender.
7. Unknown caller - 7/10 Not the best lyrics. Otherwise good.
8. Fez - 5/10 More like a nice b-side. Why not use Winter instead (8/10).
9. Crazy tonight - 5/10 Average lyrics OK. Average song.
10. Boots - 4/10 Acceptable.
11. Stand up comedy - 2/10 Almost as bad as Some days and Miami.

Album - 6/10 = 3 STARS

 

[Phantom Dreamer]

I just listened to No Line yesterday, so it's fresh. Here's my ranking:

1. Magnificent
2. No Line On The Horizon

This would be the best list.

 

[mikal]

.

 

[Aygo]

Also, it disappoints me that White As Snow is generally ranked so low. I think that that song is one of U2's most gorgeous hidden gems.


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It's my favourite NLOTH track and one of me fav U2 songs. To me one of their finest and out-of-the-box tracks of the past 15 years, yet so subtle and beautiful.
Too bad it's underlooked by the fans, by the band itself as well.
I wish they played it - even if in acoustic mode - rather than "Stuck In A Moment" (with Bono repeating "it's just a moment" 86 times) or "Stay" again.

 

[Aygo]

Is that really unpopular? I thought "Winter" was a bit of a whipping boy around here, especially with moronic lyrics about butter on toast and putting bullets in guns to protect the ones.

My custom NLOTH is an EP:

1. Fez
2. Magnificent
3. NLOTH II
4. Crazy Tonight
5. White As Snow
6. Cedars Of Lebanon

It still doesn't excite me much.

The only embarrassing lyrical moment on "Winter" in the butter/toast analogy.
Instead, you seem not to mind with the "Crazy Tonight" lines that sound like a random (with no criteria) compilation of "big statements (not!)" that Bono may have come with during a flight in his private jet and writing it in a piece of paper.

 

[Axver]

The only embarrassing lyrical moment on "Winter" in the butter/toast analogy.
Instead, you seem not to mind with the "Crazy Tonight" lines that sound like a random (with no criteria) compilation of "big statements (not!)" that Bono may have come with during a flight in his private jet and writing it in a piece of paper.

Your description of Crazy Tonight could apply to the majority of Bono's lyrics over the last decade or so.

I don't even know why I'm suddenly the defender of Crazy Tonight in this thread. I guess because I'm the only person not putting it in the bottom three, and would rather hear it over a song like Boots or Breathe with poorly delivered nonsense verses. It's not as if I think Crazy Tonight's a good song, or that it's even close to being in U2's top hundred songs. In another context I'd be taking a shit on it (not worthy of polishing the shoes of any UF era song). It's just that I think it's generic and inoffensive, compared to the legitimately cringeworthy songs on either side of it.

And "we put bullets in guns to protect the ones" is easily as bad as the butter on toast line.

 

[bobsaget77]

I like the Crazy Tonight album version. It was nominated for a Grammy. Live version is crap until the end.


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[CosmoKramer]

I like the Crazy Tonight album version. It was nominated for a Grammy. Live version is crap until the end.


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I'm with you on this. Album version is fun.


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[2861U2]

It's my third-favorite song on the album.

 

[prbiker15]

I've always liked the album version and the live remix version.

 

[Galeongirl]

Tough to rank, still love this album so much. I like a lot of them pretty interchangable, just the bottom 3 are pretty solid. I don't hate Boots as much as many people here do, but the album version is pretty cringeworthy. Live it was pretty good!

0. NLOTH2
1. Moment of Surrender
2. Breathe
3. Fez - Being Born
4. I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
5. Unknown Caller
6. No Line on the Horizon
7. Stand Up Comedy
8. White As Snow
9. Magnificent
10. Get On Your Boots
11. Cedars of Lebanon

 

[Aygo]

Your description of Crazy Tonight could apply to the majority of Bono's lyrics over the last decade or so.

I don't even know why I'm suddenly the defender of Crazy Tonight in this thread. I guess because I'm the only person not putting it in the bottom three, and would rather hear it over a song like Boots or Breathe with poorly delivered nonsense verses. It's not as if I think Crazy Tonight's a good song, or that it's even close to being in U2's top hundred songs. In another context I'd be taking a shit on it (not worthy of polishing the shoes of any UF era song). It's just that I think it's generic and inoffensive, compared to the legitimately cringeworthy songs on either side of it.

And "we put bullets in guns to protect the ones" is easily as bad as the butter on toast line.

Honestly, the "put bullets in guns" line doesn't sound bad to me.
About, Crazy Tonight, true that Bono has been using that lyrical writing technique on the last albums, but this song is specially embarrassing from that point of view. What does "she's a rainbow and she loves the peaceful life/every beauty has to go out with an idiot" (for example) have to do with Bono's lyrical intention? The verses of this song are a pure non-conected compilation of random thoughts, most of them tasteless. Even the title has a doubtful taste "going crazy if not going crazy tonight"... Hum...
What saves the song, to me, is the instrumental. Despite being the most by-the-numbers song of the album, I like the melody and the riff using in the intro. I think the instrumental, besides that, is pretty happy.

 

[nbelcik]

I'm with you on this. Album version is fun.


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I really like the album version as well, it's a nice little pop song. The remix version was pretty awesome to see in person, but it's not something that I go out of my way to listen to.


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[bobsaget77]

I hear crap music at work all day. But yesterday Magnificent came on and it sounded like the greatest song ever made. I couldn't tell if it was Pride or Magnificent at first, but either way it reminded me that even though we rip U2's music to shreds around here. Let's not forget that their music is so much better than most of the mainstream garbage being played.


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[Yahweh_OMG]

1. NLOTH 2
2. MOS
3. Fez
4. NLOTH
5. Magnificent
6. Get on your boots
7. White as snow
8. Unknown caller
9. Stand up comedy
10. Breathe
11. Cedars
12. Crazy tonight

The last 2 are very bad..... the first 3 are great U2 songs, the rest is ok.

 

[LemonMelon]

I cannot hear what's preferable about NLOTH 2 to NLOTH 1. The vocal is terrible and the whole song feels so rushed that it has no room to breathe. The second verse is a placeholder at best. It sounds like they just tried a faster tempo for laughs. The NO! LINE! chant is fun but also a bit corny.

The band definitely made the right choice leaving it off the album. What we got instead was towering yet atmospheric.

 

[Galeongirl]

I prefer the uptempo, the epic bassline which is same old 8th notes in NLOTH1, the end is absolutely awesome.

 

[Salome]

01. Moment of Surrender
02. Magnificent
03. White As Snow
04. No Line on the Horizon
05. I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
06. Breathe
07. Unknown Caller
08. Get On Your Boots
09. Cedars of Lebanon
10. Stand Up Comedy
11. Fez - Being Born


Wonderful album

 

[bobsaget77]

I think track order really hurts this album, it makes no sense whatsoever. It should've been ordered accordingly.
1. Fez (made to open the album, wasted at #8)
2. Magnificent
3. No Line
4. Moment Of Surrender
5. Unknown Caller
6. Breathe
7. White As Snow
8. Get On Your Boots
9. I'll Go Crazy
10. Cedars Of Lebanon

That completely changes the album imo.


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[CosmoKramer]

I think track order really hurts this album, it makes no sense whatsoever. It should've been ordered accordingly.
1. Fez (made to open the album, wasted at #8)
2. Magnificent
3. No Line
4. Moment Of Surrender
5. Unknown Caller
6. Breathe
7. White As Snow
8. Get On Your Boots
9. I'll Go Crazy
10. Cedars Of Lebanon

That completely changes the album imo.


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Now...now...play by the rules, you have to keep SUC in the playlist. Even if you make it a hidden track 10 min after Ceaders ends!!


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[bobsaget77]

Now...now...play by the rules, you have to keep SUC in the playlist. Even if you make it a hidden track 10 min after Ceaders ends!!


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Ok. Fair enough. I'll replace SUC with Mercy and put it at #10. Problem solved. ?


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[Broadsword]

Can we have a debate about what the first single should have been?

For a long time, I thought it should have been Magnificent. Recently, I've revised my opinion so that now I believe it ought to have been the album version of Crazy Tonight. I don't hate Get On Your Boots, but I do agree that it was a poor choice for a single, esp the first one.


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[BigMacPhisto]

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

 

[digitize]

The past month or so has sent me in such a No Line binge. After five years of waiting for its successor, I'm honestly lukewarm about what we received. But I feel like I got another treasure: rediscovering, and rediscovering why I love, No Line. In many ways, it's been the real "new album" to me. I wish that I liked SoI more, but this isn't a bad consolation prize.


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[bobsaget77]

I just think this album is way too overcooked. That's the reason I love that they released raw versions of the new songs, it gives us a glimpse of what the song is like without all the gimmicks and overworking. I wish they would've done that for the last 3 albums. This album would've really benefited from something like that.


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[thavidesco]

For a long time, I thought it should have been Magnificent. Recently, I've revised my opinion so that now I believe it ought to have been the album version of Crazy Tonight. I don't hate Get On Your Boots, but I do agree that it was a poor choice for a single, esp the first one.


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Definitely NLOTH2

 

[thavidesco]

I cannot hear what's preferable about NLOTH 2 to NLOTH 1. The vocal is terrible and the whole song feels so rushed that it has no room to breathe. The second verse is a placeholder at best. It sounds like they just tried a faster tempo for laughs. The NO! LINE! chant is fun but also a bit corny.

The band definitely made the right choice leaving it off the album. What we got instead was towering yet atmospheric.

Because the vocal sounds enthusiastic and spontanneous with full of energy

The second verse improvisations are the best part for me

The NO! LINE! is a great chant, little bit different to the standard ref

It has better mix of the drums certainly

Edge´s rhytm guitar doesn´t sound like The Fly rip off

There are amazing samples included