Eno and Lanois on NLOTH opinions ?

[U2girl]

We heard a lot of talk how this is a reinvention, innovative album etc...but is it ? Did they deliver this time ?

NLOTH - guitar sounds similar to The Fly, it's like 90s U2 is back
Magnificent - JT updated
MOS - this is new. 21st century gospel.
UC - I get a JT impression on this too. Walk on-ish guitar in the start
Crazy tonight - ATYCLB
Boots - "let me in the sound" part is new, otherwise this is Pop U2
SUC - True the Edge never sounded like Page so much, but this is basically a more fun, looser sister song to Crumbs
FEZ - Zooropa revisited
WAS - another acoustic U2 song
Breathe - Acrobat in the tempo, otherwise classic U2 guitar
Cedars - maybe new too.

I don't see it as a reboot like UF or even AB and ATYCLB or the lightning that struck once on JT, it's more like accumulating everything they learned along the way. In that sense it fits with the previous two albums and is U2 coming full circle. It is a very strong record and an album they can be proud of ... but

The question is: can Eno and Lanois teach U2 new tricks at this point ? Should U2 look at someone else to launch the next phase of their career, U2 4.0 if you like ?

 

[Vlad n U 2]

I think they did, a lot of this album seems new for U2.

Never heard of songs like Moment Of Surrender, Stand Up Comedy and Cedars Of Lebanon before, these 3 are the songs I think that are almost completely new for them.

The others are also different and sound new, but with elements from the past.

 

[Niceman]

We heard a lot of talk how this is a reinvention, innovative album etc...but is it ? Did they deliver this time ?

NLOTH - guitar sounds similar to The Fly, it's like 90s U2 is back
Magnificent - JT updated
MOS - this is new. 21st century gospel.
UC - I get a JT impression on this too. Walk on-ish guitar in the start
Crazy tonight - ATYCLB
Boots - "let me in the sound" part is new, otherwise this is Pop U2
SUC - True the Edge never sounded like Page so much, but this is basically a more fun, looser sister song to Crumbs
FEZ - Zooropa revisited
WAS - another acoustic U2 song
Breathe - Acrobat in the tempo, otherwise classic U2 guitar
Cedars - maybe new too.

I don't see it as a reboot like UF or even AB and ATYCLB or the lightning that struck once on JT, it's more like accumulating everything they learned along the way. In that sense it fits with the previous two albums and is U2 coming full circle. It is a very strong record and an album they can be proud of ... but

The question is: can Eno and Lanois teach U2 new tricks at this point ? Should U2 look at someone else to launch the next phase of their career, U2 4.0 if you like ?

I don't think these songs really sound so much like what you're comparing them to as you're suggesting. NLOTH like the Fly? That's a stretch! FEZ-BB like Zooropa? Not anything like my copy....

 

[bathiu]

We heard a lot of talk how this is a reinvention, innovative album etc...but is it ? Did they deliver this time ?

Yes

The question is: can Eno and Lanois teach U2 new tricks at this point ? Should U2 look at someone else to launch the next phase of their career, U2 4.0 if you like ?

No

I don't think these songs really sound so much like what you're comparing them to as you're suggesting. NLOTH like the Fly? That's a stretch! FEZ-BB like Zooropa? Not anything like my copy....

I agree, those comparisons are crazy. SUC like Crumbs???!!? Please!
I can agree with Crazy Tonight, the most obvious link to the previous albums, but that's it. And every album has a link to the past, so it's not a problem.

What I hear on this album is Muse, Cash, Gilmour, Arcade Fire, Metallica, Depeche Mode covered in U2/Eno dressing, wich is all new and fresh for the band, making a really cohesive album yet interesting and not boring.

for this thread.

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

Moment of Surrender is kind of new but reminds me a bit of So Cruel, actually the start does.
I agree with U2girl, this album has not that many new stuff. It has some but it's mostly a mix of everything from 84 - 09

 

[redhill]

We heard a lot of talk how this is a reinvention, innovative album etc...but is it ? Did they deliver this time ?

NLOTH - guitar sounds similar to The Fly, it's like 90s U2 is back
Magnificent - JT updated
MOS - this is new. 21st century gospel.
UC - I get a JT impression on this too. Walk on-ish guitar in the start
Crazy tonight - ATYCLB
Boots - "let me in the sound" part is new, otherwise this is Pop U2
SUC - True the Edge never sounded like Page so much, but this is basically a more fun, looser sister song to Crumbs
FEZ - Zooropa revisited
WAS - another acoustic U2 song
Breathe - Acrobat in the tempo, otherwise classic U2 guitar
Cedars - maybe new too.

I don't see it as a reboot like UF or even AB and ATYCLB or the lightning that struck once on JT, it's more like accumulating everything they learned along the way. In that sense it fits with the previous two albums and is U2 coming full circle. It is a very strong record and an album they can be proud of ... but

The question is: can Eno and Lanois teach U2 new tricks at this point ? Should U2 look at someone else to launch the next phase of their career, U2 4.0 if you like ?

Like I have been saying, this album suffers from forced cohesion. Eno called U2 cunts because they left a lot of the more experimental songs off of it.

IMO, only NLOTH, MOS, COL (and maybe Breathe) belong on the album. They chose the wrong songs for inclusion at the last minute it seems. A song like Magnificent is great (and impressive that they can still conjure that kind of classic U2 magic) but does not fit.

Again, U2 suffer from trying to be everything to everyone. That is why this album could never be the album Zooropa was.

That said, I love this album and think it is a outstanding collection of songs. I

 

[redhill]

I don't think these songs really sound so much like what you're comparing them to as you're suggesting. NLOTH like the Fly? That's a stretch! FEZ-BB like Zooropa? Not anything like my copy....

IMO Fez sounds almost exactly like a Zooropa song...Except an outtake that never really goes anywhere...

That is why I can't understand the reviews saying that it treads new ground. That sounds misinformed to me.

 

[manwiththespinninhead]

fez sounds like pot 180 and one minute warning from passengers

 

[redhill]

fez sounds like pot 180 and one minute warning from passengers

Good call ;]

 

[rihannsu]

I don't get this apparent requirement for "new" that is pushed. The things that hark back to older songs/albums don't bother me because it's not like whole songs sound like older songs. There's more of that on Bomb with COBL trying to be Streets, etc. This is more like the way that I've always imagined the band think of their sounds and the way Bono has described it. Their sounds are like the colors of an artist's palette. They name them the way colors are named. Songs are made up of the colors with different blending, blurring, and brush srokes. This decade has been about U2 using their entire palette. In the 90's they deliberately set aside the palette of the 80's and tried for totallly new, but toward the end that became a dead end street. Beginning with ATYCLB they were reclaiming the 80's palette without totally sacrificing the 90's. It just took them some time to get the mixture right. ATYCLB and HTDAAB may have been a little too heavy on the older palette but I think NLOTH is the true master because U2 now have a deep understanding of their entire palette and have created a true blend of all there strengths.

Dana

 

[bram]

I would only consider complaining about a lack of innovation if they failed to deliver a fantastic album. Thankfully they delivered. It's all relative anyway--there is plenty of stuff on here that is new territory for U2, whether that be sonically, structurally, or emotionally. WAS doesn't sound like any other U2 songs, for example, but it also uses the least original melody since it is based on a traditional hymn. So which is it--new territory or rehash? MOS is almost the antithesis of a typical U2 emotive ballad that builds to a crescendo. UC has a very strange song structure, but it also has one of the most EDGE guitar riffs ever. So is it new/rehash/both? I could go on and on, but the point is that it all depends on what characteristics you are looking at. For U2 to be truly innovative and experimental, they would have to become borderline unlistenable. Where do you draw the line? For those who are fans of U2, it would make sense that some/all of the elements that make them love U2 should be present.

 

[redhill]

We heard a lot of talk how this is a reinvention, innovative album etc...but is it ? Did they deliver this time ?

NLOTH - guitar sounds similar to The Fly, it's like 90s U2 is back
Magnificent - JT updated
MOS - this is new. 21st century gospel.
UC - I get a JT impression on this too. Walk on-ish guitar in the start
Crazy tonight - ATYCLB
Boots - "let me in the sound" part is new, otherwise this is Pop U2
SUC - True the Edge never sounded like Page so much, but this is basically a more fun, looser sister song to Crumbs
FEZ - Zooropa revisited
WAS - another acoustic U2 song
Breathe - Acrobat in the tempo, otherwise classic U2 guitar
Cedars - maybe new too.

I don't see it as a reboot like UF or even AB and ATYCLB or the lightning that struck once on JT, it's more like accumulating everything they learned along the way. In that sense it fits with the previous two albums and is U2 coming full circle. It is a very strong record and an album they can be proud of ... but

The question is: can Eno and Lanois teach U2 new tricks at this point ? Should U2 look at someone else to launch the next phase of their career, U2 4.0 if you like ?

U2Girl is smart ;]

 

[kgbodo]

I think they did, a lot of this album seems new for U2.

Never heard of songs like Moment Of Surrender, Stand Up Comedy and Cedars Of Lebanon before, these 3 are the songs I think that are almost completely new for them.

The others are also different and sound new, but with elements from the past.

Not exactly.. moment of surrender is fresh u2, especially the multi-voiced gospel chorus but, U2 have tapped into the mood of this song thrice before.. So cruel, North and South of the River (B-side) and Your Blue room (passengers). Truth is, U2 with their Achtung/Zooropa/Pop and Passengers albums had already dissected and transformed the pop song into it's least fathomable incarnation. In today's world of endless weaves and crosses of musical genres it's impossible for U2 within the context of a pop/rock song to be much more creative than the work they have done in the past and have done on NLOTH! NLOTH may not be the leap into the unkown many were expecting, but it's definitely one step closer to bliss. A+ for effort!!!

 

[dafish1234]

Overall this doesn't really sound like any other U2 album. Some songs are gonna have familiar elements- they always do.

You even listen to a song like "No Line on the Horizon" with different guitars and vocals then practically any song they've done. But then listen to the chorus and it sounds a lot more familiar....

The lyrical style here I think is quite a bit different than what we're used to, part of that is to account for the fact that Bono's got a different voice than he used to have. And then a lot of the songs are not written from the first person perspective.

As far as Eno and Lanois are concerned- I love their influence b/c they force U2 to come out of its shell. That doesn't mean they force them into something different, but they bring out an element that they may sometimes lack.

 

[U2_Guy]

Good call ;]

More like Theme from let's go native + one minute warning...
Wonderful song.