NLOTH Album Reviews - Professional / Web / Mag Reviews ONLY

[Dragonfave]

More reviews within the last 3-4 hours

Positives:

'No Line on the Horizon' Is No Radical Reinvention of U2 (Hooray!) | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction 4 stars out of 5 stars

No Line On The Horizon - CD Reviews - Music - Entertainment - watoday.com.au 3.5/5

Pop review: U2: No Line On the Horizon | Music | The Guardian 3 stars out 5. Gave the previous album 4 stars

Negative:

Bart Motes: U2's No Line on the Horizon: Mostly Meandering Mediocrity

Some rant about Paul McGuiness whoring out the $$$, Yoko-reference, and Boots being "a very bad sign, is a bad version of "Vertigo" which was a bad version of "Elevation" which was a bad version of HMTMKMKM."

 

[lazarus]

All the negative reviews i've read all seem to list IGCIIDGCT as the best track on the album?! Weird.

Not really. This is exactly the kind of song mainstream philistines would love if they can't process more experimental material.

God knows what some of these tools would write if Zooropa came out today.

 

[Irvine511]

Not really. This is exactly the kind of song mainstream philistines would love if they can't process more experimental material.

God knows what some of these tools would write if Zooropa came out today.

so, you really like French cinema, do you?

 

[lazarus]

Oui.

 

[revolver]

I thought we could already access a review on The Guardian's website from 2 weeks ago that gave it 4 stars. Was that from the Observer and just on the Guardian's website?

 

[revolver]

Yeah, here it is:

Pop review: U2, No Line on the Horizon | Music | The Observer

 

[purpleoscar]

Does somebody have the MOJO review yet?

 

[revolver]

Exactly! With everyone setting different expectations for the band, there is absolutely no way in my opinion that U2 will ever "win" again by making an album that will be universally hailed as a "classic." Because of this, I think U2 should now stop trying to do the impossible and stick completely to an idea. Stop catering to different segments of U2 fandom.

I agree and then disagree! I agree that they should stop catering to different segments of U2 fandom and focus on a single idea!

But I disagree with one thing - if they did focus on a single idea, and that idea stemmed from pushing music forward a la Achtung, they would create an absolute classic that (just about) everyone can agree on. It seems to be what all of us want, and just looking at the critics reviews its what they want as well!

 

[Dragonfave]

Does somebody have the MOJO review yet?

http://media.u2.com/non_secure/images/reviews/mojo1of2.jpg
http://media.u2.com/non_secure/images/reviews/mojo2of2.jpg



Positives:

U2: We’re four chancers from the north of Dublin who just got lucky | The Sun |Showbiz|Something For The Weekend

A rockin' 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars! Long article includes brief comment on "Winter", a look back @ U2's career, and story behind the mixing of NLOTH.

U2's New Album: Stuck in a Moment - TIME No score was given

 

[Zooropa man]

TIME - Stuck in a moment

Don't know if it has been posted elsewhere but here it is...

U2's New Album: No Line on the Horizon - TIME

 

[cjboog]

http://media.u2.com/non_secure/images/reviews/mojo1of2.jpg
http://media.u2.com/non_secure/images/reviews/mojo2of2.jpg



Positives:

U2: We’re four chancers from the north of Dublin who just got lucky | The Sun |Showbiz|Something For The Weekend

A rockin' 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars! Long article includes brief comment on "Winter", a look back @ U2's career, and story behind the mixing of NLOTH.

U2's New Album: Stuck in a Moment - TIME No score was given

Ugh that's a bad review from Time.

 

[KristenCaNaDiAn]

Thanks--> sucks its not a really great review though

 

[Niceman]

Yeah, this guy lists "Wild Honey" as one of the band's recent hits and thinks that the reason POP had issues was that it was too political!! :O

 

[Rosebud]

^wow.

 

[Zooropa man]

It's not.... so far I've read more negative then positive. At least it seems like it, at best equal.... makes me think....

 

[jandy7]

sad to say this but i agree with most of this review, these songs are not terrible but they're not up there with their best, mainly due to a lack of melody

 

[purpleoscar]

Some fans may think it's not up with their best but many do. In fact the album is so good to some fans it's a relief.

 

[Zooropa man]

"And a great band's horizon has never looked so close."

This line says it all about this article.... maybe their career is well with in reach???

Talk about three shit records and your out in one entire album...

I like the album don't get me wrong but I'm not liking what I'm reading... today at least it seems.

 

[adypole]

lack of melody!?

unknown caller alone defines melody as we know it.

fucking defines.

 

[MaPhisto]

I agree with the above poster on the wild honey thing.. sounds like he went through wikipedia to write his review...

"This late-version U2 has produced a run of hits ("Beautiful Day," "Wild Honey," "City of Blinding Lights") united by a lightness of theme and an ease of sound"

"As the tune fades out, he lets loose another of his famous "Oh-oh-ohs," and it's hard not to hear an echo of his closing blast on "With or Without You" but in a minor key."

"U2 has clearly found itself stuck in a very strange moment of self-reckoning. And a great band's horizon has never looked so close."


Awful review.
and I disagree with it wholeheartedly.

 

[eas]

sad to say this but i agree with most of this review, these songs are not terrible but they're not up there with their best, mainly due to a lack of melody

I agree. The most glaring thing about this about is the lack of great melodies (excepting a couple of songs).

 

[Dragonfave]

Ugh that's a bad review from Time.

Oops. My bad.

 

[Marien]

Oh, my! The author doesn't even understand the lyrics.

You can like this album or not, but if you show such a lack of understanding and such a lack of knowledge about the subject you're writing about, why do you write at all?

 

[BVS]

mainly due to a lack of melody

This makes almost no sense what so ever...

First of all it's next to impossible to have lack of melody, you either have good melody or bad melody.

Secondly, this album is full of great melodies...

Can you give me an example of what you consider to be a "lack" of melody?

 

[AtomicBono]

Ugh that's a bad review from Time.

U2 has clearly found itself stuck in a very strange moment of self-reckoning. And a great band's horizon has never looked so close.

U2 is done for.

so, the reactions to this album are clearly mixed, although most seem to be fairly positive...?

 

[BVS]

I like the album don't get me wrong but I'm not liking what I'm reading... today at least it seems.

If you like it, then why worry about what you read?

 

[purpleoscar]

http://media.u2.com/non_secure/images/reviews/mojo1of2.jpg
http://media.u2.com/non_secure/images/reviews/mojo2of2.jpg

It's still seems consistent that which songs people prefer or don't constantly change with different reviewers. That's a good sign.

 

[Zooropa man]

Ok.... don't know what happened to my other thread but it must have gotten lost when it got merged.... here is another shitty review. The worse one that I've read thus far.

Bart Motes: U2's No Line on the Horizon: Mostly Meandering Mediocrity

 

[ny_atom]

Re: Time Magazine... well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man...

Not to be too harsh on the subjective opinions of others, but IMHO I think the "no melodies" argument is one that doesn't hold up after repeat listens.

On the surface, sure it may be easy to miss a melody here or there because they don't JUMP right out at you, like "Wild Honey" (a pop hit in one writer's imaginary universe). But after a few plays, the melodies of some of the more obtuse tracks, like "Unknown Caller" or "Fez-Being Born", reveal themselves as some of the band's best in years.

For me that's a strength, not a weakness.

 

[AtomicBono]

Bart Motes: U2's No Line on the Horizon: Mostly Meandering Mediocrity

Hmmm ... loves 90's U2, hates 00's U2 ... he belongs on Interference!!

Into the latter self-indulgent category goes "Moment of Surrender," which is interminably reminiscent of the tracks on All That You Can't Leave Behind (ATYCLB) that caused me physical pain and dry heaves the several times I forced myself to listen to them.

amusing, but ... can't anyone ever judge an album for what it is instead of constantly comparing it to past works? I guess as Irvine said that's not really possible with U2. But this guy clearly has a 90's bias and I don't know if U2 could make anything he'd like even if they tried to make an album just for him.