NLOTH - everything ATYCLB and HTDAAB wanted to be ?

[U2girl]

I think NLOTH could be described by the quotes used by the band for the previous two albums, especially "we're making an album about the joy of being in a band, with or without an audience", "if this would be our last album it would be ok" and "some of our best work" or "we waited 20/25 years to make this album".

The uniting of the clans album that pleases the 90's camp, the 80's camp and the 00's fans. Both ATYCLB and Bomb wanted to claim the title of ageing gracefully and being U2 unashamedly and especially not wanting to prove anything to anyone anymore, but NLOTH really achieves it. This also includes the lyrics which are still personal (through seemingly impersonal observations), but much more better execution.

NLOTH has the strong opening reminiscent of ATYCLB (some would even say Magnificent-MOS-UC could rival Streets-I still haven't found-WOWY) and a very strong finish which Bomb attempted.

Yet the sum is somehow more vital and more fresh, Magnificent in particular is a song for which the ATYCLB-Bomb era U2 would kill. And finally, U2's got their big rock song right in Breathe after trying on the other two albums this decade. Last but not least, their slow songs are very good this time as well. White as snow and especially Cedars of Lebanon are much better then Grace or One step closer.

3rd masterpiece ? It just might be the closest we'll ever get. The real sound of mature (remember this word in 2000 and 2004?) U2 has arrived, I think. They thought they had nailed two times before, but I guess third time's the charm.

 

[zoopop]

NLOTH is dropping SUC away from being a masterpiece. Everything else is pretty close to perfection for a U2 album at least. U2 fans (from what I read on the board) wanted the album to have some depth to keep coming back to it. While ATYCLB & HTDAAB are good albums (I enjoy HTDAAB better) they lacked the cohesiveness that NLOTH provides. U2 had a game plan on what ATYCLB was to be about but the album just falls apart on the 2nd half of the album, while HTDAAB is just a collection of good/great songs (though from “Crumbs” to “Yahweh” there is a strong cohesive B-side). I don’t think the band even knows how to explain what the Bomb was about. This has to do with the band switching producers.

NLOTH is the album U2 has wanted to make since Pop. The hard work seems to have paid off & they took their time by not releasing it in 2008. Songs like Magnificent, MOS, UC, WAS, & Breathe to me are some of U2’s best written/produced songs. And NLOTH, Crazy…, Boots, Fez, & Cedars fit perfectly next to this songs. On top of that I think Bono was more in tune with making this album. During ATYCLB & Bomb he seemed to be everywhere being an activist putting his “rock star” image aside. But it wasn’t just Bono, Adam & Larry shine very bright on NLOTH. Larry hasn’t sounded this good since Pop.

To me I agree that this might be the closest U2 get to making a 2nd masterpiece. I think AB is their only perfect album. There is:

AB

JT
UF
Pop
NLOTH

 

[last unicorn]

I don't know. I just think that U2 had different intentions with the last two albums than they had with NLOTH. I don't think you really could compare these albums. The last two ones don't sound as if they tried to achieve NLOTH. They just evolved towards their latest albums. All their albums are fine, they're just different.

 

[BVS]

I think ATYCLB is pretty much what U2 wanted it to be, there was a lot of talk about Motown records and singles leading up to that album and they pretty much did that.

I think they really wanted Bomb to be more like NLOTH but didn't quite get there, and they almost got fully there with NLOTH minus two songs...

I'm really crossing my fingers for a quick second release, if that happens given the leap in the right direction this album made I think it could be amazing... If they shelve it and rethink it years later, who knows what we'll get

 

[coach]

I don't know about NLOTH being everything the last two records wanted to be..

All I can say is that it hasn't really impacted me the way ATYCLB did. Sorry, but it's the truth, there's a lot of things to take into account besides the music in this statement, personal reasons included.

The sonic landscape in NLOTH is the best they've achieved since zooropa I think, POP didn't gel as they wanted. Still I do believe it lacks the heart in ATYCLB.

But that's just me folks.

 

[mandrake]

As a whole package, No Line is a lot better than Atomic Bomb. I can easily listen to every song on No Line, whereas I have to skip most of A-Bomb.

Could No Line be better? Maybe. ATYCLB is album that really came out at the right time for U2 and the world. I am going out on a limb here, but to my opinion Beautiful Day is one of the best songs ever written, ever. That song is plain epic and almost a defining song of this decade (the 00s, what do you call it?).

I don't feel like No Line has any songs on this level. Sure, it might be a better album than the past two, but it probably won't be leaving the same impact that ATYCLB left.

 

[JOFO]

I think NLOTH could be described by the quotes used by the band for the previous two albums, especially "we're making an album about the joy of being in a band, with or without an audience", "if this would be our last album it would be ok" and "some of our best work" or "we waited 20/25 years to make this album".

The uniting of the clans album that pleases the 90's camp, the 80's camp and the 00's fans. Both ATYCLB and Bomb wanted to claim the title of ageing gracefully and being U2 unashamedly and especially not wanting to prove anything to anyone anymore, but NLOTH really achieves it. This also includes the lyrics which are still personal (through seemingly impersonal observations), but much more better execution.

NLOTH has the strong opening reminiscent of ATYCLB (some would even say Magnificent-MOS-UC could rival Streets-I still haven't found-WOWY) and a very strong finish which Bomb attempted.

Yet the sum is somehow more vital and more fresh, Magnificent in particular is a song for which the ATYCLB-Bomb era U2 would kill. And finally, U2's got their big rock song right in Breathe after trying on the other two albums this decade. Last but not least, their slow songs are very good this time as well. White as snow and especially Cedars of Lebanon are much better then Grace or One step closer.

3rd masterpiece ? It just might be the closest we'll ever get. The real sound of mature (remember this word in 2000 and 2004?) U2 has arrived, I think. They thought they had nailed two times before, but I guess third time's the charm.

No I disagree. I think the other 2 albums were EXACTLY what they wanted at the time.
There's no way this is the "3rd masterpiece" imo.
You can't compare NLOTH with UF, which IMO, is the real 3rd masterpiece.

(Actually is was the first and AB the third).....

 

[BVS]

IMO UF and NLOTH are very comparable and about tied. They both lack about two songs...

If UF dropped 4th of July and added two good songs bringing the album count to 11 it might be classic status...

If NLOTH dropped SUC replaced it with a good song and then tweaked Crazy a little it might fit classic status...

 

[JOFO]

IMO UF and NLOTH are very comparable and about tied. They both lack about two songs...

If UF dropped 4th of July and added two good songs bringing the album count to 11 it might be classic status...

If NLOTH dropped SUC replaced it with a good song and then tweaked Crazy a little it might fit classic status...

I can see what you're saying but even if the songs themselves were tweaked or whatever, there's no comparing the vocals, lyrics, guitar work, and production of UF to NLOTH.
IMO.

There in lies the problem. IMO.

 

[BVS]

Well we'll just have to agree to disagree then...

 

[Salome]

NLOTH seems to encompass just about everything U2 has done before
so you could argue it's everything they wanted each of their prior albums to be

to me it seems that every U2 album in a way is a reaction to and at the same time a continuation of the previous album
same with NLOTH

 

[U2girl]

No I disagree. I think the other 2 albums were EXACTLY what they wanted at the time.
There's no way this is the "3rd masterpiece" imo.
You can't compare NLOTH with UF, which IMO, is the real 3rd masterpiece.

(Actually is was the first and AB the third).....

Maybe, I just feel like a lot of the descriptions of the last two albums could apply to NLOTH. I like UF but I think NLOTH might be a stronger record. Like I said, this may be the closest we'll ever get. UF might have been a classic if the band had some more writing experience.

As for Crazy/Stand up/Boots being the weak spot debate...What if JT had Heartland instead of Trip through your wires ? What if AB had something stronger than Tryin' to throw your arms around the world ? We'll never get 11 perfect songs on a U2 album.

 

[Amiarockstar]

There is no way Mag-MOS-UC equaling Streets-ISHFWILF-WOWY EVER. The three songs are good but you are comparing them to the songs that will forever define U2 and those three songs define U2 as good as any other song I can think of. (Pride, Sunday Bloody Sunday, One, Beautiful Day). Let's not get too carried away. Time will tell us if these songs measure up but for me, I say they wont. And I really like those three tracks from NLOTH.

 

[U2DMfan]

This album owes a lot to those other two, let's not kid ourselves.
This was no great departure.

I also don't think it's anything near a 3rd masterpiece.
Even U2's harshest and most cynical critics couldn't deny the greatness of those other two albums, much less War or maybe even UF. NLOTH is not a critical darling. It's not a critical failure either but again, let's not get carried away, there are plenty of fans and critics who think this album was a bust. When talking about masterpieces, you're talking about something that is rather undeniable.

What U2 did for the first time in a long time was make a solid 'Side Two'.
The album runs pretty strong for the majority, which is something they haven't done in at least 15 years. It's also more sonically interesting than the previous two and I embrace the fact that not everyone is in love with it, I found it highly disingenuous for the masses to swallow the last album with such fervor. Grammy for Album of the Year was just a 'career' award and ATYCLB for all of the talk about return to glory and a familiar sound was nothing but a regression and a side-step in my eyes.

NLOTH seems like the album I hoped for, even though it's not undeniably great (the bar is forever low from now on). It tries to do some interesting things and gets most of them right but it's still weighted down by the insecure U2 that can't stand not to have radio hits, relevance and a Bono who can't get out of his own way half the time, which means it's similar to the last two in that it's still a bit 'midlife-crisis U2'. So maybe it's not even that idea of 'mid-life' crisis U2 anymore, maybe it's just flatly who U2 is. At least that's what I think.

It's pretty easy to tell they've gotten to a point where they are comfortable in these shoes, that nothing is changing anytime soon (probably for the remainder of the band's work) and they certainly made an album that sits comfortably in quality with anything they've done in 15 years. Which I guess says it all.

Overall, I am pleased with NLOTH but I can't help but feel that the nagging feeling of 'What If' is a permanent state with U2. A band that can't agree on a gameplan that is anything but a little old fashioned. Which is fine in and of itself if only a business gameplan but when it seeps itself into the music (creative), it's always going to be that much more bland than colorful. Kudos to U2 for taking some risks, I guess it was as much as Larry Milquetoast Jr could stomach.

NLOTH is not everything ATYCLB and HTDAAB wanted to be and thank goodness for that. That said, you certainly couldn't fool me into thinking it was a departure from the previous two in most anything but overall quality.

 

[U2girl]

Seems like not much was changed in that 3 months-ish break, given Linear and NLOTH have the same songs, only different order (and Crazy Tonight is missing on Linear for some reason). Larry and Adam probably had less say this time than, for example, Bomb. (or, a few years earlier, the band overruling Bono on Stateless and Ground beneath her feet)

Mojo, talking to Adam :

It's never a smooth process, finishing off a U2 record, and this seems to have been no exception. Was there much chopping and changing down to the wire?
There was sort of an 11th hour scenario, because we got caught up on the running order towards the end, primarily because we'd all come to the conclusion that How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb had suffered by having a compromised running order, and we didn't want to make the same mistake this time around. So, we pulled White As Snow out of the 'maybe' file, and that seemed to balance some of the up-tempo rock tunes. It gave the listener a break.

We had another track called Every Breaking Wave which, if we'd included it, would have made for a very long record. Anyway, we decided that song just hadn't reached its potential, so, we put it back in the cupboard for the next record (laughs)."

Before Christmas, I heard a track called Winter. Has that become something else?
That was possibly going to be on the record and possibly part of a soundtrack for an upcoming movie and it didn't make the record but may still be part of that movie soundtrack. [NB since this interview Winter has been confirmed as part of Anton Corbijn's 'visual accompaniment' to No Line On The Horizon, entitled Linear, included in the Deluxe package of the album]

Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am is credited on I'll Go Crazy... What does he contribute?
Will helped early on in the arranging of the demo ideas in the summer. Then when he came in we recut it and he helped us push it up the hill. The final version is a recut that we did late on when we'd kind of played it in a bit. But he's a lovely, inspiring man to be around.

The version I heard before Christmas is almost more over the top than the version on the record...
You're absolutely right. We did try and take some of the bells and whistles off it and bring it back down to earth. It doffs the cap towards Motown and it's great to hear the band do a song like that. Unashamedly it's a pop song and it's got a pretty good one-two [chuckles]"

 

[U2DMfan]

"made for a very long record"....wow.

Even Bono described the album as long at 53 minutes.
I guess asking the listener for a full hour of time, after a 5 year wait is too much.
Old fashioned, couldn't have asked for a better example.
Thats fine, it's not the end of the world, it's just ....indicative, ya know?

Anyways, we've read in other articles Bono re-singing a bit in Stand Up Comedy over and over again in the waning days of recording the album (this may have been Dec 2008).

This is U2, they were tweaking those songs right up until they turned the album over to the label. Adam is talking about song selection, a process that occurs after the recording is done. Just like Mercy was axed as they sat around with Blender Magazine in 2004.

 

[U2girl]

Every breaking wave is a long song, looks like it.

1 hour U2 album ? I'll pass, thank you very much.

There's probably different versions of many U2 songs.

Exactly, song selection. I guess Larry wanted White as Snow, the grand hit. Mercy would not work on Bomb (if latest comments are anything to go by, it may end up on Songs of ascent), see this thread 12 http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f189/mercy-update-news-on-mercy-03-09-a-193285-12.html

edit: meanwhile, the single most radio-friendly song on the entire album got toned down in the recording process.

 

[ozeeko]

NLOTH seems like the album I hoped for, even though it's not undeniably great (the bar is forever low from now on). It tries to do some interesting things and gets most of them right but it's still weighted down by the insecure U2 that can't stand not to have radio hits, relevance and a Bono who can't get out of his own way half the time, which means it's similar to the last two in that it's still a bit 'midlife-crisis U2'.

QUOTE]

Amen. That's what i've been saying all along. U2 needs to stop worrying about their 4 token savior songs on each record. Bono, the world cannot be saved with a song. Stop trying so damn hard.

 

[theedgeu2]

I think NLOTH is a fantastic album. They really need to rethink Boots though. Other than Boots NLOTH is perfect. The atmosphere is amazing on this album. Bono sounds great as well as the rest of the band. I don't know about comparing 'No Line' to 'Atomic Bomb' or ATYCLB. I don't skip any songs on 'Atomic Bomb' meanwhile I tend to skip some on 'No Line' like GOYB and WAS. As for ATYCLB I'm just not a big fan of that whole album. I mean I love "Beautiful Day" "SIAMYCGOO" "Kite" "IALW" and "Elevation" but I just never got into that one. NLOTH is brilliant none the less.

 

[beegee]

There is no way Mag-MOS-UC equaling Streets-ISHFWILF-WOWY EVER.

 

[jacobus]

NLOTH is a good album but it is not a very good album. it is not perfect and its not a masterpiece, but its better than the much boring HTDAAB
very good songs: magnificent, goyb, suc, fez-being born, white as snow, breathe, cedars of lebanon
okay: nloth, mos
boring: unkown caller, crazy tonight

 

[financeguy]

The couplet :-

I was speeding on the subway
Through the stations of the cross
Every eye looking every other way
Counting down ’til the train would stop

is among the best lyrics Bono has written, and the same song features certainly the best vocal harmonising I've ever heard on a U2 record. Also, a fine performance from the rhythm department. That song takes every single song from ATYCLB and HTDAAB and beats it into a pulp. I think this is a better song than Bad. It's certainly more finished lyrically. As we are on the theme of junkie anthems, I think Running to Stand Still just about edges it, but it's a close one.

 

[Amiarockstar]

financeguy...i'm interested in hearing it live. You compare it to Bad but I think most people will agree that Bad is one of U2's best live songs. The verse notes bring chills to my spine. I mean when Bono sings "I'm WIDE AWAKE...".., you feel it...and then Edge's solo at the end.....it's very simple, but I think I could listen to that solo forever. Even during the Live Aid performance I could listen to it for another 5 minutes without hearing anything else.

Bad wasn't great on TUF. It's not that great of a recorded version. I do enjoy MOS so we'll see how it translates live. It doesn't have the moments like Bad has....especially outputted live.

Running to Stand Still is great.

 

[roy]

There is no way Mag-MOS-UC equaling Streets-ISHFWILF-WOWY EVER.

That may well be true although I do think that NLOTH-Mag-MOS-UC is their greatest 4 song sequence ever, better than Streets-ISHFWILF-WOWY-BTBS

IMO.

 

[Salome]

U2 needs to stop worrying about their 4 token savior songs on each record. Bono, the world cannot be saved with a song. Stop trying so damn hard.

perhaps Bono is not trying to save the world (actually I don't see any evidence in his songs that he's trying to save anyone) but is just offering different perspectives
it would be a bit sad if pushing 50 he was still trapped in a 1-dimensional world
it would also limit him as an artist which I don't really see the point to

 

[bathiu]

That may well be true although I do think that NLOTH-Mag-MOS-UC is their greatest 4 song sequence ever, better than Streets-ISHFWILF-WOWY-BTBS

IMO.

IMO2

 

[Amiarockstar]

I dunno...for me it's hard to beat One-UTEOTW-Horses-So Cruel off of Achtung babyas a 4 song sequence. But I don't think it's hands down over like the 3 song sequence of Streets-ISHFWILF-WOWY.

 

[popacrobat]

The couplet :-



is among the best lyrics Bono has written, and the same song features certainly the best vocal harmonising I've ever heard on a U2 record.

I seldom find myself agreeing with you, but definitely do with this.

 

[zoopop]

There is no way Mag-MOS-UC equaling Streets-ISHFWILF-WOWY EVER. .

NLOTH
Mag
MOS
UC

is epic U2 at its best. Mag., MOS, & UC are some of U2's best written songs IMO. The Streets, ISHFWILF, WOWY trio has been together & listened to for 20 years. Its going to take time to see where the NLOTH intro sits. And its going to have to translate live like the JT.

And I agree with FinanceGuy that MOS is a better song than Bad. Bad live though defines U2 & I can't wait to see what they do with MOS.

 

[U2DMfan]

1 hour U2 album ? I'll pass, thank you very much.

So 53 minutes is cool but 58-60 is too long?
That doesn't seem like much of a difference to me.

I just say, put what you made on there if it's good enough.

If it's 53 or 63 minutes, fuck it, most people just want access to the songs anyways.

I wish more people could have had access Mercy the last time around.
Now, it's forever buried because U2 didn't want to bore the listener.
And yet...they did anyways.