NLOTH FULL ALBUM - Shamelessly Immediate Review Thread (DISCUSSION ONLY)

[Irishteen]

"THE BEST ALBUM EVER MADE"
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You have made your claim, now support it...

A Sort of Homecoming, Pride, Wire, The Unforgettable Fire, Promenade, Bad, Elvis Presley and America

I rest my case

 

[U2387]

Hard to say now. I ABSOLUTELY love it, and just from the 1.5 listens I have done, I say it is obviously the best since AB. For me, the only question is whether I will ultimately rank NLOTH with or above AB and JT. It has that potential, I know that for damn sure, but its a completely different album than both of these, there really are some very new things going on here, so it will take even longer than the average album to fully digest and form an opinion on. Right now, I am still getting acquainted with this thing and that is all.

Stand-outs for me: Magnificent, Unknown Caller, STAND UP COMEDY, Breathe, Crazy Tonight. They are all great though, better than anything in a very long time, these are the ones that immediately hit me the most.

Title track:Liking it, need more time.
Magnificent:Uplifting, the mood mentioned in the reviews is indeed present. I like the U2 rock meets dance rhythms in an uplifting anthem. My favorite so far.
Moment of Surrender:Beautiful, passionate performance from Bono with alot more going on from Edge, Larry and Adam than in most U2 ballads. Need more time to decipher this one for sure.
Unknown Caller:Love the ambience at the beginning, how it builds, the bird sounds, etc. Edge's solo met and exceeded my beach clip expectations!
Crazy Tonight: If this is U2 by numbers, than it is U2 by numbers in the BEST POSSIBLE WAY. I love the way this song moves along, the lyrics even are good to me. Pattern developing- there is something new and interesting even in the songs we have been told are the most "U2-sounding." What that something is, trying hard to figure it out, it differs by track.
Boots:Sounds great in context.
Stand up comedy: I get that 70s feel, but there is something else there too. Groove, yes, but rock and I do not at all get a Zeppelin vibe from this. Maybe, as someone suggested, it is what Zeppelin tried for and never got to! I love this song, that is all!
Fez-Being Born: Dont know what to make of it
White As Snow:GORGEOUS
Breathe: Great rocker, lyrics fit perfectly, spectacular chorus.
Cedars: Nice soul searching close on a political note. Love this, need to get to know it more, though.

 

[OrARoundabout]

This is so correct.

I would say this and Pop are close, however.

Nah, I think Pop and Zooropa are to different thinks. Z are practically extension of AB...

 

[OrARoundabout]

A Sort of Homecoming, Pride, Wire, The Unforgettable Fire, Promenade, Bad, Elvis Presley and America

I rest my case

Wire, EP and A, TUF aren't perfect songs amigo!

But P, B, MLK and ASofH makes up for them

 

[womanfish]

I have been away from this Forum for years, but I wanted to just pop in and say - WOW. What a great album. THIS is what i needed and wanted from them. I was so over the "back to basics" stuff. My favorite stuff is Achtung, Pop, Zooropa, Passengers, so this really fits the bill for me. A couple of weak spots, but growing on me.

So far
No Line on the Horizon, Magnificent, Breathe, Fez are my faves
Moment of Surrender is growing, love the verse, but not so hot on the chorus, Stand Up is also growing on my, and I love White and Cedars! what a great closer.

I love that it truly is a departure for them. Sometimes not enough of one for me.
but I put it above the last 2 albums. Love It!

 

[U2opra]

For me, the highlight of the whole album is Bono's singing. I've not heard so much energy and passion in his singing since Rattle and Hum.

 

[purpleoscar]

A Sort of Homecoming, Pride, Wire, The Unforgettable Fire, Promenade, Bad, Elvis Presley and America

I rest my case

Don't forget MLK.

 

[Dreadsox]

NNLOH - 8/10
M - 8/10
MOS - 8/10
UC - 6/10
IGCIIDGCT- 9/10
GOYB-7/10
SUC-9/10
FEZ - 5/10
WAS - 10/10
B - 8/10
COL - 8/10

I think this is better than JT - Not AB which will always be #1 for me.

 

[BVS]

comparing to what? 20 years is enough for you?

I'm just suprised you haven't noticed it before throughout their career

 

[BoyOnTheHorizon]

I think there is so much going on there, the songs aren't that easy. I've just listened two times, but i can't have a final opinion about it. I can't even say it's better than Leave Behind.
I already find more interesting than Bomb, but i still didn't find anything to top Blinding Lights. So before throw away their previous work we've better take a very close listen to the new stuff.

 

[BoyOnTheHorizon]

The song that i expected so little and delivered most: White As Snow
The song that sounded to be the most amazing but it's not: Magnificent

Where is Bono's vocals on Magnificent?????

 

[ntalwar]

I think there is so much going on the, the songs aren't that easy.

The songs are intense. Maybe that's why they put goyb on - to give a break. I feel exhausted after listening to it all the way through.

 

[Rosebud]

The songs are intense. Maybe that's why they put goyb on - to give a break. I feel exhausted after listening to it all the way through.

Me too. Actually a lot people have been saying this. I think this confirms that this is truly an album, in the traditional sense. It is cohesive and has a consistent emotional thread running through it. To me, listening to it almost felt like watching a film -- the songs ran together into an amazing experience that felt rich and complete.

 

[womanfish]

I would say overall this is better than the last two albums - at least much, much more interesting and complex.
Of course there are a few weak spots, but that's how U2 albums are.
But I already am seeing some of the initial "weak" spots growing on me.
I would put this in the realm of Pop and Zooropa for me but it feels more complete,
more thick, more mature maybe. The production quality is way above those albums.
Just really glad that they branched out into something different - modern - some new vocal territory for Bono which is welcome.
Incredibley strong album.

 

[raft]

Sorry this will be in spanish....but translating won't be as fresh.
This was written in twitter.com/raft while listening for the first time. Then posted to u2was forum and modified during the second listen. So they are the first out of my mind thoughts:

OK, review a primera escuchada (tal como lo escribí en Twitter / raft). Ahora estoy modificando en la segunda escuchada.
¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡LOGICAMENTE SPOILERS POR TODOS LADOS!!!!!

- NLOH guitarra Ultraviolet y el uo o o son buenísimos. Me gustaba más el ritmo más acelerado de la versión que había salido a la luz el fin de semana. Aún así, el tema se quedó en mi cabeza.
- Magnificient parece sacada de Wide Awake in America (esto es algo buenísimo para decir).
- Moment of Surrender, un minuto y ya me parece una piedra….zzzzz . Esto está mal, el tema 3 debería ser un hit lento, esto parece un tema flojo de Division Bell de Floyd -el slide de la guitarra me hace acordar a eso- de esos de relleno.
- Unknown Caller….te debemos la letra, terminaron el tema y no sabían que decir. Después de 1:00 de intro aparece el “Sunshine, sunshine”….y despúes 30 segundo para el “uoo oooo”. Igual me gusta la guitarra y la onda “If you wear that velvet dress”….hasta que vuelven a hablar todo “dando órdenes” (“shush , now” , “restart and reboot yourself” —> “uooo oooo” (?) ) en el estribillo. La letra termina en el 4:25 y queda 1:40 de solo de Edge, con solo pero no “ahi, adelante”, sino casi como parte del fade del tema.
- Go crazy tonight…pertenece al conjunto no deseable de All that you can’t leave behind
- Sexy boots, levanta? Es provocativo, como Discotheque.
- Stand Up Comedy, no es bueeeena, pero sonará bien en vivo, con la guitarra provocadora y con Bono tirándonos el micrófono para que gritemos “stand up” y “love”.
- FEZ—Being Born, El árabe y el let me in the sound al principio no suman, el tecladito y la parte de “terror” estilo Portishead entre el 0:45 y el 1:00, algo. El tema arranca al 1:05 y tiene un dejo Unforgettable Fire que en el puente pasa a Walk On. Cuando empieza la letra es re-Unforgettable, bolú, hasta le podés cantar encima!
- White as snow … “western” (canción lentita en la que Bono te relata algo mientras fuma un cigarrito). La referencia es Love comes Tumbling, pero esta no termina de levantar. Me gustaría para último tema de un disco.
- Breathe otra roquera relatada…. tiene momentos de Aquiesce de Oasis (la parte de “in these days…” y “and I need”)….la falta como un recorrido dramático y tiene demasiadas cosas (“It’s all over the place” dirían en inglé), me va a gustar más pelada en vivo.
- Cerdars of Lebanon otro “western”, parece la continuación de White as snow, tanto que en la primera escuchada olvide que Breathe existía. Son como el final de Pop, en que “Please” interrumpe el combo Velvet Dress + Wake up dead man de “canciones para escuchar a la noche sólo en un descampado con viento”.

O sea, arranca buenísimo. Se cae demasiado bajo, tambalea, se afirma y ya se viene el final bajón al que U2 nos acostumbra. Faltan estribillos. Hay varios uo o o y temás relatados , recién pensaba “cuántos de estos temas resistirán ser tocados en vivo en una gira?” pero bueno, lo dice uno que adoraría escuchar en vivo “A man and a woman”, je.

Me gustó mucho el comienzo porque aunque sacan el espejo retrovisor no lo hacen como en , para mi , el peor disco que es ATYCLB. En otros temas, también, es bueno que el foco de ese espejo lo hayan puesto en 1984 -varios temas me refierieron a la época de “El Fuego…”-.

Coincido con algo que dijo el Observer sobre varios temas que tienen momentitos sueltos que se trabajaron para lograr algo pero que no tienen “punch”, por eso no logre identificado por ninguna balada, por ahora. Según ellos, producto de los varios intentos y reintentos de grabación. A mi me viene sorprendiendo que refieran tanto a las sesiones de Fez como el “core” del disco, cuando hasta hace un tiempo sonaban como una previa para tirar ideas.

Agrego: la voz de Bono está re-bien che. Me acuerdo cuando escuché IGWSHA single version en el 97 y pensé que se había acabado.