NLOTH Reviews Pt 2

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Haven't heard much about Larry's drumming (other than "are those electric drums on GOYB?") from the reviewers. Walt, can you generalize Larry's contribution? Like, does Larry sound...inspired? Are his drum patterns just as diverse as the songs (and Bono and Edge) sound? etc., etc.
 
No Line - best opener since Zoo. The chorus is really a hushed version of the verse until the last 30 seconds when the song erupts into a punk rock death chant. Sonically brilliant, like an Eno junkyard full of space age trinkets. Fast, yet slow, yet fast. Ending sounds like of all bands, pixies, yes, pixies, madness.

.

I wonder if this is the 'original-style' version or if it's the one described as a punk song (did they say Buzzcocks? it might have been Q mag)

It sounds as if it's closer to the song described many moons ago by Bono.
Mellow title refrain and distortion guitars.

Also, can you confirm that Stand Up Comedy sounds like the beach clip formerly knows as For Your Love? It was very hard to hear anyways, I'm just asking for the fuck of it.
 
Well, judging by that review, it looks like Dallas wasn't just 'whistling dixie' about Edges' guitar solo in 'Unknown caller'

Thanks Walt!
 
Hey Walt, have you listen to beach clips? Are Magnificent, Unknown Caller and Breathe very different from beach clips? :hmm:
 
I wanted to comment in the other thread, just to find out it's already closed. :doh:

Why oh why didn't I go into journalism after finishing university? I could have heard the album by now. :|

Great review, Walt! More great reviews coming in day by day.

White as snow is the song I'm definitely most excited about, it sounds so beautiful.

We also have lots of lyrics right now, they are great.

Apart from Crazy Tonight, I like all the titles.

Someone asked in the other thread if the solo on UC is still there, I think it is, because a couple of reviews have said so, but maybe Walt can come back and confirm.

:up:
 
Awesome, thanks Walt :up:

So did Walt say something about Bono's lyrics in the last thread?
 
Yeah, I'm really starting to believe the hype here. It sounds like we're really in for a treat. Perhaps even a classic.

I definitely want to hear Unknown Caller in its final incarnation- it didn't really 'WOW" me as a beach clip, but that's the nature of cell-phone recordings.

I can't wait to hear Magnificent as well. The song must be brilliant to make me put a cell-phone recording in my normal rotation of songs I listen to on my iPod. The beach clip gave me chills, I can't wait to hear it in all its glory.

So much to look forward to...I can't imagine the album being anything less than sensational. Perhaps we might have an album that can at least be mentioned in the same sentence as JT and AB. If they've really created a true classic this late in their career, they'd be one of a very select few (or the first, depending on what you call 'classic' or 'late' :wink:) to do it.
 
Great review Walt!

Also, can you elaborate on what Larry's drumming sounds like? The mix or style, can you compare to a previous U2 record?

And GOYB is the only the song that sounds like that? If so :hyper:

I kid. But I think in retrospect it will be viewed as the weakest track from NLOTH, just a fun single that re introduced U2 back after a nearly 5 year hiatus.
 
Consolodated lyrics from the reviews:

No Line On the Horizon

"I knew a girl who's like the sea/I watch her changing every day for me."

Magnificent

"I was born to sing for you, I didn't have a choice, but to lift you up. And sing whatever song you wanted me to, I give you my voice back."
“Only love can leave such a scar.”
“Only love can make such a mark”
“Only love can reset your mind”
“You and I will make a fire!”

Moment of Surrender

“We’ll set ourselves on fire.”
“I did not notice them, they did not notice me”
“ATM machine”
"I tied myself with wire to let the horses run free, playing with fire till the fire plays with me"
"it's not if I believe in love but if love believes in me"
"I've been in every black hole, At the altar of the dark star, My body's now a begging bowl, That's begging to get back."

Unknown Caller

"Restart and reboot yourself"
“you know your password, key it in.”
“3:33 in the morning and the numbers dropped off the clockface”
"in a place of no consequence or company"
“Escape yourself and gravity.”
"speed dialling with no signal at all"
"Hear me, Cease to speak, That I may speak, Shush now."
"I was lost between the midnight and the dawning"

Crazy Tonight

"Every generation has a chance to change the world"
"There`s a part of me that wants to riot"
“Baby, baby, baby”
"She's a rainbow and she likes the quite life, I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight."

Stand Up Comedy

"On a voyage of discovery stand up to rock stars, Napoleon is in high heels. Josephine, be careful of small men with big ideas."
“I'm not a lover or a fighter, failed at both”
“Stand up for your love!”

Fez-Being Born

"Six o 'clock on the autoroute, Burning rubber, burning chrome. Boy of Cadiz and ferry home, Atlantic sea cut glass, African Sun at last"

White As Snow

“Come get me ghosts”
"Where I came from there were no hills at all, The land was flat, straight highway and the wider, My brother and i would drive for hours"
“The water was icy, the road refuses strangers.”
“They were hunting in the woods.”

Breathe

“Walk out, into the street, sing your heart out”
"not somebody's cockatoo"
"I'm running down the road like loose electricity while the band in my head plays a striptease"

Cedars of Lebanon

“the shitty world sometimes produces a rose”
“the best of us are masters of compression.”
"choose your enemies carefully 'cos they will define you, Make them interesting' cos in some ways they will mind you, They're not there in the beginning but when your story ends, Gonna last with you longer than your friend."
“Return the call to home”
 
Consolodated lyrics from the reviews:

No Line On the Horizon

"I knew a girl who's like the sea/I watch her changing every day for me."

Magnificent

"I was born to sing for you, I didn't have a choice, but to lift you up. And sing whatever song you wanted me to, I give you my voice back."
“Only love can leave such a scar.”
“Only love can make such a mark”
“Only love can reset your mind”
“You and I will make a fire!”

Moment of Surrender

“We’ll set ourselves on fire.”
“I did not notice them, they did not notice me”
“ATM machine”
"I tied myself with wire to let the horses run free, playing with fire till the fire plays with me"
"it's not if I believe in love but if love believes in me"
"I've been in every black hole, At the altar of the dark star, My body's now a begging bowl, That's begging to get back."

Unknown Caller

"Restart and reboot yourself"
“you know your password, key it in.”
“3:33 in the morning and the numbers dropped off the clockface”
"in a place of no consequence or company"
“Escape yourself and gravity.”
"speed dialling with no signal at all"
"Hear me, Cease to speak, That I may speak, Shush now."
"I was lost between the midnight and the dawning"

Crazy Tonight

"Every generation has a chance to change the world"
"There`s a part of me that wants to riot"
“Baby, baby, baby”
"She's a rainbow and she likes the quite life, I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight."

Stand Up Comedy

"On a voyage of discovery stand up to rock stars, Napoleon is in high heels. Josephine, be careful of small men with big ideas."
“I'm not a lover or a fighter, failed at both”
“Stand up for your love!”

Fez-Being Born

"Six o 'clock on the autoroute, Burning rubber, burning chrome. Boy of Cadiz and ferry home, Atlantic sea cut glass, African Sun at last"

White As Snow

“Come get me ghosts”
"Where I came from there were no hills at all, The land was flat, straight highway and the wider, My brother and i would drive for hours"
“The water was icy, the road refuses strangers.”
“They were hunting in the woods.”

Breathe

“Walk out, into the street, sing your heart out”
"not somebody's cockatoo"
"I'm running down the road like loose electricity while the band in my head plays a striptease"

Cedars of Lebanon

“the shitty world sometimes produces a rose”
“the best of us are masters of compression.”
"choose your enemies carefully 'cos they will define you, Make them interesting' cos in some ways they will mind you, They're not there in the beginning but when your story ends, Gonna last with you longer than your friend."
“Return the call to home”

Thanks friend, for your effort.
 
Thanks a lot for that, Dan :)

I'm not sure about you guys, but I'm pretty encouraged by these lyric snippets so far, looks very promising, and I sense another lyrical breakthrough similar to the one from JT to AB...

I also really liked this bit in Walt’s review:

White - another eerie moment when the guitars seem to melt into orchestrations only to burst out again. Bono sounds creepy on places, come get me ghosts he sings (I think) over a johnny cash like aocalyptoc ballad. Very depressing second half so far. Bono sounds like a character, like macphisto on his death bed. Very surreal, gosh, this is cool.
:drool:

I’m imagining a very dynamic, intense, and evocative Bono on this record. Sounds like he really went nuts this time :up:

:hyper:
 
^ The guy who wrote that review is definitely NOT a professional, he's style of writing sucks, seriously. It's mostly positive, nevertheless, I don't agree with his opinion on the song titles (except for Crazy Tonight), and he has surely some wrong lyrics in there.
 
These people are scrawling notes during a single listen. It's evident that she (it's a she) is also a massive, massive fan. I think all of us would be a little too :hyper: to put together any kind of award winning, poetic, 110% factually correct, one-for-the-ages review.
 
Perfectly Cromulent - First Impressions of the New U2 Album, No Line On The Horizon

Sorry if this has been posted already - I have scanned through loads of posts...don't agree with the "loads of crap" titles vibe but a great review nonetheless...

03 Feb

First Impressions of the New U2 Album, No Line On The Horizon


As we enter the DEFCON 1 environs of Universal Music (not really, just hand over your mobile please. And your soul), I can only think that teenage me would really be freaking out right now to be hearing an advance copy of a new U2 album a full month before it becomes ubiquitous out in the world (maybe sooner, if a copyfight happy employee decides to leak it. C’maaaaaan, chumpy!)

Adult me is also pretty excited.

Focus! We were only permitted to hear it through once, and the sheer joy I felt afterwards over it not being searingly terrible has forced a lot of critical faculties out of my brain. Still, I would characterise No Line On The Horizon overall as falling firmly near the Achtung Baby/Zooropa/Pop triumvirate (OF AWESOME) with a sprinkling of Boy (also, excellent) and very far from the All That You Can’t Dismantle You Leave Atomic Bombs Behind, or whatever they were called twinset (OF TERRIBLE), with only a few nods to the later 80’s with a lot of OH OH OH OHHHs that surely this band can take a patent out on now.

In due time I will collect my thoughts for a real review closer to the release date, for now I’ll just transcribe my notes:

No Line On The Horizon

U2 have been listening to Kings of Leon. Dirty big Fly-like riff tears out of speakers, masses of percussion upfront in the mix. First of several Boyesque choruses, Oh-oh-oh-oooooh! This song is incredibly loud. Phwoar, good start.

Magnificent

U2 have been listening to the Killers. Oh wait, only a bit. Stomps along at maybe U2’s quickest ever clip, (they’re aren’t really for fast ones though, are they?) a neat 4/4 disco rock beat. THIS is the guitar album they have been banging on about for a decade. Huge riff. Some Real Thingish slide guitar choruses. Is this one of Bono’s God songs? Could definitely be about a woman (very good at that trope now, Bono.) “Only love can leave such a scar.” This is incredibly aptly titled, clever U2. Stadium ready “You and I will make a fire!” This will be a single.

Moment of Surrender

A downtempo, Eno-heavy gospel thing, a soul ballad built on a heavy bass figure and prominent, processed drums. Ok, so everything is on fire (“We’ll set ourselves on fire.”) Right, U2 own this Ohoh oh ooh OOHHHH thing, I got it. “I’ve been down every dark road”, I love it when Bono gets existential, this is my favourite Bono mode. Then he’s on his knees in a revery in the street, “I did not notice them, they did not notice me” perhaps the only time Bono has vocalised a desire for anonymity. “ATM machine”. Well, we all call them that.

Unknown Caller

Birds?? A Morroccan drone. Guitar figure sounds a lot like… Walk On? (AGAST I AM. Still sounds pretty great.) Is this about someone getting mugged? Some kind of tech nightmare, “you know your password, key it in.” Something about making it out alive. “3:33 in the morning and the numbers dropped off the clockface” (here I have double underlined, LOVE THIS. I am glad Bono uses concrete imagery.) Urgent sounding church organ, a horn section (whoa.) First-ever instance of double tracked lead vocals. Double the Bono! (Again I have underlined LOVE THIS.) “Escape yourself and gravity.”

(I am trying very hard to not stare too long or obviously at the photos in the press pack, which is hard because U2 look very handsome in them, especially Adam “Silverfox” Clayton. Edge looks in one like he might punch the photographer. Edge is very good looking. Bono, it is Edge who has a beard. And for God’s sake GET SOME NEW GLASSES. Or a new stylist. Or are you dressing yourself? Stop doing that. I am thinking of starting you a PayPal account.)

I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight

Awesome in spite of immensely stupid title. Bono hits crazy high notes in chorus (see what he did there?) Is this song addressed to anyone in particular? A party girl who longs for a quiet life, but we want her to perform, part of us wants her to go crazy! She’s a rainbow! Leave her alone. A Beatlesque guitar figure, building a very sweet, pop melody and into a rousing “Baby, baby, baby” chorus (love when Bono says ‘baby’ without being ironic.) Will absolutely kill live, “I think I’ll go crazy if I don’t go crazy tonight!” Stomping again. Good good.

Get On Your Boots

Here’s the Elvis Costello song. This is so damn catchy. The tried and tested U2 trick of a lead single not really indicative of the rest of the album. Still love that glam rock riff.

Stand Up Comedy

Dreading this, the worst of the superbad titles. Then, huge Led Zepplin riff, into Stone Roses groove. Most Achtung-like track, big celebratory rock song, amazingly good. We’re at a peace rally. “Stand up for your love!” A big crunchy bass line and McCartney-infused melodies. “Stand up to rock stars!” A pattern emerges: the worse the title, the better the song.

FEZ-Being Born

Sounds like a crowded marketplace, phones are ringing. Recycles ‘Boots’ “let me in the sound!”, underwater. Eno all over. Flat out, exceedingly weird. EXCELLENT (double underlined.) Blips and noise, Passengers return. OK! New song. A militaristic shuffle propels uptempo rock. No discernible hook but instead weaves a sound, layers of keyboard and chiming notes. Many voiced chorus. ENO (circled, underlined.) Totally out there.

White as Snow

Piano playing a lullaby. Spare, Johnny Cash guitar. This is what the Wanderer might have been like had he recorded it. Intro sounds like the Necks. I deeply love this. Bono does Nick Cave. A murder ballad, “my brother and I would drive for hours.” “The water was icy, the road refuses strangers.” “They were hunting in the woods.” Hypnotically slow narration. I can see this rapidly becoming one of my favourite ever U2 songs. Like nothing they’ve ever done. Please make a bare-bones country album one day.

Breathe

Wacky time signature, 16/9? Band and Bono come crashing in, Bono is trying to out-Dylan Dylan with free-form rapid fire choruses (“A cockatoo!” WHAT.) Time straightens out into massively catchy 3/4 chorus (“Walk out, into the street/ See your heart, see my heart out”). Huge guitar line, Achtung Baby x Joshua Tree. Strings and piano join, Bono reaching his upper register in an unabashedly uplifting chorus up there with U2’s best melodies. I wish this would go forever. I can see Bono belting this with his face up to the sky and that beatific grin, as 60,000 people join in. Crazy if this isn’t a single.

Cedars of Lebanon

Bono is in deep-talking sexy mode, like Velvet Dress (actually this is my favourite Bono mode.) Bluesy keys and guitar build a very sombre mood, this album is ending on a heavy, downbeat note as the best U2 albums always have (even heavier than Wake Up Dead Man/Love is Blindness which are equally a little like being hit in the head with a shovel.) A war correspondent recalls a litany of shit and his now disjointed senses, but “the shitty world sometimes produces a rose” bringing small note of stubborn optimism. Bono neatly slays the entire profession of journalism: “the best of us are masters of compression.” Yikes. Definitively proves “crap title equals killer track” rule.

______________

In conclusion:

I’m dying to hear this album again. And again many times over. Definitely U2’s most challenging record, with the band hitting previously unheard of straps. Bono especially sounds far better than he has over the last decade, or longer, and never sounds like he’s pushing to hit notes he can’t reach, instead totally flying.

In closing: Thankyou U2, for not sucking. I will not be ending our relationship on Facebook.
 
Perfectly Cromulent - First Impressions of the New U2 Album, No Line On The Horizon

Sorry if this has been posted already - I have scanned through loads of posts...don't agree with the "loads of crap" titles vibe but a great review nonetheless...

^ The guy who wrote that review is definitely NOT a professional, he's style of writing sucks, seriously. It's mostly positive, nevertheless, I don't agree with his opinion on the song titles (except for Crazy Tonight), and he has surely some wrong lyrics in there.


yeah it was a little hard to read in spots, but that conclusion is VERY encouraging...actually it's one of the most encouraging parts of any review we've gotten, I think....

I’m dying to hear this album again. And again many times over. Definitely U2’s most challenging record, with the band hitting previously unheard of straps. Bono especially sounds far better than he has over the last decade, or longer, and never sounds like he’s pushing to hit notes he can’t reach, instead totally flying.

In closing: Thankyou U2, for not sucking. I will not be ending our relationship on Facebook.
..so basically Bono goes fucking insane this time :yes:

And although the last bit about facebook seems a little stupid, it sounds like this person hasn't been too impressed with U2 this decade, which is a good thing in terms of how critical they are....hopefully this really is a step up..
 
"I tied myself with wire to let the horses run free, playing with fire till the fire plays with me"
f*** :hyper:

"I've been in every black hole, At the altar of the dark star, My body's now a begging bowl, That's begging to get back."
Even more F*** :love:
 
some of you have been asking about the production.

Very similar asthetically speaking to achtung baby. Lots of bleeps and digital glitches that sound like a modern updated version of AB. One brilliant aspect of the production is that songs jump from feeling compressed, treated and claustrophobic to being completely lush and sparse in the chorus, it's a great dynamic. It's all starting to fade from my mind now but the most promising thing is that the songs go to unexpected places, and it sounds like an album that will reward slowly as oppose to flashing itself, and then fading away.
 
some of you have been asking about the production.

Very similar asthetically speaking to achtung baby. Lots of bleeps and digital glitches that sound like a modern updated version of AB. One brilliant aspect of the production is that songs jump from feeling compressed, treated and claustrophobic to being completely lush and sparse in the chorus, it's a great dynamic. It's all starting to fade from my mind now but the most promising thing is that the songs go to unexpected places, and it sounds like an album that will reward slowly as oppose to flashing itself, and then fading away.


That sounds fantastic! How was the sound of Larry's drums in your opinion?
 
Thanks Walt for the review....could somebody please press the fast foward button to the end of the month?? The wait is rather annoying and I'm an impatient man:D
 
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