Good thread. Great record. Back when U2 was trying, and much better than either of the records that bookend it (even if it's incredibly uneven).
- Moment of Surrender is U2's best song since Streets.
- NLOTH (the song) is one of their best of the 00's. The production on that track is extraordinary.
- Fez-Being Born is lovely. Wonderful hearing something like that from U2.
- Breathe, Magnificent and yes the undeservedly maligned Boots are solid, but not extraordinary, U2 tracks.
- Unknown Caller doesn't deserve the hate it gets around here. I like it, even if the lyrics are bit clunky. I think Bono was trying to make a commentary on how ways we interact have changed.
- White as Snow & Cedars are pleasant, if unremarkable. I don't give either much thought.
- Crazy and SUC are definitely the weak links are, and the record would have been better of without them.
I agree with those who think MOS should have been the single. Yeah, it's not radio friendly, and a lot of people would not have known what to make of it, but I frankly don't think it would have impacted sales much and I think it would have been offset by getting much more favourable press than Boots.
It's a better, more ambitious record than SOI. It's evolutionary from where U2 was with the previous two records. It was U2 trying to do albeit in a compromised way, what everyone say they want U2 to do. The record is also a reminded that U2 is not the same band without Brian & Danny.
Yes, NLOTH is a compromised record. It wasn't the commercial hit that Bomb was, and it's lacks SOI cohesiveness. It definitely has its low points, but it reaches high and moments of greatness that neither of those records touch.