This is the clip from the Lanois doc. It was recorded at the TIFF screening so no video, just audio. Im assuming the actual video is available somewhere.
Good work finding that! Thank you.
I remember that clip being one of the first things I heard when I joined here in January 2008.
It was described as an epic chorus in an overall uplifting track and I remember it launched my year long excitement for NLOTH.
I enjoyed the album at first, but it came nowhere near my expectations.
I remember my 360 shows in 2009 being disappointed at how the NLOTH songs hit live and their decision to stick with so many of them.
2011, with the AB focused greatest hits sets, were some of my favorite U2 shows! Saw 2 unreal performances in Montreal and Philadelphia. Also, my brother, a casual fan at best, was at the Salt Lake show and absolutely raved about it. I remember he woke me up at 4am with a phone call about it.
Sure, SOI was a huge missed opportunity, but to my ears, that was mostly marketing strategy. The false start/ trip back to the drawing board after the relative success of Ordinary Love and Invisible. Big missed opportunity when there was actually some appetite for new U2 in the general public. Then the whole I Phone debacle and Bono's injury. There was some tinkering , second guessing and overcooking for sure, but I think the final product, sonically and lyrically, still reflects what they were going for when they started. Very cohesive and I felt the tour especially showed that. They at least knew what they were going for and followed through.
NLOTH feels like the far bigger missed opportunity from an artistic standpoint. No one really knows what they were trying to do here and by the time the promo got going, that seemed to include the band themselves. Probably a big part of why it's less acknowledged than Pop by them.
Just listening to every clip posted above and recalling the "beach clips." The difference from early stages to final product is way more striking than I remember. I know these aren't the best quality, but songs that were missing something in their final form, namely Magnificent, Breathe and Unknown Caller, sound much more natural and like they came from the same organic place as Moment of Surrender.