NLOTH is a very good record, but not nearly as cohesive as JT and AB, with or without Winter.
Rate: No Line on the Horizon Album
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NLOTH is a very good record, but not nearly as cohesive as JT and AB, with or without Winter.
Globo14
Refugee
Really been appreciating NLOTH more and more lately. Better than The Bomb, IMO. Not as good as ATYCLB.
No Line on the Horizon, Magnificent, Breathe, Moment of Surrender, and Crazy Tonight are all instant U2 classics to me, and the others are quite good too. I hope their next album is this good. Just make a better lead single.
Gave it an 8, but if I could it'd be an 8.5.
No Line on the Horizon, Magnificent, Breathe, Moment of Surrender, and Crazy Tonight are all instant U2 classics to me, and the others are quite good too. I hope their next album is this good. Just make a better lead single.
Gave it an 8, but if I could it'd be an 8.5.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Just curious, do you mean sonically, thematically, or both?
Winter, White As Snow, Being Born, and Cedars of Lebanon all seem to be looking at war (or at least Middle East unrest) from different perspectives. And I think Moment of Surrender and Unknown Caller both deal with spiritual crisis much in the way some songs on Pop did.
Breathe is another one that doesn't really fit on the album lyrically or musically, but I think many give it a pass because it's in a good spot on the tracklisting and it rocks. It's just not as divisive as Boots or Stand Up but it still bears the Lillywhite signature vs. the more organic work shepherded by Eno/Lanois.
Both. Sonically it's filled with references to (various types of) U2 of the past. More clever than Bomb about it, sure, but still. Not the reinvention Lanois was hyping...even with two or three hints of new.
Thematically, there is a hint of the "new hymns" approach Bono advocated early on in Morocco (Magnificent, MOS, UC...) but it's not all the way. And then there are the "in character" songs (war correspondent, a cop, an addict, a soldier). I think this way of writing worked well on NLOTH, and wish it'd be explored more. Bono is closer to Lennon's internal writing than storyteller writing like Springsteen, but I liked COL and WAS.
I like Fez because it brings you back into the album after the middle trio. And I always wished Breathe had changed Crazy, so the hazy lyric goes with Unknown Caller. Also interesting delivery/lyric on that ... something you'd expect from M. Stipe, not necessarily Bono.
Thematically, there is a hint of the "new hymns" approach Bono advocated early on in Morocco (Magnificent, MOS, UC...) but it's not all the way. And then there are the "in character" songs (war correspondent, a cop, an addict, a soldier). I think this way of writing worked well on NLOTH, and wish it'd be explored more. Bono is closer to Lennon's internal writing than storyteller writing like Springsteen, but I liked COL and WAS.
I like Fez because it brings you back into the album after the middle trio. And I always wished Breathe had changed Crazy, so the hazy lyric goes with Unknown Caller. Also interesting delivery/lyric on that ... something you'd expect from M. Stipe, not necessarily Bono.
Nice post, Mike.
You know that, and I know that... but did U2? I still can't wrap my head around GOYB as lead single.
This
Boots kinda ruined this album for me. It has NOT grown on me in fact I have come to loathe it even more now.
I get a laugh that the Band especially Bono wants to be "relevent" and someone somewhere in a Conference Romm said "Hey lets put out Boots for lead single". And not one person had the mindfulness to stop it this is REALLY what I can't wrap my head around.
Gonna Run 2 U
New Yorker
Unfortunately, I still can not get this album to stay on for more than a song or two. No Line On The Horizion is a classic - "The siren's wailing but its me that wants to get away" is Bono at his best. Moment of surrender has some vocal moments but the music itself puts me to sleep. Magnificent is almost there. Other than that - the album is a complete bore to me 
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
The studio version of Boots is a clusterfuck on so many levels. The production is messy, the arrangement feels completely disjointed, and it lacks a good hook. The bridge is still dope. Live, sheer force of will overrides some of its flaws, but it's just not a great song. I think Vertigo beats it handily, even though that song is somehow dumber.
Stand Up Comedy is just awful and I have no idea what possessed me to enjoy it on first or second or any listen. They got cute with the production here too, in an effort to overcome songwriting deficiencies. Pefume, meet pig.
Other than those two, NLOTH is excellent and is aging for me far more gracefully than Bomb did, which is a testament to the thought put into its construction and the creativity of its unique sessions.
Stand Up Comedy is just awful and I have no idea what possessed me to enjoy it on first or second or any listen. They got cute with the production here too, in an effort to overcome songwriting deficiencies. Pefume, meet pig.
Other than those two, NLOTH is excellent and is aging for me far more gracefully than Bomb did, which is a testament to the thought put into its construction and the creativity of its unique sessions.
theedgeu2
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
I agree with you on Boots and SUC, LM. I was just thinking the other day about how Boots really screwed up NLOTH for me. SUC also doesn't do too much good either, although I like that one a lot more than Boots. I was thinking to myself that NLOTH would have been a whole lot better, or well I, myself would enjoy it a lot more if U2 had stuck with writing songs in the same vein as "No Line On the Horizon", "Magnificent", "Moment of Surrender", and "Breathe" and if they also worked on "Fez - Being Born" a little more. Those are all brilliant (so is "White As Snow" but I'd save it for later) and I would love to know what it would've been like if they pursued that direction with a lot of it rather than the clusterfuck of Boots & SUC & the slow Unknown Caller. Crazy Tonight's a favorite of mine, so keep it. Anyway I'm just pinning some thoughts of mine down before I forget them.
Jubilee94
Babyface
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2012
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- 10
Just gave NLOTH another listen the other day after a year or so and still like it...The title track still sounds awesome, but it does it seem to run out of steam after boots voted 7
hanksta13
The Fly
I think NLOH is one of the worst, if not the worst albums they have done. I would rate it a 3. I was very disappointed in this album. Crazy has to be one of the cheesiest songs I have listened to by any band, sounds like a pre teen pop song. Fez and WAS or ok, rest is not very good. Hope they do better on next album.
Reggie Thee Dog
Blue Crack Addict
I read an article on Jimmy Iovine in Rolling Stone, where he said the problem with NLOTH was that the songs weren't finished...are we talking Pop II here...
standrums
War Child
9/10
trevgreg
Rock n' Roll Doggie
super fly guy
New Yorker
Why do people hate SUC,its better than crazy tonight by a country mile. Infact crazy tonight is one of the worst ever U2 songs. Also COL is boring to me. The rest of the album is great,especially the title track.
I wish U2 would make more songs like Cedars: great closer. Beautiful instrumentation, intelligent lyrics. Much better than the Elevation's and Vertigo's of this world.
DoctorGonzo
War Child
I read an article on Jimmy Iovine in Rolling Stone, where he said the problem with NLOTH was that the songs weren't finished...are we talking Pop II here...
Sounds more like an excuse for an album that just wasn't very good.
SUC, GYOB, Crazy and Unknown Caller were the lyrical nadir of the band. Even when they got their heads up their own asses with the too-clever, irony-overload in some moments of Pop you could at least say "Yeah, that isn't actually a bad lyric."
SUC was the band trying to do "Love and Peace, Or Else Part II". Purely U2 by the Numbers. And what's worse, they just sounded so... old and uninspired. Like Dianne Warren-era Aerosmith.
GYOB was the band putting out another fuzz-guitar leaden single complete with rapid-fire lyrics. Again, it sounded like U2 trying to imitate themselves, rather than come up with something truly original. "The kids loved Elevation and Vertigo! Let's go down that road again!"
Crazy Tonight: More like lazy tonight. The lyrics are just plain bad, and there isn't even a song after the first 90 seconds or so, just a bunch of tired musicians meandering around until the track ends.
Unknown Caller: The motivational posters in dentists offices just came to life in a song. And the band is playing it completely straight! A pity though, the music is excellent. I was so psyched for the track after hearing the first 20 seconds or so before the album hit. That opinion changed.
Fez, Cedars, White as Snow, Moment of Surrender = classic tracks. Much of the rest will ultimately be politely filed under "Late-era U2".
OP
OP
Moser
Refugee
No has rated it as Terrible.
Three years and this has always disappointed me.
Three years and this has always disappointed me.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
I haven't said anything in months, but I have to come back and state the same exact thing I did back then.
Hollow Island
New Yorker
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- Jan 16, 2011
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- 2,947
Definitely. It's in my top 10 U2 songs. The instrumentation is fantastic - great beat, and the break in the chorus is genius. Perfect, understated solo, and it's a perfect marriage of lyric and music. It's like a film.
JamietheEdgefan
Refugee
I read an article on Jimmy Iovine in Rolling Stone, where he said the problem with NLOTH was that the songs weren't finished...are we talking Pop II here...
That's crazy... wasn't NLOTH delayed quite a lot?
I'd always assumed any problems were to do with the band putting too much work into the songs (Daniel Lanois said they could have created an EP out of SUC alone, because they remade it 5 or 6 times).I recently listened to Get on your Boots, and i really tried to like it, but it just sounds like a mess to me. The more i think about it, the more i think it kind of symbolises the entire album's 'two steps forward, one step back' nature, how it was an attempt to be crazy and new but didn't quite get there, and ended up with a confused identity.
Parts of Boots sound new (the arabic-style chords and vocals, the eno-chimes), and awesome (despite hating the song, i think the 'Let me in the sound' part is one of the coolest things on the album).
But other parts definitely remind me of vertigo - the bass and drums-led verses, the rapid fire lyrics that DoctorGonzo mentions, and even that muted 'scratch-scratch' thing Edge does in the verse.
Maybe it's just me, but those aspects certainly seem to be an attempt to replicate vertigo. Both these songs seem very similar to me in parts, and it's just these two - i wouldn't say Elevation has the same link. I just hear a lot of vertigo in Boots.
And i think the mix of 'new' parts (e.g. 'let me in the sound') and vertigo-inspired parts led to the song becoming a mess. It sounds like a good idea in theory, and it could have worked, but it ends up sounding too confused to me, trying to cover too much and not really successfully doing anything. Which is kind of how i see the album. I actually can't listen to NLOTH straight through, because i can't stand going from Unknown Caller to Crazy tonight, and/or from SuC to Fez. It sounds like a bad playlist.
But that aside, i still love the first 3 tracks on the album. Crazy, Boots, and Suc, with the novelty of being new u2 material having worn off, have no appeal to me anymore. The rest of the songs have some very cool moments, but something about them still says 'album filler' to me. Not sure i'd want to hear white as snow or Lebanon live more than once (and even then, probably just out of curiosity).
Whatever they do next, i don't care if it's a club album or songs of ascent, i just hope it has a little more consistency. (Some stronger sounding production would be nice too - having each instrument being clear and powerful like on Achtung baby would be nice, on NLOTH everything seemed a bit muffled behind a wall of sound.)
AndrewCowley
Refugee
In relation to the above, I agree totally that GOYB really does suffer from being such an obvious copy and paste effort. Problem is though, I hear this in a lot of U2 material these days. There must be so much doubt over what they are actually trying to achieve in the studio that this is the natural outcome. Wish they'd eliminate both this and the producer swapping. I am sure it would lead to a more cohesive and unforced album.
TheBlueAcrobat
The Fly
bethere said:
Agreed. HTDAAB was such a great album.
'Yahweh' is the most moving U2 song since 'Streets'.
CosmoKramer
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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- 3,325
TheBlueAcrobat said:
100% agree about HTDAAB, however, I'm not with you on the Yahweh statement. It's a good album ender, one of their best, but I feel they have many more moving songs than that since Streets.
Top to bottom.....I really enjoy this album. In fact, I loved ATYCLB too. NLOTH was disappointing to me but overall......I love their 2000's music!
Nick66
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
1) No.
2) Um, No.
Bomb is not U2's worst album (though it's close), but it's certainly their least interesting.
TheBlueAcrobat
The Fly
Nick66 said:
Agree to disagree.
It was definitely better than NLOTH by FAR. The lyrics in alot of the songs on HTDAAB are some of my favourite.
Least interesting? How?
LUNEDEMINUIT
Acrobat
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2011
- Messages
- 493
looking at the poll results
62% think NLOTH is a masterpiece/extraordinary album ????
This is a perfect example that bands/artists message boards isn't a good indicator of the average fans taste.
62% think NLOTH is a masterpiece/extraordinary album ????
This is a perfect example that bands/artists message boards isn't a good indicator of the average fans taste.
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