NLOTH: General discussion thread

Originally posted by thefly07:[..]

probably. but we never know. I have a feeling a lot of us are going to go, "what the fuck?" when we first hear some of this new material. and that, surely was the response when Achtung Baby came out. It changed the way U2 was perceived etc. I think a similar thing will happen with this record

Originally posted by drewhiggins:[..]

From All I Want Is You to Zoo Station - that must have certainly caused a stir in the community. I remember hearing Zoo Station for the first time, and was completely unexpected. Pop was expected from experiments with OST, but not in the way that it came through. Who would have expected U2 to come out with a song called Discotheque, or even Mofo?

About release dates - Germany / Austria / Ireland gets it February 27, worldwide March 2 and North America is March 3.

About Mercy - a lot of songs from earlier sessions later get evolved into something completely different. Miracle Drug uses elements of Levitate from the Pop sessions, for example - but you would not have known unless you listened carefully. Scott Walker is another song from the Pop sessions that helped start City of Blinding Lights. There are so many of them - ATYCLB has around 50 - 70 known ones that I could list, and Pop has numerous songs as well.

Originally posted by thefly07:[..]

If Mercy does appear on this album, I am expecting a different version kind of like what you were talking about. Not Mercy per se, but recognizable aspects of it that only the trainspotters would recognize....which is still fine with me

Originally posted by vanquishAnything is possible, but from Unknown Caller, Breathe, Magnificent, Sexy Boots and Winter.
It's fair to say that while definitely interesting, it will not be the shock that something like Zoo Station was back then. Not even as out there as Pop.

Also Q is likely intentionally creating spin as well, you don't get an exclusive preview of a new U2 album and then write how it doesn't sound much different to HTDAAB. At least you don't if you want to get another exclusive preview again.

Originally posted by markp91:Dunno if this has already been discussed, but according to Bol.com, the dutch Amazon, we'll have the album February 27.
http://www.bol.com/nl/p/muziek/no-line-on-the-horizon/1000004006463725/index.html

And the box will be 65 euros.

BTW Dieder, are you the guy from the comment?

Originally posted by MWSAH:[..]

Old news Mark, last time I looked at it, they asked 55 euros for the box though.

Originally posted by drewhiggins:[..]

The same trainspotters with Vertigo? You'll know it when you hear it. Song titles change at the last moment - City of Blinding Lights was to be called Skyhawk or Firefly in 2004.



[..]


Anything is possible. Everything you know is wrong? Don't believe the hype? We'll know soon enough...

We just don't know what this is gonna be like. It may sound like Bomb, it might be like Passengers - it could be as atmospheric as Unforgettable Fire or conceptual as Boy or October.

I don't think Pop was out there. I just think it was ahead of the times - and nobody had heard those kinds of sounds from a rock band before, so they didn't know what to make of it. Probably today, those same people still don't know what to make of something like Pop, Passengers or Zooropa.

Which brings me to another point. Song titles like Magnificent, Winter, Cedars of Lebanon, Moment of Surrender sound like a conceptual album. Which I'll be more than impressed with - U2 haven't made a truly conceptual album before. And working with Brian Eno - I wonder if there will be a concept aspect to it. After Coldplay's effort, I wonder if Eno's talked to them about it.

You can make more than enough judgement from something like Bomb.

Originally posted by vanquish:[..]

I don't think it will be as big as a leap as Coldplay did between X&Y and VLV, even though they both are using Eno. What we've heard so far has nowhere near the amount of Enoesque atmospherics that made VLV so scintillating, eg. in songs such as Lovers in Japan, Life in Technicolor ii etc. have such a rich layered sound, I was hoping U2's new material to sound similar, perhaps with more keyboards/synth.

But it is seems to be very much similar in instrumentation to HTDAAB, although used in different ways with more innovative rhythym/ song structures etc. ie its not the shift in soundscape that JT to AB was, and that many are expecting.

However I already think that the new album will be better than Bomb, only because it seems to sound like a more daring sequel to that album.

With regards to your hopes for a conceptual album, nearly all their albums have been conceptual (at least partly), HTDAAB was as Bono says "a paean to naivity" ie a rejection of the "knowingness" of albums like Pop, AB, Zooropa etc, and a return to a stripped down, rock sound. So it's safe to say that this one will also be conceptual, but we can only guess at what ideas/themes it will explore. Personally I think it will be similar to ATYCLB, in that it will have a more reflective, philosophical personality to it, with other songs like Crazy Tonight and Get Your Boots On having the 'playful' aspects of Achtung Baby.

Originally posted by drewhiggins:[..]

Anything has to be more daring than Bomb and All That You Can't Leave Behind.

Originally posted by vanquish:[..]

Lol, yes, hence why the album will most certainly be better, but not an AB, people should be realistic in their expectations.

I am most keen though, to know whether they will have a new "Beautiful Day' which was their massive, breakout hit of the 00s and (bigger than man of their 90s singles as well).

I don't think Get Your Boots On will be a song of that magnitude as a lead single, I hope its better than Vertigo, though it sounds doubtful at this point.

But seriously when is the single expected? late Jan/early Feb or mid Feb?
And do the lead single's usually have other album tracks as b-sides, or just remixes and other non album material?

Originally posted by MWSAH:[..]

Get Your Boots On as a title track doesn't sound so daring, but it might have a strong military meaning. It's just that Crazy Tonight track that makes me weary...it doesn't seem to fit with all the other track titles like Moment of Surrender, Winter, Breathe etc.

I hope the single will come within the next 2 weeks. Although it might be February as well.

Originally posted by vanquish:[..]

I would be shocked if the single comes out so early, how much did Vertigo predate the album by?

Originally posted by germcevoy:[..]

released in shops 2/3 weeks before the album but it was getting radio play 2 months before album release if I remember right. First live airing was a month and a half before live release.