Originally posted by Wilmy:I downloaded NLOTH yesterday and have listened to it about 10 times already, it has a few good songs but in general I am really disappointed AGAIN. Every time the guys make a new album they always say it's like nothing else around, it's sounds new and fresh etc. Yeah, yeah (ooh, ooh)!
For the past 20 years they have been releasing second rate albums but perform awesome live sets. The albums get worse whilst the concerts get better. Why can't they just play in the studio with the freedom they have on stage? Oh yes, Lanois is not there to demasculinate them!!!
I'm convinced that Daniel Lanois has a lot to do with the fact that U2 lost their punk!!! Don't get me wrong Lanois is a genius in his own right but not suited to this punk band who used to have an axe to grind, Bono wants to be in Girls Aloud... that's a joke, give them Lanois so that U2 can put their balls back on!!!
Originally posted by haytrain:You all probably don't really care all that much, but I thought I'd write down my overall impressions of the album given about 10 albums through the whole thing in the past couple of days. Keep in mind that these are my initial reactions after a few listens....I'm fully expecting them to change as I get more familiar with the album. Feel free to question, call me out, or discuss what I bring up here.
NO LINE ON THE HORIZON
No big surprises here, since we heard version #2 a week or so ago. The differences between the two aren't all that major, so it's really hard for me to compare the two and say that one is definitely better than the other. This song, much like the album in general has Brian Eno's fingerprints all over it. All sorts of ethereal sounds and keyboard layers going on through the whole thing. Highlight: The mini-explosion of sound right before "I'm a traffic cop..."
7/10
MAGNIFICENT
One of my favorites from the album, to me it's as if we took current-Brian Eno and mixed with him a B-side from The Unforgettable Fire. The main guitar riff sounds like mid to late 80s U2, which was a bit surprising. It should also be noted that Adam's bass really carries the song as he dances all over the place. The organ that seems to have the tremelo effect reminds me of Lemon, but I suppose it's asking too much to hope for a Magnificent-to-Lemon lineup in the live setup. Highlight: Edge's slide guitar solo sounds pretty fresh, and the part where the the guitar, drums, and bass are all hitting the quick sixteenth-notes in unison sounds very cool. (at about 1:10 into the song for those interested).
7.5/10
MOMENT OF SURRENDER
Hearing Eno's pre-release hype made me cringe a little bit, as I'm never excited to hear a producer/contributor announce a song as "one of their greatest ever" before it's been released. A bit biased? Perhaps, but it actually is a really good song. It's got a gospel-hymn feel to it but still brings a bit of funk with the bassline and the drum loops carrying it. It almost reminds me of a much better, much more serious version of "The Playboy Mansion" in that sense....the very slow pace of the lyrics while the bass carries the song throughout....but that being said, it's 100 times better than TPM. Bono seems to overly rely on the somewhat gimmicky lyric-flipping (for lack of a better term) ("playing with the fire 'til the fire played with me," "It's not if I believe in love, if love believes in me," "I did not notice the passers-by and they did not notice me."). That being said, its still very well executed and is a highlight from the album for sure. Am I ready to lump it in with "One" or "With or Without You" as some of the best U2 classics? Not yet. Highlight: The falsetto doubling in the chorus. Not sure if that's Edge on the album, but it should be a treat live.
9/10
UKNOWN CALLER
After the beauty of "Moment of Surrender," I feel like the album comes to a screeching halt with "Unknown Caller." Yes, we get that the bird noises are from the Morocco session. It's a nice little tribute. But this song, which given the subject matter seems to me would have been a better fit if they would have sped it up and made it a bit more rockin'. Are we supposed to believe that this is about a guy who gets random instructions from his cell phone? It makes me want to go to sleep. The overuse of the "ooooh, ooooohs" are particularly bad on this song, and the monotone chorus just doesn't do anything for me at all. Highlight: Ummm....the bird sounds are kind of cool?
3/10
I'LL GO CRAZY IF I DON'T GO CRAZY TONIGHT
Everyone knows that this song suffers from one of the worst U2 titles ever, but if you can't get past that, it really isn't that bad of a song. Not a big fan of the melody line in the "crazy tonight" line in the first verse as the sudden falsetto doesn't seem to fit, but that might be a little nit-picky. More "oooooohs" throughout this one, which is starting to get old very fast. Highlight: If you liked ATYCLB, I'd think that you'd enjoy the guitar line in the chorus. Also, the string arrangement underneath the 2nd verse really fills out the song nicely.
6.5/10
GET ON YOUR BOOTS
Not much to say about this one since we've all heard it about 4,500 times by now....but I will say that after hearing the whole album, it becomes quite apparent that GOYB had to be the first single. The album itself represents a general shift from the last two albums (more synthesizers, and an experiment in sounds) and by putting something like "Breathe" or "Magnificent" out first, it just wouldn't be an accurate representation of this new U2. Hearing GOYB as a part of the album raises it up a bit for me as well. Highlight: Bono singing about "sexy boots." Does it get any weirder than that?
7.5/10
STAND UP COMEDY
A great little drum intro quickly followed by a nice, fat guitar riff. Bono's lyrics seem a little cliche and forced at times and this song is a perfect example of that. (almost like a follow-up to "Crumbs From Your Table") at times. But that being said, it's a nice rockin' little song as the band experiments with a funky-rock sort of sound....you can almost picture this song being developed during the Bullet the Blue Sky soundchecks from the Popmart Tour. In my mind, it would fit right in there. Highlights: That funky, fat guitar riff is pretty catchy....
7/10
FEZ/BEING BORN
Not sure if anyone else has said this, but Fez is a complete throwaway track. Nothing there for me. Just a collection of drum loops and random sounds, mixed in with a couple of "Let me in the sounds!"....Once "Being Born" opens up, the song takes a drastic turn from where it just was. (Minus, of course, the "ooooooohs"....we've heard that several times already.) The guitar sounds pretty good throughout the verse and chorus, a constant buzzing sound over Bono's lyrics, but my biggest problem with this track is that it just never really seems to go anywhere. It doesn't even really have any build-up, just a constant steady line (and it's a line that's not very memorable or striving to be all that interesting.) Highlight: Possibly a piano solo by Bono if they do it live?
4.5/10
WHITE AS SNOW
This one is definitely a grower. Thought is a gigantic letdown the first time I heard it as it was recently compared to "Heartland," but it's getting better and better with each listen. If you can get passed the part that its melody line is almost note-for-note the same as the Christmas carol "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," it's a very beautiful song. My biggest complaint with this song is that Bono's singing in first person as someone else just isn't all that believable. Chris Martin pulled it off with Viva La Vida, but I have a hard time following Bono there with this one. Highlight: Beautiful horn arrangement. This song is hauntingly beautiful.
8/10
BREATHE
It wouldn't be a review of No Line on the Horizon without a mention of the famous Beach Clips, so here we go. This is the only Beach Clip I remember, and it got me genuinely excited because I tend to love Edge's big, deep riffs. This song didn't disappoint, but sounds to me like it could have been an outtake from the ATYCLB or HTDAAB sessions. If you love those albums, I'd bet you'll love this song. As many have already commented, it is reminiscent of Bono's brief foray into the Beatles world with "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," but the chorus comes back to the traditional U2 sound that we're expecting. Highlight: A very familiar U2 sound can be a good thing.
6.5/10
CEDARS OF LEBANON
A nice little way to end the album with this somber and quiet tune closing things out. I was thinking about the song today, and to me it's what One Step Closer was always trying to be on HTDAAB, but ended up putting us all to sleep. "Cedars" is a great tune that makes you think without being TOO preachy (it's Bono! What do you expect!?) and is a great one to sit in a dark room and really soak up the song. Highlight: The song in its entirety. What a great way to close the album.
8.5/10
NLOTH isn't the major shift in sound that we were hoping for/expecting, but it does have a combination of new sounds along with familiar guitar tones and rhythms that we've grown accustomed to. Brian Eno is all over the place in this album. The prominence of Eno's production/sound is somewhat odd to me on this album, given that he did Viva La Vida with Coldplay too, yet you can't hear him as much in that album as you can with NLOTH....as one user here commented, "It's as if U2 is performing a Brian Eno album." At times, Ifeel like the album seems to lack direction as a whole and wanders all over the place, but it does have it's gems hidden throughout. Bono's lyrics are a bit disappointing as he's resorted to several cliches and odd things that don't fit, but maybe we've been spoiled in expecting too much from him over the years.
All in all, the album has a few amazing tracks and a few duds. About average, right? We were all hoping to be blown away by this new U2, but that didn't really happen. Oh well. Still a pretty good album none-the-less.
Total: 6.8/10
Unknown Caller is great, (even if the BC version was slightly better)
Originally posted by yeah:[..]
You should put that on a T-Shirt.
Originally posted by yeah:[..]
You should put that on a T-Shirt.