NLOTH: General discussion thread #2

Originally posted by thefly07:[..]

yeah, i mean at first i tried to buy it but now it's just kinda like, "come on, really?"

Originally posted by haytrain:[..]

although, to be fair, a lot of people thought that when they first heard bono sing "you know you're chewing bubble gum...."

Originally posted by haytrain:[..]

although, to be fair, a lot of people thought that when they first heard bono sing "you know you're chewing bubble gum...."

Originally posted by drewhiggins:Indeed. Did a lot of critics and the public give Pop a bad rap when it was out and continue to? While stuff which doesn't even come close to that record gets a great rating from those critics. I did see the new issue of Rolling Stone gave it top marks. It is easily their best since Pop.

Originally posted by drewhiggins:Indeed. Did a lot of critics and the public give Pop a bad rap when it was out and continue to?

Originally posted by drewhiggins:Has anyone seen much hype for the album whatsoever? Hardly any advertising, hardly no copies sold here and absolutely no radio plays I've heard so far. Bomb and Joshua Tree (the remasters) sold better so far. Hopefully the next single boosts it up. I think Boots has definitely had something to do with the almost no fanfare or excitement...how is it doing everywhere else so far?

Originally posted by vanquish:[..]
Sorry for any confusion, by "ain't that good' i mean't that BB wasn't top 3 album song material, not that it was a bad song.

And yes, the lyrics are brilliant, undeniably. And actually for me, the way he and the Edge sings them is great , very unique, exotic rhythm eg " burning rubber, burning chrome, Bay of Cadiz and ferry home". Unusual for a U2 song true, but not confronting (unlike say parts of Boots)

If the chorus's were similarily striking, instead of just strings of 'ohhs' it would be a better song.

As it is the verse lyrics/singing and the thumping electro bass are the best things about the song.

Originally posted by drewhiggins:Adelaide's pretty dead on it - but Adelaide is dead on most things. It shouldn't take the nous of another band to make one song popular.

If a song can do well without endorsement by another band, then that's great. Coldplay did very well for having a top-notch album and one of the best of the 21st century for the mainstream, and U2 have done likewise. However, that's no reason for their help (?) to say "Oh well, that's a fucking success". Because most songs do have to stand up by themselves. When Coldplay are long gone in ten years time, Magnificent is still going to be a popular song, with or without the help of Coldplay, the radio or whatever other medium.

I'd have preferred Boots to have been more successful. It's a better song (to me) overall because of the sounds and has that reminiscence to Miami in the backing track (which might be another reason of it not being that great from some). ATYCLB was helped by the fact those who didn't like the direction Pop took as it (ATYLCB) being back to basics - which there's nothing wrong with that album; there's at least four good songs on it, so for a 21st century album that's actually not bad. I personally thought Boots was a fantastic intro, but it seems that really killed it. Which is strange, because there's worse crap people listen to, yet Boots was ho-hum. Either it's the fact Bono's singing about sexy boots, or it's just too hard for some to get the idea of it. And the description of being a "sly and earnest love song" doesn't help either.

I guess it shows the further you venture out of your domain (which U2 have done so very well), the less popular the stuff is in the modern age. With most younger record buyers and downloaders, I can bet something like Being Born or Cedars of Lebanon would not appeal to them. Just why Crazy Tonight and Stand Up made it to the final record is something I'll never know - throwaway tracks at best, but U2 aren't really a throwaway band. Maybe for the reason that U2 want to remind everyone they're a rock band...

Every Breaking Wave is supposedly longer than those two songs and Boots combined, which is about 10 or so minutes. So if that had been on there, and maybe not even including Boots on the final record either, but having Winter would have still made a brilliant album. Crazy Tonight, Stand Up and Boots could have all been B-sides or digital downloads.

So, it could have looked like this:

No Line On The Horizon
Magnificent
Moment of Surrender
Unknown Caller
Every Breaking Wave
Fez - Being Born
White As Snow
Winter
Breathe
Cedars of Lebanon

And that listing may have well made a brilliant album. I guess for the moment we won't know. But from trying that tracklist (without Every Breaking Wave for obvious reasons), it does work beautifully. Linear certainly could have been a film with 10 other songs on it - that way, not only do you release one or two records, dependent on whatever package you buy, U2 can then knock out Songs of Ascent later in the year in the same method with Prince's Around The World In A Day, and have three killer records by the end of 2009. That's a marketing plan!

Another reason is that the cover, some people just walk past it, thinking it's some indie cover. I mean, if I wasn't a fan of U2, I would just walk past it, and not even consider it for a general purchase. Where HTDAAB was obvious to most and got killer advertising because of iPod, NLOTH isn't as obvious as you'd like. I mean, it's a great cover and represents the concept of No Line On The Horizon, it's not in-your-face. Maybe a white and grey iPod with a giant equal sign on the back wouldn't appeal to most.

I also thought it could have been a concept album. It has concepts, but it doesn't flow properly. Unknown Caller into Crazy Tonight? Sure, he's at the end of his rope, but the style of song doesn't mesh properly, and then he's getting on his boots and stands up for his love? Nah, nah, nah...