U2start.com | NLOTH vs. Pop

Bono has hinted (if not fully come out and said it) in the past that he and the band view Pop as being a bit of a dud, but yet it continues to be praised by the fans here on the message boards and calls for songs to be played on the tour continue into the 3rd leg. I was thinking today about comparing NLOTH to Pop, and how the fans stack these two albums up against each other. Now Bono wouldn't come out and say that the latest album has been a dud even though sales and responses have insinuated that idea, but do you see any comparisons between the two albums, or am I grasping at straws?

Personally, I think they both have their strongest songs as the #3 track (Mofo, MOS), an underwhelming song as the #9 track (Playboy Mansion, White as Snow), and close the album with a mellow, haunting tune (Wake Up Dead Man, Cedars of Lebanon). But given the comparison, I'm quick to say that Pop is in fact a much better album and NLOTH is the real dud. Bono will never say this while they're out "supporting" the current album, but it'll be interesting to get his thoughts on it in 10 years.

Thoughts?

Hans23

14 years

good comparisons on the songs, and i agree that Pop is better dispite Miami and Playboy Mansion being far worst than anything from NLOTH. I guess Pop wins out on tracks like Discoteque and Mofo, songs that just overhelmingly different as well as containing gems like LNOE, SATS and Gone. No Line isn't a bad album by any means, Pop just stands out more

drewhiggins

14 years

Originally posted by haytrain:Bono has hinted (if not fully come out and said it) in the past that he and the band view Pop as being a bit of a dud, but yet it continues to be praised by the fans here on the message boards and calls for songs to be played on the tour continue into the 3rd leg. I was thinking today about comparing NLOTH to Pop, and how the fans stack these two albums up against each other. Now Bono wouldn't come out and say that the latest album has been a dud even though sales and responses have insinuated that idea, but do you see any comparisons between the two albums, or am I grasping at straws?

Personally, I think they both have their strongest songs as the #3 track (Mofo, MOS), an underwhelming song as the #9 track (Playboy Mansion, White as Snow), and close the album with a mellow, haunting tune (Wake Up Dead Man, Cedars of Lebanon). But given the comparison, I'm quick to say that Pop is in fact a much better album and NLOTH is the real dud. Bono will never say this while they're out "supporting" the current album, but it'll be interesting to get his thoughts on it in 10 years.

Thoughts?

He'll be disappointed come five years time. You watch. Nobody is buying the album anyway or even cares about it, so why not pan it already. And how do they know Pop is a poor album if they're doing nothing to help expose it to the masses - e.g. interviews, playing it live? In today's music scene, songs like Mofo would work beautifully in a club as would something like Do You Feel Loved or Last Night On Earth on contemporary stations.

With regards to Playboy Mansion, it's the ironic centrepiece of Pop. All the cliches, the jokes of America in that whole song, what makes America the revered and at the same time, hated place on Earth, and it works for Pop...an ironic painting of the day.

Aerosmith had the same thing in 2001 with Just Push Play. All the band said it's their best work ever and then when they started supporting their blues record a mere three years later - it may have even been two years - it was suddenly Joe Perry on his soapbox - ''It showed me how not to make an (Aerosmith) record'' and I'm sure that's what Edge or Bono will say - all the while saying ATYCLB and HTDAAB were absolute master(shit)pieces. In a way, Pop showed U2 how not to make a record (not working out the songs on tour to play properly) but it showed that they had balls at the time, then went back to soft-cock pop.

Oh - and don't forget their weirdest songs on the album. Pop has Miami, No Line has Being Born.

Droo

14 years

NLOTH's sales figures to me are just part of the sad reality we live in where very few people pay for music anymore. The songs that DO sell are the popular, trashy, and shallow ones by Ke$ha, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, and Taio Cruz.

I don't consider either Pop or NLOTH to be duds. Far from it. They're both amongst my very favourite U2 albums. I found Atomic Bomb to be far more of a dud. I seriously never play anything from it anymore save for One Step Closer and Yahweh.

JRlovesU2

14 years

I stopped playing Pop about 2 months after its release. And have only played it about 5 times after that.

I still play NLOTH very regularly.

So for me, NLOTH wins big time.

Droo

14 years

Originally posted by JRlovesU2:I stopped playing Pop about 2 months after its release. And have only played it about 5 times after that.

I still play NLOTH very regularly.

So for me, NLOTH wins big time.

I don't understand this.

How could anyone deny the awesomeness of Discotheque, Do You Feel Loved, Mofo, and Gone?

JRlovesU2

14 years

Originally posted by Droo:[..]

I don't understand this.

How could anyone deny the awesomeness of Discotheque, Do You Feel Loved, Mofo, and Gone?

I like about 5 or 6 songs individually. But I cannot stand the album as a total. Maybe it doesn't make sense, but I really really dislike the album as a total.

MattG

14 years

I think there's a distinct difference between coming off a high point like Achtung Baby/ZooTV, where you're seriously undisputedly the biggest badasses in the music business, and going from THAT to "Pop" (which I still love, don't get me wrong)....that, and then coming off of a lackluster album like "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" that also didn't sell as well as ITS predecessor, or take them to the extreme popularity that ATYCLB did (even though that was a triumphant rebound)

The fact of the matter is that they were huge on the Vertigo Tour- cashing in second only behind the Rolling Stones- and 360 will make them the biggest (at least in the top 5) all over again. Pop was a "dud" album followed by a "WTF?" tour to many, and in this era, they're balancing a lack of album sales with the greatest live tours of their time.

I just see it as two different things. You can't call their popularity coming off ZooTV and their popularity coming off the Vertigo Tour the same thing. People aren't shocked by U2 doing something different and that's why its not selling...they're tired of U2 on a record. They know the live experience is where its at. The negative behind creating a live show thats 10000000x better than your albums- people would rather just see you play the shit live than spend money on your albums.

kite29

14 years

Originally posted by EyesWithPrideB3:I think there's a distinct difference between coming off a high point like Achtung Baby/ZooTV, where you're seriously undisputedly the biggest badasses in the music business, and going from THAT to "Pop" (which I still love, don't get me wrong)....that, and then coming off of a lackluster album like "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" that also didn't sell as well as ITS predecessor, or take them to the extreme popularity that ATYCLB did (even though that was a triumphant rebound)

The fact of the matter is that they were huge on the Vertigo Tour- cashing in second only behind the Rolling Stones- and 360 will make them the biggest (at least in the top 5) all over again. Pop was a "dud" album followed by a "WTF?" tour to many, and in this era, they're balancing a lack of album sales with the greatest live tours of their time.

I just see it as two different things. You can't call their popularity coming off ZooTV and their popularity coming off the Vertigo Tour the same thing. People aren't shocked by U2 doing something different and that's why its not selling...they're tired of U2 on a record. They know the live experience is where its at. The negative behind creating a live show thats 10000000x better than your albums- people would rather just see you play the shit live than spend money on your albums.

A bit harsh (tough i agree), but sadly, i really think you've got a point here...