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  1. this could be fun, i actually haven't listened to the entire album in about a year. My feeling then was that the album has 3 songs that don't belong - boots, breath, stand up.. at least 2 of these songs needed to be dumped and they needed to add at least one of the songs they started playing this summer(north star,mercy, every breaking, and the like).
    So by song;
    No line - 9
    Magnificent - 7.5
    moment - 10 (this song is huge, i had it at 9.5 and changed it to 10)
    unknown caller - 8.5
    crazy tonight - 7.5 (remix live - 3)
    Boots - 5
    Stand up - 5.5
    Fez - 9.5
    white as snow - 9
    Breathe - 7
    Cedars - 9
    compared to other albums
    JT, AB, ATYCLB, HTDAAB, all out perform No line by a wide margin, i like it better than pop or zooropa though(maybe tied with zooropa, but zoo doesn't have 3 songs like Moment, No line and Fez...)
  2. Wow, has it really been 2 years, I feel old

    NLOTH hasn't really changed much for me since the what I originally thought after a month or two with the album.

    UC is still clearly the best, it soars like something from the JT yet has the dark, electronic undertones of AB. Breathe is prob the next best. MoS is still better live than on the album in most respects, it would've probably been better if they had worked more on it rather than just stopping at the one take.

    I still want a hybrid mix of NLOTH and NLOTH2 as both are somewhat lacking, GOYB and SUC are decent, with great instrumentation but let down by Bono's cringeworthy lyrics.

    Crazy Tonight & Magnificent work well enough but are not outstanding, Fez-Being Born is the same - it could use a little more variation.

    Winter and CoL are great quiet songs, Winter especially gets far too much hate when it is possibly the best executed track on the album, (as usual is probably down to certain people preferring their music to be entertainment rather than art).
    Cedars suffers a little from some of Bono's lines but it makes a great finisher.

    Winter is a track with simply sublime instrumentation, Bono's vocals in the chorus are a bit rough though (he sounds too old) and some of the lyrics could be better but if it was polished up it'd be outstanding much like Mercy.

    Overall, I think NLOTH is their best album of the 00s, though it is somewhat of a mixed bag, certain tracks are a return to the grandeur of their JT/AB work and others are throwbacks to the experimentation of the 90s, however I don't really like the more 'single material' tracks as they tend to dumb down the album - it definitely isn't a cohesive album, unlike pretty much every other U2 album before it - I think perhaps that's it's biggest problem. IMO they probably should have gone with the twin EP 'Dawn'/'Dusk' route as we would have got more songs (which may not see the light of day now) and it would also be more cohesive.

  3. I stopped listening to the album around 18 months ago as I found the lyrics and melodies as dull as the sleeve. this is the only U2 album that I have not connected with. But,the songs sounded better live and the tour is amazing, so I'm hoping that the next one pulls me back in.
    I still believe that the band went into this project with the best intentions, but lacked any direction to take their ideas forward. Which possibly resulted in the album being delayed while they tinkered too much.
    I would like to hear the experimental album that they left Fez with. Danny Lanois commented that it was good enough to have been released.
    Maybe they could make it available to U2.com members and call it "songs of ascent", as a lot of people were unhappy about "duals".
  4. Still hasn't really connected with me. I enjoy songs like Fez - Being Born, Cedars of Lebanon, and Unknown Caller, but overall, as an album, it doesn't connect for me.

    The lyrics are sub-par, by Bono's standards. We all know the B-man is capable of writing beautiful lyrics, and the lyrics on this album feel a bit forced and a bit lame. The album sounds like it's struggling to be experimental but mainstream at the same time, which isn't what the band needs. They need to do one or the other, because clearly a hybrid doesn't work.

    For me, it's the worst of their albums of the past decade. I know people will cringe when they read that, but it's true. ATYCLB and HTDAAB connected with me, they both had an overall theme that the songs worked towards to make them great albums in their own right. NLOTH feels mixed up to me, and it's not a "complete" U2 album in my opinion.
  7. Originally posted by Zooropean:I stopped listening to the album around 18 months ago as I found the lyrics and melodies as dull as the sleeve. this is the only U2 album that I have not connected with. But,the songs sounded better live and the tour is amazing, so I'm hoping that the next one pulls me back in.
    I still believe that the band went into this project with the best intentions, but lacked any direction to take their ideas forward. Which possibly resulted in the album being delayed while they tinkered too much.
    I would like to hear the experimental album that they left Fez with. Danny Lanois commented that it was good enough to have been released.
    Maybe they could make it available to U2.com members and call it "songs of ascent", as a lot of people were unhappy about "duals".



    That is a brilliant idea, and probably a third masterpiece.
  8. For me
    1. No Line On The Horizon 7/10 : correct opener, but I prefer version 2
    2. Magnificent 5/10: a poor man's Beautiful day
    3. Moment of Surrender 6/10 : Never really liked it, live a bit more
    4. Unknown Caller 8/10 : not a lot to add, it just works for me
    5. Crazy 1/10 really lame album version, particularly compared to the live
    6. Get On Your Boots 6/10: not such a bad song, quite "fun", and I like it live
    7. Stand Up Comedy 7/10: two minutes too long, great riff.
    8. Fez-Being Born 10/10: took me some times, but this is the true heir of Zooropa
    9. White as Snow 3/10: boooooring. I always skip it.
    10. Breathe 5/10 : might have worked if Bono had voice
    11. Cedars of Lebanon 9/10: Great finisher, great modern ballad.

    Yet overall, I still rate it their third best album. The weak songs only highlight the goods.
    However, the band obviously lacked inspiration.
  9. Two years ago today I picked up No Line On The Horizon, since then I've become a member of this site and gotten to see them live (and going to again this summer). I can't believe it's been two years really.

    I am going to listen to nothing but No Line today (after this morning because I'm listening to the rasio in hopes of qualifying for more U2 tickets).
  10. Originally posted by kris_smith87:Two years ago today I picked up No Line On The Horizon, since then I've become a member of this site and gotten to see them live (and going to again this summer). I can't believe it's been two years really.

    I am going to listen to nothing but No Line today (after this morning because I'm listening to the rasio in hopes of qualifying for more U2 tickets).


    And now I'm an "Angel Of Harlem"!!
  11. Just listened to Magnificent today, I don't like it now for some reason.


  12. its lost some of it's shine with me too, when the album 1st came out it was my favourite track, but then i discovered MoS.
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Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.