GEN
Active topics
  1. Originally posted by Alvin:[..]

    I would definitely put out Winter and White As Snow... Even Boots is better (not that I'm big fan of Boots). And, of course, put Stand Up Come in.

    For me:

    Soon
    NLOTH
    Magnificent
    Mercy
    Boy Falls From The Sky
    Unknown Caller
    Return Of The Stingray Guitar
    Breathe
    Glastonbury
    Stand Up Comedy
    Fez - Being Born
    Cedars Of Lebanon

    Hugely disagree!
  2. Originally posted by dieder:this album will always be refreshing because they will probably never play a song of it live ever again, just like pop


    I think you're onto something here - some real parallels between Pop and NLOTH ... though I would't say they are equals.

    Consider:

    Both burst a bubble of popularity that they had been previously riding (Achtung, Zooropa...POP...ATYCLB, HTDAB...NLTOTH)

    Both were seen as commercial failure albums paired with a gigantic worldwide stadium tour that (small album sales, massive album tour)

    Both have beginning sections that are fast, daring, progressive.

    Both have middle sections with songs that are cringe-worthy for some (I personally like Miami and Playboy Mansion FAR more that Sand Up Comedy and Crazy Tonight...though admit I understand how people dislike those songs on Pop)

    Both have end sections that have a last, stripped down rock and roll punch (Please on Pop, Breathe on NLOTH) followed by a quiet, disturbed ending song (Wake Up Dead Man on Pop, Cedars on NLOTH)

    Both were followed by years of relative silence from the band, with them re-emerging with "relevance" seemingly their #1 priority (the cringe-inducing "we're re-applying for the biggest band in the world" talking point they constantly repeated when ATYCLB came out, and the equally cringe worthy "10 reasons to exist" faux title Bono has given the upcoming album)

    And, FINALLY, to dieder's point, I think these will both be albums U2 will continue to ignore, and we as fans might grow as rabid to even hear a SNIPPET of a beloved NLOTH song as we currently are with Pop.

    Time may surely prove me wrong, but I think we may have Pop 2 on our hands. Again, not the same (I love Pop more than NLOTH), however....similar.
  3. You're missing two crucial differences, the first one being that Pop was U2 pushing what "U2" meant to the furthest degree, it was the furthest they've ever gone in experimentation from the basic "U2" sound (apart from Passengers, but it's debatable whether that's a U2 record) whereas NLOTH was definitely more reserved and was purely meant to maintain radio success, and they thought it would. I'm not saying they didn't think that with Pop, but with Pop they thought the experimentation would garner radio play. With NLOTH they had a slew of neat tracks like Being Born and Cedars of Lebanon mixed with tracks that were obviously meant to get radio play like Boots, Magnificent and Breathe, and the cringe-worthy Stand Up Comedy.

    Pop = U2 pushing themselves and their fans to the limit
    NLOTH = U2 being afraid of pushing the radio audience to the limit

    The second difference is that Pop sounds nothing like anything else they've done, whereas NLOTH has bits and pieces of the two albums that came before it. Sure there are awesome experimental tracks on there, but they weren't even played on 360. I can see some of those turning into Acrobat, although none of those songs are as good as Acrobat either.

    The end result was pretty similar, but I think where the difference will be seen future-wise is that you won't have people begging to hear tracks like Magnificent. Pop is magical because it's more a promise of an album, and those tracks really took off live. People beg to hear Mofo, Discotheque and Last Night On Earth because they're unique in the U2 canon. If I go see U2 next tour and don't hear Boots but hear Vertigo, I won't even think about Boots. The same goes for the other songs they were still playing by the end of 360. MOS was a bit different, but I think it'll be like Love is Blindness. A good closer for the tour, but never played again because it'll be weird without that context. Even then it was a weird song to close with on 360.
  4. I'd say that listening to the albums always sounds refreshing because we're inundated with so many live versions (thank goodness for that!) that sometimes it's hard to go back and listen to a song as it sounds on an album.

    Also, I can't see the parallels between NLOTH and Pop. Pop is a really moody album to me. Every time I listen to it, I'm always hit with a different feeling. Sometimes I get super absorbed in Gone, Please, and Staring At The Sun, while other times I can't stand the sound of Mofo. I will admit that my opinions of the album have improved significantly since my first listen, but it's taking an awful long time for me to warm up to it. I honestly feel like this is a direct effect of me being a teenager during their ATYCLB and HTDAAB era. There have been many studies showing that people develop and solidify their musical tastes during the early to mid teens, which is why older fans miss U2's older material and I am adamant about ATYCLB being their best work.
  5. I'm with you to a certain extent, especially the last sentence. Not their best in my opinion (but their third masterpiece), only behind JT and AB
  6. I love this discussion, people, keep it coming

    I love the comparison between Pop and NLOTH, and even though I disagree at parts (and agree with the crucial difference pointed out by Alex), I think there's some really good points there.
  7. It's funny, I discovered U2 after they had come into town on the Vertigo tour (didn't see them) but the first work I actually looked at was War based on New Years Day and Sunday Bloody Sunday, and then The Joshua Tree, so for me it was just a matter of when I discovered the albums of old. I didn't even know about 90's U2 until after I owned and knew all of their 80's stuff religiously.
  8. I agree with Alex's two key points of difference, also agreeing that Pop and Passengers share more similarities, though in this case I'm leaving Passengers out as a U2 album.

    Also agree with this great line:
    People beg to hear Mofo, Discotheque and Last Night On Earth because they're unique in the U2 canon. If I go see U2 next tour and don't hear Boots but hear Vertigo, I won't even think about Boots.

    Though again I'm not saying it's a 1:1 similarity by any means...instead, I think when we look back on the U2 canon years or decades from now, NLOTH will be more similar to Pop in it's relation to their arc as a band than any other U2 album. Meaning their previous success gave them the confidence to pair a massive arena tour with an album that ended up underperforming, leaving them in a bit of a crisis afterwards...especially when it comes to their constant wrestle between being artistic and popular.

    I think the band saw this similarity by the way they shifted up the setlist as the tour progressed. I'm sure we all remember the 360 tour started with a bunch of NLOTH songs back to back...it seemed the band was confident the audience would be there with them...but by the end of the tour one would be forgiven if they thought U2 were touring Achtung Baby again.

    As a MASSIVE fan of Pop, I'm pleased to say I saw Popmart 3 times: opening night in Vegas, San Diego, and Oakland with Oasis opening. Popmart also had a large amount of Pop songs, and though I was excited, I could tell many of the audience members just went quiet during those songs (well, we all were quiet with our jaws dropped and stomachs churning in Vegas...that's another story). Bless em, they stuck with the Pop songs through the entire tour, but I think when they heard the relative silence when NLOTH songs were played (as I did when I saw the 360 tour), this time they switched it up.
  9. Still sounds incredible after all this time.
  10. Still a massively weak album to me... Literally only kept No Line, Moment of Surrender, and Cedars of Lebanon on my iPod whereas I usually keep over half when it comes to U2...
  11. So... How does NLOTH stand now that we have the long-wanted next album?

    As I said on my review of SOI, It's a more consistent album than NLOTH and HTDAAB, steadier, less hit&miss. It has a disctinctive sound all throughout (these albums didn't have any actually). And even though there aren't as many highlights or stand out tracks as in NLOTH (MOS, UC, Cedars, Breathe and No Line were all mindblowing), it has a bigger "album feel" to it - which is something I love.

    I still think that NLOTH is a bit hit&miss. It has trully brilliant moments (the songs mentioned above plus White As Snow and Fez/BB), but its down points are much bigger than SOI's. GOYB, Crazy Tonight, Magnificent and SUC are all not worth being in a U2 album. SOI doesn't have as many mediocre songs I feel.

    I think both are similar in overall quality, but NLOTH is more vaguely brilliant while SOI is more consistently good.
  12. I definitely agree that NLOTH had some pretty low points. Main negative point: it is a little sad at times, and the low points are pretty uninspired. On the other hand, it is also very much a classic U2 album: a direct descendent of JT and ATYCLB. I'd definitely save Magnificent - for me at least, it stays Magnificent. And, indeed, MOS, Breathe, No Line - all fantastic U2 songs. (Cedars is good, but, I think, it really pales compared to The Troubles. UC is also good, but I guess I never really warmed up to it.) So, I'd say, half of NLOTH is a stellar U2 album. The other half is missing, so what we have really is an EP.

    SOI is, like, a whole album: no real low points; some songs are better than others, but that's life. And, indeed, it has a general, uplifting, upbeat, and contemporary feel. No sadness. Lots of energy, guitars, choruses, melodies. Rock n roll meets pop meets punk meets glam meets U2 meets Broken Bells. How can one not like that!

    U2 had to leave Eno/Lanois behind, and they did - so brilliantly. The new album is clearly a step up. And also a very different step: no real, classic U2 song (except EBW perhaps) - it very much reminds me of POP in this respect. A POP that's been finished this time, and that is really (really) POP.
U2start is run by fans for fans. Help us reduce personal costs. Consider to make a donation to support us.
U2start is run by fans for fans. Help us reduce personal costs. Consider to make a donation to support us.
U2start is run by fans for fans. Help us reduce personal costs. Consider to make a donation to support us.
U2start is run by fans for fans. Help us reduce personal costs. Consider to make a donation to support us.