U2 is actually over 25 because there first album had to be released 25 years ago for them to get in the RR Hall of Fame which I think they got in in 06 or 07.[/quote]
oh yeah, i meant the Unforgettable Fire (UF) album is 25! U2 have been around since '78 or so....thats a good run[/quote]
actually this album sounds more like u2 than any album since zooropa...mixed with unforgettable fire....i'm loving this album....breathe is outstanding
I'm a U2 fan. I have every one of their albums, and dig if not downright love most of the music they've put out. But I'm halfway thru listening to the new album right now on myspace and the only emotions I am experiencing are annoyance and boredom.
Nothing like shaving a few off the fanbase because they don't get whats going on, I can just imagine how many went along with Vs but wondered what the hell was going on with Vitalogy and if that didn't do it No Code must have sent loads packing.
I want my bands to progress and I don't want them stagnating in the same old same old. The last 2 albums were seriously 2 if the most lazy of their career and NLOTH is them back to challenging themselves again.
This album just showing up how ordinary those albums are and if people don't want to get on board then good riddance, it's like Radiohead getting rid of the part time fans when they released the one two punch of the awesome Kid A & Amnesiac.
This album bores me as much as Chris Cornell's "Scream" annoyed me and the boredom is annoying on that level.
Wow. Never thought I'd ever equate Scream with anything in the realm of U2.
There's nothing challenging about this album; it's Bono & company allowing themselves to be run over by Lanois' and Eno's penchant for processed music. Nothing binds this album as a cohesive project except the universal lack of soul and passion. Yes, folks LACK OF SOUL AND PASSION. A few okay tunes and the rest is drudgery. Insipid lyrics of Unknown Caller, Moment of Silence should have been silenced or at least halved, "oooh oooh oooh oooh" in almost every fucking song. Ran out of lyrics, huh? It shows.
This album bores me as much as Chris Cornell's "Scream" annoyed me and the boredom is annoying on that level.
Wow. Never thought I'd ever equate Scream with anything in the realm of U2.
There's nothing challenging about this album; it's Bono & company allowing themselves to be run over by Lanois' and Eno's penchant for processed music. Nothing binds this album as a cohesive project except the universal lack of soul and passion. Yes, folks LACK OF SOUL AND PASSION. A few okay tunes and the rest is drudgery. Insipid lyrics of Unknown Caller, Moment of Silence should have been silenced or at least halved, "oooh oooh oooh oooh" in almost every fucking song. Ran out of lyrics, huh? It shows.
That's amazing because I think completley the opposite and dare say and not be stoned to death it's a better album than that sacred tome that is the Joshua Tree in my view.
Your not right nor am I guess were just 2 different U2 fans one is most delighted and the other is not maybe they'll record an album you like again and wind me like those last 2 studio albums, I'd like to hear your argument though to how better those lazy radio friendly albums are better than this.
Ju
That's amazing because I think completley the opposite and dare say and not be stoned to death it's a better album than that sacred tome that is the Joshua Tree in my view.
Your not right nor am I guess were just 2 different U2 fans one is most delighted and the other is not maybe they'll record an album you like again and wind me like those last 2 studio albums, I'd like to hear your argument though to how better those lazy radio friendly albums are better than this.
Ju
Why on Earth would I argue such a thing? You'll be waiting til hell freezes over or Cornell's album wins the Grammy's Album of the Year (which almost wouldn't surprise me) for my dissertation in favor of whatever "radio friendly" albums you have in mind.
Some of the songs have me....but lets take Magnificent for example - whats new here that U2 hasnt done before?? not that it has to be new to be good, but i mean this album kinda reaffirms my view that i made earlier - the band lets its songs get lost in studio trickery...well in a bullshit wall of sound that Eno & Lanois bring to the table. those guys served their purpose in the past, but theyre fucking the bands judgement on how to finalise their songs nowadays.
on live tours, the band play some of the filler tracks from the album completely differently, and they sound great....stripped down of all the crap from the album versions. i can only hope that some of the stuff on this album gets the same treatment live that ,say , Original Of The Species got. Thats the best example i can think of right now.
I'm sorry but this album put the previous 2 safe offering in the shade, I've heard claims it lacks soul, bollocks!!
One of Bono's most honest and soulful vocals on Moment of Surrender to date and Unknown Caller is utterly uplifting.
Infact this is uplifting without being stodgy and at times plain ordinary like the last album ,I don't like U2 just being U2, some people might expect to hear those type of songs but I don't, infact the 2 tracks Magnificent & I'll Go Crazy if... which are been touted as the obvious next singles despite thinking they are great songs are near the bottom of my rankings and tracks like Cedars & White as Snow as well as the Zooropian Fez-Being Born are far more rewarding and more fulfilling listens.
Moment of Surrender is my outright winner followed by Unknown Caller and Breathe. my ranking below.
1. Moment of Surrender
2. Unknown Caller
3. Breathe
4. No Line on the Horizon
5. White as Snow
6. Cedars of the Lebanon
7. Fez Being Born
8. Stand Up Comedy
9. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't go Crazy Tonight
10.Magnificent
11.Get On Your Boots.
I love I'll Go Crazy! Of course, it's very 'poppy' sounding, but it's great anthemic U2. That said, I agree, Unknown Caller is incredible, and Fez is too. Oh, Breathe is probably in my top 3 or 4 on the album, just an all around masterpiece of a song (aside from that 'these daaaays' part, sounds a little awkward). Here's my rankings:
1. Unknown Caller
2. Breathe
3. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't go Crazy Tonight
4. Stand Up Comedy
5. Magnificent
6. Fez Being Born
7. No Line on the Horizon
8. Moment of Surrender
9. White as Snow
10.Cedars of the Lebanon
11.Get On Your Boots.
24 years old, mid-life crisis
nowadays hits you when you're young
Nothing like shaving a few off the fanbase because they don't get whats going on, I can just imagine how many went along with Vs but wondered what the hell was going on with Vitalogy and if that didn't do it No Code must have sent loads packing.
I want my bands to progress and I don't want them stagnating in the same old same old. The last 2 albums were seriously 2 if the most lazy of their career and NLOTH is them back to challenging themselves again.
This album just showing up how ordinary those albums are and if people don't want to get on board then good riddance, it's like Radiohead getting rid of the part time fans when they released the one two punch of the awesome Kid A & Amnesiac.
The major difference here is that Vitalogy, No Code, Kid A and Amnesiac are all great albums... but even though some fans don't like those albums... whatever... no need to be such an elitist about it. And U2 is already the most well-established band in the world with a ton of mega hits, so this one album is not going shave off any fans, no matter how well it's received.
How the fuck can you say they're last two albums were lazy? They sounded inspired to me. This one sounds either tired or overly frantic and all of it overproduced. Even the album cover is dreary and synthetic.
Some of the songs have me....but lets take Magnificent for example - whats new here that U2 hasnt done before??
Not to pick on you, but why does every album have to be something completely new that hasn't been done before? I notice this a lot with Tool fans as well in them saying that they aren't doing anything new with a new album. Not every album is going to change direction the way Achtung did from The Joshua Tree. I think as long as the band is making the kind of music they want to make at that point in time, then it's ok. The only problem would be if they were trying to make an album that would appeal to a large number of people and goes against where they would naturally go as a band.
[/quote]
How the fuck can you say they're last two albums were lazy? They sounded inspired to me. This one sounds either tired or overly frantic and all of it overproduced. Even the album cover is dreary and synthetic.[/quote]
There are some great songs on the last two albums. I think a lot of people get caught looking at the whole album just as "Beautiful Day" and "Vertigo"(not saying anyone here is doing that).
"Kite" came on my ipod on shuffle yesterday. Great song.
"City of Blinding Lights" and "Miracle Drug" are also standout tracks in my opinion.
NLOTH is nothing more than an "ok" album and that's the problem that I have with it. Especially since the U2 machine has spent the better part of the lead up to this album touting how "experimental" and "groundbreaking" and a "return to rock" it would be. Expectations can be a bitch but so can overstating the value of your product. Perhaps U2 set themselves up for failure with that with some folks. With me they set me up to hear an album that I would simply like and apparently that was too much to ask or expect.
In the past year (let alone the past 4 since HTDAAB) many of us have dug into a lot music that truly has pushed boundaries on either side of the spectrum: from the creatively out there with Spindrift, Combichrist or Animal Collective to embracing the basic and fundamentals of classic rock, guitar crunch and the standard verse-chorus-verse like the Black Keys or Yelling. NLOTH painfully hovers over sonic mediocrity; I think this is the most linear and non-propulsive U2 album I've ever heard. No real highs or lows or hard forward movement just a constant flat chugging along. I said before that I no longer trust Bono's or the Edge's definition of "rock" and I mean that considering that even the most subtle song on Radiohead's baby-making "In Rainbows" invokes more rock and roll riot in me than "Get On Your Boots" which is a shame because that song should get me going since it's all about girl power.
Groundbreaking might have resulted from hooking up with Jack White, Danger Mouse, or hell Brandon O'Brien, perhaps then "Breathe" wouldn't be the obvious re-tread of "Windows In The Skies" that it is. Maybe my ears are spoiled by artists who want to break out and make it so bad that they're forced to be good at what they do.
It's all down to opinion and I'm as welcome to think All & Bomb are underwhelming as you as hard as it is for me to understand that you think NLOTH is a lazy underwhelming failure.
I guess they will record another album which I feel will not connect with me and no doubt you'll love, we can try to be clever for infinitum about who is wrong who is right, we'll just agree to disagree.
The problem is and I'm as guilty as the next, is people think they are so right to the point outright self righteouness, your not gonna change your mind on this and nor am I, just like there are people out there who think Coldplay are edgy and experimental (look there I go again can't help it).
I love it, you don't! guess we just need to accept that and leave this argument here!
I don't argue, I discuss. And I don't make assumptions that whatever you like, I'll loathe. NLOTH is one album from one band and as far as I'm concerned, at this moment in time, that is where our divergence begins and ends.
Not to pick on you, but why does every album have to be something completely new that hasn't been done before? I notice this a lot with Tool fans as well in them saying that they aren't doing anything new with a new album. Not every album is going to change direction the way Achtung did from The Joshua Tree. I think as long as the band is making the kind of music they want to make at that point in time, then it's ok. The only problem would be if they were trying to make an album that would appeal to a large number of people and goes against where they would naturally go as a band.[/quote]
did u read the sentence after the one you quoted? my point was that it doesnt need to be new for me to enjoy it....but i just dont see the amount of "new" U2 that others do. thats all.
my actual point of my post was that Lanois/Eno seem to lose great songs in favour of the "wall of sound" and overproduction i hear
Not to pick on you, but why does every album have to be something completely new that hasn't been done before? I notice this a lot with Tool fans as well in them saying that they aren't doing anything new with a new album. Not every album is going to change direction the way Achtung did from The Joshua Tree. I think as long as the band is making the kind of music they want to make at that point in time, then it's ok. The only problem would be if they were trying to make an album that would appeal to a large number of people and goes against where they would naturally go as a band.
did u read the sentence after the one you quoted? my point was that it doesnt need to be new for me to enjoy it....but i just dont see the amount of "new" U2 that others do. thats all.
my actual point of my post was that Lanois/Eno seem to lose great songs in favour of the "wall of sound" and overproduction i hear
I'm rockin out to HTDAAB right now... it's a really good album, not their best, but really good. What happened??
I'm with you. I liked the last 2 albums. I'm on my first listen of the new one and it's not really blowing me away. Some of the songs sound pretty good, most are rather average, and 2 I don't like at all. Get on Your Boots might be the worst song they have ever done.I'm not a fan of Beathe either... the verses sound so awkward... the spoken rambling worked for Bullet the Blue Sky, but not on this one.
I'm rockin out to HTDAAB right now... it's a really good album, not their best, but really good. What happened??
I'm with you. I liked the last 2 albums. I'm on my first listen of the new one and it's not really blowing me away. Some of the songs sound pretty good, most are rather average, and 2 I don't like at all. Get on Your Boots might be the worst song they have ever done.I'm not a fan of Beathe either... the verses sound so awkward... the spoken rambling worked for Bullet the Blue Sky, but not on this one.
I was the same way....give it a few spins. Put it in your car. Listen on good headphones. Get On Your Boots definitely isn't anything special, but the rest of it is outstanding. Breathe is one of the best songs. I agree, the one line after the first verse: "These daaaays..." just sounded way too awkward and almost ruined the song for me. I still kinda cringe when I hear it, but it's only 5 seconds out of the whole song, and the rest of it, especially the last minute or so gives me goosebumps. In a good way. Unknown Caller is equally incredible, if you can get past the couple of lyrics about punching in a password. The arrangments and other lyrics are great. 'Ill Go Crazy...' is classic U2 anthemic pop with a very singalong chorus and I looove the 'baby, baby, baby' part into the 'ha...ha...ha' into the solo. So much energy and will be fun to see live. Some people say Stand Up Comedy is too generic or cliche or whatever, but it's in my top 5 or 6 of the album easily. Great riff, love that staticy breakdown with the whale-sounding guitar, all the effects and Bono's lyrics 'soul-rockin people...'. Fez-Being Born is a great experimental Zooropaish song too. Magnificent has a classic U2 intro and riff, and I'm really into the first chorus into the 'Magnificent...MagNIFicent!' shout before the chorus. Then it kind of loses steam for me. Still fun to listen to it, but I usually skip after/during the solo.
(sorry for jumping all over the place...stream of consciousness post)
24 years old, mid-life crisis
nowadays hits you when you're young
Not to pick on you, but why does every album have to be something completely new that hasn't been done before? I notice this a lot with Tool fans as well in them saying that they aren't doing anything new with a new album. Not every album is going to change direction the way Achtung did from The Joshua Tree. I think as long as the band is making the kind of music they want to make at that point in time, then it's ok. The only problem would be if they were trying to make an album that would appeal to a large number of people and goes against where they would naturally go as a band.
did u read the sentence after the one you quoted? my point was that it doesnt need to be new for me to enjoy it....but i just dont see the amount of "new" U2 that others do. thats all.
my actual point of my post was that Lanois/Eno seem to lose great songs in favour of the "wall of sound" and overproduction i hear
Like I said I wasn't trying to pick on you. I was just taking something you said to make another point with something you brought up.
Like I said I wasn't trying to pick on you. I was just taking something you said to make another point with something you brought up.
ahh, thought u were missing my point, i get ya. i guess i expected it to sound new cos thats what i keep hearing critics&punters say about it - and Get On Your Boots is kinda different for them alright...but after listening to it myself (and many people on here) dont seem to think theres much that they havnt done before on it. so i was incredibly confused as to why it kept getting called so edgy and out there etc...its good, not changing my life, but i know that once i see these songs live theyll hit me in a way they never could on an album anyway.
I was a big fan on HTDAAB even though almost none of it was "new/edgy/etc", so i get where you're coming from too.
Like I said I wasn't trying to pick on you. I was just taking something you said to make another point with something you brought up.
ahh, thought u were missing my point, i get ya. i guess i expected it to sound new cos thats what i keep hearing critics&punters say about it - and Get On Your Boots is kinda different for them alright...but after listening to it myself (and many people on here) dont seem to think theres much that they havnt done before on it. so i was incredibly confused as to why it kept getting called so edgy and out there etc...its good, not changing my life, but i know that once i see these songs live theyll hit me in a way they never could on an album anyway.
I was a big fan on HTDAAB even though almost none of it was "new/edgy/etc", so i get where you're coming from too.
And actually reading your posts and someone's elses brings up another point: if the band is touting the band during the recording as being experimental and new sounding and then the album is released and it sounds similiar to other albums by that band, then I think it's ok for people to have a beef with the band.
I still haven't heard "No Line.." so I don't know how it sounds as an album. I did pop in "The Unforgettable Fire" yesterday for the first time in a long time due to this thread. Thank you, thread!
I was the same way....give it a few spins. Put it in your car. Listen on good headphones. Get On Your Boots definitely isn't anything special, but the rest of it is outstanding. Breathe is one of the best songs. I agree, the one line after the first verse: "These daaaays..." just sounded way too awkward and almost ruined the song for me. I still kinda cringe when I hear it, but it's only 5 seconds out of the whole song, and the rest of it, especially the last minute or so gives me goosebumps. In a good way. Unknown Caller is equally incredible, if you can get past the couple of lyrics about punching in a password. The arrangments and other lyrics are great. 'Ill Go Crazy...' is classic U2 anthemic pop with a very singalong chorus and I looove the 'baby, baby, baby' part into the 'ha...ha...ha' into the solo. So much energy and will be fun to see live. Some people say Stand Up Comedy is too generic or cliche or whatever, but it's in my top 5 or 6 of the album easily. Great riff, love that staticy breakdown with the whale-sounding guitar, all the effects and Bono's lyrics 'soul-rockin people...'. Fez-Being Born is a great experimental Zooropaish song too. Magnificent has a classic U2 intro and riff, and I'm really into the first chorus into the 'Magnificent...MagNIFicent!' shout before the chorus. Then it kind of loses steam for me. Still fun to listen to it, but I usually skip after/during the solo.
(sorry for jumping all over the place...stream of consciousness post)
I will, don't worry. I'm not writing it off yet. But to me, it suffers from the same problem as the last 2 albums... a weak last half. ATYCLBH started off as dynamite... 7 straight classic tunes, then 4 incredibly mediocre and generic ones. HTDAAB was more of an every other track is good with the in betweens being uninspired. This album feels the same. I love the first 5 songs. They're all very good. But starting with Boots, the album falters and finishes weak. The part of Breathe that bothers me isn't the "these days" line, it's everything before that. He rattles off a couple long lines that sounds like they should go on top of some rollicking blues track from Rattle & Hum, but instead the music is slick generic 2004 U2. It doesn't match. The chorus is good and when he actually sings it fits, but prior to that it's awkward as hell. The last song closes on a whimper (as too many of their albums do). It's not a bad album, jut not a great one. It may yet grow on me, but these are my impressions so far. Honestly, it sounds almost like U2 trying to do Coldplay trying to do U2... like "we can do the Coldplay spin on U2 better than Coldplay can." Though honestly, they can't. Viva la Vida was a better album than this (though this album is better than x&y which was the height of Coldplay aping U2).
Honestly, if the music business worked like it did in the 60s, U2 would rival the Beatles. If you distill them to their singles, U2 is utterly and unfailingly brilliant (aside from picking Boots as a single... WTF?). Their singles are among the best and defining songs of the last 20-30 years. But their actual album are almost always inconsistent, some more than others. Never has a band maintained such a high profile career on such a remarkable inconsistent catalogue... October dropped between War and Boy. Rattle and Hum following the Joshua Tree. Pop on the heels of Achtung/Zooropa.
In some sense, they remind me of REM. Both bands were a breath of fresh air in the 80s. REM with their lo-fi indie ethic and U2 with their earnest arena passion. Both bands have had remarkable careers and are still top noth live acts (the REM show I saw last summer was one of the best I've ever seen). But both bands have the odd distinction of, in the latter half of their careers, making their best singles AND their weakest albums.
I will, don't worry. I'm not writing it off yet. But to me, it suffers from the same problem as the last 2 albums... a weak last half. ATYCLBH started off as dynamite... 7 straight classic tunes, then 4 incredibly mediocre and generic ones. HTDAAB was more of an every other track is good with the in betweens being uninspired. This album feels the same. I love the first 5 songs. They're all very good. But starting with Boots, the album falters and finishes weak. The part of Breathe that bothers me isn't the "these days" line, it's everything before that. He rattles off a couple long lines that sounds like they should go on top of some rollicking blues track from Rattle & Hum, but instead the music is slick generic 2004 U2. It doesn't match. The chorus is good and when he actually sings it fits, but prior to that it's awkward as hell. The last song closes on a whimper (as too many of their albums do). It's not a bad album, jut not a great one. It may yet grow on me, but these are my impressions so far. Honestly, it sounds almost like U2 trying to do Coldplay trying to do U2... like "we can do the Coldplay spin on U2 better than Coldplay can." Though honestly, they can't. Viva la Vida was a better album than this (though this album is better than x&y which was the height of Coldplay aping U2).
Honestly, if the music business worked like it did in the 60s, U2 would rival the Beatles. If you distill them to their singles, U2 is utterly and unfailingly brilliant (aside from picking Boots as a single... WTF?). Their singles are among the best and defining songs of the last 20-30 years. But their actual album are almost always inconsistent, some more than others. Never has a band maintained such a high profile career on such a remarkable inconsistent catalogue... October dropped between War and Boy. Rattle and Hum following the Joshua Tree. Pop on the heels of Achtung/Zooropa.
In some sense, they remind me of REM. Both bands were a breath of fresh air in the 80s. REM with their lo-fi indie ethic and U2 with their earnest arena passion. Both bands have had remarkable careers and are still top noth live acts (the REM show I saw last summer was one of the best I've ever seen). But both bands have the odd distinction of, in the latter half of their careers, making their best singles AND their weakest albums.
Viva la Vida is outstanding, and I would put it ahead of NLOTH, except that this album is getting better and better with every listen. First dozen times through I went from cringing and mild disappointment to curiosity and mild enjoyment. Now I can't stop listening and singing along to it, and only skip maybe 10% of the album, which is better than I can say for most records, even ones that I love. Hard to explain why I love it. I guess it is a little more complex and spacious than their last two albums. And maybe more consistent. ATYCLB and HTDAAB had some great songs, but as some reviews say, they were easily U2 by-the-numbers. And very inconsistent records. Their great songs were decent poppy anthems, but very standard U2. And a good deal of filler. This record, to me, is much more consistent and seems more of a pickup from the UF - Achtung Baby days rather than the recent 'lets try to go back to sounding like U2' sound. The title track is one of their best openers, Magnificent sounds amazing, Unknown Caller and Fez are really experimental and different for them and just amazing tracks. I'll Go Crazy and Breathe are pure singalong stadium rockers that have more emotion than anything from their last record. Stand Up Comedy is a pretty generic sounding Zeppelinesque riff and some of the lyrics are hokey, but I think it works on many levels. I know music is subjective, but this really is one of those times where repeat listens lends to its appreciation.
24 years old, mid-life crisis
nowadays hits you when you're young
Viva la Vida is outstanding, and I would put it ahead of NLOTH, except that this album is getting better and better with every listen. First dozen times through I went from cringing and mild disappointment to curiosity and mild enjoyment. Now I can't stop listening and singing along to it, and only skip maybe 10% of the album, which is better than I can say for most records, even ones that I love. Hard to explain why I love it. I guess it is a little more complex and spacious than their last two albums. And maybe more consistent. ATYCLB and HTDAAB had some great songs, but as some reviews say, they were easily U2 by-the-numbers. And very inconsistent records. Their great songs were decent poppy anthems, but very standard U2. And a good deal of filler. This record, to me, is much more consistent and seems more of a pickup from the UF - Achtung Baby days rather than the recent 'lets try to go back to sounding like U2' sound. The title track is one of their best openers, Magnificent sounds amazing, Unknown Caller and Fez are really experimental and different for them and just amazing tracks. I'll Go Crazy and Breathe are pure singalong stadium rockers that have more emotion than anything from their last record. Stand Up Comedy is a pretty generic sounding Zeppelinesque riff and some of the lyrics are hokey, but I think it works on many levels. I know music is subjective, but this really is one of those times where repeat listens lends to its appreciation.
For me, U2 is a band that doesn't have one defineable sound, but there are certain things you always expect to hear from them. I do thing NLOTH is lacking somewhat for the big, bombastic ROCK songs and after one listen I was sorely disappointed. It is kind of heavy on the more mellow tunes.
After listening to it more though I think it is a grower and one that I may well end up liking very much. Stand Up Comedy, Magnificient, Breathe, Unknown Caller, NLOTH, Moment of Surrender and I'll Go Crazy are good songs. Do the math on that and you see that the only ones I don't like that much so far are Cedars of Lebanon, White As Snow and Boots, which is without a doubt the worst song they have ever turned out. But, Boots actually could have been a bad ass song if not for those insipid lyrics.
I hear great potential for a lot of these songs live.
It seems that everyone generally falls into two categories as far as the previous two albums: Either you hate both of them or you love both of them.
I fall in the middle because I think ATYCLB is an absolutely great and uplifting album; Walk On is probably my favorite U2 song actually. HTDAAB, however, I never liked at all.
In the end, I am liking it more and more with every listen and I am learning to love it.
All I have to do is revel in the everyday....then do it again tomorrow
They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong...I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
After listening to it more though I think it is a grower and one that I may well end up liking very much. Stand Up Comedy, Magnificient, Breathe, Unknown Caller, NLOTH, Moment of Surrender and I'll Go Crazy are good songs. Do the math on that and you see that the only ones I don't like that much so far are Cedars of Lebanon, White As Snow and Boots, which is without a doubt the worst song they have ever turned out. But, Boots actually could have been a bad ass song if not for those insipid lyrics.
I hear great potential for a lot of these songs live.
I agree, it's definitely grower. I still don't think it's a GREAT album. I liked the last two and this one is not as good as either of them. I think Boots really threw me on that first listen... it truly is an atrociously bad song. SO horrible.
But those first 4 songs are all pretty strong and will undoubtedly kill live. The rest of the album is cool in a moody sort of way. Nothing fantastic or memorable, but a pleasant listen. The album's not as crushingly disappointing as it was on that first listen, but it's not going to be a U2 favorite by any means.
Comments
U2 is actually over 25 because there first album had to be released 25 years ago for them to get in the RR Hall of Fame which I think they got in in 06 or 07.[/quote]
oh yeah, i meant the Unforgettable Fire (UF) album is 25! U2 have been around since '78 or so....thats a good run[/quote]
ok, my mistake!
actually this album sounds more like u2 than any album since zooropa...mixed with unforgettable fire....i'm loving this album....breathe is outstanding
Nothing like shaving a few off the fanbase because they don't get whats going on, I can just imagine how many went along with Vs but wondered what the hell was going on with Vitalogy and if that didn't do it No Code must have sent loads packing.
I want my bands to progress and I don't want them stagnating in the same old same old. The last 2 albums were seriously 2 if the most lazy of their career and NLOTH is them back to challenging themselves again.
This album just showing up how ordinary those albums are and if people don't want to get on board then good riddance, it's like Radiohead getting rid of the part time fans when they released the one two punch of the awesome Kid A & Amnesiac.
This album bores me as much as Chris Cornell's "Scream" annoyed me and the boredom is annoying on that level.
Wow. Never thought I'd ever equate Scream with anything in the realm of U2.
There's nothing challenging about this album; it's Bono & company allowing themselves to be run over by Lanois' and Eno's penchant for processed music. Nothing binds this album as a cohesive project except the universal lack of soul and passion. Yes, folks LACK OF SOUL AND PASSION. A few okay tunes and the rest is drudgery. Insipid lyrics of Unknown Caller, Moment of Silence should have been silenced or at least halved, "oooh oooh oooh oooh" in almost every fucking song. Ran out of lyrics, huh? It shows.
...signed...the token black Pearl Jam fan.
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That's amazing because I think completley the opposite and dare say and not be stoned to death it's a better album than that sacred tome that is the Joshua Tree in my view.
Your not right nor am I guess were just 2 different U2 fans one is most delighted and the other is not maybe they'll record an album you like again and wind me like those last 2 studio albums, I'd like to hear your argument though to how better those lazy radio friendly albums are better than this.
Ju
...signed...the token black Pearl Jam fan.
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on live tours, the band play some of the filler tracks from the album completely differently, and they sound great....stripped down of all the crap from the album versions. i can only hope that some of the stuff on this album gets the same treatment live that ,say , Original Of The Species got. Thats the best example i can think of right now.
I love I'll Go Crazy! Of course, it's very 'poppy' sounding, but it's great anthemic U2. That said, I agree, Unknown Caller is incredible, and Fez is too. Oh, Breathe is probably in my top 3 or 4 on the album, just an all around masterpiece of a song (aside from that 'these daaaays' part, sounds a little awkward). Here's my rankings:
1. Unknown Caller
2. Breathe
3. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't go Crazy Tonight
4. Stand Up Comedy
5. Magnificent
6. Fez Being Born
7. No Line on the Horizon
8. Moment of Surrender
9. White as Snow
10.Cedars of the Lebanon
11.Get On Your Boots.
nowadays hits you when you're young
The major difference here is that Vitalogy, No Code, Kid A and Amnesiac are all great albums... but even though some fans don't like those albums... whatever... no need to be such an elitist about it. And U2 is already the most well-established band in the world with a ton of mega hits, so this one album is not going shave off any fans, no matter how well it's received.
How the fuck can you say they're last two albums were lazy? They sounded inspired to me. This one sounds either tired or overly frantic and all of it overproduced. Even the album cover is dreary and synthetic.
Not to pick on you, but why does every album have to be something completely new that hasn't been done before? I notice this a lot with Tool fans as well in them saying that they aren't doing anything new with a new album. Not every album is going to change direction the way Achtung did from The Joshua Tree. I think as long as the band is making the kind of music they want to make at that point in time, then it's ok. The only problem would be if they were trying to make an album that would appeal to a large number of people and goes against where they would naturally go as a band.
How the fuck can you say they're last two albums were lazy? They sounded inspired to me. This one sounds either tired or overly frantic and all of it overproduced. Even the album cover is dreary and synthetic.[/quote]
There are some great songs on the last two albums. I think a lot of people get caught looking at the whole album just as "Beautiful Day" and "Vertigo"(not saying anyone here is doing that).
"Kite" came on my ipod on shuffle yesterday. Great song.
"City of Blinding Lights" and "Miracle Drug" are also standout tracks in my opinion.
In the past year (let alone the past 4 since HTDAAB) many of us have dug into a lot music that truly has pushed boundaries on either side of the spectrum: from the creatively out there with Spindrift, Combichrist or Animal Collective to embracing the basic and fundamentals of classic rock, guitar crunch and the standard verse-chorus-verse like the Black Keys or Yelling. NLOTH painfully hovers over sonic mediocrity; I think this is the most linear and non-propulsive U2 album I've ever heard. No real highs or lows or hard forward movement just a constant flat chugging along. I said before that I no longer trust Bono's or the Edge's definition of "rock" and I mean that considering that even the most subtle song on Radiohead's baby-making "In Rainbows" invokes more rock and roll riot in me than "Get On Your Boots" which is a shame because that song should get me going since it's all about girl power.
Groundbreaking might have resulted from hooking up with Jack White, Danger Mouse, or hell Brandon O'Brien, perhaps then "Breathe" wouldn't be the obvious re-tread of "Windows In The Skies" that it is. Maybe my ears are spoiled by artists who want to break out and make it so bad that they're forced to be good at what they do.
...signed...the token black Pearl Jam fan.
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I guess they will record another album which I feel will not connect with me and no doubt you'll love, we can try to be clever for infinitum about who is wrong who is right, we'll just agree to disagree.
The problem is and I'm as guilty as the next, is people think they are so right to the point outright self righteouness, your not gonna change your mind on this and nor am I, just like there are people out there who think Coldplay are edgy and experimental (look there I go again can't help it).
I love it, you don't! guess we just need to accept that and leave this argument here!
And Coldplay sucks.
...signed...the token black Pearl Jam fan.
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did u read the sentence after the one you quoted? my point was that it doesnt need to be new for me to enjoy it....but i just dont see the amount of "new" U2 that others do. thats all.
my actual point of my post was that Lanois/Eno seem to lose great songs in favour of the "wall of sound" and overproduction i hear
did u read the sentence after the one you quoted? my point was that it doesnt need to be new for me to enjoy it....but i just dont see the amount of "new" U2 that others do. thats all.
my actual point of my post was that Lanois/Eno seem to lose great songs in favour of the "wall of sound" and overproduction i hear
I'm with you. I liked the last 2 albums. I'm on my first listen of the new one and it's not really blowing me away. Some of the songs sound pretty good, most are rather average, and 2 I don't like at all. Get on Your Boots might be the worst song they have ever done.I'm not a fan of Beathe either... the verses sound so awkward... the spoken rambling worked for Bullet the Blue Sky, but not on this one.
I was the same way....give it a few spins. Put it in your car. Listen on good headphones. Get On Your Boots definitely isn't anything special, but the rest of it is outstanding. Breathe is one of the best songs. I agree, the one line after the first verse: "These daaaays..." just sounded way too awkward and almost ruined the song for me. I still kinda cringe when I hear it, but it's only 5 seconds out of the whole song, and the rest of it, especially the last minute or so gives me goosebumps. In a good way. Unknown Caller is equally incredible, if you can get past the couple of lyrics about punching in a password. The arrangments and other lyrics are great. 'Ill Go Crazy...' is classic U2 anthemic pop with a very singalong chorus and I looove the 'baby, baby, baby' part into the 'ha...ha...ha' into the solo. So much energy and will be fun to see live. Some people say Stand Up Comedy is too generic or cliche or whatever, but it's in my top 5 or 6 of the album easily. Great riff, love that staticy breakdown with the whale-sounding guitar, all the effects and Bono's lyrics 'soul-rockin people...'. Fez-Being Born is a great experimental Zooropaish song too. Magnificent has a classic U2 intro and riff, and I'm really into the first chorus into the 'Magnificent...MagNIFicent!' shout before the chorus. Then it kind of loses steam for me. Still fun to listen to it, but I usually skip after/during the solo.
(sorry for jumping all over the place...stream of consciousness post)
nowadays hits you when you're young
Like I said I wasn't trying to pick on you. I was just taking something you said to make another point with something you brought up.
I was a big fan on HTDAAB even though almost none of it was "new/edgy/etc", so i get where you're coming from too.
And actually reading your posts and someone's elses brings up another point: if the band is touting the band during the recording as being experimental and new sounding and then the album is released and it sounds similiar to other albums by that band, then I think it's ok for people to have a beef with the band.
I still haven't heard "No Line.." so I don't know how it sounds as an album. I did pop in "The Unforgettable Fire" yesterday for the first time in a long time due to this thread. Thank you, thread!
I will, don't worry. I'm not writing it off yet. But to me, it suffers from the same problem as the last 2 albums... a weak last half. ATYCLBH started off as dynamite... 7 straight classic tunes, then 4 incredibly mediocre and generic ones. HTDAAB was more of an every other track is good with the in betweens being uninspired. This album feels the same. I love the first 5 songs. They're all very good. But starting with Boots, the album falters and finishes weak. The part of Breathe that bothers me isn't the "these days" line, it's everything before that. He rattles off a couple long lines that sounds like they should go on top of some rollicking blues track from Rattle & Hum, but instead the music is slick generic 2004 U2. It doesn't match. The chorus is good and when he actually sings it fits, but prior to that it's awkward as hell. The last song closes on a whimper (as too many of their albums do). It's not a bad album, jut not a great one. It may yet grow on me, but these are my impressions so far. Honestly, it sounds almost like U2 trying to do Coldplay trying to do U2... like "we can do the Coldplay spin on U2 better than Coldplay can." Though honestly, they can't. Viva la Vida was a better album than this (though this album is better than x&y which was the height of Coldplay aping U2).
Honestly, if the music business worked like it did in the 60s, U2 would rival the Beatles. If you distill them to their singles, U2 is utterly and unfailingly brilliant (aside from picking Boots as a single... WTF?). Their singles are among the best and defining songs of the last 20-30 years. But their actual album are almost always inconsistent, some more than others. Never has a band maintained such a high profile career on such a remarkable inconsistent catalogue... October dropped between War and Boy. Rattle and Hum following the Joshua Tree. Pop on the heels of Achtung/Zooropa.
In some sense, they remind me of REM. Both bands were a breath of fresh air in the 80s. REM with their lo-fi indie ethic and U2 with their earnest arena passion. Both bands have had remarkable careers and are still top noth live acts (the REM show I saw last summer was one of the best I've ever seen). But both bands have the odd distinction of, in the latter half of their careers, making their best singles AND their weakest albums.
Viva la Vida is outstanding, and I would put it ahead of NLOTH, except that this album is getting better and better with every listen. First dozen times through I went from cringing and mild disappointment to curiosity and mild enjoyment. Now I can't stop listening and singing along to it, and only skip maybe 10% of the album, which is better than I can say for most records, even ones that I love. Hard to explain why I love it. I guess it is a little more complex and spacious than their last two albums. And maybe more consistent. ATYCLB and HTDAAB had some great songs, but as some reviews say, they were easily U2 by-the-numbers. And very inconsistent records. Their great songs were decent poppy anthems, but very standard U2. And a good deal of filler. This record, to me, is much more consistent and seems more of a pickup from the UF - Achtung Baby days rather than the recent 'lets try to go back to sounding like U2' sound. The title track is one of their best openers, Magnificent sounds amazing, Unknown Caller and Fez are really experimental and different for them and just amazing tracks. I'll Go Crazy and Breathe are pure singalong stadium rockers that have more emotion than anything from their last record. Stand Up Comedy is a pretty generic sounding Zeppelinesque riff and some of the lyrics are hokey, but I think it works on many levels. I know music is subjective, but this really is one of those times where repeat listens lends to its appreciation.
nowadays hits you when you're young
Good review, my sentiments exactly!
After listening to it more though I think it is a grower and one that I may well end up liking very much. Stand Up Comedy, Magnificient, Breathe, Unknown Caller, NLOTH, Moment of Surrender and I'll Go Crazy are good songs. Do the math on that and you see that the only ones I don't like that much so far are Cedars of Lebanon, White As Snow and Boots, which is without a doubt the worst song they have ever turned out. But, Boots actually could have been a bad ass song if not for those insipid lyrics.
I hear great potential for a lot of these songs live.
It seems that everyone generally falls into two categories as far as the previous two albums: Either you hate both of them or you love both of them.
I fall in the middle because I think ATYCLB is an absolutely great and uplifting album; Walk On is probably my favorite U2 song actually. HTDAAB, however, I never liked at all.
In the end, I am liking it more and more with every listen and I am learning to love it.
They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong...I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
I actually think the last two albums are just ok. Some good tracks but no Acthung.
I agree, it's definitely grower. I still don't think it's a GREAT album. I liked the last two and this one is not as good as either of them. I think Boots really threw me on that first listen... it truly is an atrociously bad song. SO horrible.
But those first 4 songs are all pretty strong and will undoubtedly kill live. The rest of the album is cool in a moody sort of way. Nothing fantastic or memorable, but a pleasant listen. The album's not as crushingly disappointing as it was on that first listen, but it's not going to be a U2 favorite by any means.