I listened to No Line on the Horizon right through tonight for the first time in about 10 years…

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dan_smee

dan_smee

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…and I think I enjoyed it?

I experienced this with HtDAAB at about the 15 year mark as well. The disappointment of this being the culmination of 5 years work for the band was gone. I actually found myself liking little moments. Fills, melodies, sounds. Things that never really captured my attention before.

Was it a great album? No.
Was it as bad as I remembered and assumed? No.

Things I surprisingly liked: the GOYB riff. It is actually pretty fun. Crazy Tonight melody. It’s interesting. Breathe. The whole thing - it has a cheesy swagger and it’d be less enjoyable if the lyrics made more sense. Cedars is an intense, affecting throb. I dig. Magnificent is a great song stuck straddling interesting Moroccan U2 and commercial U2. Unknown Caller has a vibe they haven’t really attempted before or since - it’s eerie and beautiful.

SUC is still a bore. The lyrics are often a letdown. But it isn’t an automatic skip like I’ve always felt (well after the initial few months of new u2 excitement wore off.)
 
It's their most recent good album. Definitely not great, but it contains their last songs that can be described as great. Also scary that it's 15 years old jesus fucking christ.
 
cobl04 said:
It's their most recent good album. Definitely not great, but it contains their last songs that can be described as great. Also scary that it's 15 years old jesus fucking christ.
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I know we don’t agree fully on the recent material, but I do believe they have found moments of magic in the last couple of albums. Little Things and Book of Your Heart stand up against most of their post-Pop outputs. I feel like they are spiritual cousins to the moodier offerings of this period - TGBHF, Stateless, Levitate (not moody but has a vibe), MOS.
 
I like No Line in general, although probably my least listened to U2 album. I think SUC is the only real clunker on the album. I like Boots and Crazy Tonight as songs, I just wish they were sequenced differently on the album, and maybe Crazy Tonight not on it at all.

I think Moment of Surrender is one of their best songs period. It's up there with Bad for me in terms of just a pained, anguished, yet cathartic song.
 
To me No Line is where the band's cold feet truly began.

Many will point to Pop -> All That You Can't Leave Behind - but i see that as simply a transition to what they thought would break through - no different than the 80s to 90s transition in concept (obviously different in style).

With No Line they again knew that they had to change style to break through - but got scared midway through and watered it down - which they would repeat in 2014. I don't really think they watered down 2017/SOE... i think the "we have to rethink this because trump" line was just some bullshit they came up with to cover for Bono's health scare.

I would love to hear with a more Moroccan themed No Line - minus the middle three - would sound like.... almost as much as I'd love to hear Danger Mouse's full vision on Songs of Innocence.

No Line also contains the song that pisses me off more than any other they've done... Unknown Caller. The music and the lyric is absolutely breathtaking - and then they come in with that god awful chorus and ruin the entire thing.
 
Yeah, No Line had such promise. Some really great material on there. I love Cedars, White as Snow, MOS, Magnificent, Fez, and No Line. Breathe is cool enough. Hell even Boots is a decent album cut, just a horrible first single choice. I think Stand Up Comedy is the worst song they've ever recorded, and agree with headache on Unknown Caller. Like a few Atomic Bomb songs, musically cool, lyric and delivery poor.
 
I still think the strongest song on the album is its title track. The explosion of the instruments all kicking in, cool atmospheric chorus and synths. Everything else to me is just "meh", even Moment Of Surrender. Some songs have their cool moments. Fez Being Born is cool, Magnificent intro is cool, along with some others. But I don't think it comes close to Songs Of Innocence. Songs of Experience maybe, because that album was weak too.

I still maintain that U2's reign ended after HTDAAB, it was a great run and then had a resurgence with the strong Songs of Innocence album, which was unfortunately ruined by the iTunes debacle.
 
i think they became big enough after the first two albums of the 2000s to survive a dud and still be the biggest band in the world... and could have carried that through 2014 (Invisible and Ordinary Love were not hits but were generally well received) if they didn't go and spam everyone's iTunes library.

a simple "let's make it free, but they have to go get it - you know, like we did a few months earlier with Invisible" would have done wonders for their legacy.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
i think they became big enough after the first two albums of the 2000s to survive a dud and still be the biggest band in the world... and could have carried that through 2014 (Invisible and Ordinary Love were not hits but were generally well received) if they didn't go and spam everyone's iTunes library.

a simple "let's make it free, but they have to go get it - you know, like we did a few months earlier with Invisible" would have done wonders for their legacy.
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Yep, 100%.

And back to NLOTH, their 360 numbers definitely proved that they could survive a dud.
 
Moment of Surrender had a resurgence with me. I never really listened to it. Then, mid-40s... two kids... struggling with having trying to have my own life vs the big change that comes with kids (and combined with general career mid-life-crisis what-coulda-beens etc)... it really hit different. I should revisit that album too.
 
Achtung Ya'll said:
Moment of Surrender had a resurgence with me. I never really listened to it. Then, mid-40s... two kids... struggling with having trying to have my own life vs the big change that comes with kids (and combined with general career mid-life-crisis what-coulda-beens etc)... it really hit different. I should revisit that album too.
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I'd say SOE has has some good tunes on it for you right now.
 
I listened to this again recently as well. I like it but nothing more.

The track sequencing is all over the place. The album sort of collapses with those middle three songs which are very poor. Cedars is a fine closer though and swap Breathe (which I've always quite liked) and MOS in the track listing and I think it works better. But it still hobbles because of those middle three tracks.

I'll Go Crazy would sound decent if it was a b side. It's an alright melody, fairly poppy. But tonally it's way off for what this album needs. Get On Your Boots is a proper clunker with severe gearbox issues but I'm sure there's a good song there if they sampled a few bits of it into a remake / new song. As for Stand Up Comedy - it's utter dreck. There are no redeeming features about this song. None at all. It's like a bad cut from a post 1997 Oasis album. I'd half expect it from a post Britpop, indie turd ensemble like The Enemy but not U2. Easily U2's worst ever song.

And sadly, those three songs overshadow some beautiful moments across the album. White as Snow is gorgeous - they say its about a soldier dying in Afghanistan and I reckon the atmosphere of that song captures the beautiful empty, hard wintry heartlands of that country. Moment of Surrender is easily one of their top 3 songs of the 21st century. It is the heart and soul of the album. Magnificent is great - it should have been the lead single and works well with NLOTH and Breathe in giving the album energy. Cedars of Lebanon is an understated bit of beauty. There's definitely an eeriness and dissonance to a lot of it including on songs like FEZ and Unknown Caller. The latter is unfulfilled on record but I think it sounds fantastic live (the U22 version is great) and shows the benefits if the song was mixed with a more echoey guitar and the organ turned up to be more front and centre.

Unfortunately, that eery hymnal like atmosphere is undermined. It seems like there are two albums at play - one going for energy and swagger (NLOTH, Magnificent, Breathe) , the other going for spiritual, hymnal like mystery (MOS, White as Snow, FEZ, Cedars). I'm not saying those two sides don't work together, they could have worked...but for the God awful middle three that lets both sides down miserably. What were they thinking?
 
I always saw it at a spiritual sequel to The Unforgettable Fire. Well, except for those 3 shite tracks.
 
NLOTH is a fucking absolute mess, but I cannot believe what I'm reading about SOI/E being better. Just because they stuck to the sound a little better doesn't make them better records. The Troubles is the only song that comes even close to being great. There is not a single track on SOI/E, aside from that song, that puts its nuts on the line or takes any risks. They are so boringly safe, and sure, there's a handful of nice songs on them, but NLOTH was the last time U2 had any fucking balls in the studio (they've proven they still have it live). There is nothing on the last two records, aside from The Troubles, that can touch any of these moments:
  • The duelling guitars and Bono's soaring vocals on the title track
  • The longest song they've ever released, with Bono actually putting some skin in the fucking game
  • The most interesting and daring song they've written this entire fucking millennium, Fez: Being Born
  • Maybe the best song they've released this millennium, Cedars of Lebanon, with Bono singing in a fucking register that actually matches his age and current vocal strengths and the band actually doing - and pulling off, unlike the horrific SOS - understated
And we're supposed to appreciate SOI/E because they don't have a run of three questionable songs? Despite the fact that the three worst songs the band have ever committed to tape are all on SOE? Because they're "biographical"? Despite the fact they contain comfortably the worst, most uninspiring, boring set of lyrics that Bono has ever written?

Fuck outta here.
 
cobl04 said:
NLOTH is a fucking absolute mess, but I cannot believe what I'm reading about SOI/E being better. Just because they stuck to the sound a little better doesn't make them better records. The Troubles is the only song that comes even close to being great. There is not a single track on SOI/E, aside from that song, that puts its nuts on the line or takes any risks. They are so boringly safe, and sure, there's a handful of nice songs on them, but NLOTH was the last time U2 had any fucking balls in the studio (they've proven they still have it live). There is nothing on the last two records, aside from The Troubles, that can touch any of these moments:
  • The duelling guitars and Bono's soaring vocals on the title track
  • The longest song they've ever released, with Bono actually putting some skin in the fucking game
  • The most interesting and daring song they've written this entire fucking millennium, Fez: Being Born
  • Maybe the best song they've released this millennium, Cedars of Lebanon, with Bono singing in a fucking register that actually matches his age and current vocal strengths and the band actually doing - and pulling off, unlike the horrific SOS - understated
And we're supposed to appreciate SOI/E because they don't have a run of three questionable songs? Despite the fact that the three worst songs the band have ever committed to tape are all on SOE? Because they're "biographical"? Despite the fact they contain comfortably the worst, most uninspiring, boring set of lyrics that Bono has ever written?

Fuck outta here.
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It’s because SOI is a way better album. SOE is not.
 
cobl04 said:
NLOTH is a fucking absolute mess, but I cannot believe what I'm reading about SOI/E being better. Just because they stuck to the sound a little better doesn't make them better records. The Troubles is the only song that comes even close to being great. There is not a single track on SOI/E, aside from that song, that puts its nuts on the line or takes any risks. They are so boringly safe, and sure, there's a handful of nice songs on them, but NLOTH was the last time U2 had any fucking balls in the studio (they've proven they still have it live). There is nothing on the last two records, aside from The Troubles, that can touch any of these moments:
  • The duelling guitars and Bono's soaring vocals on the title track
  • The longest song they've ever released, with Bono actually putting some skin in the fucking game
  • The most interesting and daring song they've written this entire fucking millennium, Fez: Being Born
  • Maybe the best song they've released this millennium, Cedars of Lebanon, with Bono singing in a fucking register that actually matches his age and current vocal strengths and the band actually doing - and pulling off, unlike the horrific SOS - understated
And we're supposed to appreciate SOI/E because they don't have a run of three questionable songs? Despite the fact that the three worst songs the band have ever committed to tape are all on SOE? Because they're "biographical"? Despite the fact they contain comfortably the worst, most uninspiring, boring set of lyrics that Bono has ever written?

Fuck outta here.
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Broadly agree with this.

Stuff like I'll Go Crazy is the sort of immature chart baiting nonsense that was a sign of things to come on the Song of... albums. I like Experience better than Innocence, primarily because of The Little Things, far and away their best song from those albums. But Innocence & Experience albums never reached the heights of the tunes you mentioned. Things like Cedars, Moment of Surrender, etc sound like the mature, spiritual and reflective band they'd always been.

Innocence and Experience albums are ruined by the likes of Ryan Tedder pissing in the waters.
 
TinKnight said:
I think Moment of Surrender is one of their best songs period. It's up there with Bad for me in terms of just a pained, anguished, yet cathartic song.
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Seconded. It's an amazing piece of work. In fact, I can still remember my first listen, being genuinely (and very pleasantly) shocked by the way Bono delivers the opening line, "I tied myself with wire". A masterpiece.
 
Question: do we think No Line was the last time they started songs as a band? This thread prompted me to go back and look at some of the 'making of' videos and it's striking how closely they're working together.

Eno's description of how Moment of Surrender came together doesn't sound like many of the songs that have come along since:
 
mikal said:
I still think the strongest song on the album is its title track. The explosion of the instruments all kicking in, cool atmospheric chorus and synths. Everything else to me is just "meh", even Moment Of Surrender. Some songs have their cool moments. Fez Being Born is cool, Magnificent intro is cool, along with some others. But I don't think it comes close to Songs Of Innocence. Songs of Experience maybe, because that album was weak too.

I still maintain that U2's reign ended after HTDAAB, it was a great run and then had a resurgence with the strong Songs of Innocence album, which was unfortunately ruined by the iTunes debacle.
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A debacle that brought them a new generation of fans outside of America. I don't think that they would have been able to do the Joshua Tree tour or the Achtung Baby residency without the apple download that every musician, app developer and video games developer does every week now. Before then Alicia Keys, Norah Jones and Ottawan did the same thing but they never got this Flack from only the American fan base.

I remember Jeremy Vine covering it on his final segment on his radio show. The final segment is usually when he covers a jokey segment about goats or coffee houses, etc. All of the callers liked SOI, had switched off automatic downloads like most sensible people do or didn’t understand all the fuss when when there was much more important things in the world. You do realise that these whinging from people who are wealthy enough to afford an expensive phone but too lazy to switch off automatic downloads is partly why Trump got in? First world problems.

You go onto YouTube and see the the videos for SOI songs and all the people mostly positive messages saying that they used to listen to it when they were at school. They thanked Apple for this free gift. They deliberately left on automatic downloads so that they can receive all sorts of music, apps and video games
 
Here’s the thing: U2 sees the US as their most important market. They have written entire songs, hell, albums about the country.

So any slip-up here is a major bomb to them: the critical and commercial reception to Pop, the indifference to NLOTH after 2 consecutive huge “comeback” albums, SOI release, even Spider-Man.

Now I’d argue their focus on hits on American radio has been to their detriment for about, ehhh, 15 years. But to criticize an American fan for being somewhat myopic about a band openly obsessed with their country is a reach at best.
 
I always wonder what could have been if they had actually included "All My Life" as like the one big pop/rock single. It would have been big. They could have deleted the middle 3 (I guess if they left "Crazy Tonight" on it wouldn't have been the worst thing, but the song still sucks).
 
PookaMacP said:
Question: do we think No Line was the last time they started songs as a band? This thread prompted me to go back and look at some of the 'making of' videos and it's striking how closely they're working together.

Eno's description of how Moment of Surrender came together doesn't sound like many of the songs that have come along since:
Click to expand...

I think SOI they were together as a band for a bit, but they drove Danger Mouse insane and went with Teddy Bear. With NLOTH, it was the last time they travelled somewhere outside of their comfort zone to record.

SOE appears to be more of a create the song by technology vs recording as a band. I get the advantage of the tech now. Edge can lay down some music. Bono can sing over it 3000 miles away....and then Larry and Adam finish the rhythm section at some point.

I think it's part of the reason U2 has lost some of their unique magic. Their best came out of jamming in a room for weeks on end. It was stressful for everyone, but it did produce results
 
I still like NLOTH despite its flaws and the missed opportunity we all think it was for them to do something more experimental, or at least see an idea through to its conclusion, whether it wholly succeeds or not. I know what people are saying about the Unknown Caller lyrics, but at the same time, I think he was trying something different and I'd rather he did that than play it safe.

Boots and Stand Up Comedy are the two weakest ones, but I don't skip over them. For all the hate, I think there's some good stuff in SUC, I like some of Edge's playing, his guitar sounds and the swagger, but it's just missing something. Boots is the same, it feels like both were born out of some great rhythm tracks, which they didn't quite know what to do with and ended up with some very poppy lyrics and guitar over the top (not to mention the "let me in the sound" part which must be from a different track altogether).

My playlist for it has Soon opening, going into the album version of NLOTH and finishes with Winter from the Brothers soundtrack.

Early demo versions from that album and Pop are probably my top two things from their vault that I'd love to hear.
 
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