1. Originally posted by dstankie:Linear is brilliant. That is the version of NLOTH I listen to and the one they should have released. If that was the official version, I would rate it as the best U2 album since the 90s. Linear has a much better tracklist, Winter is so so so much better than Crazy. Even Boots makes a tiny bit more sense sitting where it does on Linear. It is an intense record, not uplifting per se. But then, is Joshua Tree uplifting? Achtung?
    Spot on
  2. Originally posted by dstankie:Linear is brilliant. That is the version of NLOTH I listen to and the one they should have released. If that was the official version, I would rate it as the best U2 album since the 90s. Linear has a much better tracklist, Winter is so so so much better than Crazy. Even Boots makes a tiny bit more sense sitting where it does on Linear.


    Forgot about Linear. You're right - it is an improvement over the album running order and by leaving out Crazy Tonight and adding Winter. I listened to it this morning and surprisingly it didn't trigger my gag reflex.



    Well, for me Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby have a special personal significance. They got me through the darkest time of my life in the same way that some people use drugs or medication. So they will always be uplifting for me. I wouldn't even be alive today without those albums, I'm fairly sure.

    But yeah they're not the kind of chirpy pop albums that would get the Swifties jumping up and down, if that's what you mean.
  3. The songs Bad, Pride and One are perfect in their original versions. They can't be made better acoustically. Here are my picks for the Sos album 2cd songs. The Edge, if you're reading this, you can borrow this tracklist.

    CD1 – The Edge and Bono
    1. One
    2. Where The Streets Have No Name
    3. Stories For Boys
    4. 11 O’Clock Tick Tock
    5. Beautiful Day
    6. Bad
    7. Every Breaking Wave
    8. Walk On (Ukraine)
    9. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
    10. Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
    11. Get Out Of Your Own Way
    12. Ordinary Love

    CD2 – Adam and Larry
    1. Vertigo
    2. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
    3. Electrical Storm
    4. The Fly
    5. If God Will Send His Angels
    6. Desire
    7. Until The End Of The World
    8. All I Want Is You
    9. With Or Without You
    10. Stay
    11. Two Hearts Beat As One
    12. The Little Things That Give You Away
  4. Originally posted by dstankie:Linear is brilliant. That is the version of NLOTH I listen to and the one they should have released. If that was the official version, I would rate it as the best U2 album since the 90s. Linear has a much better tracklist, Winter is so so so much better than Crazy. Even Boots makes a tiny bit more sense sitting where it does on Linear. It is an intense record, not uplifting per se. But then, is Joshua Tree uplifting? Achtung?

    There is no difference apart from Winter so I don’t get how you think the rest of it is better as it's the same as the album.
  5. The music videos are worse than the album
  6. There is no difference apart from Winter so I don’t get how you think the rest of it is better as it's the same as the album.


    I know it doesn't make much sense, but running order matters. Linear has an arc that works as a whole (NLOTH doesn't) and, in my opinion, allows the individual songs to express themselves better.

    Well, for me Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby have a special personal significance. They got me through the darkest time of my life in the same way that some people use drugs or medication. So they will always be uplifting for me. I wouldn't even be alive today without those albums, I'm fairly sure.


    I can relate to that. And I think I agree with you that there's something different about NLOTH. There's never really a sense of release as there is on even anguished songs from those great albums. There's a more understated tension on many of the NLOTH songs that feels unresolved.
  7. Originally posted by ilmari72:The songs Bad, Pride and One are perfect in their original versions. They can't be made better acoustically. Here are my picks for the Sos album 2cd songs. The Edge, if you're reading this, you can borrow this tracklist.

    CD1 – The Edge and Bono
    1. One
    2. Where The Streets Have No Name
    3. Stories For Boys
    4. 11 O’Clock Tick Tock
    5. Beautiful Day
    6. Bad
    7. Every Breaking Wave
    8. Walk On (Ukraine)
    9. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
    10. Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
    11. Get Out Of Your Own Way
    12. Ordinary Love

    CD2 – Adam and Larry
    1. Vertigo
    2. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
    3. Electrical Storm
    4. The Fly
    5. If God Will Send His Angels
    6. Desire
    7. Until The End Of The World
    8. All I Want Is You
    9. With Or Without You
    10. Stay
    11. Two Hearts Beat As One
    12. The Little Things That Give You Away
    Your CD2 is excellent !!
  8. Originally posted by ilmari72:The songs Bad, Pride and One are perfect in their original versions. They can't be made better acoustically. Here are my picks for the Sos album 2cd songs. The Edge, if you're reading this, you can borrow this tracklist.

    CD1 – The Edge and Bono
    1. One
    2. Where The Streets Have No Name
    3. Stories For Boys
    4. 11 O’Clock Tick Tock
    5. Beautiful Day
    6. Bad
    7. Every Breaking Wave
    8. Walk On (Ukraine)
    9. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
    10. Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
    11. Get Out Of Your Own Way
    12. Ordinary Love

    CD2 – Adam and Larry
    1. Vertigo
    2. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
    3. Electrical Storm
    4. The Fly
    5. If God Will Send His Angels
    6. Desire
    7. Until The End Of The World
    8. All I Want Is You
    9. With Or Without You
    10. Stay
    11. Two Hearts Beat As One
    12. The Little Things That Give You Away
    No Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own, no sale. Best song on the record

  9. It's an enormous increase that U2 have made it from acoustic crap to blues rock worldwide with SOS on the World Wide Web. Let's see what else is coming! I think it could get worse. On Amazon.
  10. As much as I hate to admit it over all I would say this release has been a much needed good one for the band. I went and deep dived on Google for more obscure or unreported reviews and they fall as a collective on the positive side.

    Even a few of the more 'indi' online music mags/websites written by younger reviewers using terms like 'reminder of how good' 'amazing back catalogue' 'retrospective' 'fresh' used instead of phrases such as ' dinosaurs of rock ' ' out of creative ideas ' 'maybe it's time to put down the microphones ' etc ....

    Nothing will change my personal opinion, I hate it.

    I ultimately fear that with this 'success' it will filter thru to the next new release with the so called 'guitar/rock' album being shelved or watered down for more of the same stuff we have had now on SOI SOE and SOS.
  11. I definetely like the route they are talking, production-wise. Don't get me wrong, I like it a lot when their records are adventurous sonically, but in recent years I felt that some tracks where overproduced and the songs suffered.

    I'm really looking forward to the next album with new songs and to finding out if this back to basics approach led to a more consistent and song-oriented production.