Well sort of..
And I have to warn you, this is a fan speaking, so it shall be utterly positive :P
I wanted to write a normal album review, but I think I have read too many of them already… So this ‘review’ shall be a little bit different… :)
I have not consciously waited for a U2 album before, so I had no idea it would be so though… I read several mailing lists and because of that, I had read a lot of album reviews from lucky journalists who got a chance to hear the album weeks before I could! (maybe it’s better that I was not one of them, because I know it would be very hard for me to be content with only one listen to the album :P) I can now tell you from experience that it can be really annoying to read that No Line On The Horizon is being compared to Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree, given 5 stars and read that Brian Eno thinks that Breathe is their best song ever, when you’re waiting for the album.
I heard the album much earlier than I thought I would be… I heard the album at the day of the leak (how could anyone expect me to wait two more weeks?) and when I had it in iTunes and clicked on play, I really did not know how to sit anymore… I had no idea that I could sit in so many crazy ways. When I could bear it no longer I grabbed my pillow and gave it a big hug XD Yes it’s really good that I was not one of those journalists, because me hearing a U2 album for the first time looks really really silly!!!
So, I survived the first listen and continued the next. I managed to loosen the hold of my pillow and my brain started working again.
I really really liked Unknown Caller after only one listen! It was the only song I had an opinion of after the first listen. I knew not what to think of the rest…
My NLOTH listening history:
Beach Clips
30 second preview of Get On Your Boots
Get On Your Boots
30 second previews of the whole album
No Line On The Horizon version 2
Leak! :O
Box edition arrives!!! :D –> Winter!!!
Songs:
1. No Line On The Horizon
2. Magnificent
3. Moment Of Surrender
4. Unknown Caller
5. I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
6. Get On Your Boots
7. Stand Up Comedy
8. Fez-Being Born
9. White As Snow
10. Breathe
11. Cedars Of Lebanon
No Line On The Horizon
I heard the No Line On The Horizon 2 version first (a week earlier?) and I already loved that song. But when I heard the album, I was really blown away! The beginning is brilliant!!! I don’t know if I have said so in an earlier post, but I always wake up with the cd that’s in my stereo. So I wake up every morning with a U2 cd. The first song on the album is therefore the song I usually wake up with (I can program my stereo to start with another song, but I usually think that’s too much trouble :P). My favourite song to wake up with is Zooropa. When I listen to the song it just brings up an image of waking up in a big city, so I can imagine myself waking up in New York or Berlin. If someone would ask: “How does a city that wakes up sound?” The answer is Zooropa (remember! :P). Other favourite wake up songs are I Will Follow and Zoo Station. I used Vertigo for a long time, but it’s not as pleasant as Zooropa. Oh no, I’m rattling away :P What I wanted to say is that No Line On The Horizon is a brilliant song to wake up with! It is actually the best song of the album to wake up with! I tried Unknown Caller one morning, but it did not have a great effect :P I was still half sleeping and did not even notice that it changed to I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight, while I’m almost immediately awake when I hear No Line On The Horizon…
Magnificent
A brilliant song! Already classic. More words needed? Nah… … Maybe just one more: Magnificent!
Moment Of Surrender
I did not know what to expect after such positive reviews, but I absolutely love it! When Bono sings “I tied myself with wire!” I just melt on the spot… I hope that they shall play this on the tour :) hint hint :P
Unknown Caller
No matter what Edge and Bono said in the Absolute Radio interview, I did hear the OhooohhOOhhOOoohOho (if you have better spelling suggestions, please post them in the comments) from Unknown Caller in the beach clips… And that ohhohhoh has been stuck in my head months(!) before the album got released.
Fact:
It’s annoying to have a bit of song stuck in your head and don’t know how the song continues and have to wait months before you’ll know.
Anyway, I loved that bit and hoped that it would make it to the album. I hoped that the ohhohhoh would be from Sexy Boots, because that was most likely going to be the single. But alas, it was not from Get On Your Boots, so I had to wait for the album after all…
And I loved Unknown Caller after the first listen. It’s still among my favourites of the album. Sunshine! Sunshine!!! Edge I love your voice :)
I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
Hmm, it has a silly long title… I like it already!!! :P
I would not say that it’s too long, Question! What U2 song has the longest title (in letters)?
Haha no I’m not giving you a multiple choice on this one… :P
This song starts really good with the crazy “crazy tonight” from Bono. It is also brilliant after Unknown Caller.
And after listening to it for the first time it has succeeded to end up stuck in my head with the lines:
“Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot
How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?”
Really stuck in my head. I could not (well ok, let’s be fair: barely) sleep the night after I first heard the album. I was turning and twisting (I even tried to turn 180 degrees (to no succes)), but I just could not sleep…
Tell him what a dreadful state I am in, — that I am frightened out of my wits; and have such tremblings, such flutterings, all over me, such spasms in my side, and pains in my head, and such beatings at heart, that I can get no rest by night nor by day.
Pride and Prejudice
Ok, it was not as bad as that from Mrs. Bennet, but pretty bad enough I grant you. (Hahaha, you probably didn’t get it, but that was very funny for a Jane Austen fan like me :P)
So you could say that I had a lot of time to think about the album, but unfortunately my thoughts went more in the direction of “What is the meaning of life?” Haha no kidding! That would be too easy a question. It is a well known fact that the answer to life, the universe and everything 42 is. In fact I do not think I had any useful thoughts that night, only things like “I’m tired” or “I’m very *yawn* tired”. And all the while bits of the new song ring through my head (my only comfort). Hmm, I now realise that I have written this ((not very) interesting) bit of not having had much sleep under the song I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight… Oh no! In a certain sense I went crazy that night, because I could not sleep… So what would have happened if I had not gone crazy? Yes I would have gone crazy! In my dreams, because I would not have done something crazy before that and therefore I would have been asleep and dreaming! So I would have gone crazy in my dreams! Oh, I’m very sorry to have missed that! Very very sorry if this would have been my crazy dream:
U2 knock on my door and ask if I’ve got a television. I’m very shocked and surprised that U2 should knock on my door, so I stare at them for a few moments. Then I say: “Yeah, I’ve got a television… Do you want to see it?” Larry: “No, well actually we want to use it. You see, Edge said in the Letterman show that he sucks at guitar hero, well that was a joke, but we sort of made a bet that we can all be better than Edge at guitar hero.” This is the last thing that I expected, but I say: “Well, you’re more than welcome to test that here!” So they come into the house, install the wii thing and the guitar. Edge has to go first and is a bit nervous, because he has never played guitar hero before and really wants to beat the rest at it. Edge picks a Jimi Hendrix song. Bono and Adam are making a lot of jokes “If you play Jimi Hendrix you’ll have to demolish your guitar at the end of the song!” Edge tries not to laugh at these jokes. He made a few mistakes, but he has a very high score (86%). It’s Adams turn and he is really really good at it. He’s about halfway through and has not yet made any mistake, but then Edge stands up and whispers something in his ear and they just can’t stop laughing. Bono and me are very curious after that joke, but they can’t speak any sense for minutes, so it’s Bono turn. Bono is playing really well, but he’s also very distracted by Edge and Adam rolling over the floor, so Bono scores 78%. Now Larry says to me that it’s my turn, so I play a song and score 95%! Larry is not very much impressed by my score and is ready to beat it. Bono and me are now watching Larry play the song flawless and Bono says to me: “we have to distract him, but with what?” Edge and Adam are obviously not distracting him so we’re both thinking of a better joke. Then right before the end I say: “Wenn ist das numstuck git und Slotmeyer? Ja… Beiherhund oder die Flipperwalt gersput” Larry survives The Killer Joke, but he does make some mistakes at guitar hero, so in the end he has a score of 92% I realise I have won and I am cheering. Larry congratulates me and makes a bow and Bono says to me “Thank you so much! It’s almost impossible to bear a Larry who has won a game.” Adam and Edge have stopped laughing and everyone is leaving. I’m at the door waving at them and then Edge walks back and whispers into my ear: “Beachball…”
Hahahahaha Oh no, :’D I think it’s better that I did not have that dream… I think I would have woken up the whole street with my laughter XD
I know I know, my theory is not really correct, because it would imply that everytime that you CAN sleep, you have crazy dreams… And although dreams are often crazy, there is always a (small) chance that you have non-crazy dreams, so I’m sorry, but the theory above is a waste of time :P
Get On Your Boots
GOYB
Gravy On Your Broccoli?
No thank you.
I already made a post about this earlier in my blog :P
link
Stand Up Comedy
What to expect with such a title?
“Stand up to rock stars, Napoleon is in high heels
Josephine, be careful of small men with big ideas”
??? Who on earth could he mean? ;D
Sorry Edge I know you’ve heard it more than any fan ever could, but it’s not my favourite song of the album… But I think that in time we shall grow more alike I shall like it more. (Hurrah! I think I’ve just made the first U2 review with 3 Jane Austen references in it… )
Fez-Being Born
I was very very curious about this song, after I listened to the 30 seconds previews. It sounded of all the previews the most new. When I did hear it, it was not as I expected, but very good! very good… yes… <— (a Lady Catherine de Bourgh imitation)
White As Snow
My least favourite song at first. I did not like the title very much, but I love it now so very dearly… (Hah! that makes 5!)
Breathe
At first this was not my favourite song of the album, I did not see why U2 fans called this their favourite song, but I do like it now :P
The image of Bono walking with his arms out on the streets or running down the road like loose electricity is very appealing ;)
I’m very curious what the clip for this song is going to be like. Bono, if you’re reading this, I would like to see you running down the road like loose electricity :) please? I am willing to play as one of the extra’s on that street :P
Cedars Of Lebanon
A very nice slow song to end the album with. I did not like the album cover very much, but I must say that it has grown on me after hearing the album. Yep, it’s a good cover.
I just noticed: This song has in my opinion the nicest last word of a song on a U2 album: “friends”
And if you’re now wandering what the other last words are here they are (quiz! connect the words with the right album =P):
1) all a) boy
2) blindness b) october
3) break c) war
4) everything d) the unforgettable fire
5) friends e) the joshua tree
6) he f) rattle and hum
7) man g) achtung baby
8) rainfall h) zooropa
9) song i) pop
10) tall j) all that you can’t leave behind
11) wandering k) how to dismantle an atomic bomb
12) you l) no line on the horizon
Bonus question: What is the last word from Original Soundtracks 1?
Download:
No don’t download, buy the box edition! It’s worth it!
Rating:
42!
the answer to everything…
I have had A LOT of fun writing this and I want to thank you for reading this! You shall have to wait a few months before you can read another lengthy review from me, because over exactly 3 days and 4 months I’m going to a U2 concert!!!
2450 words! We’ve got a new record!
