Recent CDs bought & your reviews

[MrMahatma]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

Not CD - but I take it album downloads are OK to review!

A couple recent purhcases -

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular: Good tunes, some really good catchy riffs (keys mostly) and hooks. Quite electronica with pop/rock influence, but on the edge of mainstream/underground. A good album start to finish.

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend: Similar to MGMT in that they're kinda hard to place - in the punk/electronica/pop sort of mould. Again, enjoyable album with some very catchy numbers. Would be a great band live no doubt.

[mighty_west]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

U2 - No Line On The Horizon

Being fortunate enough to get my hands on a copy of this new U2 record 2 weeks before it's official release this weekend coming up, i thought i'd jot down my thoughts on the bands 12th studio album.

Recorded in Morocco, this record has many layers to it, it's not as upfront as past albums, it takes a few listens, but when it hits, it hits like a ten ton truck, the songs are strong, this very well might be their best effort since the early 90's Achtung Baby, even Rolling Stone Magazine are calling this u2's third masterpiece after Achtung & The Joshua Tree giving it 5 stars, Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois really point U2 back in the right direction, there are shades of The Unforgettable Fire & Joshua Tree throughout.

While me personally, thought the last record How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb was great, this new album makes that sound like Coldplay!

The Songs:
No Line On The Horizon
They released the Will.i.am remixed version on the b-side of Get On Your Boots, and it's very pop, very instant, fortunatly the album version saves the song, Bono almost shouts throughout the verses, his voice is in fine form.

Magnificent
Probably the highlight, classic U2, should have been the first single to showcase the album, if you mixed Where The Streets Have No Name, A Sort Of Homecoming and New Years day, you would get this, it truly is magnificent!

Moment Of Surrender
Just cruises along, slow pace, finger poppin, then Bono hits, almost in an agressive fashion, he is full of passion, this epic runs for neally 8 minutes, yet it seems like a 4 minute song, this could get right up there with One & With Or Without You, it has that effect. Note, when listening, remember this vocal was sung in ONE TAKE!

Unknown Caller
Starts off with Birdsong, birds chirping in the background, then a signature Edge guitar riff, similar to Walk On, but then takes a turn, i call this song the dark horse of the album, there's just something about this song.

I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
Along with Get On Your Boots, probably one of the weaker songs, yet also one of the more commercial sounding songs, is tipped to be a single, and after about 20 listens of the album, you can see why.

Get On Your Boots
Fast paced, twists & turns, almost like a mixed bags of lollies, the songs goes in all different directions, which surely could put alot of people off, i quite like it, is also U2's fastest ever song. but as mentioned with Crazy Tonight, one of the weaker songs.

Stand Up Comedy
70's styled riff's, The Edge has been listening to Zeppelin, will hit the live stage full on, has a similar energy to Bullet The Blue Sky, a more simple track, full of cliches, the best line from Bono - "be careful of small men with big ideas", was obviously talking about himself!

Fez / Being Born
2 Songs here, Fez is an Eno inspired piece, not a real song, just sounds, with a few "let me in the sound" samples taken from Boots, kind of fits though, Being Born is very Unforgettable Fire, there is no real structure to it, and thats the real beauty to it, definatly won't be played live or be released as a single, but one of the greater moments on the album no doubt.

White As Snow
Ballad time again, and i thought U2 could only have one slow masterpiece per album, here they have 2, this along with Surrender, this is a folk song, Bono's voice again shines, thoughout the album he sounds like he's 25 again.

Breathe
YEAH BABY, this rocks, my favourite on the album, Bono in almost rap like in the verses, crank this one up to 11, it needs to be.

Cedars Of Lebanon
The perfect ending, fits in the same category as Wake Up Dead Man, Mothers Of The Disappeared & Love Is Blindness.

I didn't want to review this just after one listen, i wanted to give it a bit of time to digest properly, we won't really know how this stands up for a few years at least, but right now it's sitting on that top shelp with The Joshua Tree & Achtung Baby!!!!!!

[LostDoggy]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

Ugghh U2

[mighty_west]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

Ugghh U2

Read it and weap my friend, 33 years on and STILL the biggest band in the world! [and still at the top of their game]

[LostDoggy]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

Read it and weap my friend, 33 years on and STILL the biggest band in the world! [and still at the top of their game]

sorry for me U2 was good up until Joshua Tree and after that have been going downhill even since with bad then worse albums. The last album was terrible, just follow the formula of the time, nothing new, nothing ground breaking and not even in top of the genre.
Meanwhile Bono has become a bigger pompous twit. 'Save the whales' and 'make poverty history' while I cash in

[mighty_west]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

sorry for me U2 was good up until Joshua Tree and after that have been going downhill even since with bad then worse albums. The last album was terrible, just follow the formula of the time, nothing new, nothing ground breaking and not even in top of the genre.
Meanwhile Bono has become a bigger pompous twit. 'Save the whales' and 'make poverty history' while I cash in

It always makes me laugh when people "bag" Bono for wanting to make a difference, to put in with his own money, own time etc, for making thse things public where's we live in a world today where people just don't give a toss, and thats sad.

BTW, out of interest, what was your favourite track on Atomic Bomb and why?

This new record may just suprise you though, my 2 all time favourite U2 records are Joshua Tree & Unforgattble Fire, Horizon really gets back to that feeling, it's a quality album, give it a chance for making judgments.

[azabob]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

Read it and weap my friend, 33 years on and STILL the biggest band in the world! [and still at the top of their game]

Hmmm, maybe the biggest, but quite possibly one of the more overated bands going....

[Mofra]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

Meanwhile Bono has become a bigger pompous twit. 'Save the whales' and 'make poverty history' while I cash in

Whilst claiming all his earnings under the Irish artists bill, therefore paying no tax (by all account his tax savings more than cover any donations & charity work he has participated in).


... 33 years on, still the world's biggest hypocrite.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

BTW, out of interest, what was your favourite track on Atomic Bomb and why?

Favourite track? None.
I hear the single in parts mainly from the TV ads, go to any beer barn and the covers band has it on their repeture. Its terrible.

This new record may just suprise you though, my 2 all time favourite U2 records are Joshua Tree & Unforgattble Fire, Horizon really gets back to that feeling, it's a quality album, give it a chance for making judgments.

There is no way its up to the 2 80s albums, its 20 years on and they aren't the same people or band anymore.
U2 needed to take a leaf from Radiohead's book or be like the Rolling Stones and just play their classics.

[mighty_west]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

Favourite track? None.
I hear the single in parts mainly from the TV ads, go to any beer barn and the covers band has it on their repeture. Its terrible.


.

Didn't think so..

I love how people can judge without listening.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

Bono backwards spells O Nob

[LostDoggy]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

Didn't think so..

I love how people can judge without listening.

You hear part of a song, you know its crap.

[mighty_west]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

Bono backwards spells O Nob

Thats a ripper, did you notice the poster on the wall..

[mighty_west]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

You hear part of a song, you know its crap.

Oh yeah, how silly of me....LMAO

[mighty_west]

Re: Recent CDs bought & your reviews

Hmmm, maybe the biggest, but quite possibly one of the more overated bands going....

Oasis have that same effect on me, Beatles rip off's.