I listened to the iTunes clips when I woke up this morning. I know it's not the same, but listening to the clips made me excited about picking it up (something I'll probably do within the next week. It's all about the money). I probably shouldn't comment on the eclectic-ness of it, since I haven't listened to any of the songs in full (except the Sexy Boots song), but I really liked what I heard.

At least one member of the Bill Clan digs U2.

At least one member of the Bill Clan digs U2.

The apple has fallen far from the tree.

Like all U2 releases, this one isn't immediately accessible to me. I think that's part of what makes them great (I can dig in and there's always new things to get excited about). I do like it upon one listen though.

I haven't bought it yet, but I've kept it looping in my headphones from their website for about a weak now while I'm working. I really like it.

- U2 sang "Breathe" on Letterman last night. It made me wonder if that's the next single...I like it, but its far from my favorite on the album. It always bugs me when U2 plays a song with a lot of piano live (like "Breathe") - there was no piano on the stage, so you can tell the piano is being piped in artificially.

- Favorite songs on the album:
"Magnificent" - it feels "big"/classic U2
and is rich in Christian themes
"Moment of Surrender" - agree with Bird's comments on it
"Unknown Caller" - best "hook" of any of the songs - its the sleeper song on the album for me - best chance of being one of those unsung U2 cult hits like "One Tree Hill"
"White as Snow" - you can't miss the references to Christ in this one....it will be unappreciated in much the same way "Grace" is.......interesting thing about "White as Snow" - it has this full-brass instrumental bridge in it that is really beautiful, but its way too short, I want
more of the brass.

NHE,

You've got more experience with the album than I do, so it's good to get your thoughts.

I'll say this, I also love the title track. It starts out the whole record in very un-U2 sounding way, but it's a good deviation I think.

They've already announced that they will release a companion album to NLOTH by the end of 2009, and I'd bet it'll be a similar sound. I think their sound has once again evolved. I feel like their first three albums had a distinct early U2 sound; they sort of matured when they released The Unforgettable Fire and continued with that sound, I believe, through Rattle & Hum. Then came the 90s and the three albums from the 90s definitely had their own distinct sound to them. Finally the early 2000s rolled around and they released two similar sounding albums in ATYCLB and HTDAAB. Now I believe we're in a new era. It's a fresh change. A good change.

One note. I was struggling with whether to buy the physical disc or go the iTunes or Amazon MP3 route (Amazon MP3 had it for $3.99 yesterday only). The only local record store we have in town is Wal-Mart and they had the "regular" CD (no deluxe versions) for $14 so i passed on that and went the iTunes route for $18 and the deluxe version with PDF of the album booklet plus the special magazine in PDF too. I also got a download of the Corbijn film that had been touted as part of the deluxe version. Looking back on it, I should've bought the album on Amazon for $3.99 because while the magazine has some cool photos, the film is an hour of nonsense (oh sure, there's a story but I thought it would be a more making of the album kind of thing and the movie is DEFINITELY not worth all the extra money I spent. Live and learn, I guess.

I got the regular ol' 9.99 version on iTunes, mainly b/c I already had $13 in credit on my account. :-)

I streamed it off MySpace last week and wasn't too taken by it. Of course I didn't tell anyone, lest I be blasted for not immediately recognizing its greatness.
In fact, my favorite track was "Get On Your Boots," the one everyone was saying only the unsophisticated liked best.

I watched U2 perform "Breathe" on Letterman via YouTube and it was awesome. There's something about seeing/hearing live that is a catalyst for me with some bands and some albums.

Listened to the album 3-4 times late last night while working on some projects and enjoyed it more each listen.
But what I really need to do is find time to just listen to it while doing nothing else. But I don't know when the last time was that I just sat and listened to an album start to finish without doing anything else. Maybe in the car?

I debated whether or not to get a hard copy CD or to download via iTunes. Obviously I chose the CD route and I'm glad I did. On the other hand, if I had known about the Amazon offering I would have likely gone that route.

Like Jared, I'm liking the album more and more with each listen. "Moment of Surrender" is really starting to emerge in my mind as a great, majestic, and powerful song.

I bought the album last night via iTunes.

"No Line on the Horizon", "Magnificent", and "Moment of Surrender" make for a really cool opening trifecta. It's been hard for me to move further into the album, because I like the opening three so much. I'll try again today.

I bought the 9.99 version from iTunes -- I'd debated on the deluxe version, but from comments above I'm glad I stuck with the regular version.

I, too, like this album more with each listening. "Unknown Caller" was one I didn't like much the first time I heard it, but it grows on you. But I think my favorite song so far is "Breathe." It's got a big sound that I love. "Moment of Surrender" really stays with me, too.

Is it my imagination or does this album show off the guitar a little more than recent albums? Or maybe I'm just appreciating the Edge more, but his guitar work stands out to me on this album. (There are some other interesting instrumental mixes throughout, too.)

Andrew's comment raised an interesting question in my mind. When you guys listen to a new album for the first time, do you really try to hear it all the way through at first or do you focus on a few songs at a time? I tend to like the idea of an album being one complete work of art and enjoying it as such on the initial listen. However, in the age of ipods, I have to admit that this is becoming more of a rare occurrence for me. There are only a few artists I do that with now (e.g. U2, Radiohead, Coldplay), while most other albums I just skip through or focus on a few songs at a time. Thoughts?

Sha,

When you hooked me up with Viva La Vida a couple of weeks ago I just skimmed through each song at first, trying to get a feel for how each song sounded. I didn't care much about Coldplay at that point (now I do, obviously). With this U2 album, though, I made it a point to listen to the whole thing without skipping at least a couple of times.

I wanted to avoid what Andrew alluded to earlier, which I call Joshua Tree Syndrome. If the first three songs or so of an album are awesome, it makes it hard for me to get into the rest of the album because I spend so much time listening to the first three. I still think I may develop Joshua Tree Syndrome on this album, simply because the first three songs are amazing. And even the fourth song, "Unknown Caller," is pretty solid.

If you do that first three song thing with Joshua Tree, you'd miss One Tree Hill.......which would be sad.........Unknown Caller is quickly becoming my favorite on the album......funny though - almost every online critique of the album has liked the sound of "Unknown Caller" but has hated the lyrics. Apparently the whole "reboot yourself" thing isn't going over very well......but I like it - its a song about God trying to get the attention of someone lost in the have it now culture and all of its gadgets.

To Sha's question, I have to admit that I'm not smart enough to listen to an album all the way through and be able to pick up on themes and connections that would enable me to view the album as a work of art as a whole. I know its supposed to be easy to do that with "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Abbey Road" and others, but I've never appreciated an album that way. I usually have a few favorites initially and a few others that grow on me over time (if its a "good" album).

I love the "Force quit, move to trash" line!

Bird ... now I just gotta convert you to Radiohead's "In Rainbows" and my mission would be complete! That one may be a tougher task though! There are no easy pop songs on that album for you to digest! Ha! ;)

"stop helping God across the road, like a little old lady."

The Beatles new release, Revolver is pretty good.

"White as Snow" makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. In a good way. Anyone catch the hymn that the melody references?

"Moment of Surrender" and "Magnificent" are pretty great, too. "Breathe" is growing on me, but I keep thinking of Bono's turn as Dr. Robert in "Across the Universe" whenever I listen to that one.

I just gotta convert you to Radiohead's "In Rainbows"

It's on my to do list.

"stop helping God across the road, like a little old lady."

I was born to sing for you.

The Beatles new release, Revolver is pretty good.

Where are you in the Cedars of Lebanon?

Manders: Yeah, I noticed that White As Snow pretty blatantly takes the melody from "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." After singing that one a million times recording it and at church at Christmas, the melody immediately produced a "what the ..." moment for me the first time I heard White As Snow.