Oh yeah, the poll gets immediate nibbles. But the cerebral activity...sure let me do all the work.

I'm a mod so I get to rest and read these interesting comments here.   This is a rather nice discussion. It is quiet frankly a breath of fresh air. If you really want to work Stoker, I'll let you try to moderate these boards for a week !     

What a thing to say! Hah! What you think I want to figure this album out all on my own? I think I've made more than the half the posts in the thread. That's kinda of sad. I was expecting more of a turn out. I would literally pay for quality criticism on the albums I love. And I have. I just find it done so rarely and rarely ever done well. I'm not a critic by profession, but I've haven't seen very much written about NLOTH anywhere. And I'm sick to my gills reading comments about Bono's lack of songwriting skill. Really, a lecture in decorum is long overdue for some bigmouthed people.

If I were moderator for week, threads and posts would be disappearing like planes over the Bermuda triangle. I'm all for censorship.

Oh, by the way, I love you all.

Thnaks for sherin

Honestly guys, I think we can be pretty proud of what we have unearthed so far, there is still more hiding though. And by the way, I understand your criticism of my siren idea, and I could defend my position pretty well right now, but I don't think it would get us anywhere in much of a forward direction.

Great thread.  I love the album quite a bit.  To me (highly, highly subjectively), NLOTH is about three things:

1) The world’s a pretty fu&*ed up and scary place sometimes.  But you’ve just got to go out into this big scary world with arms out, accepting whatever path lies ahead, and just try to get out there with the other people and do the best you can.  Sometimes, you may feel self-conscious and a bit frightened and you may think people are judging and gawking at you or whatever; but really in the end, they don’t really notice you because they’ve got their own issues going on.
2) There’s always redemption for you.  Sometimes you just need the right moment and the need and willingness to recognize the right signs.  Whether it’s a desperate moment where you see your own reflection and don’t recognize what you’ve become, or a time when you start seeing odd things going on that seem to add up to something you can’t quite pinpoint, or whatever.  It’s never too late to change your path and improve thyself. 
3) This ties in with #1, but I really get this from the album: there’s a sheer power of life thing going on that we just don’t often notice.  I get this feeling when listening to the album late at night after a few glasses of wine or whatnot.  There’s almost this power that surrounds us and it almost buzzes (or maybe the buzzing is just my tired wine-filled head!).  Regardless, from this album I get a sense of the sheer enormity of all.  All these people and birds and animals and life on this planet each doing their own thing; all the life that came before, all life that comes after this time, and quite possibly all the life we don’t even know about elsewhere (there’s more stars in the sky than grains of sand on the earth).  I can’t quite describe it, and this is more of a feeling I get from the album than actual literal lyrical reference, but I get this on every song in one form or another on the album.  I only get this vibe from this album.   

Whew!  Enough thinking inside my head!  That’s just my highly subjective opinion.  Anyone can feel free to rip it apart and I won’t give a f*#k, because it’s just my opinion and I couldn’t really argue for it or against it in a way that would hold up in a court of law or anything.  Just thought I’d pipe in on an interesting thread.     

Oh, by the way, I love you all.

Thnaks for sherin

Actually Stoker there have been so many rude and obnoxious threads on No Line. This is really a refreshing one to see. I am actually pleasantly surprised you got the intelligent responses you did. I mean I know we have many members with great things to say but lately it has just been a war zone is some threads. I am happy to see forum members who are here for the right reason (& that does not always mean agreeing) posting in this thread!

I would love to contribute but I have nothing to say yet. I'll get back to ya

EDIT: Lyrics in GOYB:

"I got a submarine, you got gasoline, I dont wanna talk about wars between the nations"

I see this as written from the viewpoint of a US citizen, and the war in the middle east. the US has superior technology (submarine) but the middle east has what we want (gasoline). then the person says he doesnt wanna talk about it, which makes me think boots is all about having a good time in the midst of bad things happening, not worrying (or caring?) about serious things that are going on nowadays. "rockets hit the fun fair, satan loves a bomb scare but it wont scare you" etc

Hey Vox,

If anyone's gonna rip your post apart, they're gonna have to go through me first! Emotional words, at least that's how I read them. Thanks for givin a flunk. I think your review says more about you than it does about the album, but that made it interesting in its own right. The illustrated the experience of listening to the album poetically without being overtly poetic. Nice! You gotta show me how to do that sometime. Love the honesty. More stars than sand, huh? Your feeling something about the album that many other people aren't. I'm curious as to why. If you get a chance can you list some of your likes/dislikes about, oh, I don't know, anything and everything, really. If you don't, that's cool too. It's odd when people aren't being cynical, ain't it. Or sarcastic or tough. You a catch an oblique view of their profile for a sec or two.

See you around.

Stoker.

I think that Fez through Cedars is a drastic change from the other parts in the album, whats it purpose, do the songs relate?

i have to think on that...

There's a part of me (let's call that part Giles) that desires to raise NLOTH to the top of the U2 pantheon, mostly because there's another part of me that fears something fierce (let's call that part Bram): I'm afraid that NLOTH is not a coherant album musically. Therefore I go deep-sea diving to unearth some unearthly treasure. If I don't come back from the abyss, remember me, and remember me fondly. (Weeps in memory of himself.)

What does the title No Line on the Horizon even mean to you all?

There's a part of me (let's call that part Giles) that desires to raise NLOTH to the top of the U2 pantheon, mostly because there's another part of me that fears something fierce (let's call that part Bram): I'm afraid that NLOTH is not a coherant album musically. Therefore I go deep-sea diving to unearth some unearthly treasure. If I don't come back from the abyss, remember me, and remember me fondly. (Weeps in memory of himself.)

What does the title No Line on the Horizon even mean to you all?

No Line on the Horizon-i think it means the beginning of a new era, no one knows what will happen

There are three potential starting points for this album and maybe the same amount of closers. Lets adhere to the beginning: There's "NLOTH", "BOOTS", and "FEZ-Being Born". "Boots" is the commercial album introduction. The last time the band attempted a similar gambit was with "Numb" from Zooropa and "The Fly" from Achtung Baby. "NLOTH" is the album's linear introduction, in the sense that it comes first on the alum, while "Fez" is the literal introduction to the album. I know these terms are muddled and may confuse, but I'll resist the temptation to jettison them, at least until we regain some of the steam we've lost. The previous three albums led off with the commercial single. So what's changed now? Achtung had two entry points: "The Fly" and "Zoo Station". Zooropa had "Numb" and "Zooropa." NLOTH has the aforementioned three because the album three distinct sections. It would have been more comfortable had there been one (ala the first four songs) or even two (Daylight songs vs Darkness songs); instead, we are being challenged and bemused by a tripartite structure. Imagine the album for a moment like a medieval Christian triptych: a middle panel, flanked by two side panels. The panels represent a perfect artistic unity. Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights is a fine example, an ecclesiastical stained glass window is another. Immediately one can detect such a structure. [1-2-3-4] [5-6-7] [8-9-10-11]. What I just depicted is symmetry in action. The numbers represent the songs on the album. Most tend to hear the album this way, as if there are brackets naturally placed between these songs. Try it! I can wait. When you come back, I will complicate things further and then simplify them again. See you all after the commercial break. (Stoker stares out into space. The darkness obscures the stars. But when he closes his eyes he can see them on the inside.)

good points in there...

it seems like Nloth-UC, Boots-SUC, Fez and WAS and Cedars, and Breathe are the sections of the albums

why is Breathe alone, and why is there so many stories/

If there wasn't a difference in their person, why the distinct manifestations? In Classical Greek Mythology the plurality of Gods was dazzling to the imagination. I won't even start with the Hindu pantheon. Why not leave a little breathing space between the Christian Trinity? A little room for character development?

For some ancient Gnostics, Jehovah was the enemy, with Christ being the liberator. And there's a variety of other creative interpretations out there as well. Ancient, modern, you name it. The magpie instinct collects them all.

No, there's a difference in their persons, but they are the same being, or at least that's what mainstream Christianity holds. Alternatively you could describe it this way: They're one, but they're not the same. 

If there wasn't a difference in their person, why the distinct manifestations? In Classical Greek Mythology the plurality of Gods was dazzling to the imagination. I won't even start with the Hindu pantheon. Why not leave a little breathing space between the Christian Trinity? A little room for character development?

For some ancient Gnostics, Jehovah was the enemy, with Christ being the liberator. And there's a variety of other creative interpretations out there as well. Ancient, modern, you name it. The magpie instinct collects them all.

Different aspects to the same God, I can deal with.

As to the meaning of the title, I'm sure this has been said before, but to me it represents infinity, eternity. A blurring between eternal life and this present life on earth. Can we live with one foot in each world? I think that's what Bono's exploring here - the concept of living in both worlds simultaneously overlapping with simply the idea of eternal life. Just my humble thought.

And Stoker, I love your picture of the album using the symmetry of a stained glass window. That is beautiful! Where do you come up with this stuff? I want to hear more. The album does divide along those lines with perfect symmetry to my hearing also. Enjoy the stars on the inside of your eyelids.