NLOTH in the bargain bins :(

[morgan1098]

If anyone is in the US (or Canada?) and has access to a Walgreens drug store, I have seen copies of No Line on the Horizon there for $5.99.  Interestingly, they have both the EU version in a super jewel case, and the US digipak deluxe version (with the plastic outer sleeve, the poster, and the expanded booklet).  But they don't have the standard US version.  Anyway, if you're interested in some of these other packaging formats, they're out there for cheap.

Sad to see such a great album sitting in the bargain bins, but such is the state of the music industry today...

[Brad]

 

[santiago2u]

::: Sometimes I see the mex release also in walmart-like stores, and I gets me mad.

I blame Bono for choose GOYB as a 1st single for the album. As I hear the entire album, this song and crazy tonight, somehow seem to be the 2 songs that do not fit on the album secuence. That spot should've been fit by "winter" and "Mercy". When In shuffle play both songs came to my ears, I hit the "next song" button.

[Aaron]

I really have difficulty understanding this.  It's honestly become one of my favorite albums.  The only song that drives me to skip is "White as Snow" which I think would have been a much better place for the original version of "Winter".

It hurts knowing that this was originally supposed to be a double album. Then they second guessed things and carved half of it away to become "Songs of Ascent".  Now with the reception to NLOTH I expect we'll never hear the second part as it was meant to be.  The original version of "Winter" I loved, the over processed and over reworked version on the soundtrack not so much.  I really would love to hear that original album as a two parter..."Kingdom/Soon", "Every Breaking Wave", "Winter", "Mercy" all the bits we've heard I've loved.

Had sales been better I think we'd have gotten part two right away. 

Sadly, now magazines like Rolling Stone and Billboard are looking back and using "NLOTH" as the high water mark for sales.  No rock album released since "NLOTH" has sold as well.  Coldplay came close but even they missed the mark...it's a new reality of lower sales for all...If "NLOTH" was released today with those sales it would have been heralded as a success and the biggest selling rock album in 4 years!  It's all in the perception of how it did, and in 2009 those same numbers probably looked a bit craptastic. 

[miryclay]

The NLOTH haters are all wrong. It is a great album that is sprawling. It has that classic expansive feeling that TJT also has. I think we can all agree that the album format is not really applicable anymore so whateves. 

I also agree with Santiago that the sequencing is wrong. For some reason the songs just didn't line up the way they should/could have.

Maybe u2 will release those tracks in the future like a 'Waiting for the Sirens Call'/'Lost Sirens' situation.

[dagobah]

This post is related to the album No Line On The Horizon rather than the topic of it being in the bargain bins.  I don't think it's necessary to start a whole new thread for this post.  I figured I would post in this thread because the other posts in this thread give praise to No Line On The Horizon.  Here's my post:

I just added the Plays category to the View Options in my iTunes library so that iTunes will show the number of times a track has been played.  Of course, this does not count the number of times my different iPods have played the track while I was listening to them.

Here is why I am posting today.  I noticed the following tracks in my top 6 of the most times played (top 6 of all of the 5,739 tracks in my iTunes library):
Cedars Of Lebanon   83 times   (#1)
Moment Of Surrender   75 times   (#3)
Unknown Caller   70 times   (#6)

For me, it is an interesting bit of info and I thought I would share it with the forum members who check-in to this forum every now and then.  Note:  I bought several versions of No Line On The Horizon when it was released.  The tracks from that album that are in my iTunes library came from the iTunes Store (when I purchased it on March 2, 2009).

I am going to assume that a huge thing that affected these results is . . . . . . . . last week I deleted (from my iTunes library) the album tracks from Boy, October, War, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, and Zooropa because they were 128 kbps (due to the iTunes U2 digital box set I acquired them from).  Also, last week, I re-imported those tracks from the remastered CDs that came with the re-releases of those albums so that my iTunes library would have them as 256 kbps (VBR).  And yes, I realize that the Achtung Baby and Zooropa re-release CDs were not remastered, but re-importing them still changed the tracks from 128 kbps to 256 kbps (VBR).  Thus, all these re-imported tracks have now been played zero times in my iTunes library, which is actually kind of funny.   

Right now, as I write this post, my iTunes library still has the album tracks from Rattle And Hum, Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1, Pop, The Million Dollar Hotel Soundtrack, All That You Can't Leave Behind, and How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb that came with the iTunes U2 digital box set.  So this week, I will re-import those CDs because it will change the album tracks from 128 kbps to 256 kbps (VBR).

I will be honest . . . . . I am not sure if I can tell the difference between 128 kbps and 256 kbps (VBR).  I really haven't tried yet.  I use basic $10 Sony ear buds, but they are attached to custom-made ear pieces . . . . . just like a hearing aid.  I had the custom-made ear pieces designed and manufactured at an ear doctor office about 10 years ago.  Whatever sound comes from the Sony ear buds is concentrated into a small tunnel in the custom-made ear piece.  I suspect this prevents quite a bit of the outside noise from competing with the sound of the music.  Having said that, the music is still only coming from $10 Sony ear buds.  It's possible I might easily be able to tell the difference between 128 kbps and 256 kbps (VBR) if I used certain $200 earphones or $500 earphones.