The U2 Post: No Line On The Horizon, and More

Last Tuesday I got my copy of U2’s new album, No Line On The Horizon (get it at Amazon for only $9.99!). I wanted to digest it for a few days before expressing my thoughts, as I usually need a few listens of a new album to form a solid opinion. Well, that’s done and done, and you can read what I have to say below. After that, some other cool news about their next album which may be out sooner than you think!

No Line On The Horizon Review

I read somewhere that No Line On The Horizon may be the most experimental U2 album since Achtung Baby, but that is far from the truth (need I remind you of Original Soundtracks 1?)

Rather, Horizon feels like a quintessential U2 album, if you ask me. As a whole, it rocks a little harder, and is a little grungier than the last two albums, but the album is a natural evolution of the band’s sound at this point in their catalogue. You can hear bits of The Unforgettable Fire and even Achtung Baby, and even more so some of their latest tracks on All That You Can’t Leave Behind and How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - tracks like “Vertigo” and “Love and Peace or Else” more so than the soaring anthems of “Miracle Drug” or “City of Blinding Lights”.

You can clearly hear the strain in Bono’s voice as he stretches it to the limit. This is intentional, I think, and not the byproduct of age. His voice mirrors the grinding distortion of Edge’s guitar, and the slightly out-of-sync/live-recording-esque multi-track vocals on songs like “Unknown Caller” and “Moment of Surrender”. The whole album sounds raw in a way that U2 has not sounded of late.

Overall, I love the album. I don’t feel the need to skip any of the tracks, and I expect it will age well. It shows off the many aspects of U2 that they have proven to be good at over the years, and though it may have a unique sound, it is clearly built upon those earlier albums, combining and perfecting what came before. In the future, I think I will look back an consider this one of their very best – as I said before, it is quintessential U2 – but I’ll be interested to see how it fairs in the opinions of others over the long term. They certainly have been marketing the heck out of it.

Track-by-Track Breakdown

Below are some of my thoughts on the individual tracks. Nothing revelatory here, just some impressions.

1. No Line On The Horizon
   This title track might be my favorite. Good energy with the guitar and drums, and Bono’s voice switches between the desperate, scratching shout that he does so well and the more refined voice during the chorus. It also introduces the listener to the first of many “Oh Oh Oh” moments in this song, and throughout the album.
2. Magnificent
   This is the most soaring and joyous song on the album. I can see it being the biggest hit, though it is not necessarily my favorite. Very Achtung in it’s blending of human and divine love.
3. Moment of Surrender
   A prominent, looping bass line from Adam, and a nice little guitar solo by Edge in the second half. This is a cool song. Kind of reminds me of Rattle and Hum. Oddly, I remember not liking this song when streaming the album from U2’s myspace page, but I cannot now recall why I felt that way.
4. Unknown Caller
   I can’t help loving this song. The lyrics are kind of ridiculous, sprinkled with little gems like, “Force quit and move to trash”, “Restart and re-boot yourself”, and “Password, you enter here, right now”. But you have to admire them for trying to incorporate such mundane computer-speak into the rock music lexicon. Supposedly, the idea is that the narrator’s phone starts speaking to him. I just like the staccato vocals, and the continued use of “oh’s”.
5. I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
   I guess this would be the second most joyous pop song behind “Magnificent”. I actually like this one better. Throughout the album Bono seems aware of how some people think he should stick to music and forget the politics, but he both defends and humbles himself with lines like, “The right to be ridiculous is something I hold dear.”
6. Get On Your Boots
   Comparisons with “Vertigo” are appropriate, but this tune is lighter and more fun. 
7. Stand Up Comedy
   Once you get past the title, this song is about humility, love, God, and change, as is much of the album, which isn’t so shocking for U2. It is upbeat and kinda does make you want to stand up. I dig Bono’s nasally “C’mon ye people / Stand up for your love” (reminds me of his Moulin Rouge track, or “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”), and again with the humility: “Stand up to rock stars”, whatever that means.
8. Fez-Being Born
   Starts off sounding like something from Zooropa, but that’s not as bad as people may think. After the instrumental intro, it picks up. Not sure what’s going on, but I like it.
9. White As Snow
   A more deliberately paced song, which benefits the album which is mostly louder and faster paced. Good lyrics.
10. Breath
     Another one of my favorites from this album. The words really roll out of Bono’s mouth. Again, reminded of the blues inspired Rattle and Hum. I really love this one.
11. Cedars of Lebanon
    Another quite track. Sounds like something from the Achtung-Zooropa-Pop era.

U2’s Next Album To Arrive By The End Of The Year?

Yep. At  least that is what they are saying. Rolling Stone quotes Bono as saying the next album is “a sister release to No Line on the Horizon, a Zooropa to its Achtung Baby”, and it just might be here by the end of the year. Titled Songs of Ascent (yes, it already has a title), they have even decided on the first single, “Every Breaking Wave”, which was cut from Horizon at the last minute.

Bono goes on to say, “We’re making a kind of heartbreaker, a meditative, reflective piece of work, but not indulgent…It will all have a clear mood, like Kind of Blue. Or A Love Supreme would be a point of reference, for the space it occupies in people’s lives, which is to say, with that album, I almost take my shoes off to listen to it.” Sounds like it may not be a chart topper, though he certainly is making some lofty comparisons.

Still, I’m sure looking forward to hearing this album. They reportedly wrote fifty to sixty tracks during the Horizon recording sessions. But I would be surprised if they actually release it this year, even if it is a “meditative…piece of work”. That would just be a lot of U2 in one year.