Artist: U2
Album: No Line On The Horizon
Year: 2009
Grade: 3.5 pretzels
What with Bono’s intense activism and soapbox preaching in recent years, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to remember why we listen to anything he has to say. But there was a time, not so long ago, that he was just a rock star, not a spokesman for world peace. Bono as a musician tends to get eclipsed by Bono the Nobel Peace Prize nominee. It’s about time a new album returned Bono (not to mention the three poor guys in U2 not named Bono) to his rightful place as one of the biggest rock gods of the past thirty years.
Now, is No Line On The Horizon that album? That’s a complicated question. U2 have shifted around a lot since the 80s, with each new incarnation winning critical applauds and devoted fans. However, U2 fans can’t always agree on what they want from their albums. Some want a return to the downbeat, mercurial guitar riffing of their earliest material. Some want the epic, widescreen drama of The Joshua Tree or 2004’s Grammy smash, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. A mercifully select few want more of whatever the hell U2 recorded in the mid-90s. Everyone wants something different from U2.
No Line On The Horizon sounds like it knows that, since they dabble in (roughly) eighty million styles over the course of its eleven tracks. Fans of the early stuff get the title track and “Fez – Being Born”. Fans of solid, faux-Zeppelin riffage get “Stand Up Comedy” and “Get On Your Boots”. “Magnificent” is aimed solidly at everyone who ever bought The Joshua Tree. And those nutjobs who want the 90s stuff? Well…let’s just be glad U2 ignored them this time around. A few crazy fans notwithstanding, the album is a grab bag of everything people want from U2, carefully crafted to appeal to the vast ranks of U2 fans across the world. Is this a bit manipulative? Yes. Does it work? Absolutely.
On this album, U2 sound excited for the first time in a decade. Not unlike R.E.M.’s Accelerate last year, this album shows an ancient dinosaur band of the 80s feeling artistically reinvigorated by current events. No matter how many Grammys it ran away with, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb sounded flat and snooze-worthy once you got over the handful of classic singles. No Line On The Horizon starts strong and finishes strong, only losing its momentum on two over-long tracks near the beginning. There’s an interesting Middle Eastern vibe running through the album, probably thanks to their choice of recording in Morocco. The trifecta of superhuman producers U2 has worked with over the years (Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Steve Lillywhite) were all present on this record, making this seem even more like a greatest hits reunion. When the album gets all the cylinders firing (“Breathe”, “Magnificent”), the results can go toe to toe with the very best U2 has recorded.
The album isn’t perfect (I’m looking at you, Rolling Stone magazine, with your five-star review). The aforementioned long tracks pull the album through molasses when it should be soaring above everything else. Strangely, the lead single, “Get On Your Boots”, seems like one of the weakest tracks on the album. Bono’s lyricism is as awkward as it’s always been, favoring poetic-but-meaningless phrases like “my pulse is fine when I’m running down the road.” But hearing U2 sound alive and loud is worth it. No Line On The Horizon is a consolidation of the band’s greatest strengths, culminating in their strongest album in twenty years.
Now, is No Line On The Horizon that album? That’s a complicated question. U2 have shifted around a lot since the 80s, with each new incarnation winning critical applauds and devoted fans. However, U2 fans can’t always agree on what they want from their albums. Some want a return to the downbeat, mercurial guitar riffing of their earliest material. Some want the epic, widescreen drama of The Joshua Tree or 2004’s Grammy smash, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. A mercifully select few want more of whatever the hell U2 recorded in the mid-90s. Everyone wants something different from U2.
No Line On The Horizon sounds like it knows that, since they dabble in (roughly) eighty million styles over the course of its eleven tracks. Fans of the early stuff get the title track and “Fez – Being Born”. Fans of solid, faux-Zeppelin riffage get “Stand Up Comedy” and “Get On Your Boots”. “Magnificent” is aimed solidly at everyone who ever bought The Joshua Tree. And those nutjobs who want the 90s stuff? Well…let’s just be glad U2 ignored them this time around. A few crazy fans notwithstanding, the album is a grab bag of everything people want from U2, carefully crafted to appeal to the vast ranks of U2 fans across the world. Is this a bit manipulative? Yes. Does it work? Absolutely.
On this album, U2 sound excited for the first time in a decade. Not unlike R.E.M.’s Accelerate last year, this album shows an ancient dinosaur band of the 80s feeling artistically reinvigorated by current events. No matter how many Grammys it ran away with, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb sounded flat and snooze-worthy once you got over the handful of classic singles. No Line On The Horizon starts strong and finishes strong, only losing its momentum on two over-long tracks near the beginning. There’s an interesting Middle Eastern vibe running through the album, probably thanks to their choice of recording in Morocco. The trifecta of superhuman producers U2 has worked with over the years (Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Steve Lillywhite) were all present on this record, making this seem even more like a greatest hits reunion. When the album gets all the cylinders firing (“Breathe”, “Magnificent”), the results can go toe to toe with the very best U2 has recorded.
The album isn’t perfect (I’m looking at you, Rolling Stone magazine, with your five-star review). The aforementioned long tracks pull the album through molasses when it should be soaring above everything else. Strangely, the lead single, “Get On Your Boots”, seems like one of the weakest tracks on the album. Bono’s lyricism is as awkward as it’s always been, favoring poetic-but-meaningless phrases like “my pulse is fine when I’m running down the road.” But hearing U2 sound alive and loud is worth it. No Line On The Horizon is a consolidation of the band’s greatest strengths, culminating in their strongest album in twenty years.
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