U2
No Line on the Horizon
In the last decade, it seems like U2 has been content to simply get bigger instead of better, consoling themselves after the ambitious Pop disaster by repainting aching portraits like "One" again and again with an increasingly larger brush. By the time the Dubliners released How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb in 2004, their attempt to recapture their big-hearted history was weighed down with moments of near-parody: the larger-than-life rock band that poses in the empty air plane hanger, addresses the United Nations, and hocks strident jams like "Beautiful Day" for ESPN B-roll and custom mp3 players. Fans who greeted the rebellious and ambitious Boy some two and a half decades earlier were painfully avoiding the soap-boxing businessman he'd grown into.
And though No Line On The Horizon is neither a bold return to those salad days nor a bold departure for the band, the wealth of great moments make it U2's most lived-in record in a decade. Yeah, there are times when Bono is still addressing his minions in painful cliches and cheesy one-liners ("Stand up for your love!" he demands on the aptly-named "Stand Up Comedy"; "I was born to sing for you," he confesses on, ahem, "Magnificent."). And there are touches of electro-glippity gloppity that probably seemed like a good idea while the band was holed up in a recording studio in Fez, Morocco, and lots of chest pounding grandeur. But there's also something the band has been out of for a long time: subtlety. It sneaks up in a pair of six-minute supertankers, "Unknown Caller" and "Moment of Surrender," and creeps in amongst the surly sing-speak politicizing of "Breathe." The first two have an organic, dramatic arch that shows that these guys can be rousing without being unctuous. The last one, the LP's most biting, reminds us of something we'd nearly forgotten: that U2, at their core, are still a great rock 'n' roll band.
Visit the U2 Survival Guide, a one-stop destination for U2 playlists, radio stations, exclusive galleries and more.
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC.
I'm one of those who started this journey with U2 right from the start from Boy, October, and War.. I grew up in a place 5 minutes from Joshua Tree California, where they found inspiration.
I'm also one of the many that ran screaming and kicking, away from Pop and Zooropa.. Did that stop me from buying No Line On The Horizon? Nope.. I've got it and have listened to each song a number of times today.
Though I'm sad to say it.. I was hoping for much more. Where is the drive? Where is the angst? it must be growing old and in need of a walker.
Sad enough to say that this is the last U2 release that I will buy "songs un-heard". I've been let down too many times by what I've considered some of the best in the business.
Seems to me that it's time for U2 to find their roots and start to speak to us again.
S
I was a bit disappointed with the record, but feel like the shout-outs to the long tunes are spot on. I'm still waiting for a true return to form though, and starting to think I'm waiting in vain.