No Line On The Horizon - U2 Album

On Tuesday I got up early and dropped by Target on my way to work and purchased the new U2 album No Line On The Horizon. Frankly as I had previously mentioned I was not all that thrilled with the first single Get On Your Boots, in fact I even expressed disappointment.

Having listened to the new album multiple times I am pleased to report that No Line On The Horizon is outstanding.

Any misgivings or concerns I had about the album are already gone. I'm not crazy about all the songs, but there are enough incredible tracks to keep you going back for more. As always the live performances are a joy to behold. Thankfully the biggest band in the world have been on a publicity tour from hell this week which included a mini concert on the roof of the BBC Radio One building in London, a week long stint on Letterman, and a mini concert and interview on Good Morning America last Friday.

For me seeing the performances live only increased my enjoyment of the album. I'm not much of a music expert, and don't normally get into detailed reviews of albums. In fact this may be a first here, but I am going run through all the tracks on the album right here:

1. No Line On The Horizon. For some reason the beginning reminds me of the song that is playing in Silence of The Lambs, when psycho boy is sewing his lady suit. It's a classic U2 anthem and beautifully constructed.
2. Magnificent. I guess it would be a little lazy to describe this song as magnificent, but then fuck it, it's not like I get paid for this shit! The track starts slow but has one of those signature bass and drum beats that relentlessly pushes the song forward with the anticipation of Bono letting loose at some point. The anticipation is rewarded with another gorgeous track.
3. Moment of Surrender. We slow tempo here for a softer song than the first too. I'm not sure I like the lyrics all that much but the chorus is musically attractive. It sounds exactly like the kind of song you'd hear at the end credits of a movie. While I'd be happy to here this song as I walked out of the movie theater, it would only be because I would be walking towards my car out of earshot of this song by the time the boring second half of the song trundles along. Nerds will probably be annoyed by the redundancy of the lyric 'ATM Machine.' People will generally probably dislike the fact that the song is over 7 minutes long.
   
4. Unknown Caller. If you were waiting for some redemption after the previous song, this is unlikely to do it for you. It just sucks, and I can't think of anything good to say about it. Like an unknown caller, this one is probably best screened out.
   
5. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight. Just as the album is beginning to turn you off U2 pull it back with this gem. It's all good. Cool lyrics, great musical elements all around. It has all the elements that for me constitute a great U2 song, and it sounds wonderful live. This one is just such a fun musical journey that takes you to track six.
   
6. Get On Your Boots. The first single from the album is a grower. I was certainly not impressed when I first heard it, but it sneaks up on you and before you know it you love it. Again works wonderfully live. The chord changes are a joy, and it's just a good Vertigo kind of song.
   
7. Stand Up Comedy. I wouldn't really call this a standout track, but it is good enough. Most bands would be happy with a song like this. For me I would hope for just a little more from U2. It's not like it misses the mark, and I think it is a bit of a grower like the previous track. There are certainly some interesting elements that keep it interesting.
   
8. FEZ-Being Born. This one seems to have a lot of echos of old school U2, near the start of their career. Plenty of dramatic yelling and a little self importance. But it is certainly a good one.
   
9. White As Snow. Time for a slow down again. A fairly stripped down song, with some beautiful elements. Not the kind of thing that you'd ever expect to hear as a single, but a perfectly enjoyable slow background song that's probably worth a few listens to understand the story being told.
   
10. Breath. Back with a bold loud faster sound here. It's no City of Blinding Lights or Beautiful Day, but it's certainly another great song.
    
11. Cedars Of Lebanon. The final song on the album is slow uncomplicated affair which for some reason reminds me of some of the slower Dire Straits songs. It's a good B side or end of album cool down song. Bono gives some parting words of advice and the album is done. Unless of course you paid extra for bonus tracks and other incentives to give U2 more money. I didn't so for me the journey ends here.

So the final score is that there are five excellent tracks, five reasonable tracks and one that I think is shit.

If I feed that information into a secret and complicated formula I believe I would give this album a 92.314% rating, or an A- on the scale I just made up.

Of the last three albums, I think it may be fractionally worse than the other two. But that is no insult, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and All That You Can't Leave Behind were masterpieces. Between the three albums though you have almost a decade of absolutely incredible music from a band that is almost old enough to be your daddy.

To see this level of passion and enthusiasm from a band that could just sit back and count their piles of money is quite something. It is easy to see why they are the biggest band in the world.

Update: Yeah, I was too harsh about track four. It includes the lyric, 'I drove to the scene of the accident, and sat there waiting for me.' For that lyric alone it cannot be considered shit. So with that revision in place I am going to up the album rating to 96.128% on my meaningless scale. Probably still an A- though.