No Line on the Horizon

I got the new U2 album off of Amazon Mp3 last night, and am about midway through my second listen. Since a few people have already extended inquiries as to what I think about it, I thought I'd post about my reactions to the album so far.

I realized during my lunchtime walk that I am rapidly approaching my second decade as a U2 fan. Now, at the beginning, I was a full-on fanatic. We're talking Jonas-brothers/Twilight levels of obsessive hysteria, more or less. But I've mellowed with age, mostly. What that brief era of teenage crazy provided was the habit of listening to every U2 album closely - to the point where I could recognize a guitar part, or some baselines or effects. (It also led to some arguments with friends, when I insisted that R.E.M. swiped the guitar effect in the chorus of "What's the Frequency, Kenneth" from U2's "Lemon," but that's another argument for another time). I learned how to recognize general themes in their music. When pizanite would send me tapes of different rarities and b-sides, I learned from those, too. (You can see exactly what songs on Achtung Baby came out of "Lady with the Spinning Head," for example.)

Anyway, to approach the point, I'm beginning to think that 17 years of devoted listening is my problem with No Line on the Horizon. It was an odd feeling, walking up the street and realizing that "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight," really feels like "Walk On," in a different time signature and key, or that the chorus of "Oh Oh Ohs" on the title track came straight out of "Stay (Faraway, So Close)." I'm hearing bits in the music from the last two albums, actually. I'm seriously wondering if a couple of the songs were outtakes from the All That You Can't Leave Behind and Atomic Bomb sessions. "Unknown Calller" sounds more than a little like "Origin of the Species," (while simultaneously borrowing on an idea previously explored with greater effect in "The Fly.") Some of the tracks even go so far back as to borrow from the earliest albums. The drum-based entree to "Breathe" is very much like something off of Boy or War, with some "Love and Peace or Else" thrown in for good measure (the guitar and bass parts of "Love And Peace" seem to be the backbone of "Stand Up Comedy.")

I still don't like "Get On Your Boots."

This isn't the sonically adventurous disc that Rolling Stone gave five stars to. While it does sound like Edge and Adam have been listening to a lot of Franz Ferdinand and early Killers in their time off, there's nothing new here. What's more, the lyrics are also farily thin. Although there are some strong moments ("Cedars of Lebanon" is really gorgeous, and "White as Snow" is also lovely - though I do agree with dotfic that it's completely about the Winchesters. Whether U2 are fans of Supernatural is yet to be determined, but the lyric really fits.), Other songs sound like unfinished thoughts. "Breathe" sounds like Bono was singing his own Twitter feed as lyrics, and the annoying free-association of "Get On Your Boots," really doesn't make the point it wants to make. (I feel like it's some parody of the desire to march off to war, but it doesn't quite march all the way.) Some of the lyrics sound like they were scribbled while waiting for meetings to start or on car trips or were whatever came to mind when he hit the studio. Very few are as thoughtful as they were even on the two most recent albums, let alone anything in the more distant past.

I have to give this album a few more listens, and then see the band do them live before I completely make up my mind. I remember hating "Love and Peace Or Else" when Atomic Bomb came out, right up until I saw Bono and Larry do a fantastic performance of it, with the focus on Larry playing one drum, marching-band style, center stage. The excitement of that moment totally renewed the song for me, and I now hope that they play it live again on this tour. Maybe some of the Horizon songs will be better live, sped up or slowed down where appropriate, or even done as part of an acoustic set. But the album in and of itself isn't their best. I'd give it three and a half stars, honestly; though they didn't make it to their intended destination, I see what they wanted to do there.

No Line on the Horizon

I got the new U2 album off of Amazon Mp3 last night, and am about midway through my second listen. Since a few people have already extended inquiries as to what I think about it, I thought I'd post about my reactions to the album so far.

I realized during my lunchtime walk that I am rapidly approaching my second decade as a U2 fan. Now, at the beginning, I was a full-on fanatic. We're talking Jonas-brothers/Twilight levels of obsessive hysteria, more or less. But I've mellowed with age, mostly. What that brief era of teenage crazy provided was the habit of listening to every U2 album closely - to the point where I could recognize a guitar part, or some baselines or effects. (It also led to some arguments with friends, when I insisted that R.E.M. swiped the guitar effect in the chorus of "What's the Frequency, Kenneth" from U2's "Lemon," but that's another argument for another time). I learned how to recognize general themes in their music. When pizanite would send me tapes of different rarities and b-sides, I learned from those, too. (You can see exactly what songs on Achtung Baby came out of "Lady with the Spinning Head," for example.)

Anyway, to approach the point, I'm beginning to think that 17 years of devoted listening is my problem with No Line on the Horizon. It was an odd feeling, walking up the street and realizing that "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight," really feels like "Walk On," in a different time signature and key, or that the chorus of "Oh Oh Ohs" on the title track came straight out of "Stay (Faraway, So Close)." I'm hearing bits in the music from the last two albums, actually. I'm seriously wondering if a couple of the songs were outtakes from the All That You Can't Leave Behind and Atomic Bomb sessions. "Unknown Calller" sounds more than a little like "Origin of the Species," (while simultaneously borrowing on an idea previously explored with greater effect in "The Fly.") Some of the tracks even go so far back as to borrow from the earliest albums. The drum-based entree to "Breathe" is very much like something off of Boy or War, with some "Love and Peace or Else" thrown in for good measure (the guitar and bass parts of "Love And Peace" seem to be the backbone of "Stand Up Comedy.")

I still don't like "Get On Your Boots."

This isn't the sonically adventurous disc that Rolling Stone gave five stars to. While it does sound like Edge and Adam have been listening to a lot of Franz Ferdinand and early Killers in their time off, there's nothing new here. What's more, the lyrics are also farily thin. Although there are some strong moments ("Cedars of Lebanon" is really gorgeous, and "White as Snow" is also lovely - though I do agree with dotfic that it's completely about the Winchesters. Whether U2 are fans of Supernatural is yet to be determined, but the lyric really fits.), Other songs sound like unfinished thoughts. "Breathe" sounds like Bono was singing his own Twitter feed as lyrics, and the annoying free-association of "Get On Your Boots," really doesn't make the point it wants to make. (I feel like it's some parody of the desire to march off to war, but it doesn't quite march all the way.) Some of the lyrics sound like they were scribbled while waiting for meetings to start or on car trips or were whatever came to mind when he hit the studio. Very few are as thoughtful as they were even on the two most recent albums, let alone anything in the more distant past.

I have to give this album a few more listens, and then see the band do them live before I completely make up my mind. I remember hating "Love and Peace Or Else" when Atomic Bomb came out, right up until I saw Bono and Larry do a fantastic performance of it, with the focus on Larry playing one drum, marching-band style, center stage. The excitement of that moment totally renewed the song for me, and I now hope that they play it live again on this tour. Maybe some of the Horizon songs will be better live, sped up or slowed down where appropriate, or even done as part of an acoustic set. But the album in and of itself isn't their best. I'd give it three and a half stars, honestly; though they didn't make it to their intended destination, I see what they wanted to do there.