Lacking anything better to do, and to support my claim that U2 is still my favorite band, I decided to do a track-by-track review their new album No Line On The Horizon. I’ve listened to this album a few times, read a few of the so-so reviews (or a complete trashing by Pitchfork, but they’re hipster a-holes to begin with, so they wouldn’t like U2) through before doing this review, and I wanted to see if my own first visceral reaction of “Bleh” is my actual feeling of the album. Maybe it’s a grower, maybe it’s just something they had to churn out for the record company.
So, without further ado, here’s my track-by-track review as I’m listening to the album for the fifth or sixth time:
1. “No Line on the Horizon”
Cool opening… Bono’s voice is pretty raw… The verses and the bridge are a lot better than the chorus of just repeating “No line on the horizon” a couple times… An awesome chorus could of really put this song over the top.
2. “Magnificent”
Bass drum and whrrring guitar intro with some electronic notes… Guitar and drums come in like “Where The Streets Have No Name”, but then Bono starts singing… This is the second case of the major weakness of this album: Bono’s lyrics. I just can’t connect to the lyrics at all, although I do like the chorus and the band sounds really good. If it’s not one thing than it’s the other… Boring guitar solo. The Edge can do better than that.
3. “Moment of Surrender”
The intro to this “slow jam” sounds like something from Achtung Baby/the mid-90s… Strong vocal like the opening track… The chorus is a little too adult contemporary for my tastes, but then I have to remind myself that this is U2… The best of the first three songs, to be sure... Cringe-worthiness: “To the rhythm of my soul/To the rhythm of my unconsciousness/To the rhythm that yearns/To be released from control”… Another weak sauce boring guitar solo. Why is it there?... Boring ending.
4. “Unknown Caller”
The album’s dragging a bit already, and there’s only been 16 minutes of it… The Edge doing his Edge/Gibb brothers voice for an annoying intro that sounds exactly like the last three… The lyrical theme of all the songs so far seems to be of someone lost in the world that’s trying to find himself, or someone that’s gone off track… A lot of first-person verses… Cringe-worthy: “Reboot yourself”… Is this song about how computers are taking over the world? And how does music run through a computer by Brian Eno help solve that problem?... I like the guitar solo this time, but this is the worst song so far. Don’t you stick the shitty tracks near the end, or is this a portent of what’s to come?
5. “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight”
Another long-titled song… The guitar sounds like something leftover from Atomic Bomb and the chorus from All That You Can’t Leave Behind… The high note is not necessary and almost distracts the nice verse… Despite the awful title, it’s up there with “Moment of Surrender” as the best song so far… To tally: two pretty good songs, one bad, and two coulda-been-betters
6. “Get On Your Boots”
Oh boy, oh boy. When I first heard this, I thought, “What the fuck is this?” U2 just seems to be trying to hard with this one… The guitar hook is catchy, but sounds too computerized to really get into it… The lyrics are weird, kind of I Am The Walrus-like in their randomness at points, but mostly because what the fuck is the point? You’re not stoned on LSD, Larry Mullen… To not shit on this song completely, it’s catchy and I like the “I don’t want to talk about/Wars between nations/Not right now” part, but then the bridge/breakdown comes and just blows it all to pieces. This seems like a vain attempt of “Elevation” or “Vertigo”… Any song that makes less sense than “Vertigo” is not a good sign… I wish they could hit “reboot” on this one, it could have been so much better. (I nominate “It could have been so much better” as a future title of a U2 track.)
7. “Stand Up Comedy”
A groove like the Chili Peppers… An intense verse and pre-chorus is dampened by the chorus… This is song is being sung to “the people” out there, and the cringe-worthiness is pretty much all the words… Again, there are good things and bad things about this song, a reoccurring theme.
8. “Fez-Being Born”
A mellower song that slows things down a bit, so you can reflect on what exactly it is you’re listening to. U2 seems to not be able to connect all the dots with this album. Can they redeem themselves?… The nice instrumental beginning of the song (“Fez”?) has been rudely interrupted by “Being Born”… Cringe-worthy: “African sun at last”… Can we get another way to describe how Africa is a “real” place compared to the West?... This song seems to be a lyrical sketch of their time spent in Morocco more than a concrete idea that is worthy of a five minute song.
9. “White As Snow”
Another slow jam… Actual personal lyrics from Bono about his brother instead of the usual triteness that’s been present throughout the album… I like this one, the lyrics are better than “Moment of Surrender” and “Fez/Being Born”
10. “Breathe”
My favorite song on the album, and easily the best. On their week on Letterman, this song stood out as the most listenable of all the crap on this release… The lyrics have a sense of humor and they’re in the same vein as “White As Snow”… Catchy chorus with relatable words. What a concept!... This should have been their first single… This also benefits from the narrator getting some sort of redemption, that there is the some hope. Usually, U2 songs have an optimistic undertone to them despite what’s going around the characters in the songs… I’m actually nodding my head along to it. Now do this 10 more times, and you have Achtung Baby or The Joshua Tree.
11. “Cedars of Lebanon”
Just by the title, this is obviously going for a “Yahweh”-like ending with overt religious symbolism to end the album, to send us out on a soul-cleaning note… I think the character is a journalist during the Lebanon-Israel war, beaten down by what’s going on around him. Will he be redeemed?... Cringe-worthy: “Return the call to home”, kind of like during the title track, repeating “no line on the horizon” kills the momentum… Some random samples of Bono voice sparsely placed throughout the song: is DJ Premier doing the beat or something… Very low-key and somber, not too bad, but just kind of ends without a proper ending. Wow, is this some sort of symbolic gesture on U2’s opinion of the mindless violence in the Middle East? I’m just not sure…
Conclusions
Inconsistency and Uninspiring is what I hear. The lyrics are the weakest point of the album, and nearly every track seems to be a mish-mash of different ideas that never gel, epitomized by “Get On Your Boots”. The only song that really comes together is “Breathe”, while “I'll Go Crazy…” and “White As Snow” tie for second as the best on the album. Overall, I give this album a C, and if you’re not a huge U2 fan, don’t bother or just buy “Breathe” on iTunes.
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