This U2 album follows up after a very successful “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” sent the world spinning under the vibes of the hit single “Vertigo.”
So, how does “No Line on the Horizon” measure up? I think it’s among the best of U2’s albums. No, it’s not quite as good as “The Joshua Tree,” but it certainly is a step up from “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.”
Apparently many people agree, because the album was leaked and illegally downloaded by thousands of people roughly two weeks before it came out. That piece of information certainly got my attention.
This album has 11 tracks, one of which you may have already heard. The sixth track, “Get On Your Boots,” was released a few months ago as the album’s single. It’s been doing well from what I’ve seen. I like the grungy quality that is often not heard in U2. Instead of spacey guitars and squeaky vocals from Bono, a solid beat backs up a down and dirty single that gets your foot tapping. I dig it.
But this album can also be very ethereal. A huge musical spectrum is present in this album. Perhaps a bit more specifically, if I had to place this album closer to one end of the spectrum, I would say this album, despite its grungy qualities, thrives on its airy guitar riffs and Bono’s high voice and falsetto.
The album starts off strongly with the title track, “No Line on the Horizon.” The musical progression is very circular. The same notes are heard over and over in this song, but then, just about every U2 song does that. This track is in essence an introductory track. It gets you interested enough in the album to listen to the rest of it.
The second track, “Magnificent,” follows the same sort of grunge feel as the first album for a minute or so, and then opens up in a cornucopia of musical glory that can only be described as, well, magnificent. The classic cascading U2 guitar solos abound and bring a very retro, old-style feeling to the track. I really like it. If my prediciton holds, this track is going places. It’s slower than most U2 songs, but the chord progression is awesome and the song has a certain regal feeling about it. The track is very aptly named.
By the time you get to the fourth track of the album, “Unknown Caller,” you may begin to see the kind of tone that U2 has selected for the first half of the album. I can summarize it in one word: chill. That theme continues through track five, “I Know I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight.” This one sounds more like the stuff on “The Joshua Tree” than any other track on the album.
You probably have heard “Get On Your Boots,” the sixth track on the radio, but track seven and eight you haven’t for sure, and if you think U2 has needed to take a different direction with their music, they certainly do in “Stand Up Comedy” and “FEZ – Being Born.” “Stand Up” doesn’t stray off too much from the path forged in this album, but it is definitely a different sound than U2 usually puts out. The musical style in this song loosely resembles that of Cake, but is still uniquely U2’s own. Bono speaks just about as much as he sings, and the beat is a bit quicker and highlighted by some tight electric guitar riffs.
Then U2 takes a trip into the land of The Flaming Lips with “FEZ.” I don’t know what birth is like, but if you take U2’s view, I guess that track would accurately describe it. Sound bits from “Get On Your Boots” pepper an ethereal electric rock bed layer of music for about a minute and a half, and then U2 is back again like they never left. “FEZ” is trippy, and that’s about everything you need to know.
These three tracks, “Get On Your Boots,” “Stand Up Comedy,” and “FEZ – Being Born” constitute the meat of the album. The remaining three tracks, entitled “White as Snow,” “Breathe” and “Cedars of Lebanon,” serve as a pathway out of U2-land.
If the Crash Test Dummies’ song “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm,” and Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” had a child, I think it would be “White as Snow.” The song is a ballad, and is very musical. Bono’s voice, instead of detracting from this song, adds a lot to it. The guitar and keyboard progression add a nice flavor to give a nice slow product.
The album pics back up a little bit and levels off as it finishes. “Breathe” flows nicely and adds a bit more to the “Joshua Tree” flavor that was felt earlier in this album when “I’ll Go Crazy” was introduced. It’s a very solid track, and it leads well into the end of the album. “Cedars” serves the opposite task of “No Line” – that of wrapping up the album. The only item in “Cedars” that even slightly irritates me is the fact that Bono talks way too much during it and doesn’t sing enough. If they had worked more of a melody into the song, it could have been better.
–la.hem@aggiemail.usu.edu
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