U2 - No Line on The Horizon - B+

[Guest Review - Dentist] Album Released March 3, 2009

In the digital age, album releases are much less of an exciting affair compared to what they used to be (anyone who queued in line for a midnight release party knows what I’m talking about), but the build-up for this one has been massive, complete with promotional appearances and the ubiquitous album leak. After two great, but commercially safe prior albums and an unprecedented five years between this, U2’s twelfth studio offering, and 2004’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, fans of the band have had plenty of time to ruminate over the direction this album would eventually take. Click below for an extensive review of No Line On The Horizon:

In an attempt to rediscover their creative mojo in the place that produced the crown jewel Achtung Baby, U2 began recording sessions in a converted riad in Morocco and brought in long-time collaborators and producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Their influences are immediately apparent on the opening title track, which is reminiscent of “Ultraviolet” and features a hypnotic bass line from one Mr. Clayton. Anyone still hear the sound of four men chopping down the Joshua Tree? “Fez Being Born” also benefits from the experimental, post-grunge, electronica-inspired Eno treatment—a great song that is perhaps the most experimental on the record as it channels the essence of Morocco. On “Magnificent”, a definite stand-out and fist-pumping stadium rocker, U2 sound most like U2 complete with Edge’s swelling guitar, a great vocal and that crescendo that marks a U2 song for lift-off in a live setting, a la “Streets” or “Bad”.

The album’s best track, “Moment of Surrender”, is a bluesy lament/gospel with an unbelievable earnest vocal and some of Bono’s best lyrics (“playing with the fire, ‘till the fire played with me”) and a killer bass line, all of which makes “I Still Haven’t Found…” pale in comparison. Unfortunately, not all tracks benefit from profound lyrical stylings. Lead-off single “Get On Your Boots” (which was the absolute worst choice EVER), while although musically has some nice riffs from The Edge, puts the listener through an almost unlistenable, embarrassing pile of drivel. One might guess that the unfortunately titled “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” might follow suit. However, it surprisingly is a very catchy pop tune. This album’s “Stuck In a Moment”, it is Bono giving us his optimistic, if not clichéd, view of the world.

As solid as the first half of the album is, the pattern for the typical denouement of a U2 record is followed here with the haunting “White as Snow” and a surprisingly good “Cedars of Lebanon”, both of which benefit from a sparse melody and whispery vocals that create a layered effect. Like any U2 album, this one will take many listens to fully appreciate, but it already is growing higher on the list. The thing that impresses me most is that this music seems to have a freshness and earnestness to it that had been lacking since Achtung Baby and the band doesn’t seem ready just yet to be relegated to a greatest hits spectacle.

U2 are, quite simply, just about as polarizing and enigmatic as any rock band, past or present. You either love them or hate them, but no matter who you are, your musical landscape can’t help but be influenced in some way by them. Critics who regularly lambast Bono for all the philanthropic, political shoulder-rubbing that even makes his bandmates shudder (and rightfully so) may have a difficult time separating the music from the antics. And that is unfortunate, because U2 continue not only to re-invent and transform themselves, but also their music to stay relevant and true to their musical roots at the same time. Bono has been quoted as saying “If this isn’t our best album, we’re irrelevant.” No Line On the Horizon is not a “worlds-are-colliding/groundbreaking” album, but it is by far their best in a good long while, musically sandwiched somewhere between The Unforgettable Fire and Achtung Baby and certainly enough to keep them relevant.
B+