U2 No Line on the Horizon

Anyone that knows me, knows that U2 is: top of my listening pile, number one favorite band, will do anything to get to a concert put on by them in my hometown, etc… and also knows that no other band will ever topple the foursome from that slot.

So… why have I not done an album review of their lastest release, No Line on the Horizon? Surely as a die hard fan and proflific writer, it should have happened the very day I purchased and listened to the album? But it did not.

I’ve been thinking about that for a very long time actually. And truthfully, I didnt buy the album the day it was available in store either – I waited nearly a week before picking it up, then nearly two more weeks before plugging it into my walkman (yes I still sometimes use my walkman) and giving it a spin. I wanted the very first listen to be me alone, undisturbed by phone calls, dogs wanting out or work obligations pulling me away from the experience. so I waited.

Finally, the day came and I plugged in the cd, sat down to listen with trepidation, not excitement. And?

Its okay. I think the band made a mistake by releasing Get on Your Boots as the first single. I think Brian Eno was right when he said in video interview (exclusive to U2.com members) that HE thought they should have released Magnificent as the first single. Indeed, they should have. I’ve come to realize that hearing Boots on the radio was part of what led to my hesitation about the album-its not a great song. Its possibly danceable, will do well live I think, but its not a great song – not by the yardstick (meterstick?) I and everyone else use to measure U2’s worth.

I was also influenced (I hate to say it) by my local radio dj Neil Morrison over at CFox.com. He’s a big U2 fan as well and he said on air, that the album was ‘not their best.. not even their fourth or fifth best’ and he was sorely disappointed in it. As I said, that influenced me – but knowing that Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno worked on it spurred me on to at least seeing for myself. The two U2 albums I like best, Unforgettable Fire and Achtung Baby were both produced or co-produced by these two men – so I had hope.

After listening to the album 8 times in the last few months, I’ve come to realize its not going to be on my top 5 U2 album list. It will be stacked in the secondary pile with All That You Cant Leave Behind, Boy, and Pop. Which is fine. And which is not to say its not a good album; IT IS. Its just not going to be MY favorite U2 album.

No Line on the Horizon is a collection of songs – some of them stand out immediately to me; Magnificent, Moment of Surrender, Breathe – but the rest are just songs. There are a few stand out lyrics, thoughts etc that show what could have been – but again to me it missed the mark. U2 has never been just to listen to, for me. They’ve always been a band who have something to say and you’d better listen or they’ll shout it louder. This album has no story to tell. Bono has written a few songs from the viewpoint of a ‘fictional character’ as he puts it – instead of from his own perspective, and I think that’s what irks me most about the entire album. It’s not a U2 album, its more like a collaboration of too many musicians and too many ideas with nothing solid to get your teeth into.

As I said though,  few stand out to me. Magnificent especially is one such song and I fully intend to blog about it -to give it the due it deserves. I’ll leave that for another day. As for the album, it sits on my ipod, my laptop and in my pile of cd’s on my shelf. I do expect one day that I will love it and see the songs in a new way – such a thing happened with Zooropa (took me years to actually like that U2 album), but for now, the time hasnt come.

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