Originally posted by vanquish:[..]
I thought that was just Life In Technicolour after Death and All His Friends. Not much of a bonus track that, more like a bonus snippet. I know Chinese Sleep Chant and Reign of Love though.
AS MUCH as can be discerned from one listen, U2 no longer feel the need to sound like "classic U2", the imperative which energised the 2000 album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, but stymied their last album, 2004's more ho-hum How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
Producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois bring their characteristic touches to the backing vocals, the scurry of background sounds (this will be a great headphone experience) and the creation of atmosphere even in almost punkish rock songs. The oblique album cover in one sense represents this album's regular avoidance of the obvious.
But Eno in particular also brings his preference for not repeating tropes and it seems the band are ready to play, taking excursions into wide open road desert songs, cocky denim rock and moody dark corners as well as the odd distortions of tracks such as the first single, Get On Your Boots.
Now it's not as if U2 have re-imagined themselves: there are familiar, stadium-ready rock numbers and there are electro-influenced numbers. But there's an oddness to many tracks which speak of adventure rather than comfort.
The Edge takes centre stage with a mix of aggressive and tuneful guitars and Bono's lyrics seem occasionally to have been put through the random mixer, which is no bad thing when it comes to someone with very familiar pathways. It is indicative of an album which may reward long-time attention rather than seek immediate affection
I've had one listen to the new U2 album No Line On The Horizon.
It sounds adventurous and there are bits of very old U2 and bits of not so old U2, in league with sounds more common in Brooklyn at the moment than Dublin.
You can easily hear the influence of producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. Definitely an improvement on How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. Here is a hurried first response and don't hold me to the lyrical references.
Track one: No Line On The Horizon
Buzzy guitars and offkilter Enoesque noises vie for attention while Bono strains for effect as he reflects both the tension and the intensity of the song. The chorus (not a big one; more a devolving of the verse) retains the tension but puts it in a gentler setting. Bono seems to be singing to, or about, a girl, not for the last time on the album, but it's not easy to decipher.
Track two: Magnificent
More of those odd sounds behind treated guitars and synthesisers and the song opens in two or would now be called "classic U2", the familiar 80s quick marching rhythm and the Edge's exploratory guitar lines. The most traditional sounding song on the album has Bono declaring that "I was born to sing for you/I didn't have a choice" before confessing that "only love can leave such a mark".
Track three: Moment Of Surrender
A moodier track with irregular hand percussion (or a loop, or both) picking away at the edges of a bed of synthesisers and violin. The emotional tone is late '80s U2; the musical palette, with hints of electronica, is more early '90s. Before those richly layered Eno/Lanois-signature backing vocals arrived late in the piece Bono goes from enigmatic: "I tied myself with wire to let the horses run free/playing with fire till the fire plays with me" (I think) to matters closer to the heart: "it's not if I believe in love but if love believes in me".
Track four: Unknown Caller
Some really interesting ambient sounds in a late, late night setting more concerned with atmosphere than asserting itself. It's 3.33am "in a place of no consequence or company" and he's "speed dialling with no signal at all". The lyrics seem more impressionistic, disconnected and with a touch of David Bowie in the chanting underneath. And is that French horns at the end? Not usually heard on a U2 album.
Track five: I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
Mixed marriages don't always work, but should, seems to be the theme. "She's a rainbow and she likes the quite life/I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight." This is a straight out pop song with reverb guitars and Bono in high croon. It's also a U2 track they could do in their sleep, but no less attractive for that. The question is will it last as long as some of the others?
Track six: Get On Your Boots
The first single and perplexing some already. A mess of dirty guitars and urgent energy play through electronic bibs and bobs. You can hear Fly-era U2, with a little less edge, but here something niggling through earlier songs becomes clearer: they have been listening to Brooklyn's art rockers TV On For Radio. It makes some sense: TV On The Radio spent their youth listening to Eno and Bowie too.
Track seven: Stand Up Comedy
A strutting 70s guitar finds the Edge channelling his inner Marc Bolan while that Brooklyn fractured dance of rock feels returns (and then becomes almost pure Madchester ecstasy nightclub). The "song" runs out a little earlier than the groove does but it doesn't seem fatal at all.
Track eight: FEZ - Being Born
This seems to be two songs hooked together, one a collection of odd sounds and shapes, the other a pulsing rock number which becomes something else again when the sonic oddness returns prior to a drifting away ending.
Track nine: White As Snow
A ballad not just inspired by but evoking wide spaces and open skies. There are low rumbles and darting sounds, brass even. Could this be U2 aiming for Bruce Springsteen in his solo tales-of-the-desert mode?
Track 10: Breathe
This is pushier at immediately, coming with a bit of attitude. Did Bono really just say he is "not somebody's cockatoo"? He definitely says "I'm running down the road like loose electricity while the band in my head plays a striptease" and it's an apt description of this land of atmosphere and aggression.
Track 11: Cedars Of Lebanon
Lyrically and musically strongly reminiscent of a film noir narration (Bono as Walter Neff? Why not?), the central character is a man cut off from affection and life in general. Some really interesting harmonies - Eno at work again - and a closing set of lines worth pondering for implications. "Choose your enemies well for they will define you ... they are going to last with you longer than your friends".
Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:[..]
Well, even that's a little dumb I think. If they're going to put another song on the album, just call it that. Don't say there's a bonus b-side, because it's not a b-side anymore, it's on the album.
Originally posted by Andrew_C:[..]
Very well expressed, i agree 100%, its like how they put MW on the slane dvd and called it a bonus, just plain stupid.
Originally posted by vanquish:Here's the full review from the Sydney Morning Herald, that Genaro posted excerpts from
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And track by track:
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Originally posted by aussiemofo:[..]
Here's the line that I like: Definitely an improvement on How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
Originally posted by drewhiggins:[..]
I wonder if that's the album in general or some certain songs.
Originally posted by aussiemofo:[..]
Here's the line that I like: Definitely an improvement on How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
Am 27.02. erscheint U2s neues Album 'No Line On The Horizon, doch ihr habt bereits einen Tag vorher die Möglichkeit die ganze Platte zu hören! Am Donnerstag, den 26.02., startet in Düsseldorf die offizielle Release-Party. Im Club 3001gibt es dann nicht nur die neue CD zu hören, sondern auch die Premiere des Films 'Linear' von Anton Corbijn auf Großleinwänden zu sehen. Zudem dabei: eine der besten deutschen U2-Tributebands. Achtung Baby werden uns an diesem Abend mit zahlreichen U2-Live-Klassikern verwöhnen. Außerdem: U2tour.de-DJ-Set, U2-VJ, Mitternachtsverkauf von 'No Line ON The Horizon und große U2-Tombola (Hauptpreis: Reise für 2 Personen zu einem U2-Konzert)!
Der Eintritt zur Party, die als Milchbar Spezial läuft, kostet 5 Euro. Weitere Infos folgen!
Originally posted by drewhiggins:From u2tour.de:
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I think it says there's a No Line On The Horizon release or listening party event at Dusseldorf on the 26th or 27th at the Club 3001, with the premiere of Linear and the Achtung Baby Tribute Band playing for entertainment. Five euro to get in - so you might wanna make sure you book early.
Club 3001
Originally posted by Genaro92U2:I love the lyric snippets so far on this album!
Breathe: Did Bono really just say he is "not somebody's cockatoo"? He definitely says "I'm running down the road like loose electricity while the band in my head plays a striptease"