At last night’s Grammys, U2 performed “Get On Your Boots” accompanied by a huge screen flashing the lyrics instead of a bunch of ham-fisted imagery illustrating the lyrics. This was in case we wanted to sing along with Bono at home. Or have concrete evidence about how vacuous everyone’s favorite high ‘n’ mighty rock ‘n’ ambassador’s words have become. It’s true, Bono, there are No Line(s) On The Horizon. Anyhow, no use picking on “Boots” … 30-second clips offering an abbreviated listen to U2′s 12th stuido album from start to finish are currently available:
Listen at u2.thefanpage.net.
OK, no, not all of it sounds bad and only a lot of it sounds boring. I just like to pick on Bono because he’s deep and I know he can handle it.
No Line On The Horizon is out 2/27 on Interscope.
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U2, you just don’t do it for me anymore. I’m sorry, but we’re done..
wow, U2 blows
Watching that last night, I was thinking the exact same thing – it’s dangerous to spell out your lyrics so blatantly, as it can reveal how stupid they are to everyone. And that song was crap – it sounds just like the 1980s dreck that U2 once rebelled against.
At some point pretty soon when every hipster in the world has joined the cliche ” Bono is a wanker and can’t sing and U2 sucks and Edge can’t play blah blah blah….” band wagon, the uber- hipsters, by default will have to profess their love for U2 just to be cooler than all the rest of the normo-hipsters! (Notice how Paris Hilton was “looking forward to seeing U2″)
At that point Brandon, yer fucked!
Since when do hipsters care if someone can sing or play guitar? You must think this is a Jazz or Math Rock forum.
Hipster approved or not… U2 needs to hang it up. This coming from a huge U2 fan.
Wow, U2 bashing. How creative. I never would have expected that on this site.
First verse is about ignorance of Middle Eastern culture. “Never seen a moon like this, can you see it too?”
“Satan loves a bomb scare, but he won’t scare you” is probably about Bush and his WMDs.
“You free me from the dark dream, candy floss ice cream, all our kids are screaming but the ghosts aren’t real. etc.” is probably about current pop music.
Yeah, the lyrics are really vacuous. Or you just don’t get metaphors.
But even if those are metaphors, they’re a) so vague they’d give themselves to WAY too many interpretations, b) really ham-fisted in the “American Pie” sort of way, c) addressing topics that (if you’re right) have been done to death, and d) simply not very good.
I’ll shut up now. For some reason I’m taking this way too seriously.
Art is about interpretation. Anyone else can interpret those lyrics differently, which makes art really cool. If an artist has a single point to make, they should consider writing pamphlets, not art.
And certain ideas have been talked about a lot, just like a lot of stories don’t have original ideas, but that doesn’t matter, because it’s all about the treatment of those ideas. The only thing I can make sense of Get On Your Boots is that… it’s probably a song about women in politics, and how things might be different if women were in charge, although I don’t think politicians should be in charge of anything.
darn those 3rd party copyright claims.
Why do people assume that disliking the last few U2 albums has something to do with hipster posturing?
Is it not fair to say that much of what made them interesting on previous records really hasn’t been apparent on much of what they’ve done since at least “Pop”?
I think that’s a fair point. U2 has kind of devolved into a tribute band this decade. However, the fact that they seek out popularity (and still are popular) make them a target for the hipsters….i think these 30 seconds clips (which probably don’t do justice to the songs) are interesting- at least more so than the last couple of albums.
i don’t consider myself a hipster. i don’t own a pair of sunglasses, i like in n out burger, i wear levi’s, i don’t have any strokes albums, and i drive a ford. but i fucking HATE the new U2 song and their last album. i sort of liked ‘all that you can’t leave behind’- wild honey is a great song. but this new shit just blows.
No hipster ever considers themselves a hipster. That’s part of the problem. And most of those things that supposedly make you a non-hipster don’t disqualify you from hipsterdom. (You do need a pair of sunglasses, though.)
hmm. i figured the ford thing would disqualify me immediately. did i mention it was a taurus?
I love your fucked up idea of what hipster doesn’t like. BTW, Wild Honey is the worst U2 song of the decade and that’s saying something.
Theyve been taken down from YouTube (as you can see), but are available on Bittorrent. You can expect the entire album to hit there soon too, just as the last two did, 2-3 weeks before the official release.
G’day, Mr. McGuinness!
you can get the previews here. and download them all as one mp3.
http://u2.thefanpage.net/2009/02/preview-u2s-no-line-on-the-horizon-download-or-stream/
I’m cautiously optimistic about these clips. “Unknown Caller”, at least, will be great.
Also, clips always suck. So they don’t prove anything – either in the negative or the positive.
Sounds an awful lot like Joe Satriani, if you ask me. U2 Sucks.
If you’re trying hard not to be a douche, you’re failing.
I heard an advance copy earlier today. Based on that, I think it’s certainly not as immediate as their previous two albums and sounds like a summary of their career to date, but minus any obvious hits, save for “Magnificence”. Or maybe a more refined version of Pop. Lots of electronic textures, which is where Brian Eno comes in, I suppose. I’ve got a feeling this is one of those albums that doesn’t do much for you on the first listen, but you’ll eventually warm up to if you give it a chance.
Oh, Right On! Another shitty album by U2.
Take your $150 concert tix and your pompous attitude/messiah complex and go fuck yourself. (too strong?)
$150 concert tix? HA! Maybe if you prefer sitting in the last five rows of whatever over-sized arena your seeing them in. I can’t wait to see what gawdawful inflated prices they charge this time around.
“even if those are metaphors, they’re a) so vague they’d give themselves to WAY too many interpretations…”
Hey Mr. Potatohead. That’s the idea.
I’ve had GA Floor tickets to the last two U2 tours and paid $50 for my ticket.
Fair enough, but there’s a difference between evocative lyrics and random gobbledygook with the occasional politically- or culturally-charged word.
I saw U2 not for $150, not for $50 but for GA at $30.
Gonna be tough for them to fill stadiums this time around if these previews are any indication…
I will say this, “Sexy Boots” isn’t even in the Itunes top 100 songs, this is a problem for U2. This song is obviously no creative or artistic success, so the lack of commercial success has to be a disappointment. Hopefully the second single is better.
i am pumped for this record.
Curt-nice observation. That surprises the hell out of me. But from what I hear from these clips,I don’t think U2 has a commercial flop on their hands. Granted it does not sound like a classic, but it also does not sound like a disaster. To me every U2 album post Joshua Tree has sounded like shit AT FIRST LISTEN. My expectations going into a new U2 album are so high, they can’t possibly be met. But after days,weeks and sometimes months they all eventually grow on me. For example,when i first heard boots,i cried in my beer for days but after a few listens (and a few more beers) i can’t get the song out of my head. Hopefully this pattern will continue with the rest of the material on Horizon and it becomes another good,if not great U2 record.
Well with ticketmasters ethical business practices a U2 ticket might sell at $50 face but that doesnt mean you’ll get it for that price. Right now they are probably creating another spin-off website to “help” fans gain tickets after availability becomes limited.
Wether or not this cd meets my expectations I’m glad they’re putting out new stuff. From what I’ve heard so farI’m not crazy about sexy boots,” but I’d rather hear that than “vertigo” on the radio. The full preview of the album does sound pretty good though. 2nd and 4th track right off the bat (then u get sexy boots), 5th and 9th track show promise too. Too early to jump to conclusions but I’m not gonna hate on sexy boots anymore because i know i’ll like other tracks and may eventually see how that fits in.
it sounds like there are alot of fans of the Killers on here,LOL, you know , very young and uneducated about music history. – the new album from what i can tell sounds like its inspired by alot of eightiees synthpop, you know what all the young bands are ripping off these days- good to hear U2 stealing it back, LOL.