Premature Evaluation: U2 - No Line On The Horizon
We've been tough on No Line On The Horizon because, to be fair, "Get On Your Boots" is a bad song and the guys are performing it everywhere (and everywhere UK), so it's become the flagship representative of U2's twelfth album. But, no, it's not the entire thing -- there are ten other tracks on it; ten more chances for Bono & Co. to avenge their good name(s). Rolling Stone gave it five stars. There's no way we'll go that far, but we did approach listening to it with open minds, leaving our preconceptions and prejudices against lame lyrics (mostly) at the door. For instance, maybe releasing "Boots" was a bait and switch -- you know, offering up the worst song first so folks would be pleasantly surprised once they heard the whole shebang. Good news U2 fans: It is the album's worst song! Bad news U2 fans: There are close seconds.
Not all of No Line was a surprise: We'd heard those preview clips and the title track in its entirety. "No Line On The Horizon" is a more than serviceable opener, though -- to use a Bono-esque simile -- hearing Bono sing a love song at this point is akin to watching a mannequin try to put the moves on its shadow. At least we think it's a love song. It's hard figuring out just what this means: "I know a girl who's like a sea / I watch her changing everyday for me ... / One day she's still, the next she swells / I can hear the universe in her seashells, oh yeah." She also puts her tongue in his, or his character's, ear. One of No Line's main problems is that the vocals are mixed so loud and clearly that you have to deal with each and every one of these clunkers. Bono was better when simply aiming to fill stadiums with his voice and not trying to stuff each line with some kind of pseudo-intellectual or poetic meaning. When he chants those "oh"'s in the middle of the song, it's triumphant. Which makes it hard to comprehend why neither Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, or Steve Lillywhite figured out it'd be best for Bono to obscure his lyrics a bit, maybe increase the drums and distorted guitars in the mix. For instance, "Magnificent," a perfectly respectable, catchy mid-tempo U2 rocker that gives us a nice guitar texture from the Edge and Bono shouting to the cheap seats "I was born to sing to you." Definitely one of the album's strongest.
It's followed by the lumbering "Moment Of Surrender." Sometimes you get the sense that the band is trying to follow the gray color palette of Hiroshi Sugimoto's black and white cover photo too closely, as on the bland drum beat and synth wash that backs Bono's soulful Meatloaf-esque exorcism on this almost 8-minute snore. The storyline isn't strong enough to carry it that far, but we do get bits of Bono wisdom: "Playing with fire until the fire played with me, mmmmm mmmm" "the stone was semi-precious / we were barely conscious," "I was pushing in the numbers at the ATM machine / I could see in the reflection a face staring back at me," etc. Really? "Unknown Caller" is almost as long, but makes good use of a group-chanted chorus: "Restart and reboot yourself, you're free to go." Very Pet Shop Boys, guys. Also, it works.
"I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" is somehow reminiscent of Verve in its bridges, but then there's the "Fight For Your Right To Party 2009" chorus. More importantly: "She's a rainbow and she loves the peaceful life / Knows I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight / There's a part of me in the chaos that's quiet / and there's a part of you that wants me to riot / Everybody needs to cry or needs to spit / every sweet tooth needs just a little hit..." Please keep all this sage advice in mind the next time you know you'll crazy if you don't go crazy tonight. Again, decent song, bad lyrics.
Then we get to the centerpiece "Boots," followed by a track that's almost as bad: "Stand Up Comedy" takes "Boots" attempt at funkiness and piles on generic rock guitar riffs and more horrific one-liners like "stand up to rock stars / Napoleon is in high heels / Josephine do you care for a small man with big ideas." At the end of the song, it turns out we should mostly just stand up for love, but not before seeing his ego compared to "a small child crossing an eight-lane highway on the voyage of discovery." Of course.
Finally, the good better news: The album wraps up with four decent tracks. "Fez - Being Born" opens with ambient cut and paste that recycles "Boots"'s "let me in the sound..." and feels like ghostly cocktail music until the song itself starts, another pleasant anthem cut in the same general cloth as "Magnificent": To the rafters chorus, propulsive instrumentation. All the electronic squiggles are pretty unnecessary, but so goes it when old bands try to remain relevant (hello, Axl).
"White As Snow" is a scaled down ballad -- that blooms and makes a nice, understated use of horns and marching band snare -- wherein Bono manages to weave a more interesting narrative. "Breathe" picks up the pace, one of the first speedier rockers in the realm of "Boots" or whatever that actually works: Old-school style U2 with some slight Gospel-esque backup vocals. The album closes out with the at first faint, almost Fennesz drones of "Cedars Of Lebanon." After 40 seconds, drums and Bono enter the picture. Here he sings with an almost spoken-word intonation ... in fact, it wouldn't be strange to reference Daniel Lanois-produced Dylan (less so Lanois-produced U2, if that make sense). It's a nice exit dance, where the spooky background accents make sense.
In the end, some of No Line On The Horizon works (especially that last part of the record) and too much of it doesn't. The production team was excited to let us know that U2 reinvented themselves again, but by and large it's the deviations from their classic sound that suck the life out of the record. Not always, but far too often. Along that line, the strongest material emerges when the band plays it safe, does what they do best, and creates anthemic arena rock.
Don't forget U2's upcoming Letterman residency. At least they'll have to play more than "Get On Your Boots."
No Line On The Horizon is out 3/3 via Interscope.
Posted at 5:25 PM in Premature Evaluation
Tags: U2
Queue the "I don't know why Stereogum reviews these artists, go back to the indie schmindie!" comments.
Truth is after all this time in the business, you have less to say and you have to struggle to find something "refreshing". They just needed an album as an excuse to tour the world and make a billion more dollars.
Score = -7
Queue: intr.v. queued, queu·ing, queues
To get in line.
Cue: tr.v. cued, cu·ing, cues
1. To give a cue to; signal or prompt.
2. To insert into the sequence of a performance: cued the lights for the monologue scene.
3. To position (an audio or video recording) in readiness for playing: cue up a record on the turntable.
While attempting to sound elitist (since the word queue descends from the French word cue, and one definition does match the two), you failed to appreciate between the use of the two separate words. Learn English, son, before pretentiousness. :D
Score = -57
"Learn English, son, before pretentiousness"
And then when you've learned enough English, spend 25 more years learning pretentiousness only to still pale in comparison to the poster above me.
Score = 16
Okay, you know what you do? You buy yourself a tape recorder, and you just record yourself for a whole day. I think you're going to be surprised at some of your phrasing.
Score = 29
you only did this to try to beat my end of 2009 worst commented record.
Score = 1
Because Universal invested in Buzznet, which acquired Stereogum in 2008. That's why. Which is also why we're seeing more embedded imeem streams lately.
Score = 1
That's why what? Why stereogum gave u2 a bad review? that doesn't make any sense
Score = 8
I was kind of hoping you would make a premature evaluation of Two Suns by Bat For Lashes...
Score = 4
Agreed i really enjoyed the album. I wonder what the ppl at stereogum have to say about it. Natasha Khan is soo fucking awesome.
Score = 0
I'm a huge U2 fan and it's my long running relationship with the band that lead me to love so many of the bands that this site trumpets as well and I must say I agree with this review.
Many are saying this is a return to form and up there with The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. Well, I must have downloaded the wrong leak, because aside from some really great anthems, most of this is indicative (albeit somewhat better) than their last two mediocre albums. It's a far cry from their classics. They are trying too hard to sound like U2 instead of just sounding like U2. I'll shave this puppy down in my iPod and keep what remains.
Score = 1
So wait Starfox, you're a "huge U2 fan" but you dislike the new material so immensely you will erase select tracks from your iPod? With fans like these ...
Score = -15
I actually think that the second half of the album is quite underwhelming, it has that stinky filler feel. The first three songs rock (especially Magnificent), even though the album version of No Line On The Horizon is not as strong and pulsating as the alternate mix but I bet it sounds great live. Bono's lyrics and corny, sugarcoated production (around Edge's guitar work and keyboards in particular) are the major off-putting elements of the post millenium U2 and this album continues the trend started with All That You Can't Leave Behind. Also, in the context of the whole abum Get On Your Boots doesn't sound that bad at all.
Score = 2
One can be a huge fan and not love everything a band outputs. I have 128 U2 songs on my iPod, but that isn't nearly all of the songs they've ever released.
In fact, of those 7 come from their last 2 albums. I may double that with this album.
Score = 2
Dude, get a bigger ipod.
Score = 5
Dude, he doesnt wanna hear songs he dislikes while jogging. Get off his case.
I'm a huge Radiohead fan. I have every EP and know every B-side. I've got multiple copies of live versions of unreleased songs.
That said, some of them suck and aren't on my iPod. Hell, "Pulk/Pull" isn't worth my time even when listening to Amnesiac straight through. Wanna know another secret? Bob Dylan, Neil Young and John Lennon all have songs I hate as well despite admiring them as artists.
Score = 4
Steinbrenner, not sure why you equate being a huge fan with being a slavish fan that laps up everything a band produces. I consider myself a U2 fan and think they have made some of the best music in the last 25 years, but that doesn't mean they are still making the best music or that their last several albums were not full of schlock rock.
Score = 6
funny how the band james used to get knocked around as a U2 wannabe, but nowadays, after the two bands being around for nearly the same amount of time (U2 six years longer) the last two albums by james make the last two albums by U2 (this one and atomic bomb) sound like complete jokes. check out 'pleased to meet you' and 'hey ma' if you want to listen to two great albums.
Score = 0
I don't remember james being referred to as a U2 wannabe. I actually don't recall them being referred to that much at all. But good luck!
Score = 1
I agree with pushtouch, the second half of the album is the underwhelming half. The first five songs are very reminiscent of old U2 and I like the album a lot....and i'm not even a huge U2 fan. Boots is the worst song and does anyone else think that "White as Snow" is a blatant rip off of the Christmas carol "O Come Emanuel?"
Score = 1
They based the song on the hymn (it's not a christmas carol, heathen).
Score = 5
I am a U2 fan, but I am underwhelmed by this album. Sadly I think it might be their least interesting,
Score = -2
I'll agree with that. I'd say that although How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb wasn't good, it was more interesting, than this stuff.
Score = 0
So it's either too U2 or not enough U2. Or it just sucks. Or why is anyone talking about it?
Actually, it's just fine. Tell me another band full of fifty-year-olds that have made a better album. No one has been more relevant for longer than U2.
Score = 3
Have you heard of Sonic Youth?
Score = 21
You got me there. Okay, add "who has sold 40 million albums". The Rolling Stones have been dead for thirty years. U2 are not.
Score = 5
bob dylan and neil young
Score = 10
Kids aren't still buying Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Sad but true.
Score = 5
more kids buy bob dylan records than U2
Score = 6
Uh... Uh... Okay Soundscan. I saw them both on their last tours and I can tell you that by the audience who attended, you're completely full of shit and making shit up. Then I googled and proved it. Don't be dumb and don't lie.
Score = -1
LERN 2 ARGUE.
for real though. kids are into dylan, no joke.
Score = 1
sounds like something a U2 fan would say
Score = -2
lots of kids buy neil young albums. LOTS.
Score = 2
The Boss has had a decent late career output as well when compared to U2.
Lets also mention David Byrne
Score = 0
Don't confuse relevance with sales, Dan. U2 has continued to be commercially viable, but that doesn't automatically translate to relevance.
If you want to see an artist with longevity and relevance (and of course some missteps), try Tom Waits or Nick Cave. Even David Byrne.
Score = 10
You got the lyric in Stand Up Comedy wrong. It's "Josephine BE CAREFUL of small men with big ideas."
Score = 2
Bono can you lend me five bucks, I gave all my money to charity on your word.
Score = -2
He's never people need to "give all their money to charity." He's never said people need to give lots of their money to charity. I'll never understand the hate for trying to help people.
Score = 12
i kinda like the pop sheen of I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight. they can craft this sorta stuff in their sleep. the grander, chant-heavy tracks will rock stadiums; the quiet, moody stuff will rock your headphones
better than the last two records, this is "new" U2 trying a mix of unforgettable fire and zooropa. keep going, boys, the weirder the better
Score = 6
I really think Bono is the weak link on this album, the quality of his lyric writing has steadily declined over the last decade and he struggles to come up with a memorable tune these days. It's a pity because musically I think this is the best set of songs they've put together since Pop.
Score = 8
Yeah... That goes double for RHCP
Score = 0
Totally agree with you, Richie
Score = -1
I've been enjoying the record. It's probably not a 5-star, as Rolling Stone states, but I feel like it's a decent record all the way through.
Really reminds me of their Unforgettable Fire sound with their Achtung influences mixed in at places, if that makes any sense. Check out Magnificent and see if that isn't the case. It's like an Achtung-era New Year's Day.
Even Boots, which I despised when it was released, seems to make more sense in the context of the record. It's still not good, but it becomes at least tolerable. I can see Moment of Surrender as a massive closer on their tour. And don't tell me that FEZ - Being Born isn't one of the most innovative things U2 has done in years.
All in all, well done to U2. I think this is a welcome addition to their catalog and I'll probably be picking up some tickets to their world tour whenever it's announced.
Score = 6
contrary to premature evaluations in the past, i bet this review is accurate
Score = 1
I really like this album. All That You Can't Leave Behind (an album I also like) sounded like the band employing a sort of course correction for Pop (another album I like). Once they were back on top as the world's biggest band, they put out How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (again, I like it) as sort of a victory lap, attempting to remind the world that they're its biggest band. With No Line on the Horizon, my impression is that they stopped focusing on being the world's biggest band and just made a great record. Whereas the previous two albums sounded somewhat boastful, this one feels more humble. In that vein, it does remind me of Achtung Baby or The Joshua Tree. There doesn't seem to be any grand-standing. Even "Get On Your Boots," a song I think in the tradition of U2 generally releasing weak songs as first singles, sounds better in the context of the entire album.
Anyway, I know it might be hipper to pine for former days of Boy, War, and The Unforgettable Fire, I still like this one. A lot.
Score = 5
It depresses me that all you really need to know what album is gonna get a 4 1/2 or 5 star review from Rolling Stone is
A) what band is making it and
B) what their press releases say their aiming for on the album.
Heck, sometimes you only need A.
Score = 1
*they're
Score = -8
ha! dumb-ass. its hilarious when the grammar freaks fuck up
Score = -1
If a review has to start with a note about trying to leave "preconceptions and prejudices at the door" you can gurantee that preconceptions and prejudices heavily formed the outcome of the review. It's pretty much admitting that you didn't go in with an open mind.
Score = 0
This is a good album. It's not clear what impact it will have, because (like all albums) appreciation takes time. I prefer that U2 has put out a record that some love/others despise instead of something others just "accept", like the last two. It means it pushing some chord, and I like that.
It's a shame the reviewer holds so much animosity (clearly) for the band and this record, yet forms such a definitive opinion after very little exposure to the album. Would you led a surgeon operate after reading the cover of a book? Hardly. This review is a joke.
Score = -1
This is not a review, this is a Premature Evaluation.
And really, for Indie bloggers, they could have hit it a lot harder.
Score = 5
that's why it is called a premature evaluation.
Score = 1
They could have made an album with 10 beautiful days on it, but they wanted to do something different. The horror. Trying something new instead of just going on autopilot.
There isn't an album they could have made that most of the dipshits that post on here would admit to liking because it has more to do with liking the correct band than the music.
Score = 4
u2 is everything that is wrong with music today. or any day. vile.
Score = -9
You are a woefully ignorant person. SO DUMB that you've actually made me laugh. I shudder to think about your music library.
Score = 4
Stereogum should someway somehow write a single post about both U2 and Kanye. Most comments ever? Maybe even more if it's about the guy from The Hold Steady saying U2 and Kanye were better artists than Radiohead. Maybe even more if it's about the guy from The Hold Steady saying U2 and Kanye were better artists than Radiohead AND revealing the identity of the last-second headliner for Coachella. Think about it, my people.
Score = 7
I agree with much of Stereogum's review but "Moment of Surrender" is totally not an 8-minute snore. It actually sounds like it could be a Joshua Tree b-side right along side "Luminous Times". It has great vibe, great textures. It also has the strongest chorus on the album.
I'm also pretty sure Lanois and Eno said this was their favorite song they've done with U2. I'd listen to this one a few more times if you thought it was a snore.
Score = 1
I wholeheartedly agree with you about the mix. The thing that's always kept them from turning into a caricature is that, no matter how big Bono's ego gets and how much exposure he gets for his humanitarian work (which I happen to respect), the four of them could always come back together and sound like a band.
This mix, however, sounds like what the band looks like these days--Bono and three other dudes. I remember reading a SPIN review of "Achtung, Baby" (still on my desert island list, btw) that described Bono's singing as "lip farts"...and, yeah, it's true, U2 has to be about more than just Bono because, ugh, that voice. There's not a rhythm section in rock that's as solid and creative as Larry and Adam, as proven in Achtung's darker, brooding standouts.
For me, though, it's always been about The Edge, specifically when he works with the other king of delay, Daniel Lanois. And he's doing some very interesting stuff on this one...some of which (such as splitting his guitar into two channels and sending one to a guitar synth) I'm not so fond, but still it's very respectable for a guy who could crank the delay pedal and have the house pop on some reverb and make a billion damn dollars. But, even in headphones, you really have to listen for the Edge's more nuanced guitar-work...I mean, subtlety's his strength, but he doesn't need to be downplayed in the mix.
I blame Brian Eno for this mix. I think he's been hanging out with Chris Martin too much. Lanois would cede to his mentor, Eno, but I can't see him greenlighting a mix that downplays the music to highlight the vocals.
Score = 0
U2 is the douchiest band ever. I won't even give this album a chance. Post more Black Lips.
Score = -17
Get on your boots verses sound way too similar to "Pump it Up"....
Score = -4
I can hear that Costello sound but I think I agree more with whoever compared it to The Escape Club's "Wild Wild West"- which, yes, is sadder but maybe more on point.
Score = 1
thanks but no thanks on that u2 bridge to nowhere.
Score = -3
How did U2 become everyone's favorite band to hate on? And yet they still top charts. I noticed that this album is not even out yet and it's Number 2 on Amazon's Rock charts.
Score = 4
different review in spanish www.mehaceruido.com
Score = -1
the album is by no means as offensive as the last two albums have been....but sadly its just instantly forgettable....nothing here makes me want to come back for another listen....nothing hits nearly as well as "lovers in japan" or "lost" from vida la vida...
i'll keep listening to actung baby when i need my u2 fix.
Score = -1
To defend Stereogum: why would they run this article on U2? Because people will read it. Sure, this is not indie rock, but it is just as valid a news item, especially considering how this supposedly untouchable album slipped past Paul McGuiness to be 2009's biggest oopsie. Why are huge bands trying to get far, far away from the labels and taking indie routes of distribution? This is a huge reason.
And besides, would you really rather talk about that horrendous new Black Lips album?
Score = 1
"..akin to watching a mannequin try to put the moves on its shadow." Wow. Really proud of that one, were ya? Painful. Still going through the high school journals and picking the choice bits, I see.
Score = -3
I used to really like U2, like REALLY like them... then they kept putting out records.
Score = 0
I think it's the best album of the decade. Too bad dicks like this guy exist:
http://silenceinarchitecture.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/new-music-u2-no-line-on-the-horizon/
Score = -1
Everyone's entitled to their opinion dude, including you AND the "dick" you're referencing.
That said, I'm under the opinion that if this is the "best album of the decade" you probably have a pretty shitty record collection.
Score = 7
I actually thought the guy who wrote the review that Ramses is complaining about was pretty spot-on. I feel much the same way after only 1 premature listen.
I think the reviewer has to have been a U2 fan at some point...how else would he have been aware of things like the B.B. King duet and "Xanax & Wine"???
Maybe more to the picture than we saw...
Score = 0
I own 43 CDs! Ever heard of Barenaked Ladies?
Score = 3
Had no idea Barenaked Ladies made 43 albums.
Score = 0
You'd think something more mind blowing would result when you put Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno and Steve Lillywhite in the same room.
Score = 0
Found out about being able to stream NO LINE ON THE HORIZON through Stereogum, and have to say, I disagree with this review in most respects except one: Get on Your Boots is indeed a bad song. We may be at the point in time where great bands write songs explicitly for iTunes/iPhone/iPod commercials - and this is one of those songs. The song is the spasmatic dancing silhouette with white headphones.
But the rest of this album? Genius. Two listens in and I'm getting lost in the soundscapes of Unknown Caller, Magnificent, and No Line on the Horizon while dreaming of U2's next concert at MSG. And Cedars of Lebanon is good songwriting which we'll see quoted (certainly in high school yearbooks) for decades to come:
Choose your enemies carefully ‘cos they will define you
Make them interesting ‘cos in some ways they will mind you
They’re not there in the beginning but when your story ends
Gonna last with you longer than your friend
Get on Your Boots and the snarky previews coming through the blogosphere had me expecting something much different. Listen a few more times - if it's not 5 stars, it's somewhere close, and Rolling Stone's decision to give them 5 stars will at least revert the public dialogue away from the silly misguided snarkiness we're seeing on the blogosphere (thanks Ramses for pointing out one of the worst violators), and hopefully towards the appreciation of another accomplishment from a group of 4 living legends.
Score = 4
What music journalist started the thing where they name the lead singer of the band, and follow that up with "& Co." (e.g., Bono & Co.), and can I feed some toe jam?
Still love you anyway, stereogum.
Score = 0
stereo goo goo
stereo ga ga
Score = 5
This is clever. I like this.
Score = -3
Does Bono keeping his sunglasses on when he showers classify him as a never-nude?
Score = 2
This is clever. I like this.
Score = 5
I'm really having a difficult time with the middle of this album. I love U2 like no other band...but "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" and "Get On Your Boots" both make me puke in my mouth...just a little bit.
The rest of the record makes me want to pee my pants...just a bit.
Score = 0
execrable review - you nerd shut up, do everyone a favour and find another job, this is a 6 star masterpiece!
Score = -1
This album is Achtung Baby meets HTDAAB, and in lyrics and musically HTDAAB wins. Flashback of what U2 once was, and safe product to make millions. Nice production, thanks to Eno and Lanois, weakest link Bono, lyrics and voice gone, many songs are duet Edge/Bono, maybe Edge should become singer. Is there a still hope, yes, is it on horizon, no.
Score = -1
THE ALBUM IS BRILLIANT.....You all have no clue....Rolling Stone and many other publications call it a classic....and i will quote Bono..."You Just dont get it, do you??"
Score = -1
"While attempting to sound elitist (since the word queue descends from the French word cue, and one definition does match the two), you failed to appreciate between the use of the two separate words. Learn English, son, before pretentiousness. :D" - quote from ???
LMAO. Are you talking about the French word 'queue', of which the English word 'queue' is a loan-word? Learn French and English and drop the pretentiousness.
Score = 0