Three-and-a-half-Stars (***1/2)
By Anthony Kuzminski
There is a reason U2 is viewed as not just the world’s most significant and ingenious band, but often its best as well. What differentiates U2 from almost all other acts is their wide stream appeal. I’ve never witnessed a band, which is still together-with their original line-up no less, who can tap into every generation with each new record. Most artists have a niche audience and struggle to make the same connection with a multi-generational audience. U2 is among the few acts that have everyone’s attention when they release a new record and head out on tour. However, as everyone found out in 1997 with the release of Pop, just because the music is new doesn’t mean it will be accepted. No Line on the Horizon, U2’s twelfth studio LP, is a sprawling, decadent and widescreen affair full of evocative imagery. I scoff at reviews that say this is or isn’t U2’s best record, because the truth is that no one knows…yet. Whenever one listens to a new record by a favorite artist of theirs, I often hear “I need to give it a few more spins”, which is a clever way of saying “I’m disappointed”. If you listen to something enough, you can find a lot to like, unless it is garbage. However it’s one thing to need to give an album further spins and to want to listen to it again. After the final notes of “Cedar of Lebanon” drifted off into the air, I immediately wanted to hear it again; always the sign of a great album.
U2 takes far too long between records but it’s hard to argue with when the results are this luminous and revealing. The production and arrangements are daring, yet sound vaguely familiar. Have you ever had a dream where a day or two later you can’t remember if you dreamed the occurrence or it actually happened? That is what No Line on the Horizon sounds like, a familiar album we think we know, but ultimately don’t. Credit must be given to producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno is they have helped the band push the envelope even further than I deemed possible. This isn’t just a recreation of the lush soundscapes of The Unforgettable Fire but it’s novel while staying true to the band’s soul. It also harkens back to 1993’s Zooropa which was all about ambiance amidst a few of the greatest tracks the band ever wrote (“Stay” & “The First Time”). Zooropa wasn’t an album that I loved on my first listen, but the ethereal soundscapes always brought me back for repeated listed. No Line on the Horizon is more about mood than singles. In fact, there isn’t a single anywhere to be found on the record, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t arms-to-the-air anthems ready to roar amidst stadiums later this year.
Opening the album is the lush title track as Bono and the boys take us into a dreamy underworld where anything is possible which surges into “Magnificent”, a classic anthem even if no one knows it yet. This will be one that will bring the crowds to their knees within stadiums. This isn’t so much a band that is re-imaging what they do as stretching out for the untouchable. Let’s be honest, a band can only truly reinvent themselves one time. The Beatles did it with Sgt. Pepper, the Rolling Stones did it withLet It Bleed and Exile, Green Day did it with American Idiot and U2 did it with Achtung Baby. It’s rare for a band to delve even deeper and try to make work that is simultaneously an enigma laced with melody and pensive lyrics. U2 succeeds all of this on No Line and even two songs into the record, it’s clearly evident. What differentiates U2 from almost revert other band that has ever existed is that no one of them is more important than the next. Bono and the Edge may steal a lot of the limelight, but the band is nothing without the rhythm section of Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton. Throughout No Line Clayton’s bass delicately pushes the emotional momentum of the songs while Mullen’s drums anchors the entire song. This is a band in the truest sense of the form where all have an equal say. Ego may exist, but they can be crushed just as quickly. This is what almost every other act on the planet is missing; honest collaboration
“Moment of Surrender” was done as a first take recording. For a band known for writing and rewriting songs dozens upon dozens of times, this is the rare gem that came out perfect on a first impression. As the chorus of “Unknown Caller” hails, “Re-start and reboot yourself”, this is an album about facing the world amidst adversity. "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" showcases some of Bono’s most brutally truthful lyrics in a tongue in cheek manner (“Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot“). He has a way of making the obvious sound profoundly poetic. “Breathe” is about finding your solace in the world that allows you “to find the courage to walk the street”. Sonically it’s the song I believe the band wanted “Acrobat” to be, but here it’s given a more sturdy arrangement with lyrics full of finesse. “White As Snow”, an esoteric ballad full of tranquil imagery of leaves a haunting impression. There’s a lesson here, but Bono uses his pen to weave a veiled moral tale without being in-your-face. About a soldier dying in Afghanistan, it’s a gem that only makes this record more essential. “FEZ- Being Born” is among the bands most experimental tracks ever. Complimented by co-producer Brian Eno’s influence. A track more about ambiance than lyrics, but still, the entire song is filled with a breathy intimacy that provides the listener with a surreal experience. The album’s only misstep is the sprightly lead single, “Get On Your Boots”, which I am convinced was chosen as the lead single primarily for its length (3:23). The song feels unfinished and an odd choice for lead single amidst a collection of hymns so profoundly poetics and sonically pleasing, I still can’t figure out why they chose it. There was an immense stink around this album because of this song and having the album leak a few weeks early is the best thing the band ever could have hoped for as the other ten songs easily overshadow “Boots” in terms of depth, complexity and spirituality.
U2’s music lives in a world where heaven and hell are at odds and fighting. U2 are the angels set to drive Satan’s army back into hell. They stand in between heaven and hell trying to appease the two worlds and keep the uprisings from hell down. Am I making more out of this than I should? Most likely. However, when we live in times where the world around us is falling apart and nary a day goes by without some dramatic life altering news. U2 has risen to the challenge to make a metaphorically poignant and ingenious record that proves to be a refreshing soundtrack to your escape. No Line on the Horizon is about rising above it all and overcoming the pessimism that surrounds you. It’s also about standing on top of a bar and dancing your problems away. Music can be more healing than any bottle or medication and U2 proves to us why they’re still the world’s most important rock band. There is a sweeping romantic urgency to the songs that takes you away where you feel free and confident. It’s one thing to listen to music that you like and another to feel alive when listening to it. The songs as a whole are like a great piece of architecture, to be admired for its vast and complex beauty amidst the layers of sonic textures. I hear a band not so much striving to be the biggest band in the world, but the best. When you’re the best, in my opinion, the rest will follow.
No Line on the Horizon is chock full of vast and wide landscapes where romanticism and salvation are all within reach. These eleven songs may not make sense to you upon an initial listen, but I guarantee you after seeing the band live later this year; you’ll be retreating to this record once again in search of what you may have overlooked the first time. Every once in a while you experience an album where you feel that every song was written just for you. The veiled lines between your life and the lyrics are none existent. I’m not sure if No Line on the Horizon will attain classic status in the coming year, but I’m excited for my next listen, I’m jazzed to see these songs live and I can’t wait to see how these songs unfold over time. That is all one can ask for from a record and when it comes to down to it, is there anything else that can make your day more beautiful?
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.
