U2: No Line On the Horizon
Those that know me well know I’ve been a fan of U2 since 1979. I first heard a U2 song when a good friend of mine played a tune he’d brought back from Ireland. It was awesome and I was hooked. I believed them to be the future of Rock and Roll.
For thirty years — has it been that long? — I’ve enjoyed their music. And just a few days ago U2 released their latest, No Line On the Horizon. What to make of it.
I’ll make no bones about the fact I liked their earlier work the best. To me, U2 peaked with the 1st half of Joshua Tree, falling down on the 2nd half. Though In God’s Country is one of my all time favourites and it resides on the 2nd side.
Thereafter, they have some impressive songs but the overall albums have been lacking.
To be sure, some of my favourite U2 songs came after Joshua Tree, with my all time favourite being Until the End of the World on Achtung Baby.
So as news emerged that a new U2 album was in the works and due out in 2009 I both anticipated it and dreaded it. Would it be a great album, relighting my passion. Or would it just be another album with 2 or 3 great tracks and a bunch of average ones.
I so dreaded buying a copy I actually waited for reviews, something I never did in the past. They were acceptable and some even claimed it their best work in years. I figured I’d buy a copy and listen to it myself. And my verdict? It’s OK.
It’s not Joshua Tree nor even Achtung Baby! In fact, it’s more like their latest 4 albums but with a bit of a difference. The sound is, well, mildly different.
Sure, you can tell it’s Edge on guitar and Bono singing, but there’s a lilt of Coldplay in some of the songs with a hit of something else I can’t put my finger on. It’s especially true on Magnificent and No Line On the Horizon. The only other track I really like is White As Snow. The rest are average songs. Not average for U2, but simply average. And that’s seriously disappointing.
So in my iTunes library it shows up as a 3 star album. With only three 5 star songs it’s the only place I can put it.
That said, Magnificent and No Line On the Horizon will remain on my U2 rotation. I’ll see if I tire of them. I hope not.
Now, off to listen to the latest Cure album and I hear Simple Minds has something new out, too.