The Sky Is Not The Limit

In 2000, shortly before the release of their album All That You Can't Leave Behind, Bono proudly declared that, " [We're] reapplying for the job. What job? The best band in the world job." Bono and his boys held the top spot for most of the eighties and nineties, striving to get their name and message out there, and it worked. Start talking to any one (literally, anyone) about U2, and they'll know exactly who you're talking about. More than likely, they'll probably start singing one of U2's multiple hits from the past thirty years, like "Beautiful Day", "Mysterious Ways", or "With Or Without You."

In 2009, U2 released their twelfth studio album, No Line On The Horizon, the album I am reviewing here. It was their first studio album in five years and the longest gap between any two albums.

The band began working with producer Rick Rubin in 2006, trying to get work started on a follow-up to their 2004 album, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. Rubin wanted them to go for a 'back-to-the-basics' feel, but the band wanted to continue onward with their experimental, free form style. The band and Rubin went their separate ways and U2 teamed up with Daniel Lanois (who produced albums like Oh Mercy by Bob Dylan and So by Peter Gabriel) and Brian Eno (who produced albums like Laid by James and Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends by Coldplay).


^ U2 in the 1980, when they were just beginning. They are, from the left, Larry Mullen, Jr, Bono (real name- Paul Hewson), The Edge (real name- David Evans), and Adam Clayton.

For U2, this album is a game-changer. Listening to it, I can hear a mix of generations in every song. The first song, "No Line On The Horizon", didn't really match up well with me. I thought it was a bad choice for a starting song and that it was a little flat. But the follow-up, song number two- "Magnificent", was picture perfect. U2 is the type of band that pulls on your heart strings and Bono's voice can take you from wherever you are and put you right where he wants you to be.

Bono, who writes many of the songs, decided that for this album, he would write from different perspectives. He was tired of songwriting first person, and leapt out of his comfort zone and into the minds of a traffic cop, a drug addict and a solider serving in Afghanistan. The next two songs, "Moment of Surrender" and "Unknown Caller" both derive from the addicts' perspective.

The next two songs could be called the singles of the album. "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" was created by a collaboration with Will.i.am, a member of the widely popular group, The Black Eyed Peas. The video for the song was U2's first animated video since 1995, and depicted a group of people all trying to make change in their lives, though they are all interconnected.



My favorite song on this album is "Get On Your Boots" (originally named "Sexy Boots"), a fast-paced (at 150 beats per minute, it is one of the fastest songs the band has ever recorded) rocking pop song. Rolling Stone Magazine called it a, "blazing, fuzzed-out rocker", and I have to agree.

Bono later commented on the album, saying it was split into thirds, the first part as, "a whole world unto itself, and you get to a very ecstatic place." The second was described as "a load of singles" and the last third is songs that are, quote, "unusual territory" for the band.

Unusual territory definitely describes most of the second half of the No Line On The Horizon. Every song after six, for me, was just like the last and faded into the background. Maybe I wasn't listening hard enough, maybe it just wasn't all that good.



Either way, U2 has still it! I doubt any other album U2 will record in the future will be as good as their early works, like The Joshua Tree, which is probably they're most acclaimed album. Still, this is a good album. U2 is not afraid to experiment, to try things that may throw their fans off a little and maybe even question their sanity. U2 is the kind of band that stands as a foundation in the music world. If we looked upon music as a table they would be one of many legs (there would be a lot of legs on that table). Yet, at the same time, they are constantly changing and growing themselves, if that makes any sense. Sure, it's not the eighties anymore, but U2 can still bring it.

-Whitni

PS- Bono really knows how to spin his lyrics, and one line that stood out for me is from "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight." The line is- "How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?" Think on that world.