- Field Day |
- Buildings Alive |
- Visions |
- CLGBT |
- Green Community |
- Fun & Free S#!T |
- Crossword |
- CL Space |
Monday, March 2, 2009
A review of the new U2
Posted by Eric Snider on Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 5:09 PM
U2
No Line on the Horizon
Interscope
Four years after "Vertigo" blasted from speakers and iPod commercials — can it really have been that long? — U2 continues to defy the odds. While the ranks of legendary rockers limp along with lame new offerings that suggest they're all but tapped out (it wouldn't be polite to name names ... but Springsteen comes to mind), U2 unveils its 12th studio album, No Line on the Horizon, which is marked by nothing less than consistent excellence.
While No Line does not include a song quite as incendiary as "Vertigo," nor quite as soaring as "City of Blinding Lights," it is, track for track, a superior effort to 2004's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
The tunes take a bit longer to insinuate themselves, in part because U2 is even more infatuated this go-round with long and winding intros. And while sometimes I find myself just wanting them to get on with, there's always a payoff at the end of the slow build, usually delivered by the Edge, be it with a wave of orchestral guitar textures, a punchy riff or a chord sequence in full chime.
Bono, 48, continues to progress as a vocalist, without showing any degradation of pitch or range. Sometimes it's a surprising spike into falsetto, or a wordless cry (you can see his head thrown back), or a dialed-down foray into speak-sing, which sets apart the quiet, minimalist closer "Cedars of Lebanon."
Or sometimes it's spitting out dense clusters of words, Dylan-style, as on "Breathe," the closest thing to a perfect song that No Line has to offer. Every bit the U2 epic, the song churns along on a jaunty rhythm and Edge's throbbing chords and ringing arpeggios.
Bono is still given to the Grand Statement, but there aren't any eye-rollers here. (Hasn't he earned his right to be arch and lofty?) So on "Sexy Boots," the album's first single and most frivolously energetic rocker, he tosses in this stanza: "Here's where we gotta be/ Love and community/ Laughter is eternity/ If joy is real."
Those words resonate even better when sung over driving fuzz bass.
[image-2]
—Eric Snider
No Line on the Horizon is still streaming on U2's MySpace page. (Click on the album cover next to the playlist.)
Comments (34)
Showing 1-34 of 34
like
dislike
Or sometimes it’s spitting out dense clusters of words, Dylan-style, as on “Breathe,” the closest thing to a perfect song that No Line has tchi hair flat irono offer. Every bit the U2 epic, the song churns along on a jaunty rhythm and Edge’s throbbing chords and ringing arpeggios.
We have been banned and have a considerable amount of money owed to us. http://www.anfworld.com/abercrombie-and-fitch-jeans.html http://www.anfworld.com/ruehl-no-925.html
It is real that we really do not know what we’ve acquired right until we shed it, but it is also real that we do not know what we’ve been missing before it arrives. Do you assume so? Posed By Jordan Retro 8
I am really love your website. It is so great. Welcome to visit our website at anytime!
Love's tongue is in the eyes. There is no hiding from lover's eyes.Love is a fabric that nature wove and fantasy embroidered.
Thanks for your great website, i love it very much.Welcome to visit our website too.
Have you ever felt lost for words and pondered what matters to discuss on your own website web page? Very well, in place of feeling perplexed, your time could be spent on improving your writing skills.
Thank you for your wonderful article, I learn a lot from you. Hope your blog was welcomed by most people.
Hello, I am very happy to read your blog. This is another fantastic blog post what I have read. There are so many tools available that it becomes difficult to know which will work. And how best to use them.
Congratulate you've got a quite informative weblog and may well all of your hopes and strategies flip to fulfillment and achievement. Posed By jordan rare air 2010
Thanks for sharing your great website with us. i am really love it. I Knew many knowledge from it.
It really is delight to be aware of you, wishing the nicest stuff continually to suit your needs, not simply currently, but each of the yr as a result of since you might be definitely a delight to understand. Posed By Jordan Trunner
Faith just isn't anything you possibly can need or command; it happens to be a end result of dedication to perception. Do you assume so? Posed By Jordan Spizike
dear friend,thank you very much for sharing your great website with us. i learned a lot from it.i really love it very much!
DllErrorsFix is an dll errors fix tool.DllErrorsFix can repair and fix dll errors easy, safe and fast. DllErrorsFix will not collect or use any information about the visitors to the Web Site and your visit to the Web Site is anonymous.
A cosmetician wholesale mac cosmetics is a professional wholesale mac who provides facial wholesale mac makeup and body treatments for clients. The term cosmetologist is wholesale mac products sometimes used interchangeably with this term, but most commonly refers to a certified professional. A freelance makeup wholesale mac makeup products artist provides clients wholesale mac makeup products with mac cosmetics beauty advice and cosmetics assistance—usually paid by the cosmetic company by the mac makeup hour.
www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com www.eyewearlens.com
So wonderful this artical, i like it very much. I hope to get more message form your blog. They are very useful to me. Come on. Thanks. Share the monster headphone with me now.
wow, so wonderful the artical, it is just what i want, i found it for a long time. how fortunate i am. This is GHD Hair Straighteners. hope to hear from you to know more info about this subject.
thank you for sharing your website with us. it is so great that i love it very much. welcome to visit our website at anytime!
thank you very much for sharing your good website with us. it is so great, i love it very much. welcome to visit our shop at anytime.
Author Archives
-
CD review: Pontiak, Echo Ono
The record drops on Tuesday via Thrill Jockey; video included.
-
Concert review: Richard Thompson at Tampa Theatre 1
The British musician offered up an evening full of jaw-dropping guitartistry at his Feb. 3 show.
- More »
Top Commenters
