U2 - No Line On The Horizon: A Review

As a U2 fan, I cannot guarantee that this review is completely objective. However, I can assure that this review is objective within the context of u2's entire catalogue (i.e. No Line on the Horizon will be judged vis-a-vis U2's previous three decades (!) of work).

"No Line On the Horizon" - The song starts with a steady, penetrating rhythm section. Somewhat abstract, thought-provoking lyrics from Bono follow, not to mention a very strong and ambitious vocal performance. This is the perfect start to the album--perhaps the best U2 album opener since Achtung Baby's "Zoo Station" as far as setting the mood and theme for the album; it begins the album's very complex and non-linear trajectory. Sonically this song is as good, if not better, than the best the band have done. Key Lyric: Time is irrelevant, it's not linear.

"Magnificent" - A slow, consistent buildup to a piercing, rhythmic--yet ringing--Edge guitar riff. The chorus is analogous to the underlying theme of "With or Without You": the duality of love. Only love...only love can leave such a mark/Only love...only love can heal such a scar. The song culminates with a breathtaking and perfectly placed Edge guitar slide solo, which gives way to the soaring climax: Justify till we die/you and I will magnify...The Magnificent. Rumored to be the second single release.

"Moment of Surrender" - Sweeping, slow building. Lyrically the deepest and most consistent on the album, along with the title track and "Unknown Caller". This is a 7:20 long epic that seems no longer than 4 minutes long. Haunting and chilling are two words that come to mind after listening closely. As far as theme and sound, this is not so much the "One" of this album, as it is "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" meets "Your Blue Room". The song culminates with a Claptonesque solo from Edge, which fits perfectly. Lyrically and thematically, the Sufi and Middle Eastern influences certainly permeate, with key lyrics: My body's now a begging bowl/It's begging to get back/begging to get back/to my heart/and to the rhythm of my soul/and to the rhythm of my unconsciousness/to the rhythm that yearns to be released from control...

"Unknown Caller" - Perhaps U2's most complete piece of music. The theme of finding the transcendental in the commonplace of modern life is evident here (as it was in Moment of Surrender: an ATM machine, a subway). The character in this song finds himself, perhaps, in an existential crisis, lost, confused: I was lost between the midnight and the dawning/In a place of no consequence or company...I had driven to the scene of the accident/And I sat there waiting for me. Commands from some higher, eternal source are brilliantly transmitted through modern technology: a cell phone, a computer. Key line/command: Hear me, cease to speak that I may speak/Shush now. Notable is the use of "333" as the "numbers fell of the clockface," which is a likely reference to Jeremiah 33:3: "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not" (not the first time U2 have referenced this particular verse). The song climaxes with french horn and organ segueing into a minute long Edge guitar solo that is nothing short of brilliant, beautiful, and chilling. Key Lyric: Escape yourself and gravity (yet another Sufi spiritual influence).

"I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" - A ringing, echoing Edge guitar sets the mood (reminiscent of the "I Believe in Father Christmas" cover). A series of Bonoesque rhymes follow. Beautiful chorus that falls of the table to reveal the simplistic beauty of Edge's guitar riff. A string arrangement is added during the second verse, which is the song's key verse: Every generation gets a chance to change the world/Pity the nation that won’t listen to your boys and girls/‘Cos the sweetest melody is the one we haven’t heard. Of all the songs on the album, this one resonates with the particular moment we find ourselves in: It’s not a hill, it’s a mountain/As you start out the climb. A world in crisis--economically, politically--certainly is in need of climbing out of a mountain-sized hole. I will be very surprised if this song, a likely single candidate, does not shoot straight to #1.

"Get on Your Boots" - The biggest rocker on the album, backed by a penetrating rhythm arrangement from Adam and Larry, and a monster guitar riff from Edge. Seemingly whimsical lyrics that work very well here. The chorus is unmistakeably Middle Eastern in style. The Let me in the sound... bridge nicely ties the song to the overarching theme of the album. Key lyric: Here’s where we gotta be/Love and community/Laughter is eternity/If joy is real.

"Standup Comedy" - Funky, grungy guitar (reminiscent of "Love and Peace or Else" and late sixties/early seventies Led Zepplin). More fun, whimsical lyrics in this song. Key lyric: Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady.

"Fez/Being Born" - The "Fez" portion of this track, as the name would suggest, captures the sounds of the Fez street (peddlers, pedestrians), with the backdrop of more Let me in the sounds. What emerges from this randomness is perhaps one of U2's most experimental album tracks, with the theme of physically being born into the natural world: A speeding head, a speeding heart/I’m being born, a bleeding start/The engines roar, blood-curdling wail/Head first, then foot/Then heart sets sail.

"White as Snow" - A haunting vocal performance. A song about finding redemption (or not finding it) in the midst of war. The arrangement is based on the traditional hymn "O Come, O Come Emmanuel". Key Lyric: Now the wolves are every passing stranger/Every face we cannot know.

"Breathe" - Intro with drums and cello. Brian Eno called this U2's most U2 song. Song features a unique lyrical/vocal style from Bono, which can be characterized as James Joyce meets Bob Dylan due to its stream of consciousness technique. Also notable is the date during which the entire song takes place, June 16th, which is also the date during which the entire Joycean novel Ulysses takes place. A very encouraging and uplifting chorus, a la "Walk On". Key lyric: The roar that lies on the other side of silence/The forest fire that is fear so deny it.

"Cedars of Lebanon" - Haunting closer. Almost spoken lyrics. A war correspondent's letter back home. Key lyric: 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 friends.

Conclusion - No Line on the Horizon is a beautifully written, cohesive masterpiece. Only time will tell if this album ranks among U2's best--notably Achtung Baby and Joshua Tree--but it is quite clear that it's their best since 1991's Achtung Baby. Those looking for Achtung Baby II will be disappointed. No Line on the Horizon is a very interesting and challenging record that is neither Achtung Baby or Joshua Tree, but something entirely different. Whereas Joshua Tree was a record that captured the complex landscape of the world in the shadow of Regan's America, and Achtung Baby explored the angst and challenges of personal relationships, No Line paints a sketch of the point at which the personal and the transitory blurs with the transcendental and the eternal. The album's theme is brilliantly captured by the album cover art by Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, which conveys the physical blurring between the sea and the sky; where one ends and the other begins is not entirely clear.
No Line is on a different plain than Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, which are rooted in a specific geographical space and time, and in the interpersonal social-sphere that surrounds us, respectively. No Line, on the other hand, attempts to convey the sense that although we find ourselves in the dimensions of space and time, there is a part of us--whether as individuals or collectively--that is embedded in the eternal, the realm beyond the natural, observable dimensions.