U2 - No Line on the Horizon

[Josh]

March 3rd it is.

[enemy anemone]

so there is a line on the horizon.

[Josh]

I'm as surprised as you are.

[Ian]

Not going for a catchy title I see :|

[spacebrat311]

At the same time, I've never heard an album title that could so completely only be a U2 album.

[murlough23]

At the same time, I've never heard an album title that could so completely only be a U2 album.

Why, because nobody comes up with such unwieldy titles except for Sufjan Stevens, Alanis Morissette, or Fiona Apple?

[spacebrat311]

That combined with its abstract, almost humorously epic nature.

[murlough23]

That combined with its abstract, almost humorously epic nature.

I'm not gonna judge it until I find out what it's meant to refer to in the context of the album.

That said, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. 

[Josh]

It is long and a bit odd, but much less so than the titles of the last two albums. And, because of all the long vowel sounds, it's much easier to say-- it has a certain cadence to it that makes it much less clumsy.

All that so say, I think it's their best album title since Pop-- though I do miss the days of one- and two-word album titles from them!

[spacebrat311]

I'm not gonna judge it until I find out what it's meant to refer to in the context of the album.

Well that wasn't necessarily meant as a put-down, so much as the way you might laugh at a good friend for doing something idiosyncratic that makes you say "you would."

[Josh]

Woa!!

Q initially heard previews of seven tracks at various stages of completion as the band were winding up. First impressions were that, while the two most recent U2 albums (2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind and 2004's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb) marked a return to basics, No Line On The Horizon is more in keeping with the spirit of 1991's Achtung Baby: which is to say, a bolder, more testing collection.

The material itself runs a gamut from the classic U2-isms of Magnificent, which echoes The Unforgettable Fire's opening track A Sort Of Homecoming in its atmospheric sweep, to the straight up pop of Crazy Tonight (the track Will.I.Am was taking a pass at) and the swaggering Stand Up, wherein U2 get in touch with their, hitherto unheard, funky selves - albeit propelled by some coruscating Edge guitar work, a signature feature of a number of the tracks. The latter track is also home to the knowing Bono lyric, "Stand up to rock stars/Napoleon is in high heels/Be careful of small men with big ideas."

Among other instantly striking tracks are Get Your Boots On, a heaving electro-rocker that may mark the destination point the band had been seeking on Pop; Winter, featuring a fine Bono lyric about a soldier in an unspecified war zone, surrounded by a deceptively simple rhythm track and an evocative string arrangement courtesy of Eno; and the stately Unknown Caller, which was recorded in Fez and opens with the sounds of birdsong taped by Eno during a Moroccan dawn.

At Olympic, particular excitement was reserved for two tracks: Moment Of Surrender and Breathe. A strident seven-minute epic recorded in a single take, the first of these sounds like a Great U2 Moment in the spirit of One, while Eno suggests the latter (at the time still a work in progress) is potentially both the best song the band had written and that he had worked on.

[Ian]

Sounds pretty good to me.

[murlough23]

If it's as good as that little teaser makes it sound, this is easily going to outdo ATYCLB and HTDAAB.

[Josh]

By all accounts, it should be their best album since Pop... maybe even since Achtung. Which would make it an upper-level U2 record, and probably my Album of the Year. (Though I hear my friend Joe Henry is in the studio this month...)

[murlough23]

By all accounts, it should be their best album since Pop... maybe even since Achtung.

My view of Pop is admittedly a bit skewed, compared to conventional wisdom about U2. I think it would be tough for U2 to outdo that record's consistency when it comes to thematic cohesion and overall vision. A lot of people hate that one because they were basically the anti-U2 on that record, but they really committed to the bleak world they created with that one. It was a statement, and not just a collection of good songs. Few of U2's other albums have had as strong of an effect on me from start to finish for that reason, even if The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby happen to sound better overall and be easier albums to get into.

Production-wise, they could easily outdo it, simply by taking the time to actually finish the album. Which they better have, considering all of the release date pushbacks.

NP: "Pour Me Out", PfR

[Josh]

I haven't heard anything yet that makes me think the album will be as visionary or thematically coherent as Pop was, per se-- but then, I think all of their albums have been at least somewhat thematic, and there's no denying that, as a writer, Bono's a pretty big-picture kind of guy. But I think it's possible for this album to outdo Pop in terms of the consistency of the songs; Pop, after all, has a number of stone-classics on it, but also two or three songs that don't do much for me ("Miami," "The Playboy Mansion," "Last Night on Earth"). My hope is that this album is all killer, no filler-- and if it is, I think that pretty much guarantees it a place in the U2 canon.

[spacebrat311]

I am hopeful but cautious about this one. I've just seen too many successive U2 albums hyped beforehand as being the next classic from them, only to turn out to be dramatically inconsistent. I will be the the first to applaud if my caution turns out to be unwarranted.

[murlough23]

But I think it's possible for this album to outdo Pop in terms of the consistency of the songs

Well, sure, it's always possible. I just said it would be difficult.

Pop, after all, has a number of stone-classics on it, but also two or three songs that don't do much for me ("Miami," "The Playboy Mansion," "Last Night on Earth").

I love "Miami" for the oddball little mutant that it is. "The Playboy Mansion" is definitely one of Pop's lazier moments, but I think its pop culture-as-religion commentary is solid and I'm amused by the "porno soundtrack" music. "Last Night on Earth" might be a weak link... I think that's one instance where the rush to get the album finished resulted in a good idea for a song that was haphazardly produced. This is the type of thing that I don't expect to be an issue for U2 now that they're taking their time with each album.

My hope is that this album is all killer, no filler-- and if it is, I think that pretty much guarantees it a place in the U2 canon.

I hope that for every U2 album, but I can't say that I find it to be true for any of them so far. (Which is not to say that U2 ever intentionally creates "filler", because they're pretty intentional about most of what they do - but every album has its tracks that just don't do it for me, even if I can acknowledge that some of them are very powerful for other people - like "Exit" or "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)", for example.)

I am hopeful but cautious about this one. I've just seen too many successive U2 albums hyped beforehand as being the next classic from them, only to turn out to be dramatically inconsistent. I will be the the first to applaud if my caution turns out to be unwarranted.

Obviously an artist is going to try to do their best work with each successive album (a respectable artist, anyway), so I can't fault them for having a high opinion of their own work. But I'm not hearing the usual "this album is our best!" buzz; I'm hearing more that it's different for U2, another reinvention, something that doesn't immediately compare to their older works. When you have a back catalogue containing so many albums/songs that are regarded as classics, just about anything that's brand new and hasn't had enough time to really sink in yet is going to seem blasphemous if anyone claims it's better than the old stuff, so I think U2 is wise this time around to simply be confident about what they're doing now without making any sort of claim that it puts the old stuff to shame.

I'm simply not hearing any of that "this is our first album" crap this time around.

NP: "Crooked Man", Susan Ashton

[spacebrat311]

True. That does make me feel a bit better.

[Josh]

It is interesting that the hype is all coming from Edge, Eno and Lanois this time around. (Well, them and Q Magazine.) Thus far, I don't remember hearing a single word from Bono.

[murlough23]

It is interesting that the hype is all coming from Edge, Eno and Lanois this time around. (Well, them and Q Magazine.) Thus far, I don't remember hearing a single word from Bono.

I prefer to only hear words from Bono when he's singing them.

[Josh]

Is this...?

[murlough23]

Let me guess... it's rapturously beautiful, like that Over the Rhine CD cover with the horse's ass.

NP: "Golden Age", TV on the Radio

[Josh]

Well, it's really different from any of their other covers, which I love. Not sure how I feel about a kid wearing a U2 shirt, though...

[murlough23]

Well, it's really different from any of their other covers, which I love. Not sure how I feel about a kid wearing a U2 shirt, though...

I'm just teasing, in case you couldn't tell.

I like the kid with the T-shirt. For some strange reason, it reminds me of the band member's names on their jerseys in the "Stuck in a Moment" video.

And I like the look of the album cover as well. You are right, it's very un-U2.

[Josh]

... which is why I'm not sure if it's real or not. But if it is... well, that makes me all the more exciting.

[Ian]

I don't like it at all.  The photograph isn't really of anything noteworthy, nor is it particularly impressive aesthetically, the type is horrible, and it just feels like it should be the cover for a super generic worship band.

Obviously I hope they choose something different.

[spacebrat311]

I love love love it. I also disagree that it looks like something a worship band or their PR team would ever come up with.

Things I love: The way it references the Boy/War covers (looks like the same kid, just from behind)
I think the photography is gorgeous.
I'm a sucker for text incorporated (in reality or in editing) into the landscape of the actual photograph.

[murlough23]

Things I love: The way it references the Boy/War covers (looks like the same kid, just from behind)

That thought had briefly crossed my mind, too.

NP: "Leave You Now", House of Heroes

[Josh]

Yeah, the Boy connection is what really makes it, for me.

[Ian]

I think the photography is gorgeous.

See to me it just looks like a random photo a kid could have taken on vacation.  They did a nice job photoshopping it, but I think they could have chosen a better photo to begin with.

[murlough23]

See to me it just looks like a random photo a kid could have taken on vacation.

Sometimes random photos are beautiful, or they capture moments that were beautiful to the artist and representative of the mood the album is trying to capture. Without hearing the album, it's hard to say.

In any event, it's more interesting than another band photo would have been.

Is my depth perception just off, or is that kid floating?

NP: "White Lights", Deas Vail

[Josh]

I think he's leaping.

[bloop]

I think he's grounded, wandering off alone like that.

Sorry, couldn't help it.

[murlough23]

I think he's leaping.

That's what's weird about it. It looks like he's off the ground, but his posture doesn't seem to suggest the quick movement of a jump (plus the photo seems too perfect for him to have been captured in such a quick motion). It really looks to me like he's walking on air.

The rainy street is a nice touch - the reflections of the people on the street make it clear that the kid isn't touching the ground, but the people walking in front of him are.

I'm probably totally overanalyzing it, but if you can find a Playboy Bunny in the Pop album cover, apparently no detail is too minute for U2.

NP: "Polar Bears and Shark Fins", The Myriad

[enemy anemone]

I think his posture looks like he is walking, but his feet aren't connected to his shadow. I get the impression that he was photoshopped to look like he is jumping but instead he looks like he is floating. he doesn't really look floaty enough for the floatiness to be the intention. but I don't know.

[spacebrat311]

See to me it just looks like a random photo a kid could have taken on vacation.  They did a nice job photoshopping it, but I think they could have chosen a better photo to begin with.

From a photographic standpoint, though, this picture is kind of epic. The street reflections are captured really well, which is fairly hard to do, and a lot of care has been put into the way the brightness of the reflected street makes the kid pop off the background in a way that he wouldn't have off of a dark-looking natural street. This isn't something just any amateur could put together unless they were insanely lucky. Whatever you think about its aesthetic value to you, this is definitely the work of someone who knows what they're doing on a very deep level.

[Ian]

Reflections aren't that hard to capture, and the color/brightness/contrast is mostly done with Photoshop (done very well too, I like the color scheme).  I dunno, I have a hard time buying this photo, but I guess it just appeals to some and some not.

In any event, it's more interesting than another band photo would have been.

This is definitely true though.

[spacebrat311]

Reflections aren't that hard to capture, and the color/brightness/contrast is mostly done with Photoshop (done very well too, I like the color scheme).  I dunno, I have a hard time buying this photo, but I guess it just appeals to some and some not.
This is definitely true though.

I'm not talking about the color/brightness contrast
(although based on the definition in a lot of the backround objects, I think it's less photoshopped than you think it is.)
I'm talking about the initial choice of framing the dark elements of the boy against light reflections, while darker shadows come into contact with the shoulders. That's the kind of subtle highlighting that you're not going to get by accident, and has nothing to do with the photoshopping. I'm talking about the subtle light highlights on the tents or whatever they are that pops them. This picture was taken at exactly the right time in the evening at exactly the right angle to highlight each individual element and draw the eye to the boy. And reflections are a total bitch to work with without them undermining the rest of your shot, but the photographer here uses them as a compositional element to frame the other compositional elements. This is simply masterful photography, and its fine if it doesn't appeal to you, but you can't claim that it is poorly or amateurishly done, because there's simply too much being balanced here to make that kind of claim.

[Ian]

Oh, I'm not saying it wasn't professionally done, I just don't like the direction they took.  Like the street lines being crooked, the entire thing being off balance to the right, the fonts, just isn't my thing.

Didn't mean to get in a detailed discussion about it or anything, as I honestly don't care too much about it