First off, let’s talk about the upcoming U2 tour promoting the No Line on the Horizon album. Details will be released this morning but Ottawa Sun reports that two Canadian stops will be on the first North American leg…Vancouver and Toronto. Not having Ottawa on the list is not a big surprise considering this tour will be a stadium affair and…I don’t think there are any stadiums to handle U2 coming to town!
Anyhow…can’t wait for that tour!
As for the new album, I waited a few days to pick it up as I was trying to win the super box set option on Chez 106 but alas, it was not meant to be. So I went to pick up the regular CD edition on Saturday. I had some great opportunities to listen to the album in the car this weekend and I was impressed.
Now, I don’t know what it is about lead singles off their albums but I’m never impressed. Remember Vertigo off of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb? I thought it was a little hokey. The rest of the album was decent, but at the same time, it didn’t blow me away. If anything, I found that it didn’t have an album feel…where it’s one cohesive piece. It was more like a collection of songs.
The same thing does not happen with their new album No Line on the Horizon. With the help of Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, they make it feel like you’re on another world listening to their music. I don’t know how to describe it in words…there’s an atmosphere to the album. It’s creating some sort of space.
Getting back to the discussion on lead singles…Get on Your Boots is an odd song. It’s not that bad but I must admit the bridge is quite wacky in comparison to the rest of the song. So I didn’t know what to expect. But I realized that the lead single is not usually indicative of the rest album (in my own personal views on new U2 albums). This was a correct assumption. The rest of the album is nothing like the lead single. There’s some moody pieces on the album and some interesting guitar work done by The Edge. After first listen, I think I shall enjoy this album more than their last few albums solely because it seeks out not to become a greatest hits album, but to create something subdued and different.
I’ve only listened to the album twice but there’s already melodies sticking inside my head. If I were to offer any critiques, I would say that Bono’s lyrics have lost some mystery over the years.