U2
No Line On The Horizon

Let the invasion begin.

We're finally there: in a few days, this new work by U2 - "No Line On The Horizon" - will hit the stores, five years after the previous "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" which, by the way, made quite a splash, selling a whopping 9 million copies worldwide (a rare feat in the age of eMule and similar platforms). Despite its commercial success, I must say I hardly remember anything from that album except for the whirlwind single "Vertigo," which I got tired of rather quickly: an outdated rock that was only innovative in its quirky Spanish-like introduction (un, dos, trez, catorze!) and the mega expensive video clip where our heroes even disintegrated!

The album then, as far as I remember, suffered from an overall aura of mediocrity and was an impressive string of good-hearted stereotypes and political rhetoric that have become Bono Vox's obsession with his little sermons for world peace, no to war etc.: exactly him, who lives in a $40 million house, has 26 ferraris/hummers/rolls royces parked in a "garage" as big as the field of S.Siro, and could end world hunger with half of his bank account. Musically speaking, few flashes of brilliance, but that's how it's been in the U2 camp for years. And Bono himself must have realized that a shake-up was needed, a last-minute attempt to create an album that could somehow put U2's name back on top, not just in terms of sales. And what better idea than to enlist the architect of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" global success, the legendary Brian Eno? Away with the easy pop-rock and in with finally different sounds and hints of experimentation (though not overdoing it).

The album starts well with the title track, and you can feel Eno's touch: the sound plot is rich and built on electronic sounds and guitars that blend excellently with the latter finally noteworthy from The Edge, contributing to not make the piece "square"; the sound is new, but the style is, I'd say, unmistakable, and Bono rides the rhythm with his usual high and suffering voice. A good start is half the battle. The next is indeed "Magnificent," which seems almost taken from the '80s but has modern spirit and sounds, just like the following "Moment of Surrender," a song about drugs from the point of view of the addicted, who is the "protagonist" of the piece (and well, the sermon needed to be placed somewhere): Bono stops talking about himself in the first person this time, but entrusts the task to other characters "invented" by him, as if to say that this time let the clichés and stereotypes be "sung" by the directly concerned. It continues with "Unknown Caller," a song that features a choral singing part that makes it absolutely different from what U2 has proposed to us so far: all in all, nothing exceptional, but it's still an attempt to diversify their musical offering. The same cannot be said for "I'll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight," which, instead, includes the usual nonsense lyrics like "every generation can change the world" and so on; a piece where Will.I.Am collaborates but fails to leave a mark. After a good start, in short, it seems everything is evaporating: the following "Get On Your Boots" (first single) and "Stand Up Comedy" are absolutely forgettable pieces of pseudo-rock with mediocre riffs designed just to please various radios that obviously pound (the former) nonstop. In short, two dull fillers that fortunately give way to "Fez Being Born," perhaps the peak of the album: oriental rhythms blend with surprising simplicity to electronic sounds and street voices, all with a recovered The Edge who enhances the piece with his guitar, giving life to a finally different song, albeit not too original: it is all too evident that, in this as in other songs, Eno's production recycles some ideas experimented with Coldplay, but so it is. The piece is noteworthy and is certainly, speaking of relatively recent times, one of U2's best compositions. Ballad time (yawn...) and in "White As Snow," it’s Bono’s voice that takes the spotlight, leaving the previous sounds aside for a moment: the piece indeed starts acoustic and then "opens" in the dreamy chorus, a bit in the manner of "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"; soporific, in a few words. It’s up to the following "Breathe" to wake us up, a nice rock track where finally the guitar dominates: it seems the counterpart of "Vertigo," but between the two, it's certainly the former that, at least on a first listen, convinces and leaves a mark. The album closes with "Cedars of Lebanon," where Bono tells with almost recitative tones about the conflict in the Middle East (a leopard cannot change its spots).

In short, what else to add? Surely we are faced with a well-produced album that manages to overshadow (not that it took much) U2's previous releases. Eno's experiments and certain ideas are successful, and the band is in good form. As mentioned, in some songs you can still smell the "stench" of the old U2, as well as, in others, a certain "Coldplay-like" aura, but overall I think I can say that the album is there and that it deserves a passing grade. A success announced nonetheless: it remains to be seen how the band will bring the album's atmosphere live in concert.

P.S: The album will even be sold in 4 different versions: the standard one, accompanied by a 24-page booklet; the digipack version containing a 36-page booklet instead of 24 and, in addition, there's a poster! (what excitement..); the magazine version contains an even 60-page booklet (serious stuff) and, last but not least, the nabob version (47 euros - they must have lost their minds) which includes the mega poster, the 60-page booklet, and an exclusive DVD of Anton Corbijn's film (who knows).