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Rating: This is my second review of a U2 album, after All That You Can't Leave Behind. This time I'll try to be more concise without any frills.
It's an album that sold nearly 5 million copies, which is few for a U2 album due to the choice of singles that didn't prove to be true hits. But beware, this is a good thing, because unlike the previous three studio albums, there are no "A-list tracks" and "B-list tracks." If an album doesn't sell much, it doesn't mean it was a bad piece of work. Often critics and the public have different opinions on movies, CDs, and books. Back to the album, No Line On The Horizon presents itself as a fluid record...with a homogenous sound, where the songs appear to be connected to each other. A concept album? No, in their intentions. No, in the final product. Perhaps in interpretation. There’s The Edge, fresh from the documentary "It Might Get Loud" with Jimmy Page and Jack White. In fact, their spirit seems to be present in tracks like "Moment Of Surrender," "Unknown Caller," "Stand Up Comedy," and "Breathe." Personally, I prefer the version of the title track in the single "Get On Your Boots" (called No Line On The Horizon 2) compared to the one on the CD, because it is rawer, less polished, and more authentic. Then I would have liked to find "Mercy," which was left out of How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and still hasn't found a place on an album (it can be heard on YouTube or during the 2010-2011 concerts). It would have deserved much more than to be a lost gem. And what about "Every Breaking Wave," which could have been included in this record and in its embryonic form was played during the 2010 concerts? The same goes for "Flowering Rose Of Glastonbury," which later devolved into "Volcano" in Songs Of Innocence. It's an album with oriental rhythms and melodies, as part of it was recorded in Fez, Morocco (like the song "Fez-Being Born," which partly echoes the experimental period of "Lemon" and "Mofo"). It is the first U2 album where Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, besides being producers, are credited as co-authors of the songs and lyrics. It's a pity that "Get On Your Boots" was mixed with all those overdubs, but justice was done during the "U2 360°" tour. Then there's "White As Snow," which shows Bono's best vocal performance since 2000. It's my favorite song on the album, even though it was never played during the tour. It's a track that roots itself in the Catholic Christmas carol "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." Just like "October," it's an album misunderstood by those who follow U2 only commercially, but not by true fans. Rating "7."
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
06 Get On Your Boots (03:25)
The future needs a big kiss
Winds blows with a twist
Never seen a moon like this
Can you see it too?
Night is falling everywhere
Rockets at the fun fair
Satan loves a bomb scare
But he won’t scare you
Hey, sexy boots
Get on your boots, yeah
You free me from the dark dream
Candy floss ice cream
All our kids are screaming
But the ghosts aren’t real
Here’s where we gotta be
Love and community
Laughter is eternity
If joy is real
You don’t know how beautiful
You don’t know how beautiful you are
You don’t know, and you don’t get it, do you?
You don’t know how beautiful you are
That’s someone’s stuff they’re blowing up
We’re into growing up
Women of the future
Hold the big revelations
I got a submarine
You got gasoline
I don’t want to talk about wars between nations
Not right now
Hey sexy boots
Get on your boots, yeah
Not right now
Bossy boots
You don’t know how beautiful
You don’t know how beautiful you are
You don’t know, and you don’t get it, do you?
You don’t know how beautiful you are
Hey sexy boots
I don’t want to talk about the wars between the nations
Sexy boots, yeah
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Meet me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, now
God, I’m going down
I don’t wanna drown now
Meet me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Meet me in the sound
Get on your boots
Get on your boots
Get on your boots
Yeah hey hey
10 Breathe (05:00)
16th of June, nine 0-five, door bell rings
Man at the door says if I want to stay alive a bit longer
There’s a few things I need you to know.
Three coming from a long line of travelling sales people on my mother’s side
I wasn’t gonna buy just anyone’s cockatoo
So why would I invite a complete stranger into my home
Would you?
These days are better than that
These days are better than that
Every day I die again, and again I’m reborn
Every day I have to find the courage
To walk out into the street
With arms out
Got a love you can’t defeat
Neither down or out
There’s nothing you have that I need
I can breathe
Breathe now
16th of June, Chinese stocks are going up
And I’m coming down with some new Asian virus
Ju Ju man, Ju Ju man
Doc says you’re fine, or dying
Please
Nine 0-nine, St John Divine, on the line, my pulse is fine
But I’m running down the road like loose electricity
While the band in my head plays a striptease
The roar that lies on the other side of silence
The forest fire that is fear so deny it
Walk out into the street
Sing your heart out
The people we meet
Will not be drowned out
There’s nothing you have that I need
I can breathe
Breathe now
Yeah, yeah
We are people borne of sound
The songs are in our eyes
Gonna wear them like a crown
Walk out, into the sunburst street
Sing your heart out, sing my heart out
I’ve found grace inside a sound
I found grace, it’s all that I found
And I can breathe
Breathe now
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Other reviews
By il giustiziere
A well-produced album that manages to overshadow (not that it took much) U2’s previous releases.
Despite some songs smelling of old U2 and others having a Coldplay-like aura, the album deserves a passing grade.
By jude79
The unforgettable fire hasn’t extinguished... it has returned to burn majestically like it hadn’t for years.
They decided to release as the first single a track that is not only the worst of the album but that is not even worthy of being part of it... Mystery of faith!
By Lesto BANG
An album of Great Craftsmanship and licking of sounds but... seems to really copy soundscapes and attitudes, things already heard here and there.
An album neither shameful nor praiseworthy, at times even pleasant, but lacking those particular peaks of genius or energy.
By GrantNicholas
We are probably faced with the best studio material from the band since 'Pop.'
'Fez - Being Born' is a perfectly crafted sound and melody wisely shaped around Bono's voice.
By primiballi
U2's music is now classical music.
This album gives something and takes nothing away, indeed, one could afford some generosity even more.
