Official Interference reviews (out of 5 stars)

[Vlad n U 2]

I'm hoping the live performances of SUC will gather some respect for the song from haters.

 

[believer75]

Review of No Line On The Horizon *****
“Re-start and re-boot yourself” Bono chants during No Line On The Horizon’s trippy 4th track, Unknown Caller. It might not be his most elegant line but it sums up U2s aims on this their 13th record and their best of the decade. No matter what the cynics say, it is as radical a departure as Achtung Baby was and thank goodness. As much as they were lionised at the time, All That You Can’t Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic were formulaic and contrived pastiches of their 80s work, entirely undeserving of the Grammys which rained down on them. All of the elements which made U2 so interesting in 1990s- irony, self-deprecation, sonic experimentation were jettisoned for the safe heart-shaped stage of radio rock. Far from f***ing up the mainstream as Bono once summarised their mission, U2 had become the mainstream, and it grated. Realising the need for change, they hooked up with Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, the duo behind The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, and most importantly, Achtung Baby and decamped to Fez in 2007.

The result is a welcome departure. And in three respects. Firstly, there is the rediscovery of rhythm. The peerless “Magnificent” must be the musical love child of New Year’s Day and Lemon- an anthemic melody soaring over a dizzily beautiful disco beat. Appropriately, the song’s working title was “French Disco”. “Stand Up Comedy” meanwhile, is propelled by a circular groove of which the Stone Roses would have been envious and “Get On Your Boots” is as filthily rhythmic as any of Pop’s misunderstood gems. Secondly, there are pleasingly experimental forays. The cookie-cutter melodies and arrangements of How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb don’t feature here. Even “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Get Crazy Tonight”- the album’s nearest thing to a straightforward pop song, features a redeeming cello cameo. Besides those customary chimes, The Edge teases a variety of sounds out of his guitar – from the snarl on the title track to the trashy glam chords powering “Breathe”. Meanwhile, ambient pieces like Fez and Unknown Caller break out of swirling false starts and dive into new tempos and melodies. In short, U2 haven’t sounded this inventive since Pop. The third revelation is Bono. His well-documented vocal problems since the mid- 1990s had left us wondering if he would ever sing like his old self again. On Atomic Bomb he sounded stronger, but his voice remained scratchy with little of the thickness or depth of old. Miraculously, with the aid of opera training, his voice is back. “Magnificent” includes his best vocal since “Ultraviolet Light my Way”- just listen to the way he yells the title at 3 minutes 40. But there is nuance also- as evidenced by his gentle drawl on “White As Snow”, the lament of a dying soldier. His lyric writing, recently so lazy has also recovered. We have witty self-deprecation (“Stand up to rock stars/ Napoleon’s in high heels/ Josephine beware of small men with big ideas”), existentialist doubt (“My body’s now a begging bowl that’s begging to get back”) and on “Cedars of Lebanon”, the acute observation of a war reporter (“Now I’ve got a head like a lit cigarette/Unholy clouds reflect in a minaret.”) True he doesn’t always get it right and occasionally the sloganeering gets a little heavy, but on this album Bono is on top form.

Thus, No Line On The Horizon is a departure and a welcome one at that- the sound of a band pushing themselves again. If there is a complaint it is that they could have gone even further- Breathe could have been still more edgy for instance. Nevertheless, would Cedars Of Lebanon, Fez or Moment of Surrender have made it on to How Dismantle An Atomic Bomb? Of course not. They are simply too interesting and for the record, too good!

Good review, but disagree regarding view of All That and How to. All That and How to brought many on board to what U2 were about...otherwise, after Pop, the band might have died. I love Pop, but everyone, even the ones who knew U2 well were confused. Evidence: where were all the fans during the tour? I think they did in the early 00's what they needed to do in order to make it possible for the new horizon. I don't think the people that were unfamiliar with U2's back catologue would consider the grammy winning albums cookie cutter. It probably was much different to them from what they had been listening to at the time. Beautiful Day and Vertigo were unlike any other pop songs on the radio during that time, IMO.

 

[ZooMoFo]

3/5

 

[believer75]

It's top tier U2.....4.5/5, beneath Achtung and Tree, tied with Zooropa, just ahead of Pop, All That and How To...

 

[standrums]

5/5

 

[U2opra]

5/5 JT
5/5 AB
4.5/5 NLOTH

It's in my top 3, so yeah the album eventually did grow on me and has projected itself to the top of my favourite albums by U2. It isn't perfect, but it is a really good album.

 

[monsieur fly]

Good review, but disagree regarding view of All That and How to. All That and How to brought many on board to what U2 were about...otherwise, after Pop, the band might have died. I love Pop, but everyone, even the ones who knew U2 well were confused. Evidence: where were all the fans during the tour? I think they did in the early 00's what they needed to do in order to make it possible for the new horizon. I don't think the people that were unfamiliar with U2's back catologue would consider the grammy winning albums cookie cutter. It probably was much different to them from what they had been listening to at the time. Beautiful Day and Vertigo were unlike any other pop songs on the radio during that time, IMO.

I think you make a fair point well, though the Pop Mart tour was huge in Europe and less of a disaster than you might think (I recall that it was in the Guiness Book Of World Records). I accept that some retrenchment was necessary after Pop but they could have produced an album more like NLOTH- i.e. revisiting old sounds, but still moving forwards. I feel ATYCLB and HTDAAB (the latter especially) pushed U2 a little too far into safer waters, so they ended up echoing the oddly prophetic words of "Summer Rain (which ought to have gone on ATYCLB)

When you stop taking chances
You'll stay where you sit
You won't live any longer
But it'll feel like it

 

[believer75]

I think you make a fair point well, though the Pop Mart tour was huge in Europe and less of a disaster than you might think (I recall that it was in the Guiness Book Of World Records). I accept that some retrenchment was necessary after Pop but they could have produced an album more like NLOTH- i.e. revisiting old sounds, but still moving forwards. I feel ATYCLB and HTDAAB (the latter especially) pushed U2 a little too far into safer waters, so they ended up echoing the oddly prophetic words of "Summer Rain (which ought to have gone on ATYCLB)

When you stop taking chances
You'll stay where you sit
You won't live any longer
But it'll feel like it

I agree with you on that the PopMart tour was a success. I saw it in ATL and I think anyone that did not get on board with that tour here in America really missed out....it was insane and brilliant, and untouchable. I feel that maybe with the Pop album, some people might have needed their "art spoonfed to them" (to quote the Doors movie) in order to really grasp it. It was not transparent to the listener. I love that side of U2.
I also agree with you that an album like No Line on the Horizon would have done well after Pop and would have made for a proper transition. I am glad we have gone this route, though, and I think everything is in it's right place. There are many songs on the last two albums that I love and appreciate and can really, really hit me in the right moments. I do think the new album is superior, though, on many levels.
And Summer Rain.......I love that tune.....great lyrics.....referencing that song, maybe U2 just wanted to be a little bit "more free with themselves?"

 

[cjboog]

I have settled on 4.5/5 for this album.

I have a problem with giving an album 5/5 so quickly after the release date. It needs a couple months for each song to totally sink in. Sometimes my initial reaction is far too low (see Everything That Happens by Eno and Byrne) and sometimes I get a little too excited at the beginning (see Working On A Dream). With NLOTH, my first reaction was "WOW." And after several weeks I listened to it again yesterday and when Cedars ended, my reaction was "WOW."

This is a truly great album. Every song (even the middle ones) is extremely strong and I think the shimmering guitars throughout really pull it together for me and make it feel cohesive -- even on Stand Up Comedy. While I love Boots and I think it's a rocking, fun song on it's own -- I have come to agree that it doesn't fit well on the album and the lyrics are confusing (especially now that Edge has said it's a political song about how men have f***ed up the world and Bono has said it's a love song set as a husband talking to his wife). It would be a better album IMO if Boots were not there, but I still think that song itself is good.

Magnificent has an absolutely unforgettable guitar riff that grabs you the moment you hear it. It's haunting, yet romantic. Such a grand, beautiful song. I agree with the reviewer who said that that riff instantly made the last Coldplay album seem irrelevant. It's unforgettable and better than anything Coldplay has ever written (although they've written some great stuff).

Moment of Surrender has a haunting passion to it, and Breathe is also another classic U2 rocker.

For me, NLOTH fits right under Achtung Baby and HTDAAB on my U2 favorites list. Only time will tell if it moves closer to the top!

No Line On The Horizon -- 4.5
Magnificent -- 5
Moment Or Surrender -- 5
Unknown Caller -- 4
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight -- 4.5
Get On Your Boots -- 4
Stand Up Comedy -- 4.5
Fez - Being Born -- 4.5
White As Snow -- 4
Breathe -- 5
Cedars of Lebanon -- 4

 

[standupcomic]

its a kick ass song and i hope the play it live

 

[SethVincent]

5/5 Without a doubt

I can't stop playing the whole CD from beginning to end

I have had it on repeat since 10a.m. (13 Hours & counting)

My wife called from work ( Orthopedic Nurse ) & said "The kids are gonna be sick of U2 as much as you play them....."

Blasphemy woman !

LOL

Only change drop Cedars Of Lebanon & replace it with Winter

 

[Slapnutz]

***/*****

Something old, something new. Something generic, something...something.

 

[cobl04]

Here's my review, on A damn good offering but obviously can never be a classic - No Line On the Horizon by U2 - Epinions.com

I gave it four bangas.

 

[bathiu]

Here's my review, on A damn good offering but obviously can never be a classic - No Line On the Horizon by U2 - Epinions.com

I gave it four bangas.

showoff

IMO - you wanted to sound like a pro critic too much,
because by that review NLOTH is nothing more than 2/5 album,
yet you gave it 4/5 up:BTW, I rate it 4,5/5)
As a FAN writing a review for this kind of site,
for non-fans, and giving it a 4/5 rating, it should've been more positive - IMO

 

[cobl04]

Yeah while I was writing it I really noticed that.. but I didn't really want to go back and change it.

Cheers

 

[Joey788]

No Line on the Horizon - 4.5/5 (Best and most rocking album opener since Zoo Station. Favorite part is when the whole band kicks back in after the "Scheming some scheme" lyric)

Magnificent - 5/5 (Instant U2 classic and my favorite song on the album. Great buildup intro and I love that little guitar part after the second and final line of the chorus)

Moment of Surrender - 5/5 (Bono's vocal delivery is amazing and the way the song just slowly builds up for the whole seven minutes is really great)

Unknown Caller - 4.5/5 (The sunshine intro is great and so is the chorus. I think the horn section followed by Edge's solo works perfectly.

Crazy Tonight - 3.5/5 (Probably the weakest song on the album for me so far. It just sounds too much like it belongs on one of the last two albums. That being said, it's definitely been growing on me.)

Get On Your Boots - 4/5 (Great uptempo song that has really grown on me every time I've heard it. I never get tired of "let me in the sound."

Stand Up Comedy - 4.3/5 (I don't know why a lot of people don't seem to like this song. It's got an awesome hard-edged riff and is one of the band's best efforts at a fun song.)

FEZ-Being Born - 4/5 (I think the FEZ intro would have worked better if it was longer but I still think it's really great. Feels very Radiohead-like to me. Being Born has really been getting better with every listen)

White As Snow - 4/5 (I think this song has a perfect length. If it went on any longer, it would start to drag but as it is, I really like it. Bono's delivery on the second line of the last verse is superb.)

Breathe - 5/5 (Very different vocal arrangement that works out great for Bono. The final third of the song is incredibly powerful. Second favorite song on the album.)

Cedars of Lebanon - 4.5/5 (Amazing closer, their best since "Love is Blindness." Great lyrics from Bono and I love all the background noise. A very complete ending to the album that leaves me satisfied every time.)

Adding up the averages give NLOTH a 4.4 out of 5. However, I'm gonna add the other .6 for cohesiveness and overall impact when heard as an album.

5/5