I'll go for 4/5
NLOH- great lead track, much better than NLOTH2
Magnificent- why wasn't this the first single?? this is an utterly brilliant song- it will be a highlight of the live show
MOS- it's not One, but nonetheless is a great track, haunting music and some of the best lyrics on the album
Unknown Caller- mmmm not sure about this one, bit of a let down after tracks 1-3, musically fine- lots going on, it's just some of the lyrics that let it down really- specifically the chorus- other than that it's fine
Crazy Tonight- ok they pinched the melody from Abba's Dancing Queen but it's a good track, an obvious single, very traditional U2
Get on your boots- wrong choice for first single, there is much better stuff on the album- I still like the song, not their best moment certainly but somewhere in the middle
Stand Up- another mmm track for me- musically it works, but not convinced about the rest of it- suspect it will work much better live- it also reminds me of Robbie Williams
which is rather unpleasant frankly
Fez Being Born- almost seems out of place with the rest of the album, reminds me of Unforgetable Fire for some reason- which is probably why I like it
White as Snow- this is utterly amazing- one of the most beautiful songs U2 have ever done
Breathe- a touch of the Michael Stipes with the lyrics- love the cockatoo line- again lots going on in this track that you don't hear the first time- there are sitar type sounds in this somewhere- good track
Cedars of Lebanon- perfect way to end the album, wasn't sure about this initially but it works so well
the real test of any album will be in a couple of years- be interesting to see what the reviews are like in 2011
I largely agree with this review, although you like the album a bit more than I do. Here's what I think, so far:
No Line... -- I don't really like this song. It's all right, with a chorus that sticks in your head, but I don't find anything about the song interesting. I have no idea why people here like it so much. His vocal is kind of annoying, especially the "oh-ohs" that substitute for having written a lyrical bridge. This track in some way is like U2 trying not to sound like U2, which is cool . . . except they've never really been able to pull that off.
Magnificent -- Perfect, and clearly the best uptempo song on the album (not coincidentally, the song that sounds the most like "U2"). I actually wanted to hear more Edge guitar at the beginning, so it's kind of a disappointing pre-empt when Bono's vocal comes in.
Moment of Surrender -- A very interesting song (which means it's already better than NLOTH). However, I only find the choruses excellent. The verses are not melodically interesting, and they're overlong, and his voice again gets on my nerves a bit, which I've never experienced before on a U2 record. ("It's not if I believe in love / but if love believes in me" = wtf?)
Unknown Caller -- As on the previous song, we have 30 seconds of unnecessary Eno-isms to start the track. Anyway, once it gets going, it's sonically very interesting (is that Edge or Lanois or who singing "Sunshine" at the beginning?). The guitar riff, when it arrives, is pure Edge 100%. The chorus (if it can be called that) is very U2-ish in a nerdy kind of earnest way... I like it. I like this song although, again, like the previous one, it's overlong.
I'll Go Crazy if I Type out this Whole Title -- Classic U2 uplifting pop anthem, you say? But I say,
ATYCLB B-side with added cheese. I dunno, usually nobody loves a classic U2 anthem more than I do (see 'Magnificent'), but something about this song bothers me. I hate to keep picking on him because I love the guy, but again I think Bono lets the side down. The vocal is all right, except I can't stand the slip into attention-getting falsetto, and the "huh-huh-huh" after the bridge is a bit sad. Anyway, it's a solid track musically, and the melody is one of the best on the record. Sounds like it's beamed in from anther album, though.
Get On Your Boots -- This song just baffles me. I
still can't decide if it's good or crap. Larry does some nice work on it (and Edge too, of course. Does Edge ever do anything less than brilliantly? No). Again (dare I say it?), Bono's approach doesn't really sit well with me...
Stand Up Comedy -- (I still can't figure out where they lifted that guitar riff from. Does anyone know?) It's all right, except it's almost indistinguishable from the song before it. . . as with several songs here, it lacks character.
FEZ-Being Born -- In which U2 officially say: "okay, Brian, do your worst!" What a surprise -- an Eno song that starts with one full minute of unecessary production noises. Again, the Bono shouts off the top of the song are unecessary and kind of annoying. After all that, it gets better, but certainly doesn't become anything more than interesting. I do like how this song is allowed to 'breathe' a little bit at the end, without Bono cramming a thousand words a minute over it. Nevertheless, this would be more enjoyable as a B-side.
White As Snow -- Perfect. Classic. Couldn't be better.
Breathe -- Edge = Brilliant. Bono = Subpar. I admire Bono's attempt to write in a different way here, and I give him credit for that. The result, however... well, it's more convincing than Bon Jovi. The choruses are fantastic. Arrangement is great. Just not sure about those verses... the cockatoos!
Cedars of Lebanon -- Yes, very nice closer. This reminds me of when 'Love Is Blindess' closed
Achtung, in that it's a darker, more introspective final number than the previous ('Grace', 'Yahweh') spiritual songs.
So, do I like the album? Yes, of course, I love U2.
Do I love the album? Certainly not. To me, U2 are a song-based band. Thus, as long as the songs are great, the album will eventually win me over, production issues aside (this was the case on
ATYCLB, which has awful boy-band production that irritated me at first, but whose songs are typically brilliant and later won me over). I'm not really arsed about how "experimental" or "ambient" an album is (or not). Obviously U2 are mainstream and they try hard to appeal to as many listeners as possible, so I wouldn't say anything they've ever done is experimental.
On this basis, how "great" are the songs here? I would say just two are brilliant -- those being "Magnificent" and "White As Snow" (the latter not even being a U2 melody).
"Moment of Surrender", "Unknown Caller", "Breathe", and "Cedars" are all good, worthy songs to add to the U2 cannon (but each doesn't
quite go the distance for me, as outlined above).
"No Line on the Horizon", "Get On Your Boots", "Stand Up Comedy", and "Fez" sound, to me, like U2 impersonating another band, and not doing it very well. These songs just seem to lack character (not to mention interesting melodies).
"I'll Go Crazy..." is the schizophrenic song: nice music, cheesy lyrics and chorus (what the hell does that refrain mean, anyway?).
Personally, I think
No Line On The Horizon is good-ish (but nowhere near as good as
How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, which has, for me, at least 6 brilliant songs, or three-times more than this album). The argument for this album might be that it's more of a piece, more of a cohesive record than a collection of singles like the previous one. But I don't think they succeed on this front, either. Previously, when Eno and Lanois led the band in new directions, the results were
Unforgettable Fire and
Achtung, Baby, which, in addition to having great songs, achieved a unity of sound and style. But there's no unity of sound or purpose on
NLOTH -- it's a grab bag, with "Boots" and "Stand Up" in particular sounding like they were sent in by another band.
Finally, Bono. I did get upset when some fans criticized him on
Bomb. I love the lyrics on
Bomb, which, although not as literate as some of his best, succeed in a kind of heartfelt, pop-poetry way, and are brash and colorful like the album's tunes. That is, they matched the music perfectly, as did his vocals.
But on
NLOTH, I find, almost for the first time on a U2 record (okay, second time, if you wanna count
October, when they were babies) that the vocals are sometimes working against, not with, the tunes. I'm not sure what the problem was here, or if there is no problem -- maybe Bono's approach was just not to my taste this time. Fair enough. I do think he is singing too much on the tracks. There seems to have been a point, after
Pop really, when U2 decided to focus almost exclusively on pithy craftmanship in the songs, compressing as much tidy, well-structured melody and lyrics into as short of songs as they could. I have no problem with that. Although it's never going to produce a song like, say, "Bad", when it works, (as it's the basis of the rock'n'roll 45), and when they do it well, it
really works and they nail it ("Vertigo" or "Magnificent"). But some of these songs need more room to breathe, and less shouty vocals swamping the songs from start to finish.
Anyway, that's my take on it. As with any decent album, however, one's perception is bound to alter a bit over time. In any case, though, I don't think this one will go down as one of their better ones.
. As most people have mentioned, it's definitely a grower. You only get the most out of it if you take time to listen and appreciate each track.
I'd sing my lungs out with Bono if i weren't living in a campus hall with very thin walls 
). I always feel an outburst of joy just listening to it 
. I only got into it after listening to it with my eyes closed and picturing everything Bono was singing. This song has such strong imagery to its lyrics. A dying soldier in a dry parched land... Hauntingly beautiful 
