One of the most successful rock bands in history certainly knows how to exploit today's technology. Though U2's first recording in over four years is scheduled to debut on March 3, "No Line on the Horizon" is already getting rave reviews in magazines and U2 fans can listen to the entire album on the band's Myspace page. As several columnists quickly pointed out, though at first glance the web page seems to only have the single available to listen to, clicking on the album artwork next to the single reveals that all of the songs are available for live streaming .
While for a band like U2 there is so much great music to live up to, I came away from listening to "No Line" undecided as to where it really stacks up against "The Joshua Tree" or "Achtung Baby," but I do know that there is a lot to like.
I personally prefer U2's ballads over their flat-out rock songs and "No Line" has some powerful ones, filled with spiritual imagery. "White as Snow" is a mesmerizing tune that reflects on purity and innocence as Bono croons "Once I knew there was a love divine/Then came a time I thought it knew me not " and later laments "if only a heart could be as white as snow ." More powerful still is "Moment of Surrender," which is cryptic in its portrayal of confession as it paints a picture of New York city streets but insists "at the moment of surrender/vision over visibility/I didn't notice passersbys and they did not notice me." But the most unabashedly Christ-themed lyric might be "Magnificent," a song that will undoubtedly be compared to "Pride," in which the band affirms "Only love, only love can leave such a mark/ But only love, only love can heal such a scar."
I don't think "No Line on the Horizon" is groundbreaking, and naysayers will think it is comfortable and predictable. I think a second--or third-- listen reveals the complexity of some of the arrangements. And I don't really have a problem with some lyrics seeming like a derivation of previous U2 work. The band's message is one worth hearing over and over again.
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