A slightly troubling thought will likely occur to anyone who listens to U2's first release in five years, No Line On the Horizon.
It sounds like Coldplay.
The British group has spent years being compared to U2, so perhaps it's only fair the roles are now reversed. Coldplay's Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends was the highest selling album of 2008, and Chris Martin and company have been called the "biggest band in the world" a number of times in the past few years. If true, that would place U2 at No. 2. Now that Coldplay has achieved its own share of global stardom, the ball is in Bono's court. One misstep and U2 might be relegated to opening for its former protégés on the next international megatour.
Another probable contributor to the two bands' albums sounding similar is Brian Eno, U2's longtime producer who also worked on Viva La Vida. Eno's presence on the album seems to be what earned it so many comparisons to U2. He co-produced No Line On the Horizon and even participated in the songwriting process, so his sonic fingerprints are all over this record. This is especially apparent in the album opener "No Line On the Horizon."
Certainly aware of the stakes, U2 supposedly wrote more than 50 songs since 2005's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb that were considered for the new album. The group claimed the sheer selection would ensure a great record, but it sure seemed like U2 was stalling. However, the first few minutes of No Line On the Horizon prove it's clear which band did this first. Bono's back to claim his rightful crown as king of arena rock.
The resulting album isn't U2's attempt at keeping up with the musical times. After all, No Line is a title defense. U2 doesn't need to come up with anything truly different to retain the belt. And so, the record is simply a dose of old-fashioned U2 with some twists to keep it interesting. Guided by Eno's knack for the "U2 sound" and Bono's ever-heroic voice, No Line strikes a balance between the band's classic sound and modern relevancy that works most of the time.
"No Line On the Horizon," is passable, but the second track really kicks things off. "Magnificent" is aptly named. Perhaps the best song on the record, it's vintage U2. The music is expansive. Bono's voice is grandiose and the track is readymade to fill an arena. The lyrics -- which uphold the U2 tradition of melodrama with lines such as "Justified 'til we die, you and I will magnify the magnificent" -- are redeemed by Bono's ability to make such things sound sublime.
The same holds true for the rest of the tracks. When No Line stumbles, it usually has something to do with the words. "Unknown Caller" has the sound of a good U2 song, but when Bono sings "Force quit and move to trash," it's hard not to cringe. So some of the man's strongest moments here are in his muscularly voiced "ohhhhs," which are plentiful.
That isn't to say these guys can't write good lyrics when they put their minds to it. Even the title of "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" is fun, and "Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot/How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?" is good enough to make up for most of the lyrical faults on other tracks.
The most far-out songs are planted squarely in the middle of the album. Both "Get On Your Boots" and "Stand Up Comedy" are riff-heavy and catchy, acting as an interlude between the comparative gray of the rest of the tracks.
"Boots," the first single from No Line, oddly sounds the least like U2. It's more like a mish-mash of musical influences. The track opens with a distorted guitar figure that was practically lifted from The Raconteurs' "Attention." The chorus, "You don't know how beautiful you are," which is repeated until it wears out its welcome, somehow manages to evoke Alice In Chains.
No Line On the Horizon certainly isn't a perfect album, but for a band with such a storied career, it's good enough to hold its own. When it comes right down to it, No Line even gives Viva la Vida a run for its money.
Download: "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"
Grade: A-
