Nothing new on the horizon

By D.S. Martin and ChristianWeek | March 27, 2009

Often our reaction to an album, book or film hinges on the expectations we bring to it. This makes it tricky for artists to follow up popular projects or to try something different. Much of the hype preceding the March 3 release of U2's latest project hinted that No Line On The Horizon would be heading in a new direction.

At its core No Line On The Horizon is classic U2. Even if it were possible to ignore the familiarity of Bono's voice, I know I'd still have recognized the band's musical fingerprints. That's not to say this isn't a new direction—it's just hard to teach old rockers really new tricks. These guys have been playing together for 30 years, and there's a chemistry that works oh-so-well.

I sense Bono pushing himself even further vocally. Take the wavering oh-oh-ohs in the introductory title track or his falsetto leap in "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight."

Sometimes the background vocals follow the pleasantly familiar paths of The Joshua Tree, but on many songs the additional vocalists—including Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois—are tighter in their harmonies than anything in the U2 catalogue. You can hear this on the CD's final track, "Cedars Of Lebanon."

U2's sound has been evolving through the years. In the band's second LP October (1981) The Edge contributed a delicate piano part, and on War (1983) he played a simple piano line in "New Year's Day."

On The Unforgettable Fire (1984), the Lanois/Eno production team encouraged interesting synthesizers, particularly on "MLK." But after the success of their hit "Pride (In the name of love)" U2 seemed to revert to its solid guitar image. Now, 25 years later, various keyboards—while not dominant—are more obvious in the overall mix than ever before.

In this album the guitar tracks ring with The Edge's signature sound in songs like "Unknown Caller"; at other points he seems to be blending a bluesier flavour into to his licks.

Faith is evident in Bono's lyrics. On the second track, "Magnificent," he sings: "I was born to sing for you / I didn't have a choice but to lift you up / And sing whatever song you wanted me to / I give you back my voice / From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise..." The song concludes, "Justify till we die, you and I will magnify / The Magnificent..."

Bono drops other interesting lines from time to time, bringing spiritual things to mind. "I was speeding on the subway / Through the stations of the cross," he sings in "Moment Of Surrender." "Breathe" concludes: "I've found grace, it's all that I found."

References to technology throughout the album seem to remind us of the isolation and coldness we're building into society. In one song Bono sees a face reflected in a shiny ATM, in another voices chant, "Restart and re-boot yourself."

Musically there are reminders of other songs. The tune for "White As Snow" is taken from the Christmas carol "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." On "Unknown Caller" I hear the French Horn starting to play the chorus from the hymn "My Saviour's Love" over a churchy organ. I don't know if this was intentional or not.

To me the verses of the CD's first single, "Get On Your Boots" are reminiscent of Larry Norman's "Reader's Digest" (1972), but I doubt this was consciously done—it's just a great rhythmic approach to rapid-fire line delivery. "The future needs a big kiss / Winds blow with a twist / Never seen a moon like this / Can you see it too?"

All this suggests that although No Line On The Horizon is a worthy addition to your record collection, there's nothing new under the sun.