In defense of No Line on the Horizon

I'll be the first to admit it -- unlike a lot of U2 fans, who squee at everything that the band does, it took me awhile to warm up to their latest album, No Line on the Horizon. But normally, I come from the "HATED IT!" school of thinking and then warm up to something. Rarely do I love something from the outset, and when I do, I LOVE IT.

But I'll admit, I was disappointed to hear that No Line On the Horizon hasn't been selling well. And really, I think that it deserves a chance. It's more challenging than their previous two albums and the anthem songs are few, but I really think that this album prevented U2 from heading into Rolling Stones territory of sound the same all the damn time.

I talked to a U2 fan once who admitted she heard the album once and didn't like it. I told her the same thing I'll tell everyone here -- you have to give it chance. You have to listen to it repeatedly to peel back the layers. This isn't the simple first-person anthems that we all know and love. In No Line on The Horizon, several of the songs are from a character perspective -- a traffic cop, a junkie and a soldier stationed in a war zone -- and it's important to understand that.

And really, that's one of the wonderful things about this album. It's unexpected and it also highlights on of U2's strengths really -- when they're on fire, they can write some interesting songs. Breathe is a marvel for combining Dylanesque lyrics with the U2 anthem chorus. Cedars of Lebanon paints the picture of a war correspondent missing home and the images he sees in a foreign area.

I really believe that this album is amazing -- even more amazing than their previous two, which appeared to me that they were getting their bearings after getting slammed by Pop. It doesn't hit you right away like most singles -- it creeps into your mind and you absorb the songs and realize how much you like them and how good they are.

Edge said it best in an interview with the Guardian:

"There's a lot of records that make great first impressions. There might be one song that gets to be big on the radio, but they're not albums that people ... play a lot. This [isn't like] that, I gather from talking to people. Four months later, they're saying, 'I'm really getting into the album now.'"

And he's absolutely right. Give the album a listen. You don't have to listen to it constantly, but just listen to it. Give it a chance. It's a gem.

I have learned something. I am a concert asshole.

Specifically, I am the asshole at a concert who is like, "PLAY SOMETHING DIFFERENT! STOP PLAYING THE BIG HITS! I DON'T CARE!"

I learned that when I watched U2 livestream their concert on YouTube. Keep in mind, I saw the Sept. 12 U2 360 show in Chicago, which was the opening night of the American leg of their tour. During that concert, they opened with four songs from their new album, No Line of the Horizon (WHICH IS FUCKING AWESOME AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY AMERICANS AREN'T LINING UP TO GET THIS ALBUM).

It is admittedly a gutsy move, but I liked it. It showed confidence in the new album and their songs. But when I watched the YouTube concert, it seemed like there were too many hits. Or at least, the iconic hits that everyone knows.

I know that they have to keep a fine balance in keeping everyone happy -- I mean, there's the die-hards who want the obscure singles, the casual fans who want to hear With Or Without You for the gazillionth time and the drunk assholes who are yelling, "FREEBIRD!" -- but seriously, U2 has a million hits. They don't need to trot out the icons for each show. Lemon is awesome. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me is the shit. NUMB IS THE BOMB.

And it got me wondering whether the band gets sick of playing the same things over and over again. I mean, at every tour, there's Where the Streets Have No Name -- an uplifting song -- but damn man, I have heard that song a billion times. On the radio and 900 different concert versions. So I guess sometimes I'd love to hear something different. And so, here is my list of different versions of Where the Streets Have No Name I'd like to hear:

• Speed metal (K. asked me, "Do you think they have it in them?" Me: *laughing hysterically* "No. But it'd be AWESOME.").
• Trance-techno remix (which would be a great tie-in with the remix of I'll Go Crazy, which is the SHIT!)
• Hardcore hip-hop with a guest from Jay-Z (after all, he and Bono and pals, so why not?).
• Bollywood musical.
  

I think that this is one of those complaints that I hear a lot of hardcore fans of bands. K. mentioned her Nine Inch Nails experience and Jeff even told me his perspective of Rush concerts (which is understanding, but also like other hardcore fans).

I think that my favorite moments at concerts aren't the big hits, but when the obscure hits are trotted out that you might know, but it's amazing to hear live. I loved hearing U2 do "The First Time" in Milwaukee. It is a bone-chilling moment to hear thirty-something thousand people sing the word "LOVE" in time with the song and see the band loving every minute of it. And that's not a moment you'd get with the iconic hits.

Five words will be back...

BUT I HAVE TO INTERRUPT TO SQUEE ABOUT THE U2 SHOW I SAW!

My friend Em, her friend Lindsay and I ventured down to see U2 open their American leg of the tour at Soldier Field. I will admit to being skeptical. We were up in the nosebleed seats and when I heard U2 claim it was going to be an "intimate" show, I was like, "Yeah. Right. Intimate among 60,000 people. Next thing you'll tell me is that the next album will be a return to Gaelic hip hop."

But they proved me wrong. It seems ostentatious, but the claw, with its 360 degree wraparound screen did make it possible for us to see the band. I think my jaw hit the floor when I saw how good our view was. I think the phrase I used was, "I think I just came," a few times. The other times I used, "HOLY FUCKING SHIT!"

It wasn't just a huge video screen. It did a great job convey different images and would also separate into stretch out, allowing for some beautiful abstract visuals for the songs. City of Blinding Lights was amazing as the Claw shot up a ray of light into the sky, piercing the clouds. I liked how with Unknown Caller, they took a wordy chorus and bridge and made it almost into a video game, where the words scrolled by, and every time Bono sang, the words lit up.

The visuals were also spot on for the songs. Seeing images of the recent election in Iran and the fall out for Sunday Bloody Sunday made the song's message feel more topical. The only thing that felt kind of weird to me was the Aung San Suu Kyi masks some fans wore and a group of people came onstage with them on. I'm not good with performance art, so I wasn't wild about it at all. It was weird seeing fans swilling beer and holding up those masks.

I can't say anything more about the concert, because really, it was just that much fun. It was amazing. It was fun. I danced my ass off. The remix of I'll Go Crazy (If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight) was a discotheque blast. I squeed. I met fans in mom jeans who first saw U2 at Roseland in 1987 for the Amnesty International tour. If they do a second leg, I'm there. Hopefully I can get on general admission and on the floor. But if I don't, the nosebleeds aren't terrible either.

Bono is right -- All you need is love. And a spaceship. This tour proved that.

EEEEEEEE!!!!! U2! U2! EXTREME EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!

So U2 released their 12th studio album last week, called No Line on the Horizon. Obviously I downloaded it promptly on iTunes and have been playing it pretty much all the time around the house (Much to Benevolent Dictator's consternation. She doesn't care for the new single Get On Your Boots, despite the fact that her mother loves it).

Well, I've been alternating it with the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack from Youtube, so yes, things are getting weird musically around here. But that's how we do.

Anyway, it took me a little bit to figure out the new album. It's not something that gave me an immediate gut reaction like How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. To me, No Line on the Horizon is a little more challenging, and that's a pretty good thing.

Even though the first single "Get On Your Boots" is a nice hard rocking tune, the rest of the album doesn't have that fast-paced sound to it. Instead, it feels a bit meditative, mixing the spiritual issues with modern day. "Moment of Surrender," reminds me a bit of "Playboy Mansion" from Pop with its references to ATM machines and the search for redemption.

"Unknown Caller," also plays with the modern and the spiritual using shouted lines like "Force Quit/And Move to Trash." While that can veer into pretentiousness, that, mixed with rest of the song creates this evocative image of someone wrestling with faith and spirituality as modern life goes whizzing by at the speed of the Internet.

Sonically, this album is a different direction than How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Some of the sound, especially "Fez-Being Born" reminds me of the experimentation that occurred with Achtung Baby. The title track's intro builds up in a way that reminds me of "Zooropa." It's definitely more experimental than the typical U2 sound you see other bands mimicking now.

*cough*COLDPLAYANDKILLERS*cough*

Overall, it's hard for me to say what my favorite tracks are. I like them all for different reasons, but I will confess that the weaker one for me is "Breathe," but that could be because I don't care for Bono basically doing spoken word over the band. I think overall, it's a nice solid move that shows progress in the band's sound, while giving fans some of the same things they've come to expect.

Oh, and in other related U2 news, the band finally annouced their tour, which appears to be a very ambitious stadium tour. The three big thoughts I have are:

1. ONLY CHICAGO FOR A MIDWEST STOP? BOOO! BOOO! What about the other people in the Midwest. Why not Madison dammit? I hope more dates are announced for their second leg.

2. I'm surprised to see that they took a sponsor -- Blackberry (What? No Apple?) -- on for this tour. For awhile, they've been known to pay for their tours on their own. However, this does look to be a bit of a technological behemoth, so I wonder if that's the reason why.

3. How much are tickets going to be? I guess I tend to equate stadium shows with big bucks, so I'm hoping that it isn't that expensive. Even though I'd LOVE TO, I can't be like K. and follow the boys everywhere or go to all their shows. Well, maybe I could. If I sold the kid.

JUST JOKING!

OMG! OMG! OMG!

The new U2 single, Get On Your Boots , is up! SQUEE! SQUEE!

After a couple of listens, I gotta say I like it. Big surprise. I like that it's crunchy and harder than the "typical" U2 sound (DID YOU GET THAT COLDPLAY?), and Bono's spitting out of the lyrics matches the frenetic pace of the song. I need to hear it more, but for me, this is like a blend of Achtung Baby and How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb.

I think this is also proof positive that even U2 move away from the huge sonic landscapes that everyone considers to be their trademark. Even with favored producers Brian Eno, Danny Lanois and Steve Lillywhite, U2 manages to sound different (AGAIN, LEARN THAT ONE COLDPLAY).

So yes -- I am excited about the new album. The U2 fangirl may be out soon in full force.

In which Viv DOES NOT talk about NKOTB for once

Instead, I'll be talking about U2. Yes, I can hear you guys groaning out there:

"Cripes. She switched from one boy band to another...."

Anyways, this is about the recent news that the Irish boys had their latest album leak online thanks to (yep, you guess it) Bono.

Four new tracks by the Dublin band were apparently recorded by a Dutch fan on a mobile phone after he heard the music blaring out of the singer's beachside home in the village of Eze-sur-Mere, near Nice.

Sadly, I didn't move fast enough to Youtube to hear the four tracks. I wish I had a good excuse. I think that part of me was just thinking, "Wait. This is U2. They're known for being on the verge of releasing an album only to have the whole thing changed at last minute and postponed a year."

Well, that and the whole NKOTB thing (SHUT. UP.)

I had a great image Edge, Larry and Adam just GLARING at Bono (who got busted for blasting the song mid air-guitar) and saying, "Nice. Thanks. And you're the bloody wanker who said we should go to Morocco."

Now, some have questioned whether or not the leak was intentional. After all, the last album went missing after a photoshoot, Achtung Baby's studio sessions were leaked online and other such things have happened. I can see that happening, but I wouldn't be surprised if Bono just didn't think, and to impress people, blasted his uber-expensive, diamond-crusted stereo with the new tracks.

This is the same guy who according to the book, U2 at the End of the World, loses sunglasses, hats, keys and other random, everyday objects with regularity. I wouldn't be surprised if he just didn't think and impulse took over.

Even though the temptation is strong to hunt down these songs, I might wait a little bit. November is around the corner, and I want to savor the new CD.

HOWEVER -- if someone happened to have a bead on the new tracks and I happened to get that information, I wouldn't reject it. After all, I need something to wash the dirty feeling away from me going all fangirl on NKOTB.

Some people may see a 40-foot Bono in their face as a nightmare....

For me, it was great fun.

Last Friday my friend Em and I went to check out U23D -- which appears to be a Scrabble game board throwing up, but is really a U2 concert film in 3D. We weren't quite sure what to expect, but the thought of a 40-foot Bono reaching out to Em was a definite bonus, so why not go?

Admittedly it was a little weird -- I mean, you're watching a concert in a movie theater, so even though you want to jump around, sing and dance (which is normal at a concert), you couldn't. Movie etiquette dictates otherwise, which kinda sucked. But I think that everyone around us forgave the occasional burst of applause or me singing along with the songs.

Anyways, it was a really good concert film. I've now seen the How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb tour three times (will be four soon) -- once in Chicago, once in Milwaukee and now on the big screen. I have to hand it to the directors for creating a concert film that's interesting to watch and uses the 3D technology quite well.

My favorite shots were the long ones where you saw the stage, the band and even the crowds. Not only was the band in 3D, but on occasion, you'd see an audience member pop out at the bottom of the screen. Other favorites was the use of graphics for "The Fly" (which came straight out of the Zoo TV tour) and the bridge in "Love and Peace or Else." It was visually interesting and brought something more than just the "shot of Bono, followed by Edge, Larry and Adam, then a long shot of the stage, then shot of the audience" formula.

My only complaint? The movie's a little short. The concert itself is a little more than two hours and this movie's only 90 minutes. It also appears to be a U2's Greatest Hits collection and ignores a bulk of the songs on the tour. I wanted to see "City of Blinding Lights" or "Elevation" instead of the usual hoary chestnuts. Em and I agreed we could've sat there for all night. So we're going again. Yes, I am a fangirl. Besides, for $15, it was probably the best view of the band for a bargain price. And who can resist a 40-foot Edge? I can't.

Hey Keidra!

Guess what I'm dragging you to?

And people wonder why I didn't like U2 in the 80's

I don't want to give away much....but wow. Pretentious much? I suppose there's a reason why the band buried this *ahem* gem.

OW! MY EARS! OW!

Keidra touched on Saul Williams and Trent Reznor working together on a CD and the fact that there's a cover of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" on it.

Normally, I wouldn't really care too much about this CD, but the cover of U2's iconic song (well, one of many iconic songs) made me curious. Thankfully (or not) Saul's got a Myspace page with the song on it, so I could take a listen.

It's not the worst U2 cover I've ever heard -- I'm lookin' at you Pras for defiling "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" -- but it's not the best. It's got Trent's stamp all over it and really, it doesn't work at all. This sounds like a bizzare reggaetron/nu metal cover band got their hooks into the U2 catalog.

Trent's known for the industrial/metal sound, which is supposed to be machine-like, antiseptic and cold in a way. U2 isn't exactly known for those adjectives. OK. They're not. Period. U2 is as industrial and goth as a basketfull of puppies on a warm sunny spring day -- which is to say not at all. U2 wears their feelings on their sleeve. They have no poker face.

Sunday Bloody Sunday is about expressed anger and rage. It's the loud, angry yell that we all do sometimes. It's not antiseptic, cold or machine-like. It's why when I hear Saul saying "How long can we sing this song?" I don't believe him. I feel like he could give up singing in a few minutes. Bono (especially the Red Rocks version) makes me feel like he could sing it forever until he gets what he wants.

It also helps that Edge's guitar has the jangly, striking notes that when backed by Larry's military snare punctuates the words. It's got that precise, angry tone that the song needs. In this case, less is more. The spareness of the song punctuates the whole point of it.

With Saul's version, it feels like the whole point of the song is lost under all the eletronica. Which is disappointing.

I don't blame Saul for wanting to take on the icon and give it a new spin. There's plenty of people who have done that. Britney Spears took on "Satisfaction" and Marilyn Manson took on "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)." In my mind, none of those people were able to take on the original. The originals are so big, so well known in our collective knowledge that it's impossible to overtake. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is one of those songs and really, Saul should've left it alone.

For hipster mothers everywhere who don't want Baby Einstein music

Proof positive that most people my age are spawning and trying to be hip parents. Instead of offering The Wiggles, or even *shudder* Barney, there's hope that the adults won't be tortured with shitty music.

Now you can expose your kids to your musical tastes -- be it the Ramones, Radiohead, U2 or Metallica, thanks to Baby Rock Records. Apparently they take music from your favorite rock bands and make it into something that can be played in the nursery as the wee one sleeps.

There's nothing like hearing Head Like a Hole, Master of Puppets, or Karma Police on a glockenspiel to make your mind go "Huh?"

Admittedly, the U2 fangirl in me is really tempted to buy the U2 record for the baby, but I'd really need to balance it out with something Jeff would like -- maybe the Led Zepplin one, since they don't have a Rush CD yet.

For all the pop culture vultures:

Can you name everyone in this video? And can you spot the members of U2 in it?

Confucius has a puzzling grace

So, I'm driving to work today, listening to Siouxsie and the Banshee's Hong Kong Garden, when I suddenly realized the influence that this band had on U2. When you listen to Hong Kong Garden, and then listen to Boy, U2's first album, you can hear Bono trying to sound like Siouxsie -- rather, a male version of Siouxsie. Hong Kong Garden was apparently released in 1978, with Boy following in 1980, so I guess that the influence Siouxsie had is evident.

Admittedly, lyrics such as: "Slanted eyes meet a new sunrise/A race of bodies small in size/Chicken chow mein and chop suey/Hong Kong garden takeaway" are probably about as deep as "Boys and girls/Go to school and girls/They make children." But it's the whole infectious package of the songs that makes you forgive the lyrics some days.

The funny thing about this is that I really, REALLY want to hear U2 do Hong Kong Garden now. Forget the Saints are Coming with Green Day (even though that's a pretty good song too), I want to hear Bono wail like Siouxsie Sioux while Edge goes back to the jangly, post-disco, pre New Wave sound of Boy.

Happy Birthday U2 (and Zonk)!

So, today's a very important day for two things:

1. It's Internet Personality Zonk's 26th! Happy birthday you Internets celeb you! I hope that you have a very happy birthday filled with good presents, food and merriment with family and friends.

2. It's U2's 30th birthday! They're about as old as I am (well, technically I'm older). I think that one of the things that I do respect about the band is how four friends, who met in high school, achieved the platonic ideal -- having a band that's lasted without any line up changes and has remained relevant for the entire 30 years.

While Henry Rollins may lambast them, Keidra may roll her eyes and my friends may think I'm crazy, I still love the boys. May they continue to make music that isn't infested with bling, eyeliner, children's choirs or pretentious dancers and outfits that resemble a bad Victorian goth play (that was the POP era. They're allowed one pass here and there).

Pavarotti and Elvis

Had to add the other two Day in the Life of The Edge.


"Are you a member of the Pavarotti?" Hee. Love the good humor that The Edge and Bono have with those guys. I'm also amazed as how fast those fuckers can run.



*le sigh* Songs on the beach. The only thing missing is everyone breaking out into dance.

Did you know Wales invented yoga?

Part one of a day in the life of The Edge. What I like the most is how they don't take themselves too seriously. And it's fun seeing the interaction between the two.

Forget the music, what about the fashion?

Yesterday, I forsake Project Runway (NICK WAS ROBBED I'M TELLING YOU! ROBBED!) to watch the Grammys with Katie. I'm glad my boys (aka U2) swept the award show, but frankly, it was a hell of a lot of fun to snark on the following fashions:


Isn't it nice that Teri Hatcher decided to wear something from Project Runway's Daniel Franco's Lovemaking lingerie line? It looks like she just rolled out of bed and ran to the awards show because she was late or something.


We all know that Madonna looks fabulous for 47 and is a fashion icon, but is support hose, a leotard and corset really the next big thing?



Kayne apparently stole his sunglasses from Kool Moe Dee.

One outfit I have to say that I liked was Fiona Apple's:



I can't explain why. Maybe it's because on Fiona it looks classic mixed with crazy, but in a good way. She's the type of girl who can rock the vintage look and make it look cool, not dowdy.

As for the performances, I don't remember much, except that U2 and Mary J tore shit up with One. Some people don't like her version, but I adore it. Takes a song that sounds weary and bitter and puts some heat and rage behind it. Anyone who can match Bono performance-wise deserves props in my book.



Oh, and Coldplay sounded like the U2 tribute band. Will someone either shave Chris Martin's white-boy fro, or punch him for me?

HEE!

Henry Rollins in a Q&A that appeared in today's Washington Post (registration needed sadly):

Kensington, Md.: I saw you doing a MTV video countdown years back and when you had to introduce a video from U2, you rolled your eyes in apparent sarcasm as you talked about the band. As a U2 fan, I always thought that was hilarious. Did you just never get them or their music?

Henry Rollins: While I applaud Bono's humanitarian efforts with great admiration, I think the music is for those who have lost their will to rock.


It's progress I suppose. Hee. And the rest of the Q&A is pretty damn good too.

Yay for Strongbow Cider!

So I'm reading Keidra's blog post about wanting to party with Keif, thanks to a lovely London tabloid article (which was very funny by the way), and it got me thinking about all of the people that I'd want to party with. Call me a fangirl from hell, but it'd be Bono. We're talking about a guy who can get deep into conversation and at the same time go berserk.

For example, I've read Bill Flanagan's book, U2: At the End of the World. Some of my favorite excerpts about the B-Man? Drunken discussion about music, God and the whole enchiladas and stealing a dinghy while in Australia, which ends with him stripping off his underwear. There's more stuff, but admittedly, I'm to lazy to look it up and quote it. Read the damn book.

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I also gotta pimp a site for a friend. Katie's got a interesting survey regarding unicorns. I won't say it much anymore. Just check it out and answer the questions bitches!

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This New York Times article about the growing epidemic of adult diabetes is admittedly scaring the shit out of me, the person who thinks that diet is an ugly word.

I think what bothers me more is that I can identify with people going for food that isn't healthy for them. Hell, I live out of the drive through some weeks. Admittedly for me, it's not a socioeconomic thing -- it's a time issue more than anything else. Most of the time I don't have the time to prepare a healthy meal.

What disturbs me about this article is hearing about how the upper class have more access to healthy foods, while the poor have more access to fast food:

Nutritious food exists, but it isn't easy to find. Dr. Carol R. Horowitz, an assistant professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, heads an East Harlem coalition trying to improve diabetes care. She oversaw a study several years ago that tracked the availability of diet soda, low-fat or fat-free milk, high-fiber bread, fresh fruit and fresh vegetables in food stores in East Harlem and the Upper East Side.

Stores on the Upper East Side were more than three times more likely than those in East Harlem to stock all five items. It did not seem to matter that East Harlem has more than twice as many food stores per capita as its wealthier neighbor to the south.

Not exactly fair. Not exactly cool. It's like L'Etoile in Madison -- nationally recognized for it's emphasis on local, fresh goods, the cheapest meal is $28.

Don't get me wrong, it's good stuff, but to say that you're educating people about how to eat is a little delusional. The rich already know how nutrition works. They have the money for chefs, nutritionists and other folks. What about making something that tastes as good as onion rings, but good for you? And at the same price of Culver's goods?

But what do I know? I've just finished off my Strongbow and I'm ready for bed.

SQUEEEEEEE! *thud*

Guess who's favorite egomaniac was named Time's person of the year? While I'm not the biggest fan of Microsoft's products or even Gates' business practices, I gotta give the man and his wife props for their philanthropy work. But yeah, guess what magazine I'm going to try and pick up this weekend.

I'm such as dork.