U2 – No Line On The Horizon…..Thoughts and Musings But Not A Review

 

No Line On The Horizon

 

I love the new U2 Album – No Line On The Horizon.  I hate the whole music critic thing but here is just my simple track-by-track review for anyone interested.  I highly suggest downloading #8 (Fez – Being Born) though if you want to get a feel for the album prior to full on purchase.  And download #1 (No Line On The Horizon) as well to give you a fuller picture.  Clearly worth the $1.98 and let you wet your beak.

 

 

1. No Line On The Horizon – Some people might not dig the larger area rock sound showcased on All That You Can’t Leave Behind but I dig it in every way.  This song hits on this style but again it shows them being able to take a larger than life song and connecting it to the listener on a more personal level.
2. Magnificent – The ever present Edge in the background makes me think back to Boy for some reason.  The vocals also seem more in the background on this track with the exception of the chorus.  The music around the 4 minute mark is just gorgeous as well and hints at a soundtrack quality to me.  
3. Moment of Surrender – At the start of this I was thinking I was in a time warp and revisiting the Achtung Baby days!  Again, however it is a little more stripped down and god bless having some serious bass work on a track. And the always perfect in time lyrics – “playing with a fire till the fire played with me”.
4. Unknown Caller – A little Zoo-like intro leading to more of the bombast (IN A GOOD WAY) seen on the last two albums.  Sounds childish and simplistic but sometimes I wish I could speak to my wife in a flow like a song like this.  The fraying and not quite perfect voice that Bono has fits a track like this like no one else could.
5. I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight – “Ever beauty needs to go out with an idiot, how can you stand next to the truth and not see it?”  You can have all the flash and tricks in this life but the genuine article cannot be replicated no matter what you do.  This track is evidence of that.
6. Get On Your Boots – Like with the last album the lead single (Vertigo) is probably my least favorite track on the album.  I still like it and I like the feel of it but it seems too constructed and constricted to fit this album.  
7. Stand Up Comedy – This is an unusual track for them in every way.  The sound and the lyrics just feel different in every way as that it is a more classic pop element or something along those lines.  I like the track and love the fact that they always evolve but never disengage with who they are (Excuse Madonna/Sting/etc.)
8. Fez-Being Born – My favorite track on the album.  I love the opening with the ambient sounds and the layered noises ranging from cell phones to birds to what sounds like clutter in a restaurant.  Now after reading the recent RS article I know how this track was influenced by recording in Morocco and you can feel it.  I love this track and urge everyone to download this one.  Instant Classic.
9. White As Snow – Hello Brian Eno.  Again, this one feels very soundtrack-ish.  I could picture this song being played while watching a boat sails into the Mediterranean with a mysterious passenger looking at the rising moon.  Call me crazy but that is what I feel.
10. Breathe – Straight on rock and a great 2nd to last track.  Shows some fire and I dig the piano in the hook.  
11. Cedars of Lebanon – Sorry Mr. Eno I should have waited to greet you on this track.  If this is not a moody Eno track I am not sure what is. “A shitty world sometimes produces a rose, the scent of it lingers than it just goes”.  “You say you are not going to leave the truth alone, I’m here cause I don’t want to go home”.  Great chorus and melody line too.
    

Overall like I said I love it and truly do in every way.  I know this one will grow on me like they all have as well but I can say that this one popped for me more so than How To Dismantle and much more quickly.  This is a good time to point out that these sons of bitches never use filler songs.  11 tracks of pure delight. Thanks fellas.

 

ITS FUCKING FEBBRUARY, 22nd 2009 – Well it was when I wrote that!

I meant to post this one awhile ago but hey I got busy but it does tie in with the previous “liberal media” thoughts.  The headline from an ABC.com last month -

Obama’s Critis: 2012 Contenders -Govenors take to airwaves to pan stimulus, leave door open on future presidential run.

Now although I would like to start blasting opportunistic republican bastards (who are just like their Democrat counterparts) who think this is all a game but after reading the story it is mainly typical news BS. However, I do wan to point out that we all know that 99.9% of politicians who talk about working with others is a load of crap but come on, he has been in office 1 month.  1 fucking month.

However, what kind of jackass puts a headline like this on a story.  Oh that’s right the lieberal media of ABC.  Quite liberal indeed. Hahahahaha.

Quote #2

I rarely read Rolling Stone as A) it sucks and B) critics in general suck but by this time of the month with this much travel I have read every other magazine out there.  So as I could not find a book to pick up at the airport, as I actually read literature and not The Last Lecture or James Patterson, I was stuck with buying RS to help pass through the next 4+ hours.

The saving grace was U2 was on the cover with a fairly decent article on them inside that included interviews so kudos to RS.  I am beyond biased when it comes to U2 as everyone knows but this gem from Mr. Bono bears repeating especially from a fellow Catholic -

“There’s no doubt about the fact that I have a wild streak and I’d be very capable of setting fire to myself.  So, you know, I don’t go to church for the view”

Man I could not agree with that anymore based on where I come from mentally.  I still think that at least 20% is always on fire by my own hand but at least I am far from consumed at this point of life. 

Odd Quote #1 Today

So today as I was driving to O’Hare I was flipping around the AM dial a little with even less interest than normal.  No major sport storylines running around (I don’t give a rats ass about March Madness), NPR had a quite boring piece running so low and behold I got all the way down into the nether reaches of the dial and hit upon fat man on oxycontin and red meat…..Mr. Limbaugh.  

First I had to chuckle to myself as the sound of his voice is so close to a morning zoo host and I find it amazingly amusing to think of all the the old white men out there gulping this crap down as fast as Rush can down a bottle of illegal prescriptions.  I then had to get my bearings and make sure it was him who took the pills or if he was the one who talks dirty on the phone…..oh that is Billybob so consider myself centered.

Now I really don’t have much anger or hate in my heart for blowhards like Limbaugh as they are footnotes in history like 3rd or 4th tier Nazi’s who would happily hide in Rio with a few underage hookers and some cheap wine given the choice of that and really defending and standing up for what they “believe in”.  He believes in a form of democracy that only exists based on Arbitron ratings and back ended contracts that serve him and only him.  Democracy is best served when it is customized to fit your own needs you know.

So let’s get to the quote part already….

“I know many of you supporters out there are…are….are worried about me and you do not need to be.  I unlike the liberal media and most out there am not saddled or burdened by…ah..ah…ah…..”

So he finished the quote by saying he is not worried about what the “liberal media” is saying about him and he is never surprised at their “lies and mistruths”, etc., etc,.

But the three (3) “ah’s” made me want to finish his sentence so fucking bad.  What Rush, you are not saddled or burdened by the truth, honesty, morals or the laws of gravity?  I could list what you are not saddled by for the next 30 entries here and not even scratch the surface.

And again, if you host the #1 rated radio show with the most listeners in the world as you claim and FOX News is the #1 rated news channel aren’t you the biggest fish in the media pond?  And if you are not the liberal media and FOX NEWS is not the liberal media who then?  The minority media you mean?  Some phrases never make sense to me like Family Values, War of Drugs and I guess we can add Liberal Media to that list.  

But hey what do I know, I have never paid an illegal immigrant who works for me to get illegal drugs for me.  Thanks for the 2 minutes worth of smiles today fat man. 

Clarification Pt. 2

Ok so now on to the 2nd part of a recent post attacked.  I think I said my two sense about The Tings Tings and now onto the lovely and talented Estelle.  Now some people come from the school that their kids should listen to “kids music” or age appropriate music.  I don’t buy age appropriate music as it really comes down to lyrical content and context and I happen to think that I know what is best for my kids.  However, I can understand this but at the end of the day good music is good music.

My greatest fear for my kids is ignorance of other cultures and people and a love of the White Sox.  Near the top 10 though is not knowing what is good or bad music.  It might seem shallow but if you cannot pull music apart than how can you tell who the good or bad people are?  Good music can come in almost any form and often is found where you least WANT to find it.  It is quite easy to turn a blind ear to a genre and pretend that is 100% crap but that is not the case.  I mean could you imagine doing that regarding literature?  Oh screw that Jack London or Mark Twain as they were just American writers!  It is complete nonsense. 

Now that being said here is a performance featuring Estelle and John Legend.  And please remember to open your ears and maybe even close your eyes if you happen to have those types of judgements in your heart.

And I do hope my kids will be able to tell that this is great music.

Clarification Pt. 1

Well hard to put down something you know nothing about so I might as well allow a little knowledge flow.  This is the The Ting Tings performing one of their “bigger” songs “That’s Not My Name” - 

For further reference the The Ting Tings are a kinda-cute fully harmless band out of the UK that is a sassier cross between Feist and Dido and lacking any really strong or even adult content.  More along the lines of techno/rave but with real instruments and a very stripped down sound in general.  They make alot of appearances on the show Yo Gabba Gabba.  They do a great cover of Altered Images “Happy BIrthday” and since I cannot find a great link check it out HERE and some of you might remember from Sixteen Candles.

Again, hard to attack music that one does not know or choose to understand but such is life.  However, I will happily have my kids listen to this any day over 99% of the crap that is out there today ranging from The Jonas Brothers to Miley Cyrus.

Crazy Brits

Well my daughters love what little they have heard from The Tings Tings and the weefe loves Estelle so lets mash ‘em up on the Brit Awards and see what we get…..Enjoy my loved ones.