Reconsideration
14 hours ago
I've anticipated the coming of this album for a year and am really excited to finally own it. I actually bought the CD as opposed to getting it off iTunes. This is just a list of my thoughts on the various songs. This took me a few days:
1. No Line on the Horizon (song)-
The verses have a repetitive quality that would get repetitive if it wasn't Bono singing it. It gets stuck in my head for hours. The tune is pretty dang catchy even if the lyrics are a little bit odd. One of my favorites on the album. A promising start.
2. Magnificent (song)- Original working name: French Disco
This song was from an improv session in 2007. Bono cites Bach and Cole Porter as influences for it. He describes it as "two lovers holding on to each other and trying to turn their life into worship."
I love the guitar riff played at :45 and during the chorus. This is really the Edge's album. I can't help but think of Harry Potter when the lyrics go "Only love, only love could leave such a mark. Only love, only love could leave such a scar." It has signs of Christian influence with verse 2:
I was born
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
Oh, oh
Logically, who else would this "you" be? Pretty good song, its growing on me.
3. Moment of Surrender (song)-
7.5 minutes long! Bono's voice comes out raw. This song continues the smooth and creamy synth. I like the lyrics although they don't make a whole lot of sense to me. I get the feeling they will once I'm 50, maybe.
4. Unknown Caller (song)-
I often skip over this one. It has the same repetitiveness of track 1, but in the chorus and less interesting. They use a lot of computer metaphors "Restart, reboot yourself, you're free to go", "Force quit, move to trash", and "Password, you, enter here, right now". The Edge gets a pretty sweet solo towards the end of the 6:03 song.
5. I'll go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (song)- Original working name- Crazy Tonight
My favorite of the album. Bono slips into falsetto. Lyrics are a bit funny in the first verse. Kind of a hopeful song with
"Every generation gets a chance to change the world
Pity the nation that won’t listen to your boys and girls
‘Cos the sweetest melody is the one we haven’t heard
Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear"
Its the chord progression in synch with the lyrics that make the song interesting. Also, rapper/produce will.i.am worked on a remix of this song that may be coming out. Listen to this one: my thoughts are inadequate to describe it.
6. Get On Your Boots (song)- Media release name- Sexy Boots
This is their first single from the album. It is very reminiscent of Vertigo from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb with the upbeat and mainstreaminess. Before the new album came out I read somewhere that Bono said that he wouldn't mind experimenting with rap. This song and Breath which comes later on in the album are as close as U2 gets to rap. Adam Clayton's bass gets a chance to take center stage.
The band made a strong effort to stay away from war, but this song is described by Bono as a "collection of images of [him] taking his family to a fun fair in southern France on the eve of the war in Iraq, with warplanes zooming overhead."
It is supposedly sung from a man to his first love.
7. Stand Up Comedy - Original working names- For Your Love, Stand Up
Stand Up Comedy is one of the catchier songs on the album. I couldn't find a video of U2 playing it, just covers. The lyrics are here. This song is a commentary on something, I just can't put my finger on it. I like the lyrics for the most part. Especially "Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady". The Edge rocks out on the guitar with gusto and the whole song just has a good vibe. That was the worst review on a song ever. Haha....
8. FEZ-Being Born (song)- Original working name: Chromium Chords
When I first heard this song, I didn't know what to think. The first sessions for No Line on the Horizon started in Fez, Morocco so I assume this is a mixture of jams from Fez. The whole song sounds almost like its echoing towards you, bouncing off the walls from a nearby room. Very atmospheric. The lyrics appear to be about car racing?
9. White As Snow (song)-
White As Snow is a song being sung by a dying soldier in Afghanistan after hitting an IED according to Adam Clayton the bassist. The 4:00 of singing represents the time it takes him to die. I didn't realize this until I looked up information on it; the lyrics don't make this evident although it makes sense once you know. The tune is "Veni, Veni, Emmanuel" the Advent hymn. I think U2 should do more songs like this. From the piano at the beginning to Bono's reflective, mournful voice this song is just beautiful. They are able to sneak some spirituality in too. Part of the song describes the journey of faith of the soldier:
"Once I knew there was a love divine
Then came a time I thought it knew me not
Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not
Only the lamb as white as snow"
Lyrics here.
10. Breathe (song)-
I think this is my favorite of the new album. Its about drowning out fear with love. Maybe a common U2 theme, but this song just plain rocks. The verses talk of door-to-door salesmen and an Asian virus and whatever, then the chorus comes and clears all that away and it just soars. Just listen to it.
11. Cedars of Lebanon (song)-
6. Get On Your Boots (song)- Media release name- Sexy Boots
This is their first single from the album. It is very reminiscent of Vertigo from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb with the upbeat and mainstreaminess. Before the new album came out I read somewhere that Bono said that he wouldn't mind experimenting with rap. This song and Breath which comes later on in the album are as close as U2 gets to rap. Adam Clayton's bass gets a chance to take center stage.
The band made a strong effort to stay away from war, but this song is described by Bono as a "collection of images of [him] taking his family to a fun fair in southern France on the eve of the war in Iraq, with warplanes zooming overhead."
It is supposedly sung from a man to his first love.
7. Stand Up Comedy - Original working names- For Your Love, Stand Up
Stand Up Comedy is one of the catchier songs on the album. I couldn't find a video of U2 playing it, just covers. The lyrics are here. This song is a commentary on something, I just can't put my finger on it. I like the lyrics for the most part. Especially "Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady". The Edge rocks out on the guitar with gusto and the whole song just has a good vibe. That was the worst review on a song ever. Haha....
8. FEZ-Being Born (song)- Original working name: Chromium Chords
When I first heard this song, I didn't know what to think. The first sessions for No Line on the Horizon started in Fez, Morocco so I assume this is a mixture of jams from Fez. The whole song sounds almost like its echoing towards you, bouncing off the walls from a nearby room. Very atmospheric. The lyrics appear to be about car racing?
9. White As Snow (song)-
White As Snow is a song being sung by a dying soldier in Afghanistan after hitting an IED according to Adam Clayton the bassist. The 4:00 of singing represents the time it takes him to die. I didn't realize this until I looked up information on it; the lyrics don't make this evident although it makes sense once you know. The tune is "Veni, Veni, Emmanuel" the Advent hymn. I think U2 should do more songs like this. From the piano at the beginning to Bono's reflective, mournful voice this song is just beautiful. They are able to sneak some spirituality in too. Part of the song describes the journey of faith of the soldier:
"Once I knew there was a love divine
Then came a time I thought it knew me not
Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not
Only the lamb as white as snow"
Lyrics here.
10. Breathe (song)-
I think this is my favorite of the new album. Its about drowning out fear with love. Maybe a common U2 theme, but this song just plain rocks. The verses talk of door-to-door salesmen and an Asian virus and whatever, then the chorus comes and clears all that away and it just soars. Just listen to it.
11. Cedars of Lebanon (song)-
There you have it. I wasn't really going for a review, just some miscellaneous thoughts on the album.
The E Scale: 40
Labels: E Scale, music, review/reflections, U2
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