SPOILERS ABOUT NEW SONGS BELOW....
U2 Break Down 'No Line on the Horizon'
Key tracks from the band's eclectic new album
BRIAN HIATT
Posted Jan 22, 2009 9:45 AM
In early December, Rolling Stone traveled to London to visit U2 in the
studio as Bono and Co. worked on the upcoming No Line on the Horizon.
For the full story, see the new issue, which hits newsstands
Wednesday, January 7th. Here's a first listen to 10 of the album's
tracks:
"Get On Your Boots"
The likely first single, this blazing, fuzzed-out rocker picks up
where "Vertigo" left off. "It started just with me playing and Larry
drumming," the Edge recalls. "And we took it from there."
"Stand Up Comedy"
Another hard rock tune, powered by an unexpectedly slinky groove and a
riff that lands between the Beatles' "Come Together" and Led Zep's
"Heartbreaker." Edge recently hung out with Jimmy Page and Jack White
for the upcoming documentary It Might Get Loud, and their penchant for
blues-based rock rubbed off: "I was just fascinated with seeing how
Jimmy played those riffs so simply, and with Jack as well," he says.
"Crazy Tonight"
"It's kind of like this album's 'Beautiful Day' �?it has that kind of
joy to it," Bono says. With the refrain "I know I'll go crazy/If I
don't go crazy tonight," it's the band's most unabashed pop tune since
"Sweetest Thing."
"Unknown Caller"
This midtempo track could have fit on All That You Can't Leave Behind.
"The idea is that the narrator is in an altered state, and his phone
starts talking to him," says the Edge.
"Tripoli"
This strikingly experimental song lurches between disparate styles,
including near-operatic choral music, Zooropa-style electronics, and
churning arena rock.
"Cedars of Lebanon"
"On this album, you can feel what is going on in the world at the
window, scratching at the windowpane," says Bono, who sings this
atmospheric ballad from the point of view of a war correspondent.
"Magnificent"
"Only love can leave such a mark," Bono roars on what sounds like an
instant U2 anthem. Will.i.am has already done what Bono calls "the
most extraordinary" remix of the tune.
"Moment of Surrender"
This seven-minute-long track is one of the album's most ambitious,
merging a Joshua Tree-style gospel feel with a hypnotically loping
bass line and a syncopated beat.
"Every Breaking Wave"
A swelling soul-pop song, with bright synth sounds influenced by OMD
and, Bono says, "early electronica." "You don't hear indie bands doing
blue-eyed soul [like this]," he adds.
"No Line on the Horizon"
The title track's relentless groove began as a group improvisation.
"It's very raw and very to the point," says the Edge. "It's like rock
& roll 2009."
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