U2: No Line on the Horizon - March 3rd, 2009

[PerryD]

I think on the last tour, their general admission floor seats were around $40, although the lower level seating was more pricey around $165. One nice thing about U2 tickets, at least in Chicago, is that they keep adding shows until it stops selling out. They generally will have 3 additional shows open up. This at least keeps scalpers at bay a little. Compare that to the recent Hannah Montana fiasco where tickets sell out in 5 minutes and no additional shows causing scalpers to charge thousands of dollars.

[Suprmallet]

Originally Posted by hal9000

Love their music, but I can't get past the irony that U2 (Bono, Edge, Mullen, Clayton) are one of the most motherfuckinggreedy bands in all of rock history. Yes, I know bands set out/desire to be popular and successful. But U2 have released/re-issued, toured, produced or published some sort of money making product every freaking year for the past 30+ years. And every U2 release/tour gets more and more expensive as years go by. For U2, who set out and strive to be "the band for everyone," (literally, in this case at every price point), one things for sure, their music might not always be the greatest but U2 are truly great at one thing... lining their pockets.

What you posted perfectly describes Kiss. U2 have certainly released a lot of product, but I don't think it's purely for purposes of greed.

[orangecrush]

When compared to what other bands have offered in their "super deluxe, ultra-expensive collectable editions," the $100 version looks lame. That being said, I am looking forward to hearing the new record.

[thecrackedjack2]

The bigger your fanbase is the better the market for these special and more expensive editions. If nobody wanted the re-issues, special editions, etc they wouldn't sell them.

But, obviously people do buy them, so they simultaneously make more money and give people what they want. That's the very essence of business, which we all know music is.

[Decker]

I think at very least they should have sold those more expensive releases with a DVD of the film. To charge $35 for a CD and a download? Very weak.

[nothingfails]

Originally Posted by Suprmallet

What you posted perfectly describes Kiss. U2 have certainly released a lot of product, but I don't think it's purely for purposes of greed.

very true. The DVD's and remasters and everything have all been ones that are worth the upgrade. While one can argue the 18Singles collection, for the most part they aren't just rehashing the same GH albums over and over again, but putting out reissues and the sort that are worth the upgrade. I wish more artists (Prince? I'm talking to you) would do the same with their older albums as U2 does with theirs.

[Suprmallet]

Prince's back catalogue is owned by WB, and I don't think he's willing to work with them. Which is a shame, because based on the amount of stuff he records, every single one of his albums could probably have two discs worth of new material from the recording sessions tacked on. Come on Rhino, broker the peace.

[BadlyDrawnBoy]

http://www.exploremusic.com/home/The...5/Default.aspx

"Get On Your Boots" - A First Listen
Sunday, January 11, 2009

"Got it. 3pm?"

That was all, Paul, the record rep from Universal and fellow U2 fan, had to say. A highly-encrypted, heavily watermarked digital copy of the first single from No Line on the Horizon had arrived in Canada.

For the last 20-plus years, a first listen to anything from a U2 album has always been surrounded by much ritual and security. The first place I got to hear The Joshua Tree in 1987 was at the now defunct McLaughlin Planetarium in Toronto.

As the opening drone of "Where the Streets Have No Name Swelled," the lights went down and the stars came out. When the Edge´s guitar began to chime, the whole sky started to rotate. It was a spectacular introduction to what would become a career-defining introduction.

Achtung Baby was a more low-key affair with a record company representative came in and played it for everyone-but not before we are treated to pizza and beer. "The Fly" kind of confused us at first.

This was the same band that gave us The Joshua Tree? What´s with all these new sounds? It took a little while to get used to this version of U2, but now many (including me) believe that Achtung remains the band´s best record.

Zooropa arrived with no notice whatsoever. It just...showed up on day in May 1993. Bands and labels could pull those kinds of surprises before the Internet. Funny that I can´t remember the first single. I think it was "Numb," but I´m not sure.

The unveiling of Pop was a much bigger deal with a satellite-delivered press conference from (of all places) a K-Mart in NYC. But all the hype couldn´t convince us that "Discotheque" was what all had been waiting for.

U2 fans hoped that there´d be something better on the album. There wasn´t. At least the PopMart tour was interesting.

Just after Labour Day 2000, Paul brought in "Beautiful Day" from All That You Can´t Leave Behind on a CD-R, something that was still kind of new. I remember being relieved that U2 had decided to sound like U2 again.

I didn´t like "Vertigo" the first time I heard it. It was late August 2004 and Paul brought the CD-R to an industry golf tournament. He made me wait all eighteen holes before we sat in my car and listened to the song four times in a row.

It took another month before I began to get it. It´s now one of my three all-time U2 favourites (for the record, the other two are "Zoo Station" from Achtung Baby and the live version of "Bad" from Wide Awake in America. The long version of "All I Want Is You" and "40" aren´t bad, either.)

Now it was time to hear where the band was going in Year 33 (!!!) of their career.

Paul showed up in the office holding an unassuming, unlabeled CD-R at 3:01. By 3:04, we had all heard the first sample of U2 v2009.

I only got to hear "Get On Your Boots" (NOT "Sexy Boots" or "Get Your Boots On," as reported earlier) so forgive the lack of detail. But here´s what I can tell you:

There are some new sounds that could only come from an Eno/Lanois production, which left me with a feeling similar to what I experienced when I heard "The Fly" for the first time.

This is NOT a back-to-basics guitar/bass/drums track like "Vertigo" or even "Beautiful Day." There´s some definite sonic evolution going on here.

It does rock. To find the last time a first single was a ballad, you have to go all the way back to "With Or Without You." That worked out all right, but I can´t imagine U2 doing that again in the prevailing musical environment.

Bono manages to rhyme "submarine" with "gasoline" and says something about "don´t talk to me about the state of nations."

There´s a portion of the melody that somehow reminds me of the cadence of the verses in Elvis Costello´s "Pump It Up," but as I write this, I´m not completely sure. Still, part of the song reminded me of...something else.

Did I like it? I didn´t hate it-but I need to hear it more before I really make up my mind about what I think about....anything to do with the song.

Like so many U2 songs-especially ones produced by an Eno/Lanois/Lilywhite nexus-it´s filled with far more subtleties and complexities that anyone can hear with one listen. I need to examine it, ponder upon it and otherwise live with it.

But that´s the cool thing about U2. There´s just so much THERE there that it can take a while to sort through it all. Suffice it to say, however, that if you´re a U2 fan, you´ll be pleased.

If the song isn´t on the radio by the end of this week, I´ll be shocked. I first heard bits of "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" from a broadcast on a Croatian radio station. There was a leak at the record pressing plant and somehow this dude got himself a big scoop.

Tomorrow, I´ll tell you why that was a dumb, dumb move.

[mdc3000]

also:

The track is to be serviced to Canadian radio week of January 19.

So I assume the US will see the single on radio at the same time.

[Suprmallet]

Favorable comparisons to Achtung Baby make me cautiously optimistic.

[NoirFan]

Wait, "Vertigo" is someone's third-favorite U2 song?

[auto]

Updated with art and tracklist in the first post.

[C-Mart]

That cover somewhat reminds me of New Adventures in Hi-Fi by R.E.M.

[auto]

Originally Posted by C-Mart

That cover somewhat reminds me of New Adventures in Hi-Fi by R.E.M.

Good point.

[atlantamoi]

Album title, meh. Album cover, nice.

[gerrythedon]

U2 Reveals New Album Track List

U2 has unveiled the track list for its new album, "No Line on the Horizon," due March 3 from Interscope. The 11-song set is led by the single "Get on Your Boots," which premieres Monday (Jan. 19) on Dublin's 2FM. It will be released digitally Feb. 15 and physically the following day.

The new album blends such classic U2 rockers as "I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" and "Get on Your Boots" with more experimental fare like the seven-minute "Moment of Surrender" and "Fez -- Being Born." The former is an electro-leaning track with an Eastern-inspired scale in the chorus, making it one of the weirder U2 tracks in decades.

Sources say U2 recorded enough material with producers Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno and Steve Lillywhite for an entire separate album, but it is unknown if any of it will see the light of day.

As previously reported, "No Line on the Horizon" will be available in five different incarnations. Japanese artist/photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto shot the album cover, viewable by clicking here.

U2 is expected to tour this summer, its first outing since signing a multi-rights deal with Live Nation last March. The group will perform "Get on Your Boots" Feb. 18 at the BRIT Awards ceremony in London.

Here is the track listing for "No Line on the Horizon":

"No Line on the Horizon"
"Magnificent"
"Moment of Surrender"
"Unknown Caller"
"I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"
"Get On Your Boots"
"Stand Up Comedy"
"Fez -- Being Born"
"White As Snow"
"Breathe"
"Cedars of Lebanon"


BILLBOARD.com

[atlantamoi]

Originally Posted by gerrythedon

The former is an electro-leaning track with an Eastern-inspired scale in the chorus, making it one of the weirder U2 tracks in decades.

Please let this album be more experimental.

[Hollowgen]

Originally Posted by atlantamoi

Please let this album be more experimental.

i second that.

[ScissorPuppy]

Didn't Bono say a few years ago the next Album would be more "Hip Hop"? LOL

[BadlyDrawnBoy]

2 Poor quality Clips

http://www.scribblescribblescribble....ippets-posted/

[ScissorPuppy]

Fun

[Hollowgen]

sounds enticing

[Suprmallet]

Not enough there for me to make a decision. I'll wait to hear the full single.

[Achtung]

Originally Posted by atlantamoi

Please let this album be more experimental.

From the higher quality 30-second clip I heard earlier this week, it definitely sounds a bit more oriented in that direction.

I'd post it, but Universal pulled it down from YouTube already. And either way we should hear the full version of Get On Your Boots in a few hours.

[Setzer]

Just got it on iTunes. Pretty damn good!