Rock needs U2. Rock music has always been about larger than life characters, big sounds, over the top emotion and drama (on stage and off) - everything writ large, on an arena-sized scale. And the iconic rock acts have mostly been arena-sized; but in the age of indie-rock, those acts are harder to find. Arcade Fire looks like it might be ready to make the leap from indie breakout artists to genuine arena rockers, but U2 still, after 30 years in the business, sets the standard for making rock music on a big scale.
U2's latest, No Line On The Horizon, is not as great as the band's previous two records, All That You Can't Leave Behind and How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, which were surprising resurrections for a band that many had left for dead (or at least for 'classic rock' radio stations, which these days is one step away from 'oldies'). I'm not even sure it's a good record, but I think this new U2 effort passes what I've come to call the Rolling Stones test: if the Rolling Stones' latest effort, hailed as a 'return to form' by so many critics, had been by any other band, would anyone have noticed?
No Line On The Horizon may be a hit-or-miss record, but it's got enough hits and enough ambition that I think we would have taken notice regardless of who made it; and even its misses are at least trying to do something different. I give a band a lot of credit for not staying in the same place, and U2 have proven, sometimes to their own detriment, that they are willing to change things up and try new sounds. An example here is 'Moment of Surrender,' where Bono and producer Brian Eno indulge their love of southern gospel music. It's not an entirely successful mix, and it seems endless, but it certainly is different. The title track, on the other hand, is a typically brilliant bit of musical sleight of hand from Eno and co-producer Daniel Lanois, taking a very simple chord structure and making it sound big and biting and important. And The Edge's guitar work makes me think he's been listening to a little Interpol lately.
'Get On Your Boots' is a dead ringer for Elvis Costello's 'Pump It Up,' at least in the verses. 'I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight' is either a bloated piece of musical puffery or a truly great arena-rock singalong, and we probably won't know for sure until we see them play it live. (I'm betting on the latter now, although I wasn't so sure first time around.) 'Fez: Being Born' has lots of bits to like, but is somehow less than the sum of its parts. And does anyone else think that 'White As Snow' has a few melodic turns that come right out of the medieval Christmas carol 'O Come O Come Emmanuel'?
Anyway, there's no 'Beautiful Day' here, no 'Window In The Skies,' but there are 4 Irish guys who have somehow stuck together for 30 years in an unforgiving business and who are still trying to Rock Your World. That's gotta count for something.
Tell us: What do you think of the new U2 record? Is U2 still ready to rock, or ready to recycle?
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John Schaefer has hosted Soundcheck since the show’s inception in 2002. He has also hosted and produced WNYC’s radio series New Sounds since 1982 (“The No. 1 radio show for the Global Village” – Billboard) and the New Sounds Live concert series since 1986.
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