Disclaimer: I was a rabid U2 fan until around 1995... since then I've just been somewhat mildly obsessed.The new U2 album "No Line On The Horizon" seems to have cause quite a kerfuffle among the band's most fervent followers...
Is it as terrible as many have lamented? Or is it a veteran band's brave attempt at experimentation and relevance?
In my opinion, it is both... While I find the album to be sonically pleasing and sometimes daring, it is woefully short on memorable songs... you know, the type of U2 songs that used to reach down into your chest and force an emotional response...
That said, one cannot hope that the work of a 30-year-old band will have the same impact upon you as it did when you were young and first enthralled with them... First of all… not only was the band different at that initial stage...
but...
so
were
YOU.
It is an impossible and unrealistic expectation... Things change, we grow older... often most ungracefully... Perhaps we should realize that things are not, nor will they ever be like they once were... nor will our emotional attachments, our desires, our dysfunctions, our addictions...
The quest to reclaim our youthful exuberance is not only impossible, but embarrassingly silly...
U2 has gotten older... and so have we...
go figure...
I just spent some time in the studio with the respected leader of a 30-year-old band who was dealing with these same issues... Does he make the album he wants to? Or does he rewrite old hits desperately seeking another? What position does commerce have in the equation? Do you tread the familiar and plod safely along, or do you risk the possibility of alienating the old fans in search of new territory? This is a quandary for just about every artist lucky enough to have a career that lasts a decade or so...
The Stones, Who, Doors, Led Zeppelin and Neil Young have released their share of turkeys... given the overall quality of their work, I think we can forgive those infrequent artistic transgressions...
To their credit, U2 have never played it safe... Some of the music they released in the mid-90’s had me beyond puzzled... I did not care for much of it... however, I respected them for making the attempt.
This new album is merely an honest photograph of the band in its present state... love them or hate them, this is a band that still tries new things, and for that alone they should be commended... Had they wanted to, they could have re-written “The Joshua Tree” 10 times over and done quite well indeed...
Last year I had the pleasure of seeing “U23D”… the phenomenal live three dimensional Mexico City/Buenos Aires concert film presented by National Geographic...
U23DI was astounded at how well their newer material fit firmly within the soul of the old… there was no letup in conviction or passion, from the audience or the band…
There is a reason that this is still the biggest band in the world, and its not just clever marketing... It is the fact that they inspire... they emote... as Lou Reed once said, “A U2 show is like going to church”.
I have found that my favorite U2 albums were always the ones that were hard to embrace at first... Perhaps if you give it a chance to grow on you and you will find that there is some magic there... maybe not the magic you wanted or were expecting, but some magic nonetheless...
GO ON... LEAVE YOUR "THOUGHTS" IN THE COMMENTS SECTION...
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