Rant n' Rave With John Nagle

This feels oddly familiar. I’ve heard the electronic instrumentation, less overt spirituality and dance rhythms before, but where? Bono’s doing his ironic “naughty little pop star” act. I seem to remember big sunglasses and a huge stage set with lots of television screens. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Oh wait, 1990’s Achtung Baby!

When Achtung Baby was released, it was a major risk. By trading in big hearted anthems for dance rhythms and irony, they managed to reinvent themselves a decade into their career. When they released All That You Can’t Leave Behind, the big hearted anthems seemed fresh again. Nearly two decades after Achtung Baby, U2 is recycling that part of their career.

Unfortunately, what was a major risk in 1990 is now cold calculation. No Line on the Horizon never quite takes off. For the first time, the band seems unsure of their direction. They never fully commit to the electronic sound, and many of the songs sound disjointed. For example, “Magnificent” pairs the jangly guitars of The Edge with a booming techno drumbeat. The effect is schizophrenic. It’s a situation where the band sounds great, but the songs aren’t there. Bono’s voice is in spectacular form, and often saves the material.

Bono’s voice can’t save the band from lyrical pretension. Bono compares his ego to “a small child crossing an eight lane highway, on the voyage of discovery” on “Stand Up Comedy.” At least he admits he has an ego. Admission is the first step to recovery. The first single, “Get on Your Boots,” is similar to Elvis Costello’s “Pump it Up.” Bono subtly copies Costello’s vocal mannerisms. It works well despite the fact that a 40-something man telling a girl to “put on her sexy boots” is preposterous.

The ballads are the album’s biggest problem. They don’t lend themselves to the sterile production and icy keyboards. “With or Without You” works because it is simple and intimate. “White as Snow” attempts to duplicate that wonderful intimacy, but suffers from too many horns and Bono’s plodding metaphors. Snow is pure, that’s pretty much a given

Bono’s Dylan impression on “Breathe” is more interesting. He sings whatever pops into his head like, “Coming from a line of traveling sales people/At my mother’s side I wasn’t going to buy anyone’s cockatoo.” It makes no sense, but it’s a refreshing change from tired metaphors about the purity of snow. After that one bit of spontaneity, “Breathe” devolves into another rote chorus.

At this point in their career, U2 could release a record of Transylvanian folk dances and the rock establishment would call it a masterpiece. In the immortal words of Public Enemy, don’t believe the hype. The Joshua Tree and War are masterpieces. No Line on the Horizon is a latter-day U2 album, and a boring one at that. U2 is not the problem. The problem is the rock establishment, who stubbornly refuse to believe that U2’s best days are behind them.