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No Line On The Horizon | 
| Artist: U2
Label: Mercury Records Ltd (London)
Category: Music
List Price: £16.99
Buy New: £4.94
as of 21/11/2009 22:15 GMT details
You Save: £12.05 (71%)
New (52) Used (13) Collectible (1) from £3.55
Seller: verybigkev
Rating:  192 reviews
Sales Rank: 383
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Running Time: 53 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 001263002
UPC: 602517960374
EAN: 0602517960374
ASIN: B001O0EQ5U
Release Date: March 2, 2009
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | 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 |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
If you donrsquo;t already know what to expect from U2rsquo;s twelfth studio album then yoursquo;re either a goldfish with Alzheimerrsquo;s or newborn, and if thatrsquo;s the case then there are probably much better places for you to start than emNo Line On The Horizon/em. However, for the rest of us this is everything it should be, even if itrsquo;s nothing you wouldnrsquo;t expect. The lead in single "Get On Your Boots" might have forgotten to pack a chorus and instead crammed in a bewildering mash of Nancy Sinatra, Cameorsquo;s "Word Up" and Led Zeppelin in an effort to reignite the pop art dervishes in them that time washed down the creek, but it does actually get more singularly feisty with every listen. "Stand Up Comedy" is equally absurd ("Stand" by REM/"Love Spreads" by The Stone Roses/generic Red Hot Chilli Peppers in a light funk sandwich), but the albumrsquo;s not all about them trying to prove their creative audacity. The title track vibrates with the mild threat of modernity and a chest-beating, loud-hailer bravado, "Moment Of Surrender" allows Bono to shed some passion over the measured, subdued backdrop and the triple of "Unknown Caller", "Irsquo;ll Go Crazy If I Donrsquo;t Go Crazy Tonight" and "Magnificent" make no bones about being classic U2, ringing chimes reverberating from The Edgersquo;s guitar like endlessly reproducing embryos under the microscope; the kind of stuff that professional obsessives The Killers would, you know, kill for.--emJames Berry/em
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 192
 Magnificent Anthemic Album! April 26, 2009
Martin A Hogan (San Francisco, CA. (Hercules))
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
U2's twelfth album brings this Irish phenomenon into a more complex and mature state in years. Its no wonder they took over David Letterman's show for a week as the only musical guest. With lots of welcome help from Brian Eno (ambience and edge) and Danny Lanois (unique guitar work), the band forges ahead on every track with a driving force that sucks you in.
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br /Every cut is fantastic, but some standouts must be mentioned. "No Line On The Horizon" drives full throttle with The Edge creating a echo-like quality to his guitar and Adam Clayton leading with an even and forceful rhythm. "Magnificent" carries forth with several combinations of simple but effective riffs and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton bounce that beat along with Bono giving one of the more inventive vocals on the album. In fact, "Magnificent" is almost anthemic in its force. You can hear Eno's eerie ambient contribution on "Moment of Surrender" and that mood is carried throughout with Bono declaring, "I've been in every black hole" backed with a magical keyboard. "Get On Your Boots" is an excellent hard rocker with U2 going at it with hints of songs past. "FEZ-Being Born" and "White as Snow" show a strong influence by Brian Eno right from the start and U2 takes it and runs with it. In fact, Eno's signature is on every track. Finally, "Cedars of Lebanon" is a fine finishing track with clever percussion mixed with a quietly moody guitar and Bono spilling forth with some dark lyrics.
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br /Released in five different packages, this is one of U2's greatest compliments and it will be interesting to see how many hits will end up being released. Every track is that good.
Best album since Achtung Baby (And this time it's the truth) February 21, 2009
Declan (Galway, Ireland)
14 out of 20 found this review helpful
For a brief summation of what this album is like, look no further than the title of track 2 - Magnificent. You gotta put in the effort though. It's a multi layered, multi textured, "proper album", as opposed to a collection of singles and potential singles like we had on the last two CD's from U2. If you became a fan of the band based on the last two albums this may not be for you, unless you are willing to give it a chance and a lot of listens before you form an opinion. I doubt if this record will shift the kind of numbers that the record industry are hoping for, in their wish for some sign of recovery in the album sales industry. Younger music fans are generally not interested in full albums, but instead want to download their own choice cuts from a record. This new album really works best when taken as a whole. It took me about a dozen listens before I could even begin to form an opinion. It really rewards the effort though and I was reminded of when I bought my first U2 album (The Unforgetable Fire) and how at first it just sounded strange and a bit of a blur, but as you listened again and again it came into focus and now it one of my favourite U2 albums. The current release is still getting better with every listen and it definately deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby as a trio of classic U2 albums. Different tracks on this album will be favourite tracks to the different kinds of U2 fans that exist in this world. I favour the more experimental tracks like Unknown Caller and Fez - Being Born. For those of you who like the more traditional U2 type of song, I think the aptly named Magnificent is made for you along with Breathe. Other stand outs are the title track, Stand Up Comedy and White As Snow. The single, Get On Your Boots, for me, is the weakest track on the album, but at the same time, when you listen to the whole album through, you will see that it was the only real choice for lead off single. It actually really works well in the context of the album, because it is the most upbeat and uptempo track on the record and it comes in at half time if you like, just to give proceedings a bit of a jolt.
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br /Overall, I am extremely satisfied with this album and as I said before, it is still getting better with each listen, so who's to say it wont eventually become my overall favourite U2 album.
U2 show Coldplay how a great rock album should be done! May 27, 2009
Dragonlord (Cornwall)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
As I felt Coldpalys last ablum was far to over produced and a bit naff compared to their other great ablums before it. Now U2 have fairly recently given us the most excellent All That You Can't Leave Behind and How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. You might thing they can't get any better and you would be wrong because No Line On The Horizon overall is their best work since the ground breaking Joshua Tree album. The hit single Get On Your Boots has areally funky bass line and the title track is a brilliant song. For me the two best songs are Moment Of Surrender and Unknown Caller. Overall this is U2 right back at the top of their game showing everybody why they have been the most successful band in the world for the last 20+ years. There are no fillers here and if you like U2 then you will love this new album trust me.
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Expectations...............Delivered!!! March 15, 2009
S. A. Gordon (Enfield, Middlesex United Kingdom)
17 out of 25 found this review helpful
I have had the album for two weeks now. I have read all the reviews on Amazon, both UK and USA, and perhaps if I had written this review after a couple of hearings then, well, it would have been a only a 2 star review. I would imagine that the reviewers that had been hasty and given only one or two stars might now be having regrets to write off this album too soon.
br /It is certainly a grower and I am still playing it constantly. This is best album I have heard in ages, it just gets better and better. Album of the year already? Could well be.
br /The problem U2 have is that the expectations are so great. How can they live up to this and please everyone? By delivering their most adventurous album since Pop. After about 3-4 hearings it all comes together and you grasp how good this actually is. It really is exciting that a band that has been around so long, can produce a set of songs this good. This is what albums should be like. In todays times we have no patience, we want it all to sound superb on the first hearing. Well, sorry, it does not always happen. If you put in the effort then you will be rewarded with a wonderful album. Even Get On Your Boots starts to make sense as part of a this collection.
br /I could list my favourites, but believe that this should be heard from start to finish. It is Magnificent!
br /This an album for adults made by a band who have taken care to produce the best that they can. You cannot ask for much more than that!
br /Larry was right when he said that this album contained some of the best songs that they had ever written.
br /Enjoy!
Epiphanies, eternal echoes, moments of surrender March 2, 2009
J. Cheek (Southend-on-Sea)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
br /LAST MONTH the Brits presented their Lifetime Achievement Award to the Pet Shop Boys, for services-to-music. An accolade awarded to a band from Dublin, eight years' previously. The two-man Pet Shops are well-known for being identified personally with a certain, ahem, `label'; albeit something which hasn't directly influenced their music, too overtly. Having been around for even longer, U2 are similarly known for another, somewhat different description - but in their case, their Christianity directly (and indirectly) shines through all that they do: and it shines on this, their 12th and possibly most acclaimed studio album.
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br /Put it this way. Were it to be their last, it would mean going out on a high point. Way to go.
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br /BECAUSE U2 have the album they probably wanted to make, the one they would've made four years ago, when attempting a stripped-down, raw record and discovered they couldn't maintain it for more than a few songs; when they chose to then add flashes of red and purple to Ramones-style three-chords' grey. `How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb' seemed overwhelming at first, leaving the listener gasping for less. Repeated plays gave rise to the feeling that some tracks were a little unrealised: `yes ...no... not quite`.
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br /That's not the case here. Whilst not exactly the brave, paradigm-shifting progression we anticipated, it proves if you aim for the universe you may not reach it, but you'll get a lot further than if you just set yourself modest targets. 'No Line' aims for a Promised Land just outta sight, and sometimes gets there: not least with one of the slow-burners, 'Moment Of Surrender'; at over seven minutes the longest track and amazingly, recorded in one take. The (autobiographical) relating of a religious experience in the everyday setting of a cash point: "At the moment of surrender/I folded to my knees/I did not notice the passers-by/And they did not notice me". A song of immense heart-felt yearning, including the key-lyric: "Of vision over visibility." It sums up an undertone persistent throughout - of traffic-cops facing heavenwards; of girls focusing on infinity; of soldiers and war-reporters seeking redemption whilst appearing to disappear from view.
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br /WAS IT Kevin Rowland who said, "Beauty is the ultimate protest"? This record, this work of art should be played in every lift to remind us, in these times, that there's still possibilities, rumours of glory, hints of there being more to life than what seems. Amidst unlikely dashes of Hazel O'Connor and Brian Auger Trinity, there's the lush, sweeping soundscapes of Sigur Ros, the ethereal qualities of Air and Daft Punk. An essential development, alongside the introduction of cellos and french horns is the involvement of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, from producers to co-songwriters now, on much of the material. Loops, gloops, and tom-toms help take us sonically to the territory of Radiohead and `Viva La Vida' Coldplay, and away from the dirty, BRMC-drive of their last outing. The final two tracks even sound reminiscent of Bruce Cockburn.
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br /Should that erstwhile Canadian troubadour , or anyone from the CCM fold offer something halfway as good as this, it will be an achievement - and will indeed, mean that 2009 is a remarkable year for `Christian' music.
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br /JOHN CHEEK
Showing reviews 1-5 of 192
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