Let's start off by saying I was really looking forward to this album dropping. But after the success of 2004's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, U2 really had to do everything just right to make the next album be just as successful. I must say I was let down.I don't want you to think this is the band's fault. This album had so much potential. I find that the blame rests with the super producing team of Daniel Lanois and, specifically, Brian Eno. Don't get me wrong; I think Eno took Coldplay, a band whose songs previously sounded like the same, dull song, and turned them into U2's successors for the "Biggest Band in the World" title though their experimentation with new and exciting tones. The otherworldly sounds helped that album, but Eno let out all the air in U2's balloon by doing the same thing. Coldplay needed that kind of production; U2 did not. Every track on this album has the atrociously misplaced Eno diddling with his keyboard, ruining perfectly good songs with Bon-Jovi- and Pink-Floyd-esque synth riffs. Once again, this is U2. Synth Pop and Acid Rock are not U2.
Eno aside, the album has a lot of qualities that redeem this faulty production team. Guitarist extraordinaire, The Edge, and the most underrated bassist on the planet, Adam Clayton, do their best to make the keyboard presence as minimal as possible. On "Magnificent," Edge does what he does best on guitar: magnificently interweave a great rhythm and and a catchy lead that is reminiscent of "Where the Streets Have No Name." Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. create a beat that clicks, allowing Bono to make his voice soar.
Next, the album's first single, "Get on Your Boots" would make any rocker happy with its fuzzy bass and a guitar line that cuts like a chainsaw in a song about (what else) a really sexy girl with some even sexier footwear. Even Bono, Mr. Peacemaker, croons to get into the hot pants of this imaginary, boot-bearing vixen: "I don't want to talk about wars between nations / Not right now." It must be hard for the guy to have to be Superman all the time.
After that, though, Bono comes right back to his sagacious, Irish mystique in "Cedars of Lebanon," in which Bono recites some of the best poetry he has ever written. Bono knows he's either loved or hated. Challenging critics, Bono, in Keith Richards' singing-but-not-quite-singing fashion, hums, "Choose your enemies carefully because they will define you / Make them interesting cause in some ways they will mind you / They're not there in the beginning but when your story ends / Gonna last longer than your friends."
But "Breathe" is the best track on No Line by far. On "Breathe," Bono channels his inner Bob Dylan a-la "Subterranean Homesick Blues" with Edge providing the pitch-perfect, syncopated triads on guitar. Unfortunately, this also succumbs to the unwanted melodies of the production team.
So, let's get back to bashing the production. I have to come back to the keyboards. They really were out of place. All I can think of is that line from Billy Madison when Billy's friend who pissed his pants is trying to get him a date with Ms. Vaughn. We all remember what Billy says ... "YOU BLEW IT!" Did U2 hired the guy who plays the keytar in Franky Goes to Hollywood? I think the band's resident badass Mullen, Jr. would have knocked Eno out if he pulled this back in the 80's. Stick to what you are. The intro to "Fez - Being Born" sounds like Danny Elfman during his Tim Burton phase got into the wrestling ring with the Iron Sheik. "White as Snow" sounds like they spliced some keyboard outtakes from The Wall and threw it in there. Whatever Eno and Lanois added to the album, it was awful. I can't wait until the Rick Rubin produced stuff comes off the shelf. That weirdo with the beardo is pretty much the only lock in the industry now.
2.5/5
1-Bad 2-Poor 3-Ok 4-Good 5-Excellent
