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New U2 album cover, tracklist and lead single from Pitchfork:
Yes, that picture of a horizon line is the cover of U2's new album, No Line on the Horizon. No, it's not filled with minimal techno. The record-- produced by U2 stalwarts Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Steve Lillywhite-- is out on March 3 (March 2 in the UK) on Interscope with first single "Get On Your Boots" officially landing this Monday, January 19.
The cover (by Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto) is easily the band's weirdest since 1993's Zooropa. We're not sure what that means, exactly, but this thing is already looking better than 2004's below par How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. And, based on a recent Rolling Stone preview, Horizon has the potential to be U2's oddest-sounding LP in more than a decade. Along with the requisite stadium anthems, there's some "near-operatic choral music" and a "seven-minute-long track." Generally speaking, U2 are most interesting when they step out of their comfort zone, so the un-U2 art and relatively risky musical ideas seem promising. (Then again, there are two songs on here called "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" and "Cedars of Lebanon," so all bets are off, really.) What's not-so-promising is the hilarious number of different formats this thing will come out on: there's the standard version with a 24-page booklet, the digipak with a 32-page booklet and "access to the downloadable" Anton Corbijn Horizon film Linear and a poster, the limited edition CD with a 64-page book and access to the film plus poster, the "box" edition which includes the limited edition plus a DVD of Corbijn's movie, a poster, and a hardback book, and a good old double-LP on 180 gram vinyl. Collect all five! Or, you know, don't. I understand the need to offer tangible assets in the iTunes era, but that shit is just ridiculous. No Line on the Horizon: 01 No Line on the Horizon 02 Magnificent 03 Moment of Surrender 04 Unknown Caller 05 I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight 06 Get on Your Boots 07 Stand Up Comedy 08 Fez - Being Born 09 White as Snow 10 Breathe 11 Cedars of Lebanon | |
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wtf kind of album cover is that  | |
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LOVE.THAT.COVER. | |
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... oh, and pitchfork gets more annoying daily ...
the desperation to seem ironic and hip and cutting edge has passed it's sell-by date, i think. | |
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one more thing... i just realized how close the release date is! 
this will be leaking any week now....  | |
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odd sounding? i love u2 when they dont try to be u2.....this gonna be good | |
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errant said: ... oh, and pitchfork gets more annoying daily ...
the desperation to seem ironic and hip and cutting edge has passed it's sell-by date, i think. That site sucks. The cover isn't tho.  | |
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The albumcover is one of the laziest covers ever!  They should have bothered to appear on the picture... | |
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LiveToTell86 said: The albumcover is one of the laziest covers ever!
They should have bothered to appear on the picture...totally different artistic philosophy. don't show racist tendencies by being ignorant of the philosophy BEHIND the artistic creation. cheers! s=v=n s+v~n(sq2) 7. | |
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7e7e7 said: LiveToTell86 said: The albumcover is one of the laziest covers ever!
They should have bothered to appear on the picture...totally different artistic philosophy. don't show racist tendencies by being ignorant of the philosophy BEHIND the artistic creation. cheers! s=v=n s+v~n(sq2) 7. WTF? "Racist tendencies"? It's just my opinion that it's a lazy cover, don't look much into it! | |
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InsatiableCream said: wtf kind of album cover is that
it's a typical Nine Inch Nails cover
i like it tho  and true love lives on lollipops and crisps | |
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in fact, i fucking love that cover 
and i can't wait to hear this mofo! 
haven't been this excited about new U2 since Achtung Baby! and true love lives on lollipops and crisps | |
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IstenSzek said: in fact, i fucking love that cover
and i can't wait to hear this mofo!
haven't been this excited about new U2 since Achtung Baby! same here!I will forever love and miss you...my sweet Prince. | |
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The lead single should be debuting on Monday. So I'm expecting it to leak any second now.  Very very excited.I'm the first mammal to wear pants. | |
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"All that you cant leave behind" is still one of their best and one of the best albums in this decade. U2 like Radiohead can often be to "creative" for their own good, so hopefully they havent pushed something too far with this album, experimenting is a great thing, but hopefully it was a coherent experimentation. "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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lastdecember said: "All that you cant leave behind" is still one of their best and one of the best albums in this decade. U2 like Radiohead can often be to "creative" for their own good, so hopefully they havent pushed something too far with this album, experimenting is a great thing, but hopefully it was a coherent experimentation.
I almost totally disagree. I think U2 is best when they're trying something new, and expanding their horizons musically. I think an album like All That You Can't... is solid, but it's no match for something like Unforgettable Fire, Achtung Baby, or even Zooropa, where they really tried to push the limits of their sound. I'm hoping that "Window in the Skies" from the last greatest hits was the last song in the "traditional" vein for a while. I'm the first mammal to wear pants. | |
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Axchi696 said: lastdecember said: "All that you cant leave behind" is still one of their best and one of the best albums in this decade. U2 like Radiohead can often be to "creative" for their own good, so hopefully they havent pushed something too far with this album, experimenting is a great thing, but hopefully it was a coherent experimentation.
I almost totally disagree. I think U2 is best when they're trying something new, and expanding their horizons musically. I think an album like All That You Can't... is solid, but it's no match for something like Unforgettable Fire, Achtung Baby, or even Zooropa, where they really tried to push the limits of their sound. I'm hoping that "Window in the Skies" from the last greatest hits was the last song in the "traditional" vein for a while. I think the "All that" album gets a bad rap for being "traditional" and yet there were songs that far exceeded anything they had done in a long time, tracks like "new York" "in a little while" "Kite" were some of their best work ever. U2 is great when stretching but i worry when they begin to experiment in the sounds of the day, when they were doing "achtung" they were bouncing off of the Inxs classic album being worked on at that time "welcome to wherever you are", which is why they both are similar in sounds, but i worry at what u2 may be bouncing off now, there is very little in creativity and diversity in sounds out there now, so it will be interesting to see what they try. Sometimes turns like this lead to less then "par" product, as seen and heard with Duran Duran's "red carpet massacre" "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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lastdecember said: Axchi696 said: I almost totally disagree. I think U2 is best when they're trying something new, and expanding their horizons musically. I think an album like All That You Can't... is solid, but it's no match for something like Unforgettable Fire, Achtung Baby, or even Zooropa, where they really tried to push the limits of their sound. I'm hoping that "Window in the Skies" from the last greatest hits was the last song in the "traditional" vein for a while. I think the "All that" album gets a bad rap for being "traditional" and yet there were songs that far exceeded anything they had done in a long time, tracks like "new York" "in a little while" "Kite" were some of their best work ever. U2 is great when stretching but i worry when they begin to experiment in the sounds of the day, when they were doing "achtung" they were bouncing off of the Inxs classic album being worked on at that time "welcome to wherever you are", which is why they both are similar in sounds, but i worry at what u2 may be bouncing off now, there is very little in creativity and diversity in sounds out there now, so it will be interesting to see what they try. Sometimes turns like this lead to less then "par" product, as seen and heard with Duran Duran's "red carpet massacre" i love that "new york" song  and true love lives on lollipops and crisps | |
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All That You Can't Leave Behind=good?
yes. good=interesting? nah. U2 were at their best when they experimented with their sound. Achtung Baby, Zooropa, Pop.  | |
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LiveToTell86 said: The albumcover is one of the laziest covers ever!
They should have bothered to appear on the picture...i think the album cover is pretty rad. hiroshi sugimoto creates amazing photographs and i don't think this is any different. i only think the equal sign could have been left off (and no doubt that was added by the band because hiroshi wouldn't be so blatant in his statements). the equality of sea and sky is enough to make a statement without driving it home with the equal sign. anyway...
i'm psyched for this record! and i will probably be geek enough to buy the multiple packages that come out. my brother and i are like that with U2. An individualist is a man who lives for his own sake and by his own mind; he neither sacrifices himself to others nor sacrifices others to himself... | |
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forkupine said: All That You Can't Leave Behind=good?
yes. good=interesting? nah. U2 were at their best when they experimented with their sound. Achtung Baby, Zooropa, Pop. experimentation is not always interesting, this has been proven many times by many bands. "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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lastdecember said: forkupine said: All That You Can't Leave Behind=good?
yes. good=interesting? nah. U2 were at their best when they experimented with their sound. Achtung Baby, Zooropa, Pop. experimentation is not always interesting, this has been proven many times by many bands. perhaps for many bands that is true. but i believe the band in question here is U2 and they are best when they experiment and crawl out from their safety zone. An individualist is a man who lives for his own sake and by his own mind; he neither sacrifices himself to others nor sacrifices others to himself... | |
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sassybritches said: lastdecember said: experimentation is not always interesting, this has been proven many times by many bands. perhaps for many bands that is true. but i believe the band in question here is U2 and they are best when they experiment and crawl out from their safety zone. Gotta disagree slightly, i dont consider "all that you cant leave behind" a safety zone, considering they were coming off a part of their career where they were basically done, Pop, was a record that almost ended this band. The albums to me that are the ones i will go back to more are the better "written" records, im more concerned what they are going to pull out "writing" wise now, than what sounds will they mix in. I often worry when bands say they are mixing in the sounds of "today". "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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lastdecember said: sassybritches said: perhaps for many bands that is true. but i believe the band in question here is U2 and they are best when they experiment and crawl out from their safety zone. Gotta disagree slightly, i dont consider "all that you cant leave behind" a safety zone, considering they were coming off a part of their career where they were basically done, Pop, was a record that almost ended this band. The albums to me that are the ones i will go back to more are the better "written" records, im more concerned what they are going to pull out "writing" wise now, than what sounds will they mix in. I often worry when bands say they are mixing in the sounds of "today". "all that you can't.." sounds like a greatest hits record. i'd call that a safety zone. of course, commercially speaking, they no doubt felt required to release that kind of record because they were losing long time fans with zooropa and pop so i get why they did it. personally, i was not excited over "all that you can't..." when it came out. i enjoy it now, but at the time i was disappointed with it. An individualist is a man who lives for his own sake and by his own mind; he neither sacrifices himself to others nor sacrifices others to himself... | |
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sassybritches said: lastdecember said: Gotta disagree slightly, i dont consider "all that you cant leave behind" a safety zone, considering they were coming off a part of their career where they were basically done, Pop, was a record that almost ended this band. The albums to me that are the ones i will go back to more are the better "written" records, im more concerned what they are going to pull out "writing" wise now, than what sounds will they mix in. I often worry when bands say they are mixing in the sounds of "today". "all that you can't.." sounds like a greatest hits record. i'd call that a safety zone. of course, commercially speaking, they no doubt felt required to release that kind of record because they were losing long time fans with zooropa and pop so i get why they did it. personally, i was not excited over "all that you can't..." when it came out. i enjoy it now, but at the time i was disappointed with it. The thing is U2 has always had a level of "world success" so they have to do things that most people are gonna like, they have always pretty much, been able to balance, but even Bono has said that they are spokespeople for the world, and by saying that there is only so much experimenting with sounds you can do and expect it to be accepted. u2 for me has always been a big band, sometimes they can get me, sometimes they piss me off, but im always there for their music, and alot works to me and then some doesnt. It'll be interesting to hear what they will do, but i will always have the fear that they are going to eliminate something that makes them who they are, like a drum or guitar sound, in place of beats. And for the record almost every band "loses" their fan base when they become commercial. U2 lost alot of Die hards with "Achtung" just like REM lost alot with "Out of Time" and others from this time period. [Edited 1/17/09 9:34am] "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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U2 suck. All you others say Hell Yea!!  | |
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2freaky4church1 said: U2 suck.
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an excerpt from the telegraph...
"So what can I tell you without infringing copyright? It took two listens to find my way into it, which has to be good a thing. It is dense, twisty, shiny, modern pop music, a big mash up of Eno ambience, Edge electricity, rhythm and soul. There are verses and choruses, though not necessarily in that order (and quite often its hard to tell which is which). It doesn't feel the need to hit you over the head, but has the Ninja confidence to sneak up and take you unawares. It makes love like its making war. It hasn't frontloaded all its big guns. There is a surge in the middle perfectly timed to quell any uprising, and a killer twist at the end. It could be the glittering sonic mind meld of pop rock and soul that Zooropa wanted to be. Or maybe, like Bono, I'm am just prone to exaggeration." An individualist is a man who lives for his own sake and by his own mind; he neither sacrifices himself to others nor sacrifices others to himself... | |
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is there a little leak yet?
and true love lives on lollipops and crisps | |
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IstenSzek said: is there a little leak yet?
man, i've been searching. haha...nothing yet An individualist is a man who lives for his own sake and by his own mind; he neither sacrifices himself to others nor sacrifices others to himself... | |
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