If you watched the Grammy Awards, U2's performance was a bizarre mix of unholy kitsch and preening desperation, set against the backdrop of "Get On Your Boots," the most noxious and poisonous song from "No Line on the Horizon." The band disastrously chose to broadcast the lyrics against bright neon screens. When a choice line simply states: "Rockets hit the funfair/Satan loves a bomb scare," this isn't a good decision. U2 is lost.
That's been the verdict about U2 since 2000. But those flamethrowers have had little effect on the group's superstardom. It's an impressive feat, a band of U2's age and stature remaining hip and relevant for 26 years. The band has been making mostly crap music, but they remain keenly and wisely aware of what makes them popular.
There isn't much direction on "No Line on the Horizon," which, due to the lack of quality of the band's output lately, stands as the best of the band's three post-millennial albums. Despite the band's noble intention to stir the pot and radicalize its sound anew, U2's latest album is as unmemorable as any previous one.
The album's cover speaks to the tone of the album, gray-hewn and drab, in a way U2 probably didn't intend. Much of "No Line on the Horizon" finds the band in a strange place, uncomfortably straddling the line between the band's boldly subversive '90s period and its nakedly ham-fisted time in the new millennium.
They're trying, but the last time U2 went avant-garde, the band ended up stuck in a mechanical prop lemon at a show. We've seen this movie before.
This isn't big and beautiful music. It isn't exploding-toward-the-stars pop music. It's an insular, unassuming record. It's small, boring and uneventful music for small, boring and uneventful people. This is the soundtrack to your wasted evening at Starbucks.
There are two great U2 moments on this record, and they come on the album's first two tracks. The title track, with its broad, swelling synth strokes and militaristic drum beat, is one of the best things U2 has done in a long while. Bono's voice, pressed into the upper registers, sounds unnerved and vulnerable. He hasn't been this sincere in years. There's a certain beauty in the singer pressing himself - and failing. He simply can't sing these notes; it's the closest U2 has come to punk rock since its debut.
"Magnificent" then makes a stunning entrance - with a heavy crunch a la the band's "Achtung Baby" period - and digital beeps that give way to a classic The Edge-style riff. The track is jam-packed with classic U2 touchstones, and what ultimately saves it from overkill is Brian Eno's skilled, impressionistic production.
From there, it's a steady downhill slide. Among the lowlights: Bono's voice suddenly hitting an unfortunate high note on "I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight," sounding like The Edge strangled him with guitar wire, the startlingly dull "White as Snow" and the simply atrocious, self-referential "Stand-Up Comedy."
In the end, we will look on March 3 as the day when U2 and Coldplay met on the long journey to the middle - to put us all to sleep.
Nothing good lasts forever.
The quick hitIf you're at all into vintage, '60s and '70s soul and funk music, check out Numero group's series of underground compilations. The label has taken the time to find hidden gems, mostly recordings put together by amateur musicians during the '60s and '70s. They're all fantastic and sold right here in Muncie at Village Green Records. Choice recommendations: "Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label" and "Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up"
Show this week
Everybody, Tired Eyes and See Orange at Village Green Records at 9 p.m.
Write to Matt at hipster.is.the.new.hippie@gmail.com
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