Tuesday, Dec. 08, 2009
"No Line on the Horizon" by U2
The simplest song on U2's latest album also happens to be the best. "I know a girl," Bono screams on this muscular opener, thrusting us into the familiar cosmos of a U2 hit. There's the martial beat, the fickle female object of desire, the soaring inarticulateness in the bridge — "Ohhhhhh/ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh" — followed by the Edge's chugga-chugga-chugging away on his guitar, chasing Bono up the scale, note for note. The whole thing buzzes from beginning to end, proof that old tricks can generate new thrills.