Latest U2 News & Information

In early December, Rolling Stone traveled to London to visit U2 in the studio as Bono and Co. worked on the upcoming No Line On The Horizon. For the full story, see the new issue, which hits newsstands Wednesday, January 7th. Here’s a first report on 10 of the album’s tracks:

“Get On Your Boots”
The likely first single, this blazing, fuzzed-out rocker picks up where “Vertigo” left off. “It started just with me playing and Larry drumming,” the Edge recalls. “And we took it from there.”

“Stand Up Comedy”
Another hard rock tune, powered by an unexpectedly slinky groove and a riff that lands between the Beatles’ “Come Together” and Led Zep’s “Heartbreaker.” Edge recently hung out with Jimmy Page and Jack White for the upcoming documentary It Might Get Loud, and their penchant for blues-based rock rubbed off: “I was just fascinated with seeing how Jimmy played those riffs so simply, and with Jack as well,” he says.

“Crazy Tonight”
“It’s kind of like this album’s ‘Beautiful Day’ — it has that kind of joy to it,” Bono says. With the refrain “I know I’ll go crazy/If I don’t go crazy tonight,” it’s the band’s most unabashed pop tune since “Sweetest Thing.”

“Unknown Caller”
This midtempo track could have fit on All That You Can’t Leave Behind. “The idea is that the narrator is in an altered state, and his phone starts talking to him,” says the Edge.

“Tripoli”
This strikingly experimental song lurches between disparate styles, including near-operatic choral music, Zooropa-style electronics, and churning arena rock.

“Cedars of Lebanon”
“On this album, you can feel what is going on in the world at the window, scratching at the windowpane,” says Bono, who sings this atmospheric ballad from the point of view of a war correspondent.

“Magnificent”
“Only love can leave such a mark,” Bono roars on what sounds like an instant U2 anthem. Will.i.am has already done what Bono calls “the most extraordinary” remix of the tune.

“Moment of Surrender”
This seven-minute-long track is one of the album’s most ambitious, merging a Joshua Tree-style gospel feel with a hypnotically loping bass line and a syncopated beat.

“Every Breaking Wave”
A swelling soul-pop song, with bright synth sounds influenced by OMD and, Bono says, “early electronica.” “You don’t hear indie bands doing blue-eyed soul [like this],” he adds.

“No Line on the Horizon”
The title track’s relentless groove began as a group improvisation. “It’s very raw and very to the point,” says the Edge. “It’s like rock & roll 2009.”

[From Issue 1071 — January 22, 2009]

- Rollingstone.com

VOTW: U2’s new song, Greg Lake’s “I Believe In Father Christmas.”

Bono may have upstaged everyone at the opening of the Leopardstown Racing Festival, but not even the U2 frontman could halt the decline in betting turnover at the famous Christmas meeting.

Fresh from Christmas dinner in Dalkey and his victory over An Taisce, who tried to stop his rooftop extension, Bono was among the first to arrive at the Dublin race meeting.

He was there enjoying a well-earned break after putting the finishing touches to U2’s latest album.

“Sure, you’re always nervous, but we’ve gone at it as if it was our first and the critics who have gotten a chance to listen to it already have all said it’s the best yet” Bono told me, referring to the album No Line On The Horizon. ” We’re going after the younger audience this time too,” he revealed.

So could he sum up the album in three words for the fans who have yet to get the pleasure? “It’s very long,” he said with a laugh.

“My favourite song is a song called Moment of Surrender, and the first track is 150 BPM, the fastest song we’ve ever recorded,” he said, beaming with a glint in his eye behind his trademark blue glasses.

Before he left he gave me a gentleman’s kiss on the back of my hand.

- By NIAMH HORAN - Independent.ie

Irish rockers U2 have announced plans to release five different versions of their latest album NO LINE ON THE HORIZON.

According to reports, in addition to CD and vinyl copies, three limited edition volumes will be launched, with one accompanied by a 60-page magazine-style book and a downloadable version of a new ANTON CORBIJN film.

A digi-pack edition will come complete with a 36-page booklet, a fold-out poster and the Corbijn film which contains music by U2.

The final version of the album is a box set featuring a 60-page hardback book, a second poster and a DVD version of the film.

NO LINE ON THE HORIZON is expected to be released in March 2009, it is the groups 12th studio album.

Meanwhile, U2’s lead singer BONO hit the headlines this week when it was reported he invested £100 million in Palm smartphones.

The cash came from the private equity company Elevation Partners which the musician co-founded.

- ContactMusic

No Line On The Horizon, the new studio album from U2, will be released on Monday 2nd March 2009.

Written and recorded in various locations, No Line On The Horizon is the group’s 12th studio album and is their first release since the 9 million selling album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, released in late 2004.

Sessions for No Line On The Horizon began last year in Fez, Morocco, continued in the band’s own studio in Dublin, before moving to New York’s Platinum Sound Recording Studios, and finally being completed at Olympic Studios in London.

The album calls on the production talents of long-time collaborators Brian Eno and Danny Lanois, with additional production by Steve Lillywhite.

- U2.com

Bono & The Edge performed in O2 Arena Van Diemen’s Land.

Recording for RTÉ’s “The View”