Interview and album review in tomorrow's Sun

Link here

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showb...icle2276503.ece

Thursday, February 26, 2009

'We’re four chancers from the north of Dublin who just got lucky'

Grounded ... U2 may be the biggest band in the world but they're still nice humble blokes

By SIMON COSYNS

Published: Today

U2 - No Line On The Horizon

****1/2

SUCCESS brings power. Power brings self- importance.

Take the case of U2. You would expect the world’s biggest band to be the home of the rampant bighead.

Imagine what it’s like being Bono...

He strides the world stage fighting poverty, war, famine, HIV/Aids and injustice.

He has the ear of presidents and prime ministers, kings and queens, businessmen and religious men.

He sings epic anthems with unbridled confidence, holding many thousands in the palm of his hand.

But, as bandmate Adam Clayton explains, “when Bono’s back in the band, he’s not a messiah, he’s just a naughty boy”.

Monday will see the arrival of twelfth studio album, No Line On The Horizon, 33 years and 140million albums after U2 began their incredible journey from a suburb on the north side of Dublin.

Right now, they’re in the middle of the promotional whirlwind that comes with U2 Inc, the global concern.

Speaking to guitarist The Edge and bassist Adam as they arrive in London from Paris, however, I don’t sense a power-crazed dictatorship, more a democratic republic.

Humble

These two (and I imagine Bono and drummer Larry Mullen Jr are the same) retain a wide-eyed joy in what they do and humble gratification for their lives less ordinary. They’re also nice, grounded blokes.

The Edge says: “It’s a band culture, it’s a band ego, it’s a band process. Any idea that’s going to move forward is accepted on that basis.

“We were friends before we could call ourselves a band and we’ve held on to that regard and respect for each other. I think we all know deep down that we do our best work within the U2 framework.

“Everyone starts thinking they’re the genius of the operation but the band is the genius. There are so many stories of bands with people overestimating their importance.

“We all keep each other in check and we all need to be kept in check. The last thing you want, particularly after all the years we’ve been doing it, is to be surrounded by people who agree with you the whole time.

“We love a good argument in U2. We’re willing to take on any arguers because we reckon that, even if someone is being negative, there’s something to be learned from it.

“We’re not scared of criticism. It means we can keep the s**t out of the show before anyone gets to hear it.

Greater than the sum of their parts ... U2

“Hopefully, we all make each other shine. The chemistry of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”

Adam picks up the theme. “We are a soap opera. Often, if we have a problem, we go to another member of the band for advice. It’s probably because we all come from a small community in Ireland.

“We have a great sense of being four chancers from the north of Dublin who got lucky.

“It’s amazing people are still interested in what we do. I think it’s the music and the chemistry between us. Every democracy has its little quirks.

“There’s a basic rule that if three people think something is a good idea and you’re the person who thinks it’s a bad idea, the chances are they may be right and you’re wrong.”

The new U2 album is adventurous, richly textured, set in the dangerous post-9/11 world but not without an air of optimism. It comes with a strong emotional tug and, above all, it’s a triumph for collaboration.

It follows 2004’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, which Adam says was “a little bit too traditional rock and one- dimensional”.

Three years in the making at studios in Morocco, London, Dublin and New York, No Line On The Horizon was finished in a burst of creativity.

“We did an insane amount of mixing and finishing off in the last 48 hours,” explains The Edge.

“It was the equivalent of ground rush. We knew we were there and everything suddenly fell into place.”

The album once again harnesses the inspired production team of Brian Eno and Danny Lanois, the pair who helped lay down the sonic landscape for some of U2’s greatest offerings — The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby.

Eno came armed with his “box of sounds”. The Edge liked having him around.

“He constantly challenged us and took us out of our comfort zone. He’s not really a fan of rock music and I’m not sure he’s a fan of U2’s music.

Goal

“There are always disagreements with him. There’s a song called Winter that he thought we were mad to leave off the album. He hated Get On Your Boots (the first single) at first but eventually got into it.”

Also involved was Steve Lillywhite, who produced the debut album Boy back in 1980. The Edge likens him to Liverpool legend John Toshack.

“He comes on halfway through the second half and scores the winning goal. He’s very sharp, very practical and very enthusiastic.”

While there are no obvious stadium-slaying anthems such as One, Pride (In The Name Of Love), Beautiful Day or Vertigo, this is the sound of a band refusing to stand still.

Infinite possibilities ... album

The album title and opening track No Line On The Horizon confirms the intent. It is a work, as Adam puts it, of “infinite possibilities”.

He adds: “It applies to every aspect of where the world is now. I think you have to be pro-active and figure things out... I mean making bad choices can ruin your economy!”

Magnificent, which starts with a deep and dirty riff before eventually soaring heavenwards on a towering Bono vocal and fluid Edge solo, is exactly what it says on the lid.

The hazy beauty Moment Of Surrender drifts along on waves of keyboards, processed beats and languid guitars, summoning through Bono’s expression a mood of submission and hopelessness against a backdrop of conflict.

Unknown Caller tries too hard to be contemporary with lines such as “force quit and move to trash” or “restart and reboot yourself” and a sub-Arcade Fire shouty, harmony.

I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight is heartfelt, rounded and personal with a chiming tune and a touch of the Springsteens about the delivery.

Get On Your Boots borrows the random thought, beat poetry style of Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues, with limited success.

But as the 54-minute album enters its final stretch, some real treasures come into view.

White As Snow, which takes its tune from a 16th Century hymn, is quietly stunning while Breathe is all urgent, momentous, stream-of- consciousness allied to incendiary guitars and keys.

For The Edge and Adam, the album was about embracing “the statesman” Bono of 2009 and the world view he expresses in his lyrics, this time mostly in the third person.

“He’s a man of great complexity and dignity,” says Adam.

“It’s been fascinating to see his curiosity, his tenacity and powers of persuasion grow.

“At any table, he tends to be the most interesting person there. There’s great wisdom and knowledge to be gained from him.” The Edge describes the recording process as a constant quest for inspiration.

“We stumble from one breakthrough to the next and sometimes go down blind alleys.

“The most important thing is to get a believable vocal performance from Bono. The tune has to be at a certain place before he can deliver a vocal he can really believe in.”

On one song, the storming Stand Up Comedy, Bono laughs at himself as “a small man with big ideas” and cries: “Stand up to rock stars, Napoleon in high heels.”

Adam believes that sometimes the singer is “almost too self-deferential. He doesn’t take himself as seriously as people in the Press sometimes portray him. But the issues he works on are very serious.”

The track, which begins with a huge, heavy riff, also has special musical significance for The Edge, which he agrees is his “Led Zep moment”.

Groove

“I worked on a documentary with Jimmy Page and Jack White about guitar playing. I loved working with them. It was inspiring. That song started out as a groove before we added the big riff.”

He also stretches himself on several guitar solos, mostly during the album’s first few songs. “I don’t really like playing solos unless the song really wants it,” he says. “But on this record there were moments where it felt so right.”

Another key aspect of No Line On The Horizon was the decision to start work in the ancient North African city of Fez, Morocco, with all its sounds, sights and cultural differences in vivid relief.

“The idea was to jump out of Western culture for a second and see music as a broader concept,” says The Edge.

“We went to this spiritual music festival and saw people of all different religious backgrounds. The location itself started to infuse our music.”

The most obvious song to reflect those surroundings is Fez Being Born, which begins with Eastern-flavoured sounds and rhythms and bears cries from Bono that echo the calls to prayer the band must have heard from their makeshift studio.

Today, with the album in the bag, it’s down to Adam to imagine what the future holds for U2. “I think the body of work will continue to grow for as long as people want to hear it.

“New songs will be added to the live show. And we’re all still prepared to make the commitment.

“I do have little moments where I say to myself, ‘this is amazing, don’t forget this, it won’t always be this good’.”