從2004年推出了How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb之後，U2讓樂迷望穿秋水地經歷了U2生涯上最漫長的等待，約五年後才推出最新專輯No Line on the Horizon，這是U2的第12張錄音室專輯。
這是張很棒的專輯，是出乎我意料中的精彩！不過，其評價卻和他們其他多數專輯一樣，很兩極化。Blender、Rolling Stone和Q給這張專輯五顆星的評價。Mojo和Uncut給四顆星的評價，Entertainment Weekly和BBC Music給高度評價，NME給不錯的評價；可是TIME卻給非常糟的評價，標題就非常不客氣地寫道「U2's Unsatisfied — and Unsatisfying — New Album」。
U2是有卅多年歷史的樂團，他們在八十年代的The Joshua Tree以及在九十年代的的Achtung Baby與Zooropa依然是樂迷心中無法動搖的無敵經典圭臬。 U2超過卅年的搖滾生涯，大致上可以分類為：早期後龐克、英國時代、美國時代，電音實驗時代，和「現在」。所謂的「現在」就是指2000年瀕臨解散又光榮回歸後至今，這段無法歸類的時期。
自從U2推出超級叫好叫座的Achtung Baby與Zooropa，接下來的Pop卻讓U2重重從天上摔到地上！要不是後來推出的All That You Can't Leave Behind讓他們挽回了樂迷的心，否則U2的解散只會是遲早的問題。不過，All That You Can't Leave Behind雖然吸引了許多新樂迷，不過有些死忠樂迷仍然失望，因為U2在All That You Can't Leave Behind，似乎想要穩紮穩打，不太進行實驗性的大膽嘗試了。
基本上呢，我給No Line on the Horizon四顆星半的評價。音樂的喜好是很主觀的，也是為何No Line on the Horizon會超級兩極化。就TIME的評論而言，我就無法接受為何No Line on the Horizon的地位會比U2上一張專輯How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb還差。在我心目中，No Line On The Horizon絕對不是他們最差的專輯，甚至連「不錯」都還不至於。How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb在TIME的評論中，居然和許多專輯的地位一樣，例如All That You Can't Leave Behind，光這一點我就無法接受。
All That You Can't Leave Behind是很棒的專輯，可是How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb在我心目中，卻是一張令人失望的專輯。原因不是因為裡頭的歌不好聽。事實上，How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb是張「很好聽」的專輯，裡頭有好些我喜愛的歌曲。令我大失所望的原因，和不少樂評及樂迷的理由一樣：U2如果只能寫出好聽的歌，他們還能夠算是偉大的樂團嗎？我覺得，How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb是一張沒有太多新意，而且又缺少了什麼的專輯，給我一種失落感。
好吧，或許我和樂評都是主觀的，那來看看廣大的樂迷的評價吧。基本上，我認為Amazon.com上樂迷的評價相當能夠反映出U2樂迷對專輯的普遍評價。迄今No Line on the Horizon在Amazon.com的316位評價者中，平均有3.8顆星。而Achtung Baby呢，則是4.8顆星，幾乎是滿分！接下來呢，是4.6顆星的War和The Joshua Tree，然後4.5顆星的Boy和The Unforgettable Fire，再來是4.3顆星的October，下來是4.2顆星的Pop，再下來是4.1顆星的Rattle and Hum和Zooropa。All That You Can't Leave Behind得到4顆星，而How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb只有3.3顆星:(
由此可見，How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb的確才是U2最失敗的作品。讓U2慘遭滑鐵盧的Pop，其實並沒有太糟。Pop失敗之處，我想有兩點：一、樂迷對U2期待太高，可是U2卻沒交出好成績；二、U2趕著準備PopMart巡迴演唱會，沒有好好用心地錄音，以致品質下降。可是他們後來推出的精選輯中，把Pop的歌曲補錄了音，證實Pop其實是有經典好歌的。
好吧，在我心目中，U2不可撼動的經典是The Joshua Tree，接下來是Achtung Baby，然後是The Unforgettable Fire和No Line on the Horizon、接著是Zooropa和All That You Can't Leave Behind，而Boy、War、October、Rattle and Hum以及Pop則平起平坐，How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb則墊底。
No Line on the Horizon是一張很棒的專輯，不僅是有好歌──好聽的歌而已，而是一張求變的專輯。自從Achtung Baby與Zooropa之後，U2似乎就不太求變了，實驗性的大膽嘗試愈來愈少，也越來愈不太精彩。可是，在No Line on the Horizon中，U2又再度求變了，雖然在程度和效果上，還沒超越Achtung Baby與Zooropa，所以還是讓少數人失望。然而，對我而言，No Line on the Horizon中的實驗性嘗試，是適度的，否則U2再也不再U2，我也會害怕的。
U2和導演Anton Corbijn合作攝製的一齣默片電影Linear，全片使用No Line on the Horizon的所有歌曲當作配樂。No Line on the Horizon推出五個版本：普通CD版、LP版、Digipak版（Album CD及Linear網路下載）、雜誌版（CD加60頁雜誌及Linear網路下載）以及豪華版（Album CD加60頁精裝書及Linear的DVD）。我的是雜誌版。
No Line on the Horizon在許多國家都衝到唱片銷售排行的第一名。也因為和上一張專輯相距甚久，U2寫了很多歌，打算在今年底或明年初，再推出一張專輯，標題暫訂Songs of Ascent，據說會帶有朝聖式的靈幻色彩。
No Line on the Horizon專輯封面採用了深受達達主義與超現實主義啟發的日本攝影大師杉本博司（Hiroshi Sugimoto）一張呈現海洋與天空密合在一起的黑白攝影作品Boden Sea, Uttwil，這是一幅帶著無限禪意的畫面。很不巧的，Taylor Deupree在2006 的專輯 Specification. Fifteen.中也用了同一樣照片，只是後者僅呈現海洋的部分，引起一些爭議。杉本博司讓U2免費使用那張經典照片，條件是不許在照片上加上文字，以及他可以用U2的歌來當宣傳。
No Line on the Horizon的主打歌是Get On Your Boots，充滿動感。是Bono寫在伊拉克戰爭前夕，當時他和寶貝女兒在法國尼斯的遊樂園遊玩。歌詞有嘲諷戰爭前夕，眾人仍舊歌舞昇平的味道。
我最喜愛的歌是Moment of Surrender，Bono描寫人生困境的細膩，令人驚嘆。Moment of Surrender一如One及Stay (Faraway, So close!)，蒼涼卻不絕望，哀而不傷。除了Stand Up Comedy、Magnificent、Fez – Being Born、I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight及Breathe等充滿激情的歌曲，No Line on the Horizon一如其封面般充滿禪意，Cedars of Lebanon冷靜而內斂。講述一名在阿富汗戰事中垂死之士兵的White As Snow，意境悲凉，將會出現在今年的戰爭電影Brothers中。No Line on the Horizon基本上，是一張相當全面的專輯。
為了這張專輯，紐約市長彭博（Michael Bloomberg）還把紐約市第53街命名為「U2 Way」。U2準備在今年8至10月在世界舉辦巡迴演唱會U2 360° Tour，真希望有機會去參加盛舉。
好吧，讓我們來試聽這張值得期待的專輯吧！
No Line on the Horizon
Magnificent
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
Get On Your Boots
Breathe
Moment of Surrender
Unknown Caller
Fez -- Being Born
White As Snow
Cedars of Lebanon
No Line on the Horizon的台灣版還有五月天石頭、王福怡、吳若權、1976阿凱、路嘉怡、蔡詩萍、劉軒、黎明柔、鄭開來、盧春如(Ruby)、魏如昀樂壇名人齊聚操刀翻譯寫歌詞：1. No Line On The Horizon地平無線 黎明柔譯 2. Magnificent 崇高的愛 鄭開來譯 3. Moment Of Surrender 臣服時刻 吳若權譯 4. Unknown Caller 不明的來電者 王福怡譯 5. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight 如果今晚不瘋一下 我會發瘋 劉軒譯 6. Get On Your Boots 邁開大步 五月天石頭譯 7. Stand Up Comedy 喜劇脫口秀 魏如昀譯 8. FEZ–Being Born 誕生中 盧春如(Ruby)譯 9. White As Snow淨白如雪 路嘉怡譯 10. Breathe 呼吸 1976阿凱譯 11. Cedars Of Lebanon 黎巴嫩的雪松林 蔡詩萍譯。
No Line on the Horizon專輯的所有原文歌詞：
No Line On The Horizon
I know a girl who's like the sea
I watch her changing every day for me
Oh yeah
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
One day she's still, the next she swells
You can hear the universe in her sea shells
Oh yeah
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
No, no line on the horizon, no line
I know a girl with a hole in her heart
She said infinity is a great place to start
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
She said "Time is irrelevant, it's not linear"
Then she put her tongue in my ear
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
No, no line on the horizon
No, no line
No, no line on the horizon
No, no line
The songs in your head are now on my mind
You put me on pause
I'm trying to rewind and replay
Every night I have the same dream
I'm hatching some plot, scheming some scheme
Oh yeah
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
I'm a traffic cop, rue du Marais
The sirens are wailing but it's me that wants to get away
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
No line on the horizon
No, no line
No, no line on the horizon
No, no line
Magnificent
Magnificent
Magnificent
I was born
I was born to be with you
In this space and time
After that and ever after I haven't had a clue
Only to break rhyme
This foolishness can leave a heart black and blue
Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar
I was born
I was born to sing for you
I didn't have a choice but to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise ...
Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar
Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent
Magnificent
Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love unites our hearts
Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent
Magnificent
Magnificent
Moment Of Surrender
I tied myself with wire
To let the horses run free
Playing with the fire
Until the fire played with me
The stone was semi-precious
We were barely conscious
Two souls too cool to be
In the realm of certainty
Even on our wedding day
We set ourselves on fire
Oh God, do not deny her
It's not if I believe in love
But if love believes in me
Oh, believe in me
At the moment of surrender
I folded to my knees
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me
I've been in every black hole
At the altar of the dark star
My body's now a begging bowl
That's begging to get back, begging to get back
To my heart
To the rhythm of my soul
To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
To the rhythm that yearns
To be released from control
I was punching in the numbers at the ATM machine
I could see in the reflection
A face staring back at me
At the moment of surrender
Of vision over visibility
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me
I was speeding on the subway
Through the stations of the cross
Every eye looking every other way
Counting down 'til the pentecost
At the moment of surrender
Of vision of over visibility
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me
Unknown Caller
Sunshine, sunshine
Sunshine, sunshine
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
I was lost between the midnight and the dawning
In a place of no consequence or company
3:33 when the numbers fell off the clock face
Speed dialling with no signal at all
Go, shout it out, rise up
Oh, oh
Escape yourself, and gravity
Hear me, cease to speak that I may speak
Shush now
Oh, oh
Force quit and move to trash
I was right there at the top of the bottom
On the edge of the known universe where I wanted to be
I had driven to the scene of the accident
And I sat there waiting for me
Restart and re-boot yourself
You're free to go
Oh, oh
Shout for joy if you get the chance
Password, you, enter here, right now
Oh, oh
You know your name so punch it in
Hear me, cease to speak that I may speak
Shush now
Oh, oh
Then don't move or say a thing
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
She's a rainbow and she loves the peaceful life
Knows I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight
There's a part of me in the chaos that's quiet
And there's a part of you that wants me to riot
Everybody needs to cry or needs to spit
Every sweet tooth needs just a little hit
Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot
How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?
A change of heart comes slow
It's not a hill, it's a mountain
As you start out the climb
Do you believe me, or are you doubting
We're gonna make it all the way to the light
But I know I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight
Every generation gets a chance to change the world
Pity the nation that won't listen to your boys and girls
Cos the sweetest melody is the one we haven't heard
Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear?
The right to appear ridiculous is something I hold dear
Oh, but a change of heart comes slow
It's not a hill, it's a mountain
As you start out the climb
Listen for me, I'll be shouting
We?re gonna make it all the way to the light
But you now I'll go crazy if I don?t go crazy tonight
Baby, baby, baby, I know I?m not alone
Baby, baby, baby, I know I?m not alone
It's not a hill, it's a mountain
As we start out the climb
Listen for me, I'll be shouting
Shouting to the darkness, squeeze out sparks of light
You know we'll go crazy
You know we'll go crazy
You know we'll go crazy if we don't go crazy tonight
Oh oh
Slowly now
Oh oh
Get On Your Boots
The future needs a big kiss
Winds blows with a twist
Never seen a moon like this
Can you see it too?
Night is falling everywhere
Rockets at the fun fair
Satan loves a bomb scare
But he won't scare you
Hey, sexy boots
Get on your boots, yeah
You free me from the dark dream
Candy floss ice cream
All our kids are screaming
But the ghosts aren't real
Here's where we gotta be
Love and community
Laughter is eternity
If joy is real
You don't know how beautiful
You don't know how beautiful you are
You don't know, and you don't get it, do you?
You don't know how beautiful you are
That's someone's stuff they're blowing up
We're into growing up
Women of the future
Hold the big revelations
I got a submarine
You got gasoline
I don't want to talk about wars between nations
Not right now
Hey sexy boots...
Get on your boots, yeah
Not right now
Bossy boots
You don't know how beautiful
You don't know how beautiful you are
You don't know, and you don't get it, do you?
You don't know how beautiful you are
Hey sexy boots
I don't want to talk about the wars between the nations
Sexy boots, yeah
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Meet me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, now
God, I'm going down
I don't wanna drown now
Meet me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Meet me in the sound
Get on your boots
Get on your boots
Get on your boots
Yeah hey hey
Stand Up Comedy
Love love love love love...
Love love love love love...
I got to stand up and take a step
You and I have been asleep for hours
I got to stand up
The wire is stretched in between our two towers
Stand up in this dizzy world
Where a lovesick eye can steal the view
I'm gonna fall down if I can't stand up
For your love
Love love love love love...
Stand up, this is comedy
The DNA lottery may have left you smart
But can you stand up to beauty, dictator of the heart
I can stand up for hope, faith, love
But while I'm getting over certainty
Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady
Out from under your beds
C'mon ye people
Stand up for your love
Love love love love love...
I gotta stand up to ego but my ego's not really the enemy
It's like a small child crossing an eight lane highway
On a voyage of discovery
Stand up to rock stars, Napolean is in high heels
Josephine, be careful of small men with big ideas
Out from under your beds
C'mon ye people
Stand up for your love
Love love love love love...
God is love
And love is evolution's very best day
Soul rockin' people moving on
Soul rockin' people on and on
C'mon ye people
We're made of stars
C'mon ye people
Stand up then sit down for your love
Love love love love love...
Love love love love love...
Fez - Being Born
Six o'clock
On the autoroute
Burning rubber, burning chrome
Bay of Cadiz and ferry home
Atlantic sea cut glass
African sun at last
Lights... flash past...
Like memories
A speeding head, a speeding heart
I'm being born, a bleeding start
The engines roar, blood curling wail
Head first then foot
Then heart sets sail
White As Snow
Where I came from there were no hills at all
The land was flat, the highway straight and wide
My brother and I would drive for hours
Like we had years instead of days
Our faces as pale as the dirty snow
Once I knew there was a love divine
Then came a time I thought it knew me not
Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not
Only the lamb as white as snow
And the water, it was icy
As it washed over me
And the moon shone above me
Now this dry ground it bears no fruit at all
Only poppies laugh under the crescent moon
The road refuses strangers
The land the seeds we sow
Where might we find the lamb as white as snow
As boys we would go hunting in the woods
To sleep the night shooting out the stars
Now the wolves are every passing stranger
Every face we cannot know
If only a heart could be as white as snow
If only a heart could be as white as snow
Breathe
16th of June, nine 0 five, door bell rings
Man at the door says if I want to stay alive a bit longer
There's a few things I need you to know. Three
Coming from a long line of travelling sales people on my mother's side
I wasn't gonna buy just anyone's cockatoo
So why would I invite a complete stranger into my home
Would you?
These days are better than that
These days are better than that
Every day I die again, and again I'm reborn
Every day I have to find the courage
To walk out into the street
With arms out
Got a love you can't defeat
Neither down or out
There's nothing you have that I need
I can breathe
Breathe now
16th of June, Chinese stocks are going up
And I'm coming down with some new Asian virus
Ju Ju man, Ju Ju man
Doc says you're fine, or dying
Please
Nine 0 nine, St John Divine, on the line, my pulse is fine
But I'm running down the road like loose electricity
While the band in my head plays a striptease
The roar that lies on the other side of silence
The forest fire that is fear so deny it
Walk out into the street
Sing your heart out
The people we meet
Will not be drowned out
There's nothing you have that I need
I can breathe
Breathe now
Yeah, yeah
We are people borne of sound
The songs are in our eyes
Gonna wear them like a crown
Walk out, into the sunburst street
Sing your heart out, sing my heart out
I've found grace inside a sound
I found grace, it's all that I found
And I can breathe
Breathe now
Cedars Of Lebanon
Yesterday I spent asleep
Woke up in my clothes in a dirty heap
Spent the night trying to make a deadline
Squeezing complicated lives into a simple headline
I have your face here in an old Polaroid
Tidying the children's clothes and toys
You're smiling back at me, I took the photo from the fridge
Can't remember what then we did
I haven't been with a woman, it feels like for years
Thought of you the whole time, your salty tears
This shitty world sometimes produces a rose
The scent of it lingers and then it just goes
Return the call to home
The worst of us are a long drawn out confession
The best of us are geniuses of compression
You say you're not going to leave the truth alone
I?m here cos I don't want to go home
Child drinking dirty water from the river bank
Soldier brings oranges he got out from a tank
I'm waiting on the waiter, he's taking a while to come
Watching the sun go down on Lebanon
Return the call to home
Now I've got a head like a lit cigarette
Unholy clouds reflecting in a minaret
You're so high above me, higher than everyone
Where are you in the Cedars of Lebanon?
Choose your enemies carefully cos they will define you
Make them interesting cos in some ways they will mind you
They're not there in the beginning but when your story ends
Gonna last with you longer than your friend
延伸閱讀：
The Sky of Gene - U2
相關網站：
U2.com
