Forgotten lyrics
But unforgettable fire!
Sunday, Bloody Clash Mash

Haiku by Andy Cohn
Photos by Rob Stone

Taking to his blog, David Byrne recently criticized U2’s touring excess after playing a date in Warsaw; claiming that U2’s mega tour effectively subsidized smaller, lower-grossing performances at the venue where he performed, since the money lost on less-lucrative productions would be made back once U2 hit the stage. Byrne went on to say:

Those stadium shows may possibly be the most extravagant and expensive (production-wise) ever: $40 million to build the stage and, having done the math, we estimate 200 semi trucks crisscrossing Europe for the duration. It could be professional envy speaking here, but it sure looks like, well, overkill, and just a wee bit out of balance given all the starving people in Africa and all. Or maybe it’s the fact that we were booted off our Letterman spot so U2 could keep their exclusive week-long run that’s making me less than charitable? Take your pick — but thanks, guys!

Yeah, Bono- what about the starving people in Africa? It’s interesting that despite the singer’s effort to brand himself as a messiah for Africa’s cause, Bono has made no attempts to limit the impact, environmental or monetary, of U2’s tour. A STORM IS BREWING.

On October 29 and 30 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, a veritable cornucopia of rock royalty will descend for a two night concert series celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Over the course of the two-night stand, members of the Hall of Fame will perform onstage with guests, effectively documenting the evolution of various musical styles. Crosby, Stills and Nash will perform with California-based artists, Metallica will headline the hard rock portion of the concerts, and Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin will perform with Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra as part of a soul revue.

Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, U2, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, and Simon and Garfunkel are also expected to perform in what the event’s executive producer and Rolling Stone founder, Jann Wenner, calls “a celebration of the artists and their music.” Joel Gallen, the induction ceremonies’ producers, will direct the shows, with a highlight version scheduled to be aired on HBO. Proceeds go to establishing an endowment for the Hall of Fame; AMEX cardholders will be able to purchase tickets today, while sales open to the general public on August 3.

To further commemorate the Hall of Fame’s anniversary, a book, titled The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The First 25 Years will be released via Collins Design in September. A nine-disc DVD collection will be released in August by Time Life, featuring highlights from past induction ceremonies and rare footage. (via RS)

We were awfully amped to report not too long ago that Bono and the Edge’s Spiderman on Broadway project was going forward, full steam ahead. Rolling Stone is reporting today that major roles have now been cast with Evan Rachel Wood to play Mary Jane Watson. You may remember Wood as that crazy girl from Thirteen or Marilyn Manson’s most recent special friend. We’ve developed newfound respect for the starlet as a result of this little bit of sound-byte magic:

“Bono and the Edge are doing the music. It was hysterical, I got to do the workshop, sit down with them playing guitars going over the music, and I was making jokes going, watch by the end of this, I’ll be telling them what to do. And by the end I was! I was like, Bono, I know you want to save the world and everything, but in this song you’re talking about poverty and world hunger and it’s Broadway, can we lighten this up a bit, can I just not sing this? And he was like, [in Irish accent] ‘You’re right, I know, we have to try, we have to try.’”

She’s bold. Alan Cumming, who will be playing the Green Goblin, provided no additional laughs.

In a video interview for the forthcoming Broadway show’s website, U2’s Bono and The Edge talked at length about what exactly compelled them to begin work on Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark. The bespectacled frontman explains: “We were open to the idea of musical theater, but Spider-Man, that’s a different thing again, because that’s comic books, and there’s a whole series of relations between punk rock and rock bands and comic books, that goes back years.” The Edge, who seems to really connect with Peter Parker’s plight, revealed a bit of psychic scar tissue, saying, “every rock & roll star probably started out as the geek who got bullied on in school, and eventually their form of revenge was to write songs or learn to play guitar.” This prompted his bandmmate to make the following joke, one which explains much of Bono’s sartorial choices over the past three decades: “I was more of a Green Goblin.” We smell intraband strife of epic, blockbuster proportions. (via RS)

It. Looks. Awesome.

IMGT opens in select theaters on August 14th.

I almost don’t recognize Chris Cornell as he’s accompanied into his dressing room by his intimidating bodyguard: the vocalist has his hair tied up and has a cool demeanor reminiscent of nonchalance. But after grabbing a Diet Coke and settling into a black couch, the former Soundgarden/Audioslave singer, solo artist, and Paris restaurateur eyes me with a signal to begin.

It’s beguiling to know what kind of career Cornell has had, and is continuing to have, from being covered by Johnny Cash during his Soundgarden days, to writing songs for American Idol contestant David Cook. Cornell is widely recognized for his vocal belting technique on stage: a controlled, yet powerful resonance that’s one part belly, one part throat. Later I get to see this tool employed to reach the nooks and crannies of The Grand in San Francisco, where he is playing, even all the way up into the balcony. His backing band look like kids in comparison to him as the show progresses, Cornell flashing smiles in between songs like a true pro while also delivering his vocals with such authority and fervor it’s hard to look away.

I look around when Cornell fetches an acoustic guitar to play “Fell On Black Days” midway through his show: there’s a healthy mix of old and young, post-grunge and emo, smilers and stoners. I’m glad to see that his set list not only includes songs with his last two bands, but also a healthy selection from all of his solo works — “Can’t Change Me”, “Cochise”, “Black Hole Sun” and “Part Of Me” all sit well with each other, despite the fact that there are 15-plus years in between the release of some. I decide I’d even make out with the crusty punk next to me if it meant Timbaland would come out on stage.

Although Cornell acknowledges pre-show during our interview that he won’t forget his roots (when asked if he’d do a split album with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder — whom Cornell did a duet with at the beginning of his career and still is friends with — the response is “I don’t know if I’d like to do that”), and it’s also evident that Cornell is willing to be a shape shifter to expand his musical palate. 2009’s Scream, executive-produced hip-hop megastar Timbaland, is a venture away from the hard rock and grunge that Cornell has been associated with until previously. It also features select background vocals by Justin Timberlake. That can’t be that bad, right? Read more below on Cornell feeling like Pink Floyd and how we shouldn’t hold our breath for his possible movie career.

I was about your daughter Lillian’s age when I started swiping Soundgarden albums from my dad. What do you think you will tell your kids when they are older about your career?
Oh, they know already. They even tell other people, so they definitely know and are well aware of what I do.

You had a small part in Cameron Crowe’s 1992 film Singles, is that next in your forte to expand?
That was 19 years ago. I think I would have pursued that by now if it was an interest. Besides, there were bigger parts in the movie than mine, lots of cameos.

Timbaland was your partner-in-crime for Scream — he was originally going to remix some stuff but then ended up deciding on working for the whole album. How?
As a producer he is so prolific and focused on songwriting. It just happened naturally and I’m glad it did.

When you were in Audioslave, you guys were the first American rock group to play Cuba. How was that experience for you?
We can’t compare it to anything. It was a four day experience, and the audience didn’t know what to expect. It was a focus on the arts in general, and it was an important role everyone’s daily life that day. Sometimes there are casual fans in the U.S. who just don’t give a shit. My dad isn’t really into art or music, and here everyone was heavily interested and educated in art and art forms. The performance itself was unusual because it was the closest that [Cuba] had to an outdoor festival; 70,000 people were estimated to have been there. And the crowd reaction – a lot of people just – observing. Cuban-Afro music and performances are pretty participatory, and our music [wasn’t] really that way. It’s not music you’d usually clap your hands to and shake your ass to. I felt like were like Pink Floyd in that way, and I’m still stunned we were doing at that point and have a lot of gratitude for it. I don’t think the performance was that well, and we filmed the film part of the experience while I was sick.

Do you think you’d do anything different?
The power for the show was inconsistent, and my vocals kept disappearing. But this huge wave came over us of…I’m not sure. We were all just moved, the feeling of being really the first rock band to do that. Manic Street Preachers also did something similar, I think. Cuban fans also deserve to listen to music as well, and I’m critical of [bands not touring extensively when possible]. Like, why couldn’t a band like U2 play? It’s bullshit, how easy it is to do it. But I would like to go again.

Universal today became the first major label to sign a deal with People’s Music Store, a new London-based digital download service that will let fans market and “sell” their favorite tracks, earning credit toward additional track downloads.

The deal licenses more than 300,000 UMG tracks to the service, including songs by Amy Winehouse, Duffy, U2 and Morrissey. It doubles the stores total catalog to 600,000 mp3s.

Basically, here’s how it works. Individual users can set up their own digital record stores, design storefronts, choose music from the licensed catalog, write reviews and market their store in blogs or on Facebook or MySpace using widgets from the site. Every time someone downloads a track from their “store,” they receive 10 percent of the sale price in reward points toward future downloads.

Of course the site also works with labels and artists — more than 1,000 stores already exist, from labels like Rough Trade or artists like Nightmares on Wax. Here’s to the future of free music… and apparently free labor as well.

TV on the Radio was greeted with a host of critical acclaim upon the release of last year’s Dear Science, and even though the record was marked as the band’s fourth release, it placed the Brooklynites on the road to commercial success. Now, TV on the Radio will be releasing a remix EP of their most successful album, making it the first time the post-rock band will have delved into the world of remixing their material.

The revamped EP, entitled the Read Silence EP was originally due out in February, but will finally hit stores tomorrow, April 14, off of the band’s label, Interscope. For the remixes, the band enlisted the help of Gang Gang Dance and Willie Isz among others, and rather than taking the usual route of remixing, Read Silence EP will include three non-single remixes off of Dear Science along with remaking of the released single tracks. We envision TV on the Radio’s electronically charged sound translating well to the remix, better than say if Justice were to remix U2.

It was only three days ago that news spread about the Justice/U2 remix and now it’s already available to hear. Then again, if Bono commands you to do something, you pretty much do it. He recently wielded this power in getting Justice to remix the first single from No Line On The Horizon, “Get On Your Boots.”

And if the U2 guys wanted a Justice remix, they definitely got one — this track is all over the place from start to finish, wicked danceable and all Justice. As our friends at Stereogum said, “Reminds me of that old joke: How many French men does it take to make you wanna dance to U2? † many.”

You can listen to the track streaming to your heart’s content here. No info yet on when/if you’ll be able to purchase it, so just keep jamming.

Just when we were wondering what Justice was going to remix next, we got our answer — and a quite surprising one at that. The French remixing-master duo will be pairing up with U2 to remix the No Line On The Horizon single, “Get On Your Boots”.

Sure it might sound like an odd couple to be joining forces for an electronic remix, but both Justice’s publicist and a newsletter from the groups record label confirmed the pairing. We’re curious how the Edge’s guitar riffs in “Get on Your Boots” is going to match up to the electric touch of Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay. They’ve done wonders with Franz Ferdinand, MGMT, and Justin Timberlake tracks, so this should be and ear full to say the least, and really, we’re more concerned about Bono’s ego exploding if the track becomes a success.

For now, U2 is heading out on tour in support of their new album, but maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll get to see Bono and the gang team up with Justice for a few shows along the way. Now that would be something worth watching.

Dedicated to those songs that I can’t stop playing, humming, or thinking about; the 4+ minutes you fall head-over-heels in love with. Past instances have included The Groovie Ghoulies’ “I’m Doin’ Fine,” Electric Six’s “Improper Dancing,” and Tender Box’s “Spectacular Spider-Man Theme.”

I don’t buy music every week, so when I go shopping I often pick up more than one album at a time. This is great and stupid, because while the one-stop shopping is an economic use of my time, I end up unfairly comparing two unrelated, dissimilar albums. If I’d purchased The Velvet Underground’s first album on its own without the accompanying purchase of Van Halen II, I have a higher opinion of it today. When I bought the pair — for whatever reason — I couldn’t get into the trippy stylings of the Velvets because I was head over kicked heels for VH II. Since then I have grown and adapted from my initial impression, realizing it was unfair: Not only is Velvet decidedly overrated and more than a little dated, but the run of the final three songs of VH II (”D.O.A.,” “Women in Love” and “Beautiful Girls”) are better than anything Lou Reed could pretend to care about writing. Velvet Underground can’t touch VH II’s ass-less chaps.

This comparison trend of mine was tested again when I received the dual gift of the Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible along with The Faces‘ A Nod Is As Good as a Wink… To a Blind Horse, and if I’d been placing bets, I would have put it all down on the boozy bar rock of Rod Stewart and Ron Wood. Chuck Berry covers, dirty riffs, sexism… Wink is like a Stones cover album and should have swept me off my feet. I promised myself I’d listen to both albums all the way through once before allowing myself the privilege (or the handicap) of repeated listens. Wink won the first listen of the pair (which was chosen at random — I try to do these things fair since I understand my own psychosis better anyone).

But then I moved on to Neon Bible, which started with “Black Mirror”, and I forgot all about rooster hair cuts.

“Black Mirror” — in fact much of Neon Bible — is a fantastic musical creation forged from the qualities I find annoying in bands I don’t usually enjoy. The overt sincerity of U2, the airy musicality of the Talking Heads, the sing-it-to-Saturn of Bruce Springsteen, the symphonic back-up of Coldplay. Maybe it’s a ratio thing: I can’t get past these annoying bits with these bands because their music seems to offer little else. If things were more evened out, maybe I could actually manage to get through Achtung Baby. But somehow when these qualities join together in this Arcade Fire configuration, it sounds like the kind of noise that could consume the world.

At the risk of outing myself as a hack, “Black Mirror” is a classic example of an album launcher. Some Track One’s start an album only to get out of the way, and others announce the album’s presence and tell everyone to get on board fast. “Black Mirror” possesses an unrelenting drive, feeling at once out of control — like a stagecoach headed by rocket elephants — yet fully aware of where it’s heading. It may be aiming for a cliff, but it knew that from the start. The Arcade Fire have a major Bowie thing happening with most of their work, and that would be a hindrance if they didn’t wear it so well. One review of “Black Mirror” compared it to a reworking of the “Suffragette City” riff, but that misses the point. The song may cosmetically sound a little like “Suffragette”, but the culmination of all those textures brings intensity, depth, darkness and hope along with them. If anything, it feels like “Heroes”. Bittersweet, heartsick and romantic.

On the rare occasion I don’t repeat “Black Mirror” and actually allow another song the daunting task of following up, I half expect to hear Radiohead’s “The National Anthem”. This would theoretically fit the mood, but where Kid A is an experiment in anti-music, “Black Mirror” is about music-music. It’s as pro-music as you can get. Kid A is clinical and shattered, Neon Bible is lush and voluptuous. Radiohead tends to write music to comment on music itself, but there’s no barrier separating you from the emotions and excitement of The Arcade Fire. Neon Bible gives a million of these kinds of emotional payoffs, but “Black Mirror” demonstrates them in the kind of way that tells you everything you’d ever want to know about the band, or hope to find.

Tension runs through the entire song, and it’s never released, only eased. The singing, instruments and song entirely build up to a cliff before “falling” into the chorus once again. Each verse is a remount back up that hill. The best example of this comes right in the middle. We build and build with the lyrics, and that familiar piano lick trickles in late enough to remind us it’s there and to keep us climbing. Then the lyric doesn’t lead directly into the chorus, but takes us to the “That curse is never broken” section, and it doesn’t get broken for many measures after. Win Butler suddenly breaks into a French version of the titular chorus, deftly giving the song a plateau but still no free-fall into the dark waters beneath. The backing vocals rise to the forefront after the full orchestra takes us through the chorus once again. “The kiss is never broken,” and neither is this rhythm. Butler talks to his mirror as everything seems to crescendo until we finally hit the water and gasp for air.

Individually as pieces, the music isn’t complicated at all. It’s a simple rhythm guitar lick, straight-forward drums, bass line, piano lick. That’s where the true power of the song originates: it’s not inventing new wheels to play with. It’s using all the wheels we already knew were available in a way we could only hope to achieve. The placement of these elements shows mastery. “Black Mirror” is one of those songs that is so good and so consuming and so powerful and so magnificent that you can’t imagine a single person in the free world who wouldn’t enjoy it. This is the curse of music loving — of course there’s someone out there who won’t like it, and even worse there are some who will simply dismiss it as, “Yeah… that’s alright.” I can understand not liking something completely, but when a song like this demands the kind of respect and attention it so obviously does, a mere dismissal like that would result in glove-to-face slaps in a more gentile era.

“Black Mirror” marks a year’s worth of Greatest Song at This Moment articles, and I’m thrilled beyond words that I can continue to enjoy this song without having to uphold my self-imposed moratorium on each artist I consume. If anyone wonders about the thesis of this project (i.e. “Trying to answer WHY these songs are so great at these moments”), I have no better answer concerning “Black Mirror” than I would for Van Halen II. The answer is: They’re the best.

Watch the “Black Mirror” video.

Well, to be fair, the “more” refers to The Orb and Etienne de Crecy, who along with Devendra Banhart, Chemical Brothers and the Murder City Devils have been added to the official line-up at the Coachella festival.

According to the L.A. Weekly [via The Daily Swarm], Coachella has a new web ‘zine called Coachella Digital, which yesterday confirmed what we told you about Amy Winehouse, and also announced the addition of five new acts to the roster. As the Weekly points out, none of them are U2, Pavement or The Smiths, but it’s still a nice little surprise.

The addition of Devendra Banhart, The Orb, Chemical Bros., Murder City Devils and Etienne de Crecy brings the total of acts scheduled to appear up to 125 — still two shy of last year’s bill.

Despite what critics are saying about U2’s new album No Line On The Horizon, we’re sure they won’t have any trouble selling out the stadiums they plan to visit on their upcoming world tour to support the new LP.

While all of the European dates have been announced — with most of the tickets available for pre-sale starting this Friday, March 13 — only four U.S. dates have been announced thus far. U2 will kick off their U.S. leg on September 12 at Chicago’s Soldier Field with dates in Toronto, Boston and New York to follow. The tour — dubbed the 360° Tour — plans on also making stops in Atlanta, GA; Charlottesville, VA; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles, CA; Norman, OK; Phoenix, AZ; Tampa, FL; Washington, DC and Vancouver, BC. Those dates are being promised to come “soon.”

As for the price, well in a Billboard report, U2’s manager Paul McGuinness was quoted as saying: “U2 has always been at their best when surrounded by their audience, this staging takes a giant leap forward. With 85% of the tickets priced at less than €95 [$119.40], general admission floor tickets priced at €55 [$69.12] and at least 10,000 tickets at every venue priced at around €30 [$37.70], we have worked very hard to ensure that U2 fans can purchase a great priced ticket with a guaranteed great view.”

U2 tour dates
06.30.09 – Barcelona, ES (Camp Nou)
07.07.09 – Milan, IT (San Siro)
07.11.09 – Paris, FR (Stade De France)
07.15.09 – Nice, FR (Parc des Sports Charles Ehrmann)
07.18.09 – Berlin, DE (Olympic Stadium)
07.20.09 – Amsterdam, NL (Arena)
07.24.09 – Dublin, IE (Croke Park)
07.31.09 – Gothernburg, SE (Ullevi Stadium)
08.06.09 – Chorzow, PL (Slaski Stadium)
08.10.09 – Zagreb, HR (Stadium Makimir)
08.14.09 – London, GB (Wembley Stadium)
08.18.09 – Glasgow, GB (Hampden Park Glasgow)
08.20.09 – Sheffield, GB (Don Valley Stadium)
08.22.09 – Cardiff Wales, GB (Millenium Stadium)
09.12.09 – Chicago, IL (Soldier Field)
09.16.09 – Toronto, ON (Rogers Centre)
09.20.09 – Boston, MA (Gilette Stadium)
09.24.09 – New York, NY (Giants Stadium)

It’s a bit like running through razor blades then diving into a swimming pool full of rubbing alcohol when a band takes on groups like The Cure, Bloc Party, Jane’s Addiction, New Order and Franz Ferdinand: the chances of catastrophe and painful death are magnified by 47 million.

Many acts have tried to ape their heroes and have failed miserably (see Bauhaus doppelgangers She Wants Revenge). The Killers have attempted to mug U2, Springsteen and Joy Division for their sound and the results have, for the most part, been more lukewarm than killer. The one-time touted second coming of rock, The Strokes, attempted to borrow from the Television and Lou Reed songbooks and quicker than you can say “Marquee Moon” the band went the way of the dodo bird.

But sometimes, when the clouds part, the seas grow calm and beasts large and small live together in harmony, a band that covets their influences and shapes said influences into something all their own comes along. That band in this case is Kansas City, Missouri’s, Queens Club.

QC first began gathering attention through their expansive live shows and a strong push from Kansas City alternative rock radio station 96.5 The Buzz, specifically the Sunday evening local music showcase Homegrown Buzz. Early last year the newly formed band (Tyler Bottles – bass, Jake Ryan – drums/ programming, Daniel Eaton – vocals/guitars and Andrew Nichols – guitars/vocals/programming) became a local sensation with their debut single “Nightmarer” and word of mouth was so strong that late last year they did a showcase for the record label Tooth and Nail.

Though no deal is set as of yet, Tyler Bottles told me that they are optimistic. “We’re really hoping to get signed, every band that makes music wants to have their music heard. But if we don’t, we’ll release it ourselves and see what happens.”

The album, so far untitled, is a perfect storm of Euro dance rock, indie sophistication and a sprinkling of punk rock’s filth and fury snottiness (see the pummeling track “I’m American”); all aspects of the Queens Club dynamic fit together smoothly like cogs in a well oiled machine. It’s almost frightening to me that a band that’s only been together a little over a year can kick out a debut this tight, well written and infectious. Yes, the clouds have parted, dogs are living peacefully with their feline friends and the rock Gods have smiled on this Midwestern band. Take my advice: When they come to your town, go and see them in the club because soon enough, they’ll be selling out stadiums.

Listen to Queen’s Club here.

You and I have absolutely nothing in common with the members of U2. The Irish quartet has sat at the zenith of fame for twenty straight years. They sell out stadiums at every end of the world, own hotels and restaurants, talk with the U.N., and live a life unimaginable to most (though it should be said that 95% of U2’s fame is really Bono’s fame). Bono’s international prestige and abundance of global experiences have insulated him from real world experiences. It’s not that Bono doesn’t understand the proletariat anymore — after all, U2’s ostensible raison d’être is humanism — it’s that Bono’s wealth of experience has resulted in a righteous and celestial persona that has produced the worst music of his career. Indeed, there have been several bloody Sunday’s to sing about, but Bono’s now the one ineffectively mediating the crisis at the U.N., not the one protesting at the front line. This is why Bono’s motives are viewed with suspicion, why his idealism in regards to African aid is considered naïve, and why he is a constant parody of the “celebrity meets activist” paradigm.

“I don’t want to talk about wars between nations,” he announces on the bloated masturbation that is the album’s lead single, “Get On Your Boots”. The line is as ridiculous as it is vacuous. It’s incredibly curious how “Boots” even made it onto No Line on the Horizon, let alone became the album’s launch pad. Fortunately, the quasi-rock anthem is sonically independent from the rest of the album. Unfortunately, it’s still one of the album’s better songs. No Line is boasted as a return to the “classic” U2 sound (an absurd claim considering their diverse range of albums) but most of it sounds like b-sides from 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind. However, where “Beautiful Day” had its soaring hooks, No Line is guilty of the worst kind of musical complacency. It is painfully innocuous: an album for the Grammys, Billboard, Grey’s Anatomy, etc. It takes not a single risk. Musically, the rich textures of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois mire most tracks and The Edge’s signature guitar lines have never been so mild. On “Magnificent”, an opening guitar grinds and synth layers anticipate something magnanimous until the song devolves into a soft-rock bore. Bono then mutters a lyric that would better suit the Jonas Brothers: “Only love can leave such a mark/ but only love can heal such a scar.” The barometer for maudlin bullshit goes off the charts as he bellows “It’s not if I believe in love/ if it’s love believes in me” on the next track. In comes the worst-titled U2 track ever, “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight”, featuring Bono’s worst lyrics and one of the least evocative MOR, adult-contemporary Brian Eno-infused melodies I’ve ever heard. After five tracks, No Line makes Viva La Vida sound more intense than Fucked Up.

The musical inoffensiveness is complimented by Bono’s incessant empty moralizing. “Cedars of Lebanon” channels the surface emotions of a journalist in the Middle East “squeezing complicated lives into a simple headline.” On “Breathe”, it’s a rallying call to promote “a love you can’t defeat.” The somber “White As Snow” ponders “who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not?” Indeed, self-righteousness is much easier to maintain through rhetoric than through blunt talk. It’s easier to bitch about indifferent Western nations and Third World debt than it is to call-out the world leaders that perpetuate it.

U2 haven’t released a great album since Achtung Baby. But where Pop may have been considered a critical flop, it was admirably ostentatious and risky. Similarly, three subsequent tours (ZooTV, Pop Mart, Elevation) challenged the standard dimensions of an arena or stadium rock show. Undoubtedly, U2 pioneered new methods in tour and deservingly ascended themselves to God-like status in the music world. However, No Line sits idly by, content to borrow from safe terrain, uninterested in exploring anything new (perhaps it’s just old age?). Though not unbearable, No Line is simply anodyne new music — the least appealing of U2’s venerable career.

With U2’s residency on Letterman kicking off last night and the announcement today that King of Pop and Rhinoplasty Michael Jackson will do a residency at London’s O2 Arena later this year, we’re starting to wonder: are we in 1989?

The initial dates of the summer residency will be announced Thursday, with further dates expected to be added following the first announcement depending on fan response. As NME reported, Jackson “may” appear at a press conference at the O2 to make the official announcement, and “the shows are expected to be the only dates he will play this year.” It all sounds very tentative and fragile, much like the state of various parts of poor Michael’s face.

As for that fan response, we’re interested to see how many dates MJ can manage to sell out at the 20,000-seat arena, especially considering that it’s been more than a decade since he was filling stadiums — his last tour was in 1996. But it’s been our experience that when Michael’s in the news, it’s always (at the very least) entertaining.

It looks like Bruce Springsteen is making his way through the festival circuit this spring and summer. It was rumored just last week that Mr. America himself might possibly be headlining Bonnaroo Festival, but now Bruce will be making his way over to the U.K. for the Glastonbury Festival, where he will be the Saturday night headliner as well.

While we’re a little curious as to how “Born In the U.S.A.” will pan out over on the other side of the pond, the sold out music festival — which will take place on June 26-28 — and the its organizers are very excited to have Springsteen grace their stage. “I’m so pleased that Bruce Springsteen has agreed to come to Worthy Farm for the first time,” said festival chief Michael Eavis. “He’s one of the all-time rock legends and I’m confident that this will be one of our best shows ever.”

Just last week, Emily Eavis, who helps run the festival, dismissed rumors that The Rolling Stones and U2 would be headlining the festival, but said “I’m knocked out that we’ve managed to get Bruce to play. It’s the icing on the cake of this year’s bill, which I’m sure will take everyone’s breath away when we announce the full details.”

So far, only a hand full of acts along with Bruce have been confirmed for the festival, including Bon Iver, Lilly Allen, and Franz Ferdinand. Among other artists rumored to play are Neil Young,Blur, Coldplay, and Oasis.

He already managed to shock us with his scantily clad new album shots, which still have us pondering just how he and his band mates managed to keep their ‘records in tact.’ Now Morrissey has released some more shocking news; revealing his possible plans to retire in five years.

The singer, who is turning 50 this year, told Ian Camfield of XFM that the chances of him continuing his career beyond the age of 55 is incredibly slim. His logic behind such thoughts are simple. Morrissey believes that the older a musician gets, the less relevant they remain. Hear that U2?

“It’s very interesting that it’s very hard to think of anybody who ages and still manages to mean anything,” the singer said.

For a man who’s physique is fitter than most men at 30, talk of aging seems bizarre, since the former Smiths front man looks like he’s found the fountain of youth, rather than opting for a one way trip to the local retirement home.

“I assume most people lose it because they become satisfied and they achieve everything they ever set out to achieve,” he said. “More to the point, they become personally satisfied and that they’re quite happy and it doesn’t matter any more.”

Even if he does retire in five years, we can at least look to his new album, Years Of Refusal, for some lyrical pick-me-ups and classic Morrissey cynicism.

It should come as no surprise that the Hiroshi Sugimoto photo U2 chose for the cover of No Line On The Horizon was already used. Popular artists work is often appropriated for various reasons, just ask Shepard Fairey. But we’re guessing that Sugimoto “forgot” to tell U2 that his image of a gray sky meeting the horizon was already used for a record cover a mere two years ago.

As Unreality Music points out, this is totally a storm in a teacup, but we definitely think it deserves mentioning that U2 is artistically plagiarizing one Taylor Dupree.

A quick look at Dupree’s MySpace will point this fact out, along with the tid bit of info that Sugimoto is listed as his primary influence. The ambient minimalist (whose music is actually quite beautiful) made a post in his blog about the coincidence, noting that his album, specification.fifteen was recorded back in 2006 with Richard Chartier and uses the same Sugimoto photograph as U2 are using on their new album cover.

He goes on to point out that since the use of the image was sanctioned by Sugimoto, perhaps the Japanese photographer could have informed U2 that the image had been used before. Or maybe he did and they decided to press on. Regardless, he passively aggressively denounces the use and then announces his inevitable defeat in any sort of legal battle. But hey, at least he’s going to get some residual listens, right? And Bono, if you’re listening, being the humanitarian that you are, why not make something special out of this, like recording a track with Taylor? Remember, you heard it here first when it happens!

From Taylor Dupree: Perhaps Sugimoto himself, being aware of our cover, or U2’s designer could (maybe) have suggested a different photograph or perhaps a different layout direction. at least, that’s my opinion, coming as a graphic designer myself. I try not to design things that are too close to something else out there (if that’s possible).

This minor ordeal has become more a question of a project that was small, intimate and experimental (and the chance of a lifetime for a small artist) vs. the massive pop culture machine. In the end we all know who wins.

After much commercial success with Coldplay’s fourth studio album, Viva la Vida, it sounds like Brian Eno will be heading back into the studio to collaborate with the British foursome once more. Or is that sound a tweet?

Eno recently wrapped up work on U2’s new album, No Line On The Horizon, and will be joining Coldplay in the studio before they gallivant off to Tokyo in February for the start of their world tour.

Though Eno received some slack for his last go with Coldplay, fans and critics most likely won’t be crying this time around, after the news of Coldplay’s seven Grammy nominations and 4 BRIT nominations for their work with Eno on Viva.

In total, Coldplay has received four Grammys to date, including Record Of The Year in 2004 for Clocks. Perhaps the Eno-magic will help rocket U2 to such success with their new album as well.

Late last week U2 announced the new single “Get On Your Boots” would be made available to the world yesterday, January 19. And even though we weren’t working, it didn’t matter, because the first single from the forthcoming album No Line On The Horizon wasn’t available for you to stream until today anyway.

While yesterday might have come and gone to little fanfare due to many celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the timing was actually quite appropriate with all of this weekend’s festivities — of which U2 played a large part in. So officially, as of yesterday, you can now pre-order No Line On The Horizon from iTunes and receive the single “Get On Your Boots” for free. No Line On The Horizon will be out March 3, but you can listen to the single now without pre-ordering the record below.

U2 – “Get On Your Boots”

“Get On Your Boots”, the first single from U2’s new album No Line On The Horizon, will be released next Monday, January 19 with the album itself being released on March 3rd. The album will be released in a standard format with a 24-page booklet and in digipak format. The digipak includes an extended booklet and the album’s companion film “Linear” by Anton Corbijn. A limited edition 64-page magazine will also be available, featuring the band in conversation with artist Catherine Owens and Corbijn photographs.

No Line On The Horizon will also be released on 180gm vinyl and was produced by Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Steve Lillywhite. Sessions for No Line On The Horizon began in Fez, Morocco, and continued at the band’s Dublin studio, New York’s Platinum Sound Recording Studios, and Olympic Studios in London.

The cover artwork for the album is an image of the sea meeting the sky by Japanese artist and photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto.

No Line On The Horizon track listing
01. No Line On The Horizon
02. Magnificent
03. Moment of Surrender
04. Unknown Caller
05. I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
06. Get On Your Boots
07. Stand Up Comedy
08. Fez – Being Born
09. White As Snow
10. Breathe
11. Cedars Of Lebanon

Bono finally took some time off from his busy schedule of being the most charitable person alive, and look what happened — U2 are releasing their first studio album in five years, No Line on the Horizon, in March.

The band announced the release today, and the March 2 release will be the band’s 12th studio LP. Sessions for the album began last year in Morocco and continued in the band’s home studio back in Dublin before moving to New York and then wrapping up in London.

Production credits on the album include long-time collaborators Brian Eno and Danny Lanois, as well as Steve Lillywhite.

It’ll be interesting to see how our new and unimproved economy takes to No Line on the Horizon, since their 2004 release How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb sold 9 million copies in 2004.