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U2 To Debut Its New Single In The Name Of Love

U2’s “Get On Your Boots,” a song title that has received some grammatical criticism from certain quarters of my buddy list, debuts this coming Monday at 3 a.m. ET on the Irish radio station 2FM. Do you think Bono is really really excited that the new U2 song is premiering on Martin Luther King Day? I know, I know, it’s debuting on Irish radio and MLK Day is a US holiday, but it has to be sorta deliberate, right?


For some reason the single won’t be released digitally until Feb. 15, which, well, sigh. Anyway, here is the cover for No Line On The Horizon, which comes out March 3 and which is based around a photo by Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto:

U2 Reveals New Album Track List [Billboard]
U2 – Pride (In The Name Of Love) [Dailymotion]

 
By Maura at 9:45 AM on Fri Jan 16 2009
Posted to: ,
  • Audif Jackson Winters III

    "here is the cover for No Line On The Horizon"


    None more gray?

  • dyfl

    @Audif Jackson Winters III: Well, you know, the music business has hit hard times, and color is expensive.


    Also, I love how in the original photograph, there is in fact no line on the horizon. And their Photoshop wizards added one. I think there's a statement being made about the subtlety of U2's music here.

  • brasstax

    @dyfl: "I think there's a statement being made about the subtlety of U2's music here." LOL


    If it's at least on par with Atomic Bomb, I'll be pleased. I'm never gonna turn my back on them at this point.

  • Moff

    It seems really, really, really bizarre that they'd wait until almost a month after its radio debut to release the single for purchase. I mean, how many people would pony up 99 cents in a heartbeat on January 19? And how many fewer will care by February 15, when they've heard the song a hundred times and have an MP3 ripped from the radio anyway?


    @dyfl: That's just what I was thinking. The original was prettier, too.

  • Anonymous

    Wow. I'm a huge U2 fan, but that's one of the worst album covers I've ever seen.


    "Hey, let's take a not-too-bad photograph and stick a giant equals sign on top of it!" *


    At least they had the smarts to keep their name off it, so casual shoppers won't know who to blame when they see it on a shelf...


    *(Speaking of which...what the hell am I supposed to make of an equals sign that's just sitting there all alone? Nothing equals nothing? Ooo! I know! It's a sly reference to that classic Who lyric "Meet the new boss / Same as the old boss" ... so I guess Bono's not as jazzed about Obama as it seems?)

  • Maura Johnston

    @perfectomix: if you turn it 90 degrees, it becomes a pause button?

  • SAShepherd

    @Maura Johnston: Ha!


    Makes you wonder how many will be turned upside down on the few shelves left?


    I'm with perfectomix -- I'm a big U2 fan, but that cover (the equal sign specifically) is just ugly.

  • Anonymous

    @Maura Johnston: OK, so I guess Bono IS excited about Obama's rise to power, cuz if you turn it 90 degrees counterclockwise, we get a color shift from the pale (Bush=old white dude) to a more multicultural hue, and the pause button means we should stop to savor this wonderful moment. Hmm. They're clearly getting all playful and postmodern again. :|


    BTW, I'm sure the lack of color will be rectified in 2010's Super-Deluxe-Collector's-Edition-That's-Cooler-Than-The-First-Five-Frickin'-Versions-Of-This-Damn-Thing, which will include a Lite Brite compatible cover. (First 500 copies to be bundled with a fly-shades-equipped Mr. Potato Head)

  • Ned Raggett

    Perhaps the noncolor scheme is to make it easier on our eyes, as he didn't want to BUG us.

  • Chris Molanphy

    I think I'll write a song about the new U2 single being debuted to the world early in the morning on MLK Day.


    But, just because it'll make the meter sound better, I'll write, "Late afternoon, Jan Nineteen/Song rings out in a Dublin sky-y."

  • Maura Johnston
  • Moff

    @perfectomix, Maura Johnston & SAShepherd: Wait, do you guys really think the gray bars will be on the finished product? Isn't that just where the band's name and the title will go, and they probably haven't decided on the font yet or something?


    (Sorry if I'm responding sincerely to snarkiness I missed. Talking about U2 just makes me feel so earnest.)

  • Chris Molanphy

    @Moff: I figured the equals sign was them jumping on the Chris Martin "Make Trade Fair" bandwagon. I fully expect it to be on the finished cover.

  • Cam/ron

    It looks like the yellow "Social Equality" symbol that I often see on bumper stickers. It's a decent piece of minimalist design.

  • Anonymous

    @Moff: Oh God, I hope you're right.

  • Moff

    @perfectomix: Yeah, I don't know now. It's definitely all over U2.com with the gray bars. Weird. Weird, weird, weird.


    I guess I'll get used to it, and then start to like it, and eventually find myself vehemently defending it, as is the case with all things U2-related.

  • Plague

    The bars will be on a sticker on the shrinkwrap.

    NOT on the art itself.


    As for why the song isn't going to be available for a while, it's iTunes and the instant grat/pre-sale BS...

  • Anonymous

    Add me as another big U2 fan who's less than impressed. I'm sure the actual music will be great, though.

  • baconfat

    @dyfl: The photograph used for the cover is not the one on the guy's landing page. You want to look here.

  • Anonymous

    @Plague: Buy two; it's not a collector's item once you break the seal.

  • Moff

    Snippets of "Get on Your Boots," if anyone's interested!


    [www.scribblescribblescribble.com]

  • Anonymous

    Cover art looks great. Nice minimalism used here.

  • Elmo Keep

    Is that the album tracklisting or a McSweeney's list?

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