Album
No Line on the Horizon
No Line on the Horizon is U2's twelfth studio album, released on 27 February 2009. It was their first record since How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in 2004, the longest wait between albums in their career up to that point. Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Steve Lillywhite produced it, and the material was first planned as two EPs before being gathered into a single record. Anton Corbijn shot a companion film, Linear, which came with several special editions.
The sessions began in Fez, Morocco, where the band recorded in a riad while aiming to write "future hymns". The surroundings nudged them towards a more experimental sound, though they later pulled back from some of that. Bono wrote from the viewpoint of different characters rather than in the first person. Reviews were generally favourable, and the album entered at number one in 30 countries. The U2 360° Tour that followed became the highest-grossing concert tour in history.
No Line on the Horizon: tracklist, credits and charts
11 tracks · 53:44Tracklist
- 1No Line on the HorizonEno, Lanois, U2, Bono4:12
- 2MagnificentEno, Lanois, U2, Bono, Edge5:24
- 3Moment of SurrenderEno, Lanois, U2, Bono7:24
- 4Unknown CallerEno, Lanois, U26:03
- 5I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy TonightU2 and Bono4:14
- 6Get On Your BootsU2 and Bono3:25
- 7Stand Up ComedyU2 and Bono3:50
- 8Fez – Being BornEno, Lanois, U2, Bono5:17
- 9White as Snow[traditional], Eno, Lanois, U24:41
- 10BreatheU2 and Bono5:00
- 11Cedars of LebanonEno, Lanois, U2, Bono4:13
- Produced by
- Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, Steve Lillywhite, will.i.am, Declan Gaffney
- Recorded at
- Riad El Yacout (Fez), Hanover Quay (Dublin), Platinum Sound (New York City), Olympic (London)
- Recorded
- May 2007 – December 2008
- Mixed by
- Cenzo Townshend, Declan Gaffney, Daniel Lanois, C.J. Eiriksson, Steve Lillywhite, Dave Emery, Brian Eno, Richard Rainey
- Engineered by
- Carl Glanville, Richard Rainey, Cenzo Townshend, Dave Emery, Declan Gaffney, C.J. Eiriksson, Florian Ammon, Tony Mangurian
- Labels
- Island, Mercury, Interscope
- Length
- 53:44
Line-up
- Bono · keyboard · guest
- Terry Lawless · keyboard
- will.i.am · keyboard · guest
- Caroline Dale · cello
- Richard Watkins · French horn · guest
- Cathy Thompson · violin · guest
- Sam O’Sullivan · percussion · guest
- Louis Watkins · soprano vocals · guest
Singles
- “Get On Your Boots” · 16 February 2009
- “Magnificent” · 4 May 2009
- “I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight” · 7 September 2009
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 2009 | 1 |
| US Billboard 200 · 2009 | 1 |
| "Get On Your Boots" · 2009 | 1 |
| Argentine Albums (CAPIF) · 2009 | 1 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2009 | 1 |
| Austrian Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2009 | 1 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2009 | 1 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 2009 | 1 |
| Croatian Albums (HDU) · 2009 | 1 |
All 61 charts
| Czech Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| Danish Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| Dutch Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| European Albums (Billboard) · 2009 | 1 |
| Finnish Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| French Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| German Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| Greek Albums (IFPI) · 2009 | 1 |
| Hungarian Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn) · 2009 | 1 |
| Ireland 2 · 2009 | 1 |
| Italian Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico) · 2009 | 1 |
| New Zealand Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| Norwegian Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| Polish Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| Portuguese Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| Scottish Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| Spanish Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| Swiss Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| US Alternative · 2009 | 1 |
| US Tastemaker · 2009 | 1 |
| US Top Rock Albums · 2009 | 1 |
| Swedish Albums · 2009 | 2 |
| Belgian Alternative Albums (Ultratop Flanders) · 2009 | 3 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) · 2009 | 4 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 2009 | 4 |
| US Alternative Albums (Billboard) · 2009 | 4 |
| "Magnificent" · 2009 | 5 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) · 2009 | 5 |
| Belgian Albums (Utratop Flanders) · 2009 | 5 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) · 2009 | 5 |
| Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan) · 2009 | 5 |
| Polish Albums (ZPAV) · 2009 | 5 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) · 2009 | 5 |
| US Tastemakers Albums (Billboard) · 2009 | 5 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) · 2009 | 5 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) · 2009 | 6 |
| "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" · 2009 | 7 |
| French Albums (SNEP) · 2009 | 7 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA) · 2009 | 7 |
| South African Albums (RISA) · 2009 | 7 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) · 2009 | 7 |
| Worldwide Albums (IFPI) · 2009 | 7 |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten) · 2009 | 9 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) · 2009 | 10 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) · 2009 | 11 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) · 2009 | 12 |
| Swedish Albums & Compilations (Sverigetopplistan) · 2009 | 13 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) · 2009 | 15 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) · 2009 | 27 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Argentina | Gold |
| Australia · 2009 | Platinum |
| Austria · 2024 | Platinum |
| Belgium · 2009 | Platinum |
| Brazil · 2009 | Platinum |
| Canada | 2× Platinum |
| Denmark · 2012 | 2× Platinum |
| Finland | Gold |
| GCC · 2010 | Gold |
| Germany | Platinum |
| Greece | Platinum |
| Hungary · 2009 | Platinum |
| Ireland · 2009 | 4× Platinum |
| Italy · 2009 | 3× Platinum |
| Japan · 2009 | Gold |
| Mexico | Gold |
| Netherlands · 2009 | 2× Platinum |
| New Zealand | Platinum |
| Portugal · 2009 | Platinum |
| Romania (UFPR) | Platinum |
| Russia · 2009 | Platinum |
| Spain · 2009 | Platinum |
| Sweden · 2009 | Platinum |
| Switzerland | Platinum |
| United Kingdom | Platinum |
| United States | Platinum |
| Europe · 2009 | Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
81.5
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
2.7k
ListenBrainz listeners
70k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
67k
Deezer fans (all editions)
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1979
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1981
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1983
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1983
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1984
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1987
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U2.COMmunication
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U2 · 1983
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U2 · 2000
The Unforgettable Fire
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U2 · 2004
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + wikidata; also seen: 2009-02-25 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 25 February 2009 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 27 February 2009 | |
| Wikidata | 27 February 2009 | |
| US release | 3 March 2009 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 27 February 2009 | earliest UK or European date |
29 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XE | Island | 602517960374 | other |
| 2009 | CA | Island | 00602517960374 | other |
| 2009 | US | Interscope Records | 602517960282 | other |
| 2009 | ZA | Island | 6009143355736 | other |
| 2009 | PL | Universal | 602517976078 | other |
| 2009 | — | Island | 00602517984240 | other |
| 2009 | CA | Island | 00602527013084 | deluxe |
| 25 February 2009 | JP | Island | 4988005535016 | original |
| 25 February 2009 | AU | Island | 602517960350 | original |
| 27 February 2009 | XE | Island | 602517960282 | other |
| 27 February 2009 | XE | Island | 602517960374 | other |
| 27 February 2009 | XE | — | 602517960978 | other |
| 27 February 2009 | DE | Interscope Records | 602517960374 | other |
| 2 March 2009 | XE | Mercury Records | 602517960978 | deluxe |
| 3 March 2009 | CA | Interscope Records | 602517960374 | other |
| 3 March 2009 | GB | — | other | |
| 3 March 2009 | US | Interscope Records | 602517960978 | deluxe |
| 3 March 2009 | US | — | other | |
| 3 March 2009 | US | — | 602517960381 | other |
| 3 March 2009 | US | Interscope Records | 602517960282 | other |
| 2014 | — | Island | 00602547073969 | deluxe |
| 27 April 2015 | JP | Island | 00602547337733 | deluxe |
| 27 December 2015 | ES | Island | other | |
| 26 May 2016 | — | Island | 00602517983724 | other |
| 26 May 2017 | — | UMC | 00602557671728 | other |
| 26 May 2017 | JP | UMC | 00602557671735 | other |
| 20 September 2017 | JP | Island | 4988031237373 | other |
| 22 February 2019 | XE | Island | 602577338397 | deluxe |
| 22 February 2019 | XE | Island | 602557970852 | other |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 904×933 | rejected |