Legendary Irish rockers Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jnr are back with their 12th studio album, their first in five years. Here are 10 facts about their latest offering, No Line on the Horizon:
1. U2 started working on it in 2006 with producer Rick Rubin, who has worked with Justin Timberlake and Red Hot Chili Peppers among others. But they butted heads and none of those early songs made the final cut.
2. They then turned to producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois and together they penned more than 60 songs, 11 of which are on the album.
3. So many songs were left over they will release a companion album, Songs of Ascent, later this year.
4. Many of the songs were recorded in Fez, Morocco, over two weeks. They rented the courtyard of a hotel, turning it into a recording studio.
5. Recording outdoors had its downside. “Birds flying in used to come and s**t on Larry Mullen’s drum kit,” Bono says. “He wasn’t happy with that.”
6. The album is dedicated to Rob Partridge who secured the band’s first record deal 30 years ago. He died of cancer in 2008.
7. Record label Universal Music was so nervous about the album leaking before its release date that instead of sending out review copies they opted to host pre-release listening sessions.
8. Their efforts were all for naught though. Universal Music Australia’s online music store accidentally released the album two weeks before it was scheduled to debut. Oops!
9. Some tracks changed names along the way. French Disco, Chromium Chords and For Your Love became Magnificent, Fez - Being Born and Stand Up respectively.
10. The album cover - a black-and-white photo of an ocean horizon - was shot by famed Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto.
