Album: No Line on the Horizon
Artist: U2
Label: Island
Sounds like: Coldplay, Snow Patrol

The title track of the new U2 album suggests right away that there has been a shift of sound from the last album, sounding as it does like an escapee from the Achtung Baby sessions (except for Bono’s vocal, which has an Unforgettable Fire-like passionate urgency, rather than an Achtung Baby-like smirk). “Fez—Being born,” with The Edge’s simultaneously fireballing and icy guitars, and the stream-ofconsciousness “Breathe” likewise eschew commercial predictability.

But No Line on the Horizon is a schizophrenic album. Mixed with this more experimental, thoughtful tone is more typical U2 fare, plus the garage rock of first single “Get on your boots,” which is all surface and swagger, like “Discotheque” on Pop. The result is a mixed bag.

If “Boots” is the “Vertigo” of the album, “Magnificent” is the “Walk on” or “Miracle drug” of the album. Or perhaps, considering its grand sound, the “Beautiful day” of the album. Indeed, as with that song, only U2 could give a rock song a title like this without being ironic.

The phrasing of “Magnificent” rings with biblical allusions, from “only love can leave such a mark” to “my first cry—it was a joyful noise” to the way the title references the psalms and the “Magnificat.” While it should sound monstrous live, you could be forgiven for suggesting that The Edge is now almost a parody of himself, with these sparkling, echoing guitar notes.

Another problem with the album is that while Bono can certainly spin a phrase, sometimes this becomes too self-conscious. Lyrics like “I’m at the top of the bottom” and “You can hear the universe in her seashells” (from the title track) see him trying too hard to be witty.

Otherwise, like Pop, the innovative sparks are there but they just don’t ignite in the same way as the best of U2’s previous material.

Nick's Rating: 3/5