For the record

Author: Alex Blair

U2, once again, is the biggest band in the world. In the first week of March, the boys from Ireland were featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, performed a five-day gig on Letterman and released their latest album, "No Line On The Horizon." The LP reached number one both in the U.K. and the U.S., suggesting that U2's popularity hasn't waned a bit since their last album dropped in 2004. Unfortunately, while they maintain their dominance of the mainstream music scene around the world, their music has suffered some. Media outlets and music publications claim that "No Line On The Horizon" is the band's best album since 1991's "Achtung Baby," but I'd say it's not nearly as good as their underrated '04 release, "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb."

While recording the album, the band stated that "No Line" would be a more experimental record than their previous rock-oriented works. With superstar producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois on the helm again (they produced "Achtung Baby" and U2's masterpiece and the best album of the 1980s, "The Joshua Tree"), the prospect of another great U2 album seemed promising. There are some signs of the sonic textures of Eno and Lanois on this record, but they are buried in the background, allowing the Edge's ringing guitar and Adam Clayton's rolling bass to take center stage. This album sounds very familiar, however. It sounds just like every other U2 release this decade. Sometimes that can be a good thing. After all, their trademark sound is partly responsible for making them so hugely successful, but mostly, this time around, it comes off trite and dull.

The record begins on a positive note with the energized title track. Once again, Bono proves that he is the master of wailing "oh-oh-ohs" at the top of his lungs (take that, Chris Martin!) as he bellows them all over this song. "No Line On The Horizon" has a thumping bass, chiming guitars and a catchy chorus; it's quintessential U2, and, for the most part, it works. The next song, "Magnificent," somehow sounds even more like a U2 song than "No Line On The Horizon" does. With similar musicality to the previous track and a chorus like "Only love, only love can leave such a mark/But only love, only love can heal such a scar," its catchiness is the only thing that saves it from being completely dismissible.

The album's greatest achievement is "White As Snow." This song is a soft, meditative ballad about a dying soldier in Afghanistan. It is the cleanest break from the traditional U2 sound, incorporating gentle keyboards, a lightly plucked acoustic guitar and beautiful harmonies. "White As Snow" represents the emotional core of the album, and it shows that the lads still have what it takes to write an affecting song. If only they had written more tracks like this, the album might have had a chance.

If you purchase the album off iTunes, you'll receive the song "No Line On The Horizon (2)" as a bonus track. This version is basically the same as the original, but with a little more guitar distortion and less Eno/Lanois production tricks. Still, this song is very good, which, when you think about it, is probably a bad thing. What does it say about an album when two of its highlights are the same song? Sameness is everywhere on "No Line On The Horizon." Hopefully for their next release, U2 will be a little more adventurous and experimental. If not, their reign as kings of the music world might be nearing its end.