U2 - No Line on the Horizon...thoughts

[Ernest Rister]

At first listen, this is U2 operating in Zooropa, Pop and October territory -- this is another spiritual album, with experimentation taking precedent over easy hooks and melodies. It's a complicated album, one that will take multiple passes to come to terms with - as a first, you'll hear faint reminders of one song in other songs, almost as if the album was one of those affected rock operas from the 70's.

This isn't a commercial album. At all. I haven't heard one top 10 song in the bunch...nothing here is going to be playing underneath an NFL highlight reel, or used for a cell phone commercial...however I expect all of it to underscore and fuel the nights of many a college student as they experiment with myriad ways to get high.

If there's any disappointment, its that even Zooropa had the earthquaking ballad "Faraway So Close", Pop had "The Playboy Mansion", and October had "Gloria", "I Threw A Brick", and the title track. There's really no breakout track on No Line on the Horizon. This is a non-commercial experiment with no safety net. I'm not sure it will be revisited with the same joy as previous efforts.