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U2 has been creating albums for nearly 30 years now and while their creative peak may have been nearly two decades ago with 'Joshua Tree' and 'Achtung Baby', they still make great music for the most part. 'No Line on the Horizon' is their 11th studio album, 28 years on from 'Boy'.
Stylistically, this album falls somewhere between 'Joshua Tree' and 'Achtung Baby'. This shouldn't come as a surprise as U2 have turned back the clock, musically speaking, to their 80s style since 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' in 2000. 'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb' (from 2004) stuck almost ruthlessly to the template of straight up rock, no flirtations with electronica or anything resembling it. This was disappointing, since I'd always loved their music that mixed rock and electronica, even on the much despised 'Pop'. With this album, U2 have brought back Brian Eno as the producer, who produced 'Achtung Baby', my favourite U2 album in their catalogue.
The album kicks off with the title track and straight away you can hear Eno's influence. The electronic beats aren't as frenzied as on 'Pop', which should please most longtime U2 fans. Next up is 'Magnificent', which is one of the best tracks on the albums and a great example of how the band and Eno mixed their respective styles so successfully 18 years ago. There's plenty of good songs and songwriting till the very end of the album. With 'Unknown Caller', U2 finally write a song about cyber-culture, it only took them 10 years to get to it.
My favourite song comes very late in the album - 'White as Snow'. This is more a Bono song than a U2 song as he sings nostalgically about the lost 'land as white as snow' from his childhood and ends with a lament 'if only a heart could be as white as snow'. Beautifully written and rendered by the man himself.
8/10
