by Matt St. Amand

Created on: February 25, 2009

The creation of a U2 album - by descriptions that filter out from the band and journalist observers - is something akin to the cataclysmic, magma-spewing upheaval that forms mountains and sinks continents beneath the sea. Evidence of this could be heard first-hand when stolen "work tapes" of early Achtung Baby! sessions surfaced in the bootleg underground in the 1990s. Songs like "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?" and "Even Better Than the Real Thing", among other familiar hits, came into the world joined at the pelvis and spitting fire.

Fans have endured more than three years of rumors and anticipation awaiting the release of U2's 12th studio album, No Line on the Horizon. In the months leading up to this, there were descriptions from the band that the new album would be a challenging, experimental work that would pull fan expectations out by the roots, similar to the moody experimentation of Achtung Baby!

Based upon the first single from the album, "Get On Your Boots," fans alternately primed and braced themselves for the rest of No Line On The Horizon. Listened to in the context of the entire album, "Get On Your Boots," is a juicy anomaly. It turns out the album, though hardly predictable, dull or disappointing, is another fresh offering from a band that reinvents itself every time it jumps back into the bullseye of public consciousness.

The first track on the album, the title track, is U2 emanating from stereo speakers as though they'd never left. Bono doesn't go in for any of the over-finessing vocal work he sometimes takes on in new recordings released between U2 albums. Also coming to the fore is the Edge's guitar work. There's no question that this is a much more guitar-oriented U2 album. At times, the Edge's licks ring like a sword striking whetstone.

The second song, "Magnificent," has been described by some music journalists as being the "most U2" song on the album. It's upbeat and again showcases Bono striving for the outer reaches of his vocal range. This is even more true about "Moment of Surrender," which Bono described in an interview as the "One" of No Line on the Horizon. Apparently, during the recording of Achtung Baby! the band found itself at a crossroads and the dreaded words "musical differences" threatened to envelope them, and possibly force a split. But then the Edge came up with the music for "One," and Bono penned the lyrics and that song brought the band back on track. "Moment of Surrender" was apparently written and recorded within

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