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only a few hours, and the basic skeleton of it on the album came from one of the first takes. The subdued lead-in betrays no hint of the boisterous vocal performance that soon blasts onto the scene.

Not only is this a more guitar-centric U2 album, but the intros to the songs are more developed. Gone are the over-produced quirks and studio tricks that marked the openings of previous hits like "Until the End of the World" and "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?"

Not everything on the new album rocks the house. Although much of the track "Unknown Caller" is moody, trancy and inviting, it's scarred by a strange, chanting chorus, which sounds like it was written for a Gatorade or New Balance commercial. A sort of macho, grunting, demanding chorus that is strangely and sort of painfully at odds with the rest of the song.

One wonderful affirmation on the album is the horribly titled "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight." Despite its clunky title, it's classic, radio-friendly U2. The chorus is irresistible, and once again the Edge's guitar work is outstanding. As is his frontal assault on the song "Stand Up Comedy." The title may lead some to believe that this a song will be something like R.E.M.'s "Man on the Moon" or "Stand," but the song bursts forth like a lost, unreleased Jimi Hendrix riff.

The only truly experimental track is the undoubtedly Brian Eno-inspired "Fez - Being Born", which runs more than eight minutes in length. Edge's guitar keeps the listener grounded, while Bono's raise-the-roof-beam vocals will have whole stadiums of fans roaring along with him.

As with all U2 albums, the final song is slow, atmospheric, sounding almost like a latter-day Doors tune; something from the B-side of Morrison Hotel or even L.A. Woman. The song is sung from the perspective of a journalist who is trying to "squeeze complicated lives into a single headline." Some may feel it's an anticlimactic end to an album that leaped from the stereo speakers with such brazen fist-pumping rock, but the lyrics alone in this last song carry the artistic load as Edge finger-picks his part, and Larry and Adam provide a fog-like backdrop.

No Line on the Horizon is truly a musical journey. Recorded in Fez, Morocco, Dublin, New York and London, U2 and its production crew bring a sophisticated rock album to life that has the rawness of far-off marketplaces, nightclubs where no English is spoken, and the post-Bush optimism of the west.

Learn more about this author, Matt St. Amand.
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