No Line on the Horizon is the first U2 record in four years. After feeling rushed to complete Pop over 10 years ago, U2 takes its time with each subsequent release. For this new album, the band first enlisted Rick Rubin to produce. U2 shelved the work they did with Rubin and started back at square one with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. Rubin's go back to the essentials approach probably did not match U2's aspirations, considering the last two records were back to basics affairs.

This time around Eno and Lanois worked with the band from the very beginning, each produced even earning songwriting credits on several tracks. The result is a U2 album that stretches far and wide to include arena ready anthems, the quieter, ambient songs and everything in between.

No Line on the Horizon begins with its smoldering title track. Bono's voice and The Edge's guitar both have a rawness that pushes the song a little farther. Pushes it somewhere else. The kind of song that will come alive in concert, much like the rest of the album.

"Magnificent" is a finely crafted pop single. A paint-by-numbers U2 single. That is not to detract from the song, but U2 could write a song like this while asleep. If any one song is a safety valve for the album, it is "Magnificent."

With the last two records, U2 has taken a couple tracks in a soulful direction. It brings something out in Bono's voice. That same yearning that colors all of his best performances. Both "Moment of Surrender" (incredible song) - and "Unknown Caller"(not as incredible) are perfect examples. The vocal performance is strong enough to outweigh even the bad lyrics. The chanting in the latter song is a moving effect, despite including some of the worst lyrics on the album.

Restart and reboot yourself
You're free to go
Oh, ohhh
Shout for joy if you get the chance
Password, you, enter here, right now

Bono has always worked hard to balance the emotional with the technological. It rarely works. "Unknown Caller" also includes one of the few Edge guitar solo moments. With No Line on the Horizon his taste and subtlety is aggravating. Since Pop, the band has promised a rock guitar album. They have not delivered, and in fact keep moving farther away from that premise. The fuzz box "Get on Your Boots" and the semi-funk of "Stand Up Comedy" is not enough.

The album takes a distinctive ambient turn in the latter tracks, except for the bombastic "Breathe." Bono's spoken words on "Breathe" and "Cedars of Lebanon" are some of his best lyrics. A little swagger saves those performances from drowning in ego.

With a new U2 album, there is of course what the band has to say about it, what the critics have to say and then my personal hopes and expectations. The first single is often a song that is an oddity on the album, telling you nothing about the whole record. The first few listens are often awkward, but you keep coming back. It is not what you expected or maybe even wanted, but you still come back to it. Bono says something stupid, and you keep coming back. Cannot explain it. Before long, it bores itself into your life and personal emotions. Unless of course you are not a U2 fan. Then it is just another weird record that does not sound like anything else on the radio.