release date: Mar. 9, 2009
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,36]
producer: Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois, Steve Lillywhite
label: Island Records - nationality: Ireland
Track highlights: 1. "No Line on the Horizon" - 5. "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" (4 / 5) - 9. "White as Snow"
12th studio album by U2 follows 4½ years after How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Nov. 2004). The album is released on Island and this time they bring together a collaboration work by their best known producers: Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Steve Lillywhite.
The album was met by luke-warm reviews, but for the first time in a long period, I actually think they manage quite Okay in creating what comes out as a true cohesive work, as opposed to putting a few single hits together with half-finished and / or lesser works of art. Another thing that strikes me is that the album doesn't contain the usual two to three hit singles - there's only one! - but then the lows are considerably stronger making it a generally better album compared to their last four albums. Since Achtung Baby (1991) the band could easily have cut down on the album flow and released eps or singles only, but for once they prove that they still know how to make music.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Blender, Rolling Stone, 👎Q Magazine 5 / 5 stars ]
