Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK

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The Herald Sun FEBRUARY 12, 2009 - by Cameron Adams

U2 TAKES A FEW RISKS

When you're the biggest band in the world, you're entitled to take a few risks. U2's new album No Line On The Horizon.

No Line On The Horizon is U2's experimental album. The songs are long, moody and not exactly radio-friendly.

Which means it's precisely the kind of album U2 needed after 2004's water-treading but stadium-filling How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

Hearing the album in full, the divisive Get On Your Boots was an ideal first single - the kind of song that wouldn't last ten seconds on commercial radio stations if it weren't the new U2 song.

Despite the musical diversions, The Edge's trademark guitar work injects the U2 DNA throughout.

The fantastic title track has a wall of distorted guitar that recalls a previous envelope-pushing moment, The Fly.

There's a brief flashback to the feel of The Unforgettable Fire on Fez - Being Born and Magnificent sounds like a single (once it has had a radio edit) with that signature Where The Streets Have No Name chugging guitar and drum momentum.

Producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois leave their fingerprints all over the atmospheric Moment Of Surrender - cathedral organs and a heavy bass groove spoiled only by Bono mentioning an ATM.

In an age of short attention spans, U2 have put together an old-fashioned album, not just a bunch of singles.

This album is likely to lose the casual U2 fan, but will reconnect with the faithful.