No Line on the Horizon (Island)

U2’s third disc of the decade finds the Dublin quartet still in the revisionist mood it settled into at the turn of the century. But while 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind flirted with the group’s arena anthems of the ’80s, No Line on the Horizon dives headfirst into the rhythms of its early-’90s period. The Edge’s trademark echo-laden guitar eases the disc into its laid-back opening title cut, laying the groundwork for the mostly mellow album, while Bono waxes poetic about a girl’s greatness. “You can hear the universe in her sea shells,” he muses before the song’s siren sticks her tongue in his ear. As if it were a lost broadcast from Zoo Station, producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois flood the highlight cut “Magnificent” with ethereal sonics before pairing Adam Clayton’s bulging bass line with a retro ’90s dance beat.

Unfortunately, not all of the album’s tracks are as sublime. Some have called “Get on Your Boots” the worst U2 single of all time, which is a little unfair. True, the energetic riffs and Bono’s rushed delivery, a lame-duck update of Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues”, make the song one hell of a ní¼-rock nightmare, but the act’s done much worse. (“Discothí¨que”, anyone?)

Ultimately, No Line on the Horizon succeeds when the band’s feeling blue. “Unknown Caller” thrives on a heart-wrenching chorus of fractured gang chants, while the military drum rolls of “Cedars of Lebanon” find the band at its most fragile. Though it’s a mixed bag, for sure, No Line on the Horizon proves that the melodramatic Dubliners still have a few hits left in their sad sack.