Interscope
Just as their disciples-doppelgangers in Coldplay decided to expand on their sound on last year’s brilliant Viva La Vida; rock gods U2 have gone in an inversely regressive direction. On No Line On the Horizon, the iconic Irish quartet seemed to have channeled all that was tired about pre-Vida Coldplay: mawkish vocal stylings, forced ‘intimacy’ via overly-earnest lyrics and tepid arrangements. That’s not to say … Horizon is a failure — the anthemic “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” is a highlight — despite its ridiculous title, and “Magnificent” sounds like a lost track from 1991’s classic Achtung Baby. Too often, however, Bono and Co. seems busy trying to craft a hushed, intimate album. But U2 isn’t an intimate band — it’s a magnificently majestic band. It’s just a shame that they seem to have forgotten that. –todd williams
