Because it's been requested

Not that I'm a big music critic or anything, but a friend of mine wanted to know what I thought of the new U2 album No Line on the Horizon. I have another friend who loves U2 who probably would give a better review than me. Nevertheless, as per blog entry request, here I go:
The first couple of songs, No Line on the Horizon and Magnificent reminiscent of some of their late 80s, early 90s electric guitar driven songs but with later stylings thrown in. The chords and the rhythms aren't very interesting, the music's just sorta there (not doing justice to those good songs of yore).
In the next three songs, The Edge picks the notes on his electric and uses more lyrical chording. The songs are slower and sorta remind me of the style of One Step Closer from How to Dismantle or Stuck in a Moment. But along with the normal music, U2's decided to throw in random sound effects or weird rhythms. I kid you not, the background rhythms in Moment of Surrender sorta remind me of a mild Björk, the Hunter song, particularly.
But then we hit Get On Your Boots. It makes me think, what on Earth? The music is a lot like Love and Peace or Else. The video is whack. Violent creation is war is art is Duchamp is the patriotic Virgin Mary? It's like a bad scrapbook page.
Song 7-11 sorta rehash the previous songs with a little bit of variation and ... then what?


But what are they really getting at? Well the title No Line on the Horizon is an obvious jab at this. I'm not hating on them for being political because they have every right to be, as much as any of us do. And it's not like it's the first time that U2 has been all political. (etc. etc. etc.)
They've just been so much better at it before. They were trying way too hard with these lyrics and the sounds. Were they trying to do Jimi Hendrix? It'll always backfire when you try that hard.

But sometimes it was really good, and I'm going to remember those times:


So for a U2 album out of 10? Right now I'm giving it a 3. Maybe it'll grow on me. Meh.