After a five year hiatus, U2 will finally release their long awaited album, No Line on the Horizon on February 27 in Germany, Australia and their beloved Ireland and to the States and the rest of the world on March 3. After a band has been around for almost thirty years, there has always been a great curiosity in each and every product they have accomplished and how they have kept it going for so long. Bono, Larry, Edge and Adam have always been an ambitious band who will try just about anything to make the music work. In the past they have worked with amazing artists like BB King and creative sound and production personnel that are willing to take the musical journey. Though timeless and consistent in their general musical repertoire U2 has always tried to incorporate styles that seem compatible to the times as well as always being aware of their demanding but open minded audience that know that this band always is trying something different and is never predictable. However, as much as they evolve they will always still retain that unique sound that first drove them up the charts three decades ago.

Well, you can go back to BOY, U2’s first album that shows the steady raw and edgy sound that still is evident in their music now but though it remains, that special “voice” still changes in different degrees. The garage rock similarities will always be there and has carried them through some eleven albums, not counting other recordings like special mixes and greatest hits.

Line on the Horizon was created in collaboration by exceptional producers like Steve Lillywhite, who worked on the album Boy and October, and Brian Eno and Danny Lanois, both of whom helped in the creation of The Joshua Tree, the 1987 Blockbuster album that took U2 over the top. No Line on the Horizon was also recorded in not just one or two but four studios, including Fez, Morocco, London, Dublin and New York.

Last week, we got a taste of what we can expect to hear on this eleven cut project, and you can be sure every U2 site on the internet including the mother of them all, the U2 official website (www.U2.com) was causing a feeling of excitement amongst their dedicated fans who are already anxious about tour dates and getting a ticket, which is almost impossible: they still sell out shows in record time. The Single ‘Get on Your Boots” is a mixture of sound and motion, light, poetic words and rhythm, that this amazing band has given us over and over again. In this cut I hear a lot of U2 reminiscent of the past, keeping the familiar sounds of Larry’s powerful drumming and Bono’s, sweet, emotionally captivating voice. And when the Edge plays his guitar with that definitive soaring of sound you know it’s U2, and Adam’s bass playing is as distinct and electrifying as ever.

Bono often has written songs of the human spirit. This song is no exception. Though people may get annoyed by his political callings and claim he has no business doing what he does, it is all part of his obsessions. He is passionate about peace, fighting the atrocities of disease and famine in Africa and loving God. In “Get On Your Boots”, the words are there again… “the Future needs a big kiss/Here’s where we gotta be/Love and community/Laughter is eternity/ If joy is real.”

There have been various comments about the tracks on this album, one song that will really interesting to check out is “The Unknown Caller”. The Edge claims that this cut, recorded in Fez, Morocco, could be the best track on the album. It was recorded while swallows were flying over the band’s head and the sound is captured in the background of the track.

But soon we will hear the rest of “Line on the Horizon” and what this band has to say….only good things I’m sure.