Achtung! Ardent U2 fans beware! If you are expecting new experimental sounds from U2, you might be in for a disappointment. After three years in the making and a change in their music producer, ‘No Line On The Horizon’ sounds more like another humanitarian campaign from Bono than a breakthrough in electronic rock. Banking heavily on Bono’s falsetto vocals and The Edge’s signature rhythmic echo and the unmistakable guitar delay, this album is almost a rehash of all the previous albums.

From sombre notes like ‘Cedars of Lebanon’, ‘Moment of Surrender’ and ‘White As Snow’ to feel-good tunes like ‘Magnificent’, ‘I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight’ and ‘Get On Your Boots’, you can’t help but feel the whole album banking heavily on the anti-war sentiment.

Though the central theme in each song speaks volume, the crafting of lyrics leaves you in limbo. In ‘Stand Up Comedy’ lines like ‘I can stand up for hope, faith, love, But while I’m getting over certainty, Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady’ and ‘Stand up to rock stars, Napolean is in high heels, Josephine, be careful, Of small men with big ideas’, sounded disjointed and more of a struggle to rhyme than make a point.

Generally a feel-good album with a few sombre notes like ‘Cedars of Lebanon’ the songs is without a doubt, tastefully arranged and makes it a stress-relieving album. For all its hits and misses, ‘No Line On the Horizon’ is recommended for listening while setting your car to cruising speed on a highway, lazy Sunday evening drive, or a night-time lullaby.