My initial response to hearing that U2 had a new album coming out in a few weeks was “Oh, that’s cool I guess.” After giving it a listen through I still feel the same way. No Line on the Horizon is pretty similar to what U2 has done since 2000′s All That You Can’t Leave Behind except older and a bit mellower. Bono has commented recently that he is sick of being this “Bono” persona he has spent the last many years cultivating, and you can feel it musically on the new record. Lots of keyboard pads and ambient sounds, as well as the Edge crafting more angular, dissonant guitar lines than his typical bright lights sprinkle. While the legendary production team of Brian Eno and Daniel Lenois do add a lot to the epic sizes of the songs, most notably on “Breathe,” the album feels surprising morose for a U2 record. Maybe Coldplay zapped all of Eno’s “bright” ideas? Yes, there are hopeful moments, like the feeling behind “I’ll Go Crazy, If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight,” but overall this record won’t go down as canon for U2. Bono, maybe you should’ve counted off the first song in German this time?

U2 is streaming the album for two weeks before its release on their MySpace page