U2 is streaming the new album No Line On The Horizon on MySpace. I’m going to spend the next hour or so recording my first impressions, track by track.

“No Line On The Horizon”
Raucous guitar noise and insistent drums. Has a nice vibe that reminds me of some of the rhythmic back end of Achtung Baby. Bono is selling some corny lyrics as only he can. They’re definitely coming out of the box announcing an intention to rock. More convincing than “Vertigo”. Keeps drifting into mild atmospherics briefly. This could be a best of all worlds type of thing, or degenerate into a trying to please everybody deal. They’re having more fun with production and playing with the drum sounds again. Going on a bit long to stay interesting, but good to hear a bit of wankery after a decade of insistent ordinariness.

“Magnificent”
Ominous, cavernous beat and the Edge is given some room to slather his impressionistic guitar. Still mired in the old stuff, but not too much like a cover band of themselves. Recalls the early ’80s stuff before the Joshua Tree gloss. Bono is doing a lot of high pure vocals in the space between his predictably earnest verses. I’m digging this so far, the first few are not immediately captivating, but sound like growers, and I’m a bit more sucked in by the second one.

“Moment of Surrender”
Buried in here is a mild flirtation with glitch that gives a different texture. It’s actually a good thing to build a strident U2 anthem on. Organs give a bit of that gospel “Where the Streets Have No Name”, but this one is not eager to get as bombastic as this one. Bono’s verse vocals are pretty damn stirring. I’m not sure so much about the chorus, but he keeps it brief the first go-round. Could be good, but not sure if I want to give into it. I really like Bono’s solo verse singing with the constant minimal drum beat, glitch murmur. Nice bridge and bluesy Edge solo, too. Definitely the best track yet. Taking a tip or two from Radiohead, but totally playing up their own strengths and giving it their own mood. I’m now sold, and this is the track that comes along on a U2 album to remind me not to be too cynical about them. They are not Coldplay, they actually have the goods to deliver when they try. It keeps going, and that is just fine. Great song.

“Unknown Caller”
The yearning, high guitar melodies may get a bit cloying, but it is interacting well with some soft synth work. The drums are sticking to that arena/tribal feel that they exploited so well on album cuts on Joshua Tree. Bono’s melodies and voice are fine, and now the various sounds are weaving together pretty well. There seems to be a good sense on this album of where to hold back. Not that it is “stripped down” or anything, but it keeps getting started with big chants and big breakthroughs, but reigns them in and guides them to different places before they get insufferable. Another great bridge here, bringing in some new elements to re-iterate the rousing, simple themes. No big departures yet, but this might be the U2 self-covers album I have wanted all damn decade. All That You Can’t Leave Behind and How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb had fine songs to spare, but wound up kind of monochromatic and didn’t reward repeat listening like U2 usually does (believe it or not, Pop is actually more fun to revisit than those two). This one sounds like it has layers aplenty to get lost in.

Note: this post probably seems a bit long for being composed over a single song, and it is. I’ve been in silence the last few minutes, suspecting the whole album was not really available but only 4 songs or so. Turns out there is a pause for advertising. I have to go back to the MySpace window and click a button on the ad to tell it to keep playing the album for me. So the ad is kind of a dam in this stream. Not too much to complain about for free music, but mucks up the “liveblogging” novelty and challenge. Now that we are completely off track, I am going to step away for a few and return to the rest of the album after having been completely sucked out of it. It will be less spontaneous, but maybe I’ll get some wicked critical insight while I’m urinating.

Okay I’m back. Y’all tucked in? Heeeere we gooo…

“I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight”
Silly not-really-clever clever title. Bono sinks it with an awesome delivery of that line. Falsetto is not Prince level, but far more charming than Kevin Barnes. He’s on that level where corny, embarrassing lyrics are often inspiring to hear his voice belt. The song gets quite a bit more standard as it goes on, and his “Baby, I know I’m not alone” bleats are a lot less fun than the beginning of this song. You hear it sounding like a fairly conventional u2 guitar cut, then Bono elevates it, then he grinds into the typicality as if hedging his bets.

“Get on Your Boots”
The now standard boring u2 leadoff single. A lot of spunk, but a fairly meh Bono spoken non-rap verse. This album seems front loaded with ambition, but this early middle passage seems headed towards predictability with a bit more production tweakage. Everything sounds pretty great, but I don’t think there is an inspired element in this song that is clearly intended to be rousing. Hello, hello. We’re in a place called Vertigo.

“Stand Up Comedy”
Ehhh….punny sub-profound Bono lyrics and boring bluesy Edge riffage. It gets a bit better as it embellishes, but I’m hoping U2 is just burying the boring in the middle, because I liked the beginning of this album much better than the middle. Now they’re just wanking.

“FEZ-Being Born”
Alright, pensive ambience and buried vocal loops. Cut to aggressive, loud texture with great Edge guitar and Bono layering himself yelping (his best moments on this album are non-verbal). A bit of Radiohead is very evident for a bit, but it recalls their pre-Radiohead ’90s classics as well. It may sound better coming after a few duds, but this is definitely a track I’m compelled to return to. Flanged guitar is buried, treated chiming guitar pops up in the mix, and Bono doesn’t let his verse overwhelm it. He actually shuts up for long, masterful instrumental periods. Maybe they made the keen decision to cut an embarrassing chorus out of it, because that was some cool music compositude. Have I mentioned the production on this one is a lot more detailed and interesting than the last few? Almost aiming toward repeated album listens rather than obvious radio hits and TV licensing. Cool, U2, did you figure out that you were rich enough to give us an album worth listening to more than thrice?

“White As Snow”
Very good, morose Bono song. Withdrawn, repetitive guitar pattern. Plenty of accent placed below the mid-level. Still haven’t decided if this measures up to my favorites, and it is lacking the immediate timelessness (or, as Raphael Saadiq calls it, “instant vintage”), but this is the first time in awhile I’ve been intrigued by a U2 album. Good song guys.

Another ad break. Do I want to listen to the U2 album or play online poker? Decisions, decisions.

“Breathe”
Oooohhh…atmosphere! Clanging sounds and thumping drums recorded with all types of space. And then…a big guitar line. And then….Bono starts singing in a soulful variation on Dylan rapping. He has no reach other than big. There’s a pattern emerging…a lot of tracks could be Explosions in the Sky or their “hip-hop” sister band, Black Sky Black Death that Jerome hipped me to yesterday….for about ten seconds and then they remind you that they are U2. None of this is bad. It sounds like thy wrote a very good if not epic U2 album and then realized that detailed, nuanced adventurous production and arrangement might be a good idea. Lord knows I’ve been waiting for that.

“Cedars of Lebanon”
Good morose guitar. Deep space dub pings and lingering strains. One of those reverbarating, underspoken drum beats. It all justifies a pretty shameless Bono spoken verse where I guess he’s pretending to be a pompous existential war journalist with no idea how pompous he is. The hymnish self-harmonies are better. Once again, very interesting arrangement and production. Liveblogging is begging for redundancy.

First Impression: I like it. Way more interested in revisiting it and picking apart it’s layers than the commercially spartan albums that preceded it. I recommend this stream. I recommend an illegal download. In a few weeks, hopefully I can let you know if I recommend a purchase.