‘… No Line on the Horizon is mostly restless, tentative and confused. It’s not terrible, but it feels like the work of musicians torn between the comfort of the present and the lure of one last run into the adventurous past … Not surprisingly, the album lacks a unified feel. On a few tracks, the Edge, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and bassist Adam Clayton sound at home rumbling through the verses and blowing out the choruses in the old familiar way. But as No Line trudges on, it slumps under the weight of its own need to surprise … U2 has clearly found itself stuck in a very strange moment of self-reckoning’. – Josh Tyrangiel, ‘U2’s Unsatisfied — and Unsatisfying — New Album’. Time Magazine, 26 February, 2009.
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jasongoroncy.com 
Are you endorsing that review?
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Not at all, I’m just thinking about it …
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I would advise against it.
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Against thinking about it or against allowing myself be swayed by Tyrangiel’s review?
I think Tyrangiel speaks prematurely. After living with No Line for a week or so I’m convinced that Tyrangiel is one reviewer who has seriously misjudged this album, and U2.
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Being swayed.
I’ll be the first to admit that ‘No Line’ is not U2 at its best – that is still to be found in ‘Jushua Tree’ and ‘Achtung Baby’. But, the album is enjoyable and recognizably the sound of U2. Asking anything more is a bit unfair. The album is a bit ‘restlessness’, but that is only a fault if you bring contrary expectations to it. Let the boys be torn between comfort and a desire to experiment – most of us are.
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I have a lot of respect for Bono and U2. All the same, nothing on this CD has grabbed me. It is my opinion that this isn’t close to being U2’s best and certainly pales in comparison to their last two albums.
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