This is a far cry from the days of Sunday Bloody Sunday . There was a fire in the belly before, but that has turned into a warm, comfortable glow. The first single Beautiful Day is possibly the best one, with a good hint of well groomed conceit. In A Moment , but it s perilously close to easy listening. Kite has a good hook line, and New York does tread some new ground with a surprising punch.
Grace is a fine, mellow wind-down track at the end, but too much of the album sounds the same.
The whole U2 sound has been filtered and purified to form a designer album. Sure it gets better in time, but it's still a let-down Pop stars are as renowned for their silly hats and dodgy outfits as for their music. U2 deserve top billing in the ego stakes for arrogance and completely bloated self-importance that has been their mark for many years now. So forget these dull tunes, and remember that they are still one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Ironic isn t it.