leak of the week

Leaked: New U2 Album Nearly As Exciting As Its Cover

U2, No Line on the Horizon

Official release date: February 27

The Verdict: Even after five or six listens this morning, the songs on U2’s No Line on the Horizon, which leaked sometime overnight, mostly just seem to blend into one long, interminable, mid-tempo dirge (the fact that “Magnificent,” “Moment of Surrender,” and “Unknown Caller” — the album’s three longest, most interminable dirges — are sequenced together into one boring, twenty-minute block probably doesn’t help). We didn’t love “Get On Your Boots,” but it’s certainly more interesting than the only other two upbeat-ish tracks, “Stand Up Comedy” and “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight,” both of which are as clunky as their titles might imply. Good thing we didn’t have our hopes up.

Leaked: New U2 Album Nearly As Exciting As Its Cover