Magnificent

U2's new album, No Line on the Horizon, is excellent. I won't write about every song (right now, at least) because I'm still picking out my favorites. An immediate stand out, however, is "Magnificent."

Nearly five-and-a-half minutes, "Magnificent" is very much modern U2 but there is something classic about it. I would venture to call it an anthem along the same lines as "Where the Streets Have No Name" if you make the lyrics less dreamy and add more of a sturdy guitar performance by The Edge. Basically, take "Where the Streets Have No Name" and cross-breed it with "Discotheque." In fact, the beat, melody and guitar lend themselves to something reminiscent of an Ennio Morricone "spaghetti western" theme.

Bono's lyrics here are obviously about praising God. It amuses me and frustrates me to see people all over the Internet try and credit the meaning of the song to anything but God... but what can you expect? Likewise, "Yahweh" from the How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb album has some pretty wonderful lyrics that are a prayer to God. That one is probably a bit more difficult to deny, however.