U2 x 2

The world has been waiting for this day. History will look upon the last 24 hours as the day the world united and began to hope, to dream, to look towards a future without fear. The reason? The return of U2.

Yep, Bono and his band of merry men are back with a new album (No Line On The Horizon) and this, their brand new single, 'Get On Your Boots'. Lord knows - and he really does, Bono asked him - the music industry needs this U2 album to be a success, so much so that the band will be performing twice at the Brit awards next month despite it being a reflection of 2008's music successes and obviously in 2008 U2 released diddly squat. If it sells less then 5 million we're all off to hell in a hand cart.

It's pretty 'meh'. If you like U2, you'll enjoy it. If you write for Q you'll already be waxing lyrical about how different it is and how they've really pushed the boundaries. Hell, at one point Bono even claims to be too busy to discuss warring nations, which seems a bit harsh, it being his job and all that.

Here it is anyway:



In all seriousness, there was a genuine historic moment happening today, the inauguration of Barak Obama and it's great to feel a united sense of optimism and genuine hope. This has obviously been felt most in America where people in dire straits will look to Obama for answers that hopefully he can give. Rich musicians are also feeling a lot of love and have clubbed together to voice their newly restored patriotism through the medium of sub-standard syrupy pop tripe. Bono is, of course, heavily featured:



Just to put things in perspective; Martin Luther King got Stevie Wonder. Obama surely deserves better.