It feels like Christmas in the music world right now. Radio stations, blogs, myspace pages, newspapers, and magazines are all chomping at the bit preparing for the official arrival of U2’s long awaited new album, No Line on the Horizon. Facebook statuses were a flutter early last week with fan opinions thanks to the full stream made available on U2’s myspace as well as various mp3 leaks…

… and the buzz keeps building.

So how good is No Line on the Horizon? While Rolling Stone gave it a rare impressive five star rating, some fans still say the verdict is out as they consider just how much change they can take from the iconic four piece.

Aided by long time producer, Brian Eno (tack Eno onto any project and it’s bound to sound better), No Line grooves and punches more than Atomic Bomb managing to balance that fine line between preserving an iconic sound and emerging with something fresh.   Adam Clayton’s bass lines are distinct, creative, and shine boldly among the other three members. The Edge plays a little with the fact that his once-scoffed-at textural style has become the pop norm copied by countless amateurs and professionals alike. He mimics himself on tracks like “I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” and “Moment of Surrender,” classic throwbacks to the days of Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. Bono’s vocals are at their rawest, most honest, most powerful level on every emotion-driven track. After all, if any one is in a position to take risks it’s him.

No bigger risk is No Line’s lyrical content and composition. With titles like “Stand Up Comedy” and “Get on Your Boots,” Bono is pushing the envelope of just how much he can get away with as a songwriter whose body of work  already includes some of the world’s most instantly recognizable songs. The album references everything from computer key commands to ATM machines in a consistent effort to communicate that love and grace trump anything else this world knows. Bono’s finest moments of growth cut through the ballads, “White as Snow” and “Cedars of Lebanon,” narratives from another time that encompass sorrow, pain, and restlessness and cap off the album with a somber finish.

No Line reaches its high point with an exhilarating transition from its first act to its second. Track 4 on the album is U2’s best pop song since “With or Without You.”  “I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” is an instant classic, an explosive celebration of romance and hope and the things that stir our souls up complete with strings, hooks, and groove that will have people turning up their car stereos just a little higher for when they hear it for years to come. With little room to catch your breath afterward, the single everyone was unsure of, “Get on Your Boots” announces itself full blast to usher in act two. Within the context of the entire album, “Get on Your Boots” makes more sense than it did as a single. It’s almost as if U2  knew what they were doing when they chose  it.

Undoubtedly, the cat has been left out of the bag way before March 3rd. Most fans have gotten much more than a glimpse of what’s to come. But if you're U2 and you possess something with as much longetivity as No Line on the Horizon in addition to your already timeless library of influence….at this point you probably don’t care all too much.