Occasionally even U2 takes a break from emotional yearning and political self-righteousness for a blast of pure fun. Not on this single, mind you–the lyrics here almost read as if world statesman Bono needs a break from himself. Not nearly as goofy as its title, “If I Don’t Go Crazy…” was a collaboration between the Irish rockers and Black Eyed Pea Will.i.am, recorded during a break from sessions otherwise dominated by sonic sculptors Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.

by Mark Emge

Originally titled “French Disco”, “Magnificent” originated from U2’s improvised recording sessions with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois in Fez, Morocco. Creating it out of a series of chord changes in the midst of a jam, guitarist The Edge noted that “the basic progression had a power that got everyone inspired.” The result quickly became a band favourite. Now producer Adam K has his way with it, and the song might be accurately retitled “Canadian Disco”.

by Mark Emge

“Magnificent” originated from U2’s improvised recording sessions with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois in Fez, Morocco. Creating it out of a series of chord changes in the midst of a jam, guitarist The Edge noted that “the basic progression had a power that got everyone inspired.” A group of Moroccan percussionists played along, and the result quickly became a band favourite. Producer Dave Audé discofies it on this mix.

by Mark Emge

Bono chalks up rocking new single “Get On Your Boots” to the third-testicle theory. “The Edge’s developing one”, the U2 singer muses. “A hundred fifty beats per minute, three minutes, the fastest song we’ve ever played.” Here, the fuzzy rocker is appropriately remixed by metal-loving French DJ duo Justice.

by Mark Emge

“Linear” is a silent film directed by Anton Corbijn available on the digipak, magazine, box and deluxe iTunes formats of U2’s new album, “No Line On The Horizon”. The famed rock photographer developed the idea with singer Bono, based on the characters he wrote the song’s lyrics around. In it, a Parisian motorcycle cop (Said Taghmaoui), disillusioned by the discord between immigrants and the police in the City of Lights, decides to ditch work and go see his girlfriend in Tripoli. All but one of the songs on album, including “Magnificent”, are incorporated into film’s storyline.

by Mark Emge

Bono chalks up rocking new single “Get On Your Boots” to the third-testicle theory. “The Edge’s developing one”, the U2 singer muses. “A hundred fifty beats per minute, three minutes, the fastest song we’ve ever played.” U2 entered the new millennium by restoring their legacy with the dual successes of ’00’s “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” and ’04’s “How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb”, unabashed rock albums that updated the “Joshua Tree” formula after nearly a decade of pop experimentation. But ever-restless, the band knew now was time to evolve, and the new “No Line On The Horizon” delivers an “Achtung Baby” kick of stylistic adventures.

by Mark Emge

“It’s a very strange feeling,” lead singer Bono says of the delay in finishing U2’s first album in five years, “No Line On The Horizon”. “We’re waiting for God to walk into the room–and God, it turns out, is very unreliable.”

After scrapping earlier sessions cut with American recorder Rick Rubin (Johnny Cash, every performer who owns a Johnny Cash record), the Irish quartet reconvened with “classic”-era producers Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Steve Lillywhite to fashion a new direction, the results of which are slated for an early March release. The collection’s first sample is “Get On Your Boots”, this week’s Euro Express Spotlight.

“A hundred fifty beats per minute, three minutes, the fastest song we’ve ever played,” Bono sums up the single. “We’re not ready for adult-contemporary just yet.”

U2 entered the new millennium by restoring their legacy after ’97’s underwhelming consumer-culture pastiche “Pop” with the dual successes of ’00’s “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” and ’04’s “How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb”, unabashed rock albums that updated the “Joshua Tree” formula after nearly a decade of pop experimentation. But ever-restless, the band knew now was the time to evolve, much like they did during the “Achtung Baby” sessions in the early ’90s.

“[If] we’re gonna continue to be a band, maybe the rock will have to go; maybe the rock has to get a lot harder,” Bono commented when sessions initially began in 2006. “But whatever it is, it’s not gonna stay where it is”.

Rubin, apparently, rocked too hard or not enough. But although the reunion of the producers of the band’s most durable work certainly helped, something else might be responsible for U2’s recent explosion of creativity.

“[The Edge]’s developing a third testicle, that’s what’s happening,” the loquacious singer theorizes. U2’s six-string sound-scapist appeared in the guitar-god documentary “It Might Get Loud”, jamming alongside Jack White and Jimmy Page, and returned to with the fuzz-blissed riff of “Get On Your Boots”. The track picks up where “Bomb”’s first single “Vertigo” left off, riding the trashy chord progression of The Damned’s “New Rose” while firing spitting like Bob Dylan spat out on “Subterranean Homesick Blues”.

“We start simple, we get complicated, and then we re-simplify it,” Eno says of the band’s creative tactic. “It’s been a longer process [this time], but I think it’s compositionally stronger than anything they’ve done.” Count down the album’s release at www.u2.com.