My wife bought the new U2 album yesterday at about 8:00 am. She’s a fan, what can I say? Today I had a chance to give it a good first listen. Quick review: A very good album — first three songs excellent, especially “Vertigo” — maybe not quite as strong overall as the last one, but I may change my mind on this after further listening — this is the band’s best back-to-back showing since The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree in the 1980s — I wish the liner notes didn’t include a “Join Greenpeace” message — several songs are clearly religious in meaning; Kenneth Tanner yesterday called it their most Christian since October, and he may be right — and, finally, here’s to hoping for a big U.S. tour in 2005 because they’re a fantastic band to see and hear live.