A new U2 album, No Line on the Horizon, is slated for released March 3 via Interscope Records. The album, which is the iconic band's 12th studio effort, was produced by Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Steve Lillywhite and was expected to be released before the end of 2008 after being recorded in Dublin, New York and Fez. The band decided to push back the release date for No Line on the Horizon fearing it wasn't complete yet. Interscope-Geffen-A&M chairman Jimmy Iovine told http://Billboard.com, “I met with the guys in U2, and they say to me, ‘You know what? This album needs two more songs, and it will be exactly what we have in mind.' I go there and I listen, and I agreed with them. It's a great record, but it deserves the time. Labels need to work with artists to help them achieve their best work, not to ham records out that are half-baked or three-quarters baked.” No Line on the Horizon is the follow-up to 2004's How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. “Moment of Surrender” and “Unknown Caller” are two songs rumored to be included on U2's forthcoming studio album.



U2 frontman Bono told fans in September that he wished the album would have been released sooner but was pleased with the outcome: “I'm always the one who underestimates how easy it is to simply ‘put out songs now.' If it was just up to me they'd be out already! But early next year people will be able to start hearing what we've been doing. We want 2009 to be our year, so we're going to start making an impression very early on.” If 2009 is to be “The Year of U2,” then a tour is likely in the works, so check out http://www.stubhub.com/u2-tickets for U2 tickets! The 2009 tour will be the first as part of a massive recent deal with Live Nation negotiated a few months ago.

U2 became one of the most popular rock and roll bands of the 1980s after scoring their big break in 1978, when they won a talent contest sponsored by Guinness while still in high school. The band formed as a Beatles and Rolling Stones cover band two years prior when Larry Mullen, Jr. (drums) put a notice on a high school bulletin to form a band and Bono (vocals, guitar), the Edge (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Adam Clayton (bass) responded. In 1983 U2 issued their breakthrough in the form of the Lillywhite-produced War, which also got the band noticed in the States. The album contained classics “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Year's Day” and U2 was soon one of the most popular—and politically active—bands in the world.

If U2 was successful in the ‘80s, the apex of that success came with the 1987 release of their epic album The Joshua Tree, which was U2's first American number one and contained hits like “I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For” and “With or Without You.” In the ‘90s U2 experimented with their sound, trying out electronica and disco, and scoring more number one albums into the new millennium.