There are only so many ways a band can reinvent itself before arriving full circle. That’s why it’s not surprising that the 12th studio album from U2, “No Line on the Horizon,” is not the great rebirth the band was promising.

And that’s all right. “No Line on the Horizon” combines the creativity of two of Bono and Co.’s most radical albums — 1993’s “Zooropa” and 1984’s “The Unforgettable Fire,” with some by-the-book U2.

It’s not a 5-star product along the lines of “The Joshua Tree,” “Achtung Baby” or “All That You Can’t Leave Behind,” but Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. prove they are not irrelevant. The album is strong enough to be in the second tier, with “Zooropa,” “Pop,” “Rattle and Hum,” and “War.”

Most people no doubt already heard “Get On Your Boots,” the grammatically incorrect, scatterbrained first single. This is the oddity on the album, the only real fast-paced rocker. The other 10 tunes are stronger sonically and lyrically. Why did U2 pick it as the first single? Probably because there are no other traditional radio singles.

The shiniest gem is “Moment of Surrender,” the third track, which is the coveted spot on U2 albums; others that made the third spot include “One,” “Elevation,” “With or Without You” and “New Year’s Day.”

MOS is a mid-tempo ballad that opens with a loop of Moroccan hand drums (the band spent part of its recording time in Fez, as well as Dublin, London and New York), rolling bass line and an Arcade Fire-esque organ. Bono’s voice on the song is the best he has sounded in years – easing fears, after the band’s performance at President Barack Obama’s pre-inauguration concert – that his voice was shot.

The B-man sounds at least 10 years younger as he pleadingly announces, “We set ourselves on fire/Oh God, do not deny her/It’s not if I believe in love/But if love believes in me.”

The song clocks in at longer than seven minutes, which is why it won’t be an easy sell to radio.

The rest of the album also sticks to traditional U2 themes of love and relationships, God, and in a few tracks, war.

The album closer, a solemn “Cedars of Lebanon,” is a mournful tune written from the perspective of a war correspondent. It nails the difficult job of a journalist: “Fitting complicated lives into a simple headline.” The first person account of a shattered soul recalls the last song on Zooropa, the beautiful “The Wanderer,” sung by Johnny Cash.

Bono channels Cash in the country folk ballad “White as Snow,” in which he describes the scenery, “Where I came from there were no hills at all/ The land was flat, the highways straight and wide,” while asking for forgiveness from past deeds, “If only a heart could be as white as snow.”

Obviously Bono is not war correspondent, nor did he kill a man in Reno. This was Bono’s first attempt to write songs from the perspective of someone else. He made up characters to keep the songs fresh, something Bob Dylan was an expert at.

On another track, possible future single, “Breathe,” Bono does his best Dylan, with a rolling, paranoid rant about trusting strangers and the end of the world: “16th of June, Chinese stocks are going up/ And I’m coming down with some new Asian virus/ Ju Ju man, Ju Ju man/ Doc says you’re fine, or dying.”

On a final note, U2 have leaned more than ever on longtime producers/collaborators Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois on “No Line.” The duo share co-songwriting credits with the band on the majority of the new songs. Their influence of deep texture and many layers runs from the beginning of the title track to the end of “Cedars of Lebanon.” You might as well consider them the fifth and sixth members of the band.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.