U2

Editor's Review:

Early last summer, when it was announced that the master tapes to U2’s newest recordings were stolen from a band photo shoot in France, it was difficult not to number the days in which the fabled Irish quartet would remain on the top of the heap. While the theft ignited a quasi-mythical status to the then-unheard tapes, what wasn’t completely understood was how good or bad the final product actually was. Shame on the naysayers of retro-political rock ‘n’ roll, bent on nullifying one of the truly innovative. We’re talking about U-fucking-2 here.
What illuminates the majority of this slickly produced disc isn’t so much the fact that Bono still has one of the silkiest croons in all of rock, or that The Edge’s tone manipulations and neo-dissonance rank him in roughly the Top 10 of the most recognizable guitarists of all-time; it’s instead the subtle beauty buried under pulsing bass and spot-on skin work which only U2 can exhume. With a listen, any doubt that their vision has ceased to race side by side with their creativity is eradicated. “All Because of You,” with its Who-esque melodies and punky guitar squall, manages to resurrect only the most vital highlights of War and Achtung Baby. If you forget, for one second, that Bono's extracurricular activities indeed have an adverse effect on fans taking his music seriously, you'll enjoy this album. You may have enjoyed it more had the atomic bomb dismantling guide actually been included. Not even the heavily connected U2 can come through with that kind of a promise. Or maybe that's what was stolen in the first place...
– Ryan Prado

Write Your Own Review

Bookmark:

Record Label Interscope / Universal Music Released January 2005

Tracks Vertigo Miracle Drug Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own Love and Peace or Else City of Blinding Lights All Because of You A Man and a Woman Crumbs from Your Table One Step Closer Original of the Species Yahweh

Comments down for maintenance.