How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb Appreciation Thread

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bugo

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5 years ago I woudn't have imagined I'd one day create this thread - my initial reaction to How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb was decidedly mixed- some good tunes but just not as refreshing or exciting as ATYCLB.

With a lot of time for listening and reflection since, the album has grown on me considerably. With the exception of perhaps 'Love and Peace Or Else' and 'All Because of You', it's a collection of individually great songs.

Vertigo, Miracle Drug & Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own are among my favourite U2 songs - they're exciting, emotionally intense tunes.

Add to that a melodic roster: City Of Blinding Lights, Original of The Species, A Man and a Woman, Crumbs From Your Table and Yahweh - all of these are capable of growing on you gradually until you feel a sense of delight every time your i-pod shuffles on to them.

HTDAAB is not a homogeneous, wholesome album but one that delivers 10 separate heavy weight punches to your eardrums. I think all the pain and agony U2 went through in the writing process was worthwhile to create a different and arguably more rewarding experience than many of their other records.

Achtung baby was a masterpiece, fuelled from The Edge's post-breakup pain. I think Bono's despair over the death of his father helped make HTTDAAB better - it's more disjointed but equally loveable if you give it time.
 
:up: Always considered it a superior, more honest follow-up to ATYCLB.

A good, solid U2 record firmly in the middle ranks in the U2 catalogue.
 
I think it's a good album. Vertigo was a really good lead single which got a lot of attention and helped HTDAAB sell a lot of copies. The best song on the album, i think, is none other than City of Blinding Lights. That song played live is a showstopper, along with Vertigo. Original of the Species is another really good song along with Miracle Drug.

Im not too fond of LAPOE or ABOY, both of which didn't win me over in their live incarnations or on the album. Also i think Fast Cars should have been the final track on all editions, what a closer that song was.

Overall its a good album with some pretty good music. COBL ranks along with MOS and BD for my favorite U2 songs of this last decade. If you have to fault them for anything from the HTDAAB era, i would go with the awful hairstyles of Larry and Bono during the album and tour.
 
The album's really grown on me.

My favorite tracks (in order):

Crumbs From Your Table
City of Blinding Lights (in my opinion, up there with the ranks of Streets and Pride in terms of how awesome the song is live)
Miracle Drug
Original of the Species
Vertigo
One Step Closer

Also, Fast Cars should have been on the album. As should the original Mercy. Yahweh and A Man and A Woman should have been left off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWsG1z99K3M&feature=related

Love that song. Edge's guitar work is great. Really wish they had played it live every night and given this gem more attention.
 
Swap "Sometimes You Can't Make It..." and "COBL" for Fast Cars and Mercy (original), and you'd have an alright album. Get rid of Yahweh and you'd have an even more alright album. While not a huge fan of MD and AMAAW, I do appreciate little moments in them.

In the past I'd say swap Vertigo for Native Son, but I think I prefer it the way it is now. Vertigo might be a bit stupid (to me), but sometimes it's fun.
 
It is a very good album... for a band well below U2's pay grade. That's honestly how I feel about it really. Great, tight songwriting of the highest order from end to end - in many ways you can't critically fault it - just great for a different band. And to be honest, not a band I would have gotten into, if via this album. But they would be BIG, whoever they are. So that's half appreciation, I guess? Good U2 carries a lot more weight, in many, many different ways.
 
I still think this is a solid U2 effort, comparable to rattle and hum and zooropa in terms of quality to me. Nice to hear the guitars turned up for Vertigo and ABOY. I think Sometimes is a career moment for the band, Miracle Drug has only grown more on me every year, I think Love and Peace was one of the best openers they've ever had, City is an epic U2 song, and every time they play it, it feels like it was a bigger hit then it actually was. Not a perfect cohesive album, but as a collection of songs, i think it's very impressive and was an important part of U2 reasserting it's pop dominance.
 
This was the album that took me from fan to super fan, as my listening to it all the time and talking about it gave my aunt the idea to get me a Vertigo tour ticket for my 18th birthday!

It will always hold a special place in my heart for that.

I pretty much agree with what everyone has said above, though my opinion of it may run a bit higher than Earnie Shavers' opinion. I understand what he's saying, and I don't think Bomb is the best U2 album(I haven't seen anyone say that, ever), but I also don't think its a step beneath U2 in terms of quality work.

There are of course some criticisms, but I've aired them before. Also, I certainly think that the album it got compared to by U2, Boy, is far superior.

The most interesting thing I keep finding with this album is that its probably got the biggest gap between how it is perceived and talked about here and how it is perceived and talked about with the casual fan and general public.
 
The most interesting thing I keep finding with this album is that its probably got the biggest gap between how it is perceived and talked about here and how it is perceived and talked about with the casual fan and general public.
I think Pop comes close.
 
good album solid probably doesnt beat ATYCLB for me though there pretty close
love miracle drug, sometimes, cobl, crumbs and vertigo and love and peace of else is pretty rockin but it seems a bit cheesy but i like the tune :up:
 
I love the HTDAAB-album. I love almost every song - especially Crumbs, Love and Peace Or Else, COBL, A Man And A Woman,...- but I don't have much with SYCMIOYO and One Step Closer. I still like those, just not as much as the rest of the album.
 
I like everything on the album except Vertigo and COBL. I'm bored of COBL now and Vertigo was never a good song. Love and Peace does feel a bit cheesy. The rest of the album is great, however.

eta: I was in Chapters the other day, and there's a book called 1000 Songs You Need To Hear Before You Die (or something)...and it had an appendix entitled "10,001 songs you need to download". I found it interesting that, amongst other more expected tracks, Yahweh was included.....what bugged me about the book is that U2 didn't have an entry in the 1000 songs list until WOWY. Like, cmon guys, I think there's just a few U2 songs before WOWY that a music fan would want to hear before they die! :mad:
 
I really liked it when i was just getting into U2 and had only heard it and ATYCLB but now I find it pretty boring except for a few tracks.
 
I'm less receptive to this thread every year.

I'm not sure if that's because I dislike the album more every year or because this thread is made every year.
 
I'm less receptive to this thread every year.

I'm not sure if that's because I dislike the album more every year or because this thread is made every year.

I think this thread is okay. In fact im reading it right now. Im not sure if it is a "great" thread, compared to others, maybe it is below Interference's pay grade. But it certainly is growing on me.

The First half of this thread is especially good, second half tails off a bit.

The most interesting thing I keep finding with this thread is that its probably got the biggest gap between how it is perceived and talked about here and how it is perceived and talked about with the casual fan and general public.

In fact i think it should be included in "1000 threads you should read before you die"
 
I think this thread is okay. In fact im reading it right now. Im not sure if it is a "great" thread, compared to others, maybe it is below Interference's pay grade. But it certainly is growing on me.

The First half of this thread is especially good, second half tails off a bit.

The most interesting thing I keep finding with this thread is that its probably got the biggest gap between how it is perceived and talked about here and how it is perceived and talked about with the casual fan and general public.

In fact i think it should be included in "1000 threads you should read before you die"


That was pretty funny.
 
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