ATYCLB

[mad1]

I love the ATYCLB album, but Im not into Wild Honey and When I Look at The World.

 

[mama cass]

i think it's a beautiful album and definitely belongs in my top 3 U2 albums... it's like soul music, Irish soul music, U2 style... a real uplifter and comforter... for me, there's not a weak track on there, nothing i feel the need to skip (and that's saying something because i'm a compulsive-obsessive track-skipper lol)

i've got Ground Beneath Her Feet as my closer, and i love it, works really well...

 

[Nick66]

Bump!

I'm going to say something that some may not a gree with: I think All That You Can't Leave Behind is U2's third best album, only behind the obvious two of Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree. And it's not very far behind the latter. Though the first half is considerably better than the last. There's quite a few alright songs, but the good songs are SOOOO good, that they pretty much outweigh the others.

1. Beautiful Day has it all: good verses, soaring chorus (especially the "touch me" part), and prominent guitar. Brilliant comeback single.
2. Stuck is alright to me. It's not single-worthy, nor is it worthy of it being played after 10 years very often. It's not bad, just not excellent.
3. Elevation is a good, solid rocker, and is a good opener. But PLEASE DROP IT FROM LIVE SETS. DO YOU HEAR ME, U2?!?!? I do never listen to the album version, though. Only the Tomb Raider mix.
4. Walk On is absolutely brilliant, in my top 5 U2 songs for sure. It's majestic, from the solo, to the chorus, to the "home" bridge, to the "all that you fashion" part. Perfection.
5. Kite is a great, introspective song. Passionate vocals, and a powerful chorus make it a seemingly obvious choice for a single. Why it wasn't, I don't know. It really turned into something special after Bono's father passed away.
6. In a Little While is another alright one. I could do without it.
7. Wild Honey. See thoughts for In a Little While.
8. Peace on Earth was a great intro to Walk On after 9/11, and it fit. Decent song.
9. When I Look at the World is pretty good. Nothing extremely special about it, but by no means bad.
10. New York is excellent, IMO. Some call the lyrics cheesy, I find them interesting and different. And the chorus seems so massive in contrast to the quieter verses. It gets some unnecessary slack.
11. Grace is a nice way to close the album. Though I think Walk On could've taken this spot, just like during Elevation concerts. How nice would it be to have one of the last lines on the album be "all that you can't leave behind", from Walk On. It would totally wrap it up.

Yeah....ATYCLB deserves lots and lots of love. There are at least 4-5 songs on there that are U2 classics...not bad for one record. Beautiful Day is probably their most important single ever.

 

[AndrewCowley]

For a long time I never rated this album highly. But have listened to it lately and I have to say that unlike the 2 albums that followed it is so much more natural and less forced. There's a beauty to it. And at least it is a complete album, with a single focus, rather than the sound of a band second guessing itself. So I now respect it more than ever. WILATW would rate very highly on my all time list of favorite U2 songs. Amen.

 

[Slapnutz]

It's nice dinner party music.

 

[gman]

I think people couldn't handle the drastic change from POP to ATYCLB.. Much like people couldn't handle the shock of how the band changed from Rattle and Hum to Achtung Baby.

R&H to AB was much more of a leap....speaking as a hard core u2 fan. I Love ATYCLB, some fantastic songs on there. I tend to like som of the more unpopular ones...Like IALW, Wild Honey, Stuck in A moment.....as well as Walk On and Kite, which are my two faves and which both rank in my top 5 all time u2 toons

 

[digitize]

I started this thread three years ago. I was fifteen at the time. Ehh... that's weird.