The December/January issue of Tracks is out. Text at the top of the cover reads "U2 Drops The 'Bomb'. In the 'From The Editor' section, there is a part that reads:
"U2's stunning new album stands as a model for a veteran band still pushing itself and still daring to be ambitious."
~~~
To 20 Albums Of 2004:
1. U2 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
"Not the political diatribe its title might indicate, but still one of the most ambitious and powerful albums of a remarkable band's remarkable career. Drawing from the sounds of The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, and even War, the message of Bomb centers on the struggle for contact, emotion, and connection. And vocally Bono is at the very top of his game. -AL
~~~
Album review:
Dropping the Big One
U2 faces life during wartime with capital-L Love - and a classic disc.
by Alan Light
If you're expecting U2's first album since September 11th to be a political diatribe (and with it's preposterous title, why wouldn't you?), surprise. In recent years, Bono may have acted more like a Nobel Peace Prize candidate than like a rock star, but big political statements on How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb are few and far between. In their place is a more nuanced and human response to the chaos of our time - and, with it, one of the finest albums the group has ever made.
On the Elevation tour in support of All That You Can't Leave Behind, the album that helped them reclaim the title of World's Greatest Band, U2 took the stage each night to the sounds of "All You Need Is Love". Especially in the astonishing shows performed in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, that opener drove home the power of music at its most direct and fearlessly simple; it also served as a reminder of the Irish foursome's aspirations. The Beatles' most easily parodied sentiment clearly stuck with Bono & Co., for it echoes throught Bomb. Song after song returns to a single theme: the struggle for contact and connection in shattered times.
"The only pain is to feel nothing at all," Bono sings on "A Man And A Woman". On the spare, folky "One Step Closer", he adds, "The heart that hurts is a heart that beats". The rave-up lead single "Vertigo", which opens the album (vertigo presumably being the result of all that Elevation) blasts out of the gate declaring, "You give me something I can feel". There's a straight line leading from the album's most overtly political song, "Crumbs From Your Table" ("Where you live should not decide/Whether you live or whether you die"), to its most personal "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own", a gorgeous and unflinchingly elegy, evidently to Bono's late father. It's as if the singer's role as global ambassador, whether addressing the UN or Bill O'Reilly, had forced him to strive for the most universal way to communicate his message. He ever skewers his own celebrity - perhaps protesting too much, as on the blistering garage-glam jam "All Because Of You", on which he notes, "I like the sound of my voice/I didn't give anyone else a choice".
Lines that speak directly to our current war-torn world are rare - e.g., "Lay down your guns/All your daughters of Zion, all your Abraham's sons", from "Love And Peace Or Else". But lyric specificity has never been U2's aim, so even when things get a bit unfocused - as on "Original Of The Species" - they don't go far off track. It all builds to a flawless climax on the closing "Yahweh", a shimmering prayer over a trademark rolling, chiming groove.
Sonically, this is perhaps the most wide-ranging album the band has made. At times, it feels almost like a U2 sampler: flashes of the cinematic breadth of The Joshua Tree, the spiky roar of Achtung Baby, even some fleeting bass-and-drum breakdowns a la War. Advance word was that Bomb would be a guitar album, which is true to a point: the Edge unleashes his full arsenal, and on the rockers, the group kicks as hard as a band half its age. But the revelation here is Bono's naked voice, practically jumping out of the speakers as he pushes himself into a higher register. He instantly quells any fear that his activism has distracted him from his day job.
All That You Can't Leave Behind put U2 back in the game by delivering the goods that its fans had been missing - the well-crafted songs, full of heart and soul, that drew so many people to this band in the first place. It was a fine album, and it ended up providing the perfect soundtrack for a devastating moment in history. But How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb goes further. It's exciting, it's ambitious, it's alive, it's rock & roll - and right now it just might be all you need.
"U2's stunning new album stands as a model for a veteran band still pushing itself and still daring to be ambitious."
~~~
To 20 Albums Of 2004:
1. U2 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
"Not the political diatribe its title might indicate, but still one of the most ambitious and powerful albums of a remarkable band's remarkable career. Drawing from the sounds of The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, and even War, the message of Bomb centers on the struggle for contact, emotion, and connection. And vocally Bono is at the very top of his game. -AL
~~~
Album review:
Dropping the Big One
U2 faces life during wartime with capital-L Love - and a classic disc.
by Alan Light
If you're expecting U2's first album since September 11th to be a political diatribe (and with it's preposterous title, why wouldn't you?), surprise. In recent years, Bono may have acted more like a Nobel Peace Prize candidate than like a rock star, but big political statements on How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb are few and far between. In their place is a more nuanced and human response to the chaos of our time - and, with it, one of the finest albums the group has ever made.
On the Elevation tour in support of All That You Can't Leave Behind, the album that helped them reclaim the title of World's Greatest Band, U2 took the stage each night to the sounds of "All You Need Is Love". Especially in the astonishing shows performed in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, that opener drove home the power of music at its most direct and fearlessly simple; it also served as a reminder of the Irish foursome's aspirations. The Beatles' most easily parodied sentiment clearly stuck with Bono & Co., for it echoes throught Bomb. Song after song returns to a single theme: the struggle for contact and connection in shattered times.
"The only pain is to feel nothing at all," Bono sings on "A Man And A Woman". On the spare, folky "One Step Closer", he adds, "The heart that hurts is a heart that beats". The rave-up lead single "Vertigo", which opens the album (vertigo presumably being the result of all that Elevation) blasts out of the gate declaring, "You give me something I can feel". There's a straight line leading from the album's most overtly political song, "Crumbs From Your Table" ("Where you live should not decide/Whether you live or whether you die"), to its most personal "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own", a gorgeous and unflinchingly elegy, evidently to Bono's late father. It's as if the singer's role as global ambassador, whether addressing the UN or Bill O'Reilly, had forced him to strive for the most universal way to communicate his message. He ever skewers his own celebrity - perhaps protesting too much, as on the blistering garage-glam jam "All Because Of You", on which he notes, "I like the sound of my voice/I didn't give anyone else a choice".
Lines that speak directly to our current war-torn world are rare - e.g., "Lay down your guns/All your daughters of Zion, all your Abraham's sons", from "Love And Peace Or Else". But lyric specificity has never been U2's aim, so even when things get a bit unfocused - as on "Original Of The Species" - they don't go far off track. It all builds to a flawless climax on the closing "Yahweh", a shimmering prayer over a trademark rolling, chiming groove.
Sonically, this is perhaps the most wide-ranging album the band has made. At times, it feels almost like a U2 sampler: flashes of the cinematic breadth of The Joshua Tree, the spiky roar of Achtung Baby, even some fleeting bass-and-drum breakdowns a la War. Advance word was that Bomb would be a guitar album, which is true to a point: the Edge unleashes his full arsenal, and on the rockers, the group kicks as hard as a band half its age. But the revelation here is Bono's naked voice, practically jumping out of the speakers as he pushes himself into a higher register. He instantly quells any fear that his activism has distracted him from his day job.
All That You Can't Leave Behind put U2 back in the game by delivering the goods that its fans had been missing - the well-crafted songs, full of heart and soul, that drew so many people to this band in the first place. It was a fine album, and it ended up providing the perfect soundtrack for a devastating moment in history. But How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb goes further. It's exciting, it's ambitious, it's alive, it's rock & roll - and right now it just might be all you need.