U2 Album: “All That You Can't Leave Behind (Limited)”

Oh, my AP English class has finally paid off, because now I understand why U2 has gone from "brilliant" to "more brilliant" to "more brilliant still."

I'm talking about William Blake, the 18th-century poet who authored the "Songs of Innocence and Experience." Don't click away--even if you know nothing about poetry, if you know something about U2, you'll appreciate this...

The theme of the "Songs" is this: We enter the world with a pure, unaffected point of view. As such, we perceive it with unadulterated clarity, but we lack the understanding to appreciate what we see.

With experience comes this understanding, but at what price? We lose the clarity of perception we were born with.

As understanding increases, though, we realize this. And then we become whole. Only through innocence can we become experienced. Only through experience can we appreciate innocence.

Now, who's that sound like? An Irish rock group, maybe, who started out waving a white flag, proclaiming, "I Will Follow"? Who saw the world in black and white and knew exactly which side they were on?

The same group saved themselves by diving headfirst into the black, as it were. With the Zoo TV experience, they immersed themselves in the sensual and the secular. In fact, they did that so thoroughly that to this day, older, more simpleminded fans resent them for it.

The simpletons can rejoice, and so can us Achtung Babies who understand what U2 did and why they had to do it, and love them for it. It started on "Pop," and it's happened on "All That You Can't Leave Behind": U2 have come full circle, become whole. They are innocent again. They understand the world around them, and now they know why this is black, why that's white, and why there's so much gray.

The band who created "All..." aren't afraid to wear their collective heart on their collective sleeve again. They aren't afraid to ask for "Peace on Earth." They can write the sweetest, most lovingest love song they've ever written now--"Wild Honey"--because they know now that beyond the darkness love is certainly waiting.

They've made their phone calls from Hell, and they are more aware than ever that, while the dark places won't go away, the world is still a true, beautiful place. They're seeing with cherubs' eyes now--the eyes of wise children.

They said they wanted to make an album about joy, and that it wouldn't be easy. They've more than risen to the challenge.

Buy this album. Buy it now. Click now. It will make your problems go away, at least for a little while. It will make your soul soar. It will make you sing.

A 'back to basics' approach is a well known trick of the record trade: a band becomes famous, its music familiar, so it ducks and dives, twists and turns, trying to throw up a few surprises. Then, when the fans break the code and the envelope can't be pushed any further, the earlier style is reprised and sold in a combined package of nostalgia and 'old is new' novelty. This is the slash and burn agriculture practiced by the music industry. With Oasis on the wane, the Verve having broken up, and Radiohead disappointing their rock fans again, a return to their straight rock roots by U2 couldn't be better timed.

In 1988, with the World at their feet, Phil Joanou's epic rockumentary Rattle & Hum attempted to carve U2's visage on the Mount Rushmore of rock'n'roll legend by trawling them through America's musical heartlands of gospel, blues, and rock. Soon after this, however,the band started to move away from their trademark sound of intense, almost messianic vocals against a soundscape of clanging guitars and epic rhythms in favor of a more produced, textured sound arrived at with the help of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. Impassioned, naive idealism was replaced with a worldly, sophisticated, clubby, media-savvy, ironic sensibility.

U2's aptly titled new album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, is an attempt both to undo some of the damage done by this move as well as consolidate some of its gains. Bono has dubbed the new album's sound "titanium soul." and claimed that the new songs are "tunes rather than just ideas," implicitly criticizing U2's earlier output. "There's no storytelling or artifice," he declared on the band's official website. "It's about the pure joy of playing in a band, with or without an audience."

After the jaded cynicism of the MacPhisto period when Bono projected himself as the bad end of a Faustian bargain, there is now reported to be a renewed burst of spiritual energy coursing through the group, courtesy of Bono's newfound cause campaigning for the abolition of Third World debt. This, along with the more stripped down sound, has raised expectations

"Beautiful Day," the first single, makes a brave attempt to live up to these hopes as lushly layered harmonies are flailed with incendiary guitar. On "Walk On" and "Elevation" the melding of the Edge's clanging guitar and Bono's impassioned singing also signals that U2 are no longer content to communicate through the ouija boards of producers, sound engineers and the mixing console as they were in the Zooropa and Pop. years. The suspicion remains, however, that the guitar overdubs are merely being cranked up in the mix to give a rawer feel.

The sound and fury of the noisier tracks are balanced with slower numbers which allow Bono to mug the microphone with some quite effective stabs at soul. "In A Little While" is a low-key, piece of pop that really grows on you. "Wild Honey" is also a great song, but howabout a remix to bring out the Edge's beautiful, crying guitar?

The best song on the album is undoubtedly "Kite," a soaring, catchy, anthemic song, with Bono delivering one of his most impassioned vocals, emblazoned with some intricate guitar riffs and tugging rhythms that relentlessly drive the song on without overpowering its delicacy.

The lyrics are interesting because Bono is singing from the viewpoint of someone who has just died looking back on his life and thinking about his children. To anybody who has just lost a parent the lyrics will be extremely moving.

P.S. I love the jacket design - it looks like Adam has misplaced the tickets again.

It all sounds so cliche..."back to their roots," "they've done it again," "another masterpiece." True, sort of.

Yes, this is "back to their roots" in that they've stripped away the hype and experimentation, leaving us with just four guys with their instruments and The Voice. Yes, "they've done it again" in that this is their best album since Achtung Baby and will reach the mainstream again and not tend to be ignored by those who don't understand. Yes, it "is a masterpiece," in it's own way.

You see, U2's latest release is an album full of joy and a little bit of soul. The band have become more comfortable with themselves, their emotions and have finally realized that they don't need the techno to impress us anymore. From the outset, we have the joy of Beautiful Day, Elevation and Wild Honey. Beautiful Day and Elevation are guitar-driven numbers worthy of rolling down the car windows and cranking the volume to 10. Wild Honey's melody and lightness will linger in your head for days and days. It, along with Stuck in a Moment, will give you a certain Beatle-esque feeling.

But U2 has a knack for cranking out the emotion, and Peace On Earth and Walk On bring it on. Walk On, particularly, will go down as this album's "One" or "With or Without You." The guitar has the same familiarity of other U2 ballads (I can hear the crowd roar in recognition when the first notes are played live!) and the lyrics are brilliantly written. Peace On Earth is Bono's tribute to the victim's of the Omagh bombing, and I've yet to hear anything that evokes so much emotion.

The most interesting part of the album for me is the soul that they seem to have tapped for Stuck in a Moment and In a Little While. These just have tremendous feeling that doesn't bog you down, but gives you some hope, and perhaps some joy?

After 16 years as a fan, I am relieved that this is how this album turned out, but not in the least bit surprised. A great addition to any CD collection, as I feel it's some of the best music to come out this year.

There are U2 listeners under the mistaken impression that U2 is The Joshua Tree, and that everything after that was untrue to their image. Then there are those that realize that The Joshua Tree was just one of the many images the band has employed throughout their career, and was never meant to be permanent. They have continually evolved their sound through the years. To listeners of Boy and October, the U2 of The Joshua Tree was commercial and a divergence from their true self. To listeners of The Joshua Tree, the U2 of Pop was commercial and divergent from their true self. Then there are those that realize that the songs are always the same: it's how the band plays them that changes.

How does U2 play those songs on All That You Can't Leave Behind? Very well.

"Beautiful Day": When you lose everything, you can still stop, look around, and realize, Yeah, I'm broke and destitute, but isn't it beautiful out today? The first single, though that honor likely should have gone to "Elevation", which will likely find greater chart success.

"Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of": A Motown-flavored ballad. A song about suicide; or, rather, suicide prevention. About realizing that wherever you are at right now, you won't be there forever. Every moment ends. This feeling you're feeling now won't always be there. Also a likely single, because the lyrics are dichotomous enough that it sounds like a straightforward love song. Should find the same audience that doesn't realize that "Every Breath You Take" is about stalking.

"Elevation": A sort of "Even Better Than the Real Thing," in that "Take me higher" could have been lifted from that song and dropped in here without missing a beat. Following the pattern set by the previous two songs on the album, it's about finding inspiration and learning to leap up out of the blues. A great rocker, with some of the dance rhythms the band experimented with on Pop held over for subtle use here. Would make a great show opener. Favorite lyric: "At the corner of your lips / As the orbit of your hips / Eclipse / You elevate my soul"

"Kite": Probably my favorite song on the album. Flying away, floating on a leisurely breeze like a kite in the wind, is the metaphor. Just go with the wind. You can't control it, so just learn to enjoy it.

"In a Little While": An unusual little number for the band, with a great guitar lick by Edge kicking off a sweet song about missing someone; about being able to stop and enjoy missing someone.

"Wild Honey": U2 idealizes The White Album, the album that gave us "Honey Pie" and "Wild Honey Pie". Now, U2 gives us the completely unrelated "Wild Honey". One of the few straightforward songs on the album. After Jimmy Buffet wrote a song about the misadventure he shared with Bono in Jamaica, it seems only fitting that the boys write something with Jimmy's flavor.

"Peace on Earth": Another straightforward song. With a title like this, it's hard to mistake what it's about, but it does contain some of the most meaningful lyrics Bono's ever written. A reminder to those who make the mistake that U2 left behind their care for the world with Zooropa and Pop. It's always been there; they just stopped beating people over the head about it.

"New York": After doing Miami last time and New York this time, I guess the only thing left is Los Angeles. Denver, maybe? Poughkeepsie?

Though more mellow than most of their albums, there is a lot here to listen to. One of the best albums the band has produced in their career, and certainly one of the best albums of the year.

I am not one of those people who has locked themselves into one of the two U2 fan groups (then/now). I have enjoyed hearing the progression of this band. Give me a break! ATYCLB is a truly sublime album. The song are tight and complex. If this was U2's only album, it would make a sufficent statement about the scope and depth of their work.

Beautiful Day, is, well great. Elevation, is far from a mere dance tune. Walk On, Peace On Earth, and Grace will all be fan favorites. Kite, IMHO, is the strongest track on the album...an awesome song.

I know there is that group that would like to jump back in time to Red Rocks and white flags (still love that stuff), but bands grow and progress. U2 has made a truly pioneer album. I hope all U2 fans can appreciate that fact.