Disco de U2: “How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (Deluxe Edition)”

U2, known primarily for grandiose convictions, an intense desire to be the biggest band in the world, and a huge, guitar-driven sound with soaring vocals, have become rather conservative in their evolution. Retreating from their 1980s work, U2 primarily focused on broadening their artistic pallette, bringing in electronica, techno, and other weird fusions. This created a problem with U2's fan base as the decade drew to a close, because the farther U2 strayed into the eclectic musical territory they were pursuing, the more difficult it was for the fans to follow their evolution. When U2 experimented successfully, they made some of the most successful music of their career (ACHTUNG BABY). Yet they grounded their experimentation with a sense of purpose, and they always kept their ambition within the elasticity of the fans' and critics' admiration. At least, they tempered their music with a good dose of rock in the early 90s. ACHTUNG BABY, one of their most experimental, evolutionary records, has been universally hailed by both fans and critics alike as some of their most significant music. ACHTUNG BABY set the course for much of the decade, with U2 going more and more into post-modernism.

Then the 1997 nadir POP happened. Not that POP was necessarily a BAD album. Instead of sounding a natural progression of the band's ambition, the experimentation never really gelled, much like R.E.M.'s UP. POP comes across as torn between two different directions - the anthem-driven, spiritually aware U2 lamenting a loss world, and a strange, dance-driven beat that is supposed to celebrate living with almost primitive desire, instead of commenting on the moral and social decline of earth. Both a critical and commercial flop, U2 seriously re-evaluated their status as artists after POP, and streamlined their sign, making a very conscious return to their earlier sound.

In 2000, U2 delivered the followup to POP, ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND. The title is more than aptly representative of that album. Abandoning wholly the more progressive elements of their music, LEAVE BEHIND sounds like U2 trying to write a classicist record, returning to the styles of their 1980s output. While it was fun to hear them return to that era, ALL THAT YOU, out of necessity, didn't have a lot of artistic evolution. That wasn't the point.

So it's little surprise that U2, has streamlined their music even more on HOW TO DISMANTLE AN ATOMIC BOMB. While their early records were both revolutionary and a thrill to listen too, and the early 1990s work pure genius, HTDAATB is a much more calculated record, made to sound like classic U2 instead of just being U2. U2's experimentation had gotten them in trouble, and this is the result. U2, instead of playing the music they want to play, are now playing to win back the audience that much of their 1990s work alienated. In many ways, like Essau yielding to Jacob, U2 has traded their birthright for porridge, selling their artistic evolution out for trying to be the biggest band in the world.

Although POP did have some unmitigated disasters, at least it was the old U2, wedded to pushing the envelop with cutting edge music. That's the real irony of HTDAATB; the new U2 is returning back to the old styles to win back the fans, while the old U2 was much more interested in creating worthwhile music, combining their ambition with their musical sensibilities, growing artistically and commercially. This is a record that the old U2, after making the records they did in the 1990s, would never make. The old U2 would keep pressing on, pursing their musical evolution. But POP happened and U2 has been reeling ever since.

While this may seem to be a primarily negative review of U2's latest effort, there are some postive notes. While artistically a puzzling, entirely too conservative affair calculated to win back fans, there's some great music here. The lead off-single, "Vertigo," is jagged guitar rock. "Crumbs From Your Table" plays like we're back in the 1980s. "Love or Peace" is an interesting comment on war. "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own," written in 2001 when Bono's father died, shows us Bono at his most vulnerable. "Yahweh" (or to be strictly orthodox, YHWH), gives us U2 at their most spiritually thirsty. It has great music and a great sound, but that doesn't make HOW TO DISMANTLE AN ATOMIC BOMB the instant classic ACHTUNG BABY and THE JOSHUA TREE are.

U2's end result is rather a half-breed. HTDAATB is much too conservative and calculated to be truly revolutionary and an undeniable classic, but also just too good to write off completely (mostly because U2's trying to recreate an era of their career where they were writing and performing fantastic music. Hence my four star rating, though artistically it's three). For the causal fan, this may be a subtle point; it has a warm, big sound, and has excellent music. For those who loved U2 for being fearless pioneers will be rather disappointed.

In ways, I belong to both camps. There's some wonderful songs here. But I miss U2's sense of adventure.

[There are three songs left off the album that I am aware of. One, "Fast Cars," has surfaced on the UK and Japanese pressings as a bonus track. The band did covered Kraftwerk ("Neon Lights"). There's a non LP track on the second "Vertigo" single, "Are You Gonna Wait Forever?"]

I only heard a short clip of Vertigo prior to buying this. When I came here to make the buy, thought I would see what some of the other citizens thought of it. As I read the reviews, a few idle thoughts came to mind, not listed in any order of importance:

Several people expressed dismay that the sound of U2 has changed. There was disappointment that the Edge may not still have that "edge" that separated him from so many other second fiddles that stood directly behind many group's headliners. There was an abundance of lamenting concerning Bono not possessing that "Bono Vox" he has given the world for the almost thirty plus years.

After reading the reviews and listening to this, I found that it is a work that is exactly where it should be. It sounds like U2 should sound today. It is reflective of an incredible musical career that is beginning to span two generations. And it is the sound and contains the energy and drive that makes U2 what it was....what it is today, and what it will be remembered as.

I did not buy this hoping it would sound like "The Unforgettable Fire". I already own "The Unforgettable Fire" and am very content and satisfied with the way it sounds. I bought this with a reasonable expectation that I would hear a musical group in the autumn of their career still putting out some of the best, most original and undoubtedly most creative musical work on the planet. And I was not disappointed....I don't think you will be either.

Album: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

Artist: U2

Simple: Don't build one. That's the best way to dismantle an atomic bomb. I didn't come up with that (I read it in another review). Yes, I know this album came out a long time ago (in the music buiness last Thanksgiving may as well be forever ago) but it's taken me a really long time to ponder HOW TO DISMANTLE AN ATOMIC BOMB (HTDAB). First, let me say that while I love it when band's experiment....thank God U2's mid-life crisis is over and they've returned to their roots. Both this album and their previous effort, ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND find U2 leaving behind the dark, noisy Euro-Disco scene and returning to arena rock (where they belong). HTDAB is fab...and U2 lets you know right off the bat with "Vertigo" a gee-whizzbang homerun/grandslam of a song. Yeah, so what if Apple and Clear Channel have run it into the ground? They were able to do so because it kicks so much ass! Bono and company wisely slow things down with the second (artier) track "Miracle Drug." I personally found it to be my least favorite track, but this could be caused by an acute adrenaline overdose left over from "Vertigo." The third track, "Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own" is the soul brother of ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND's "Kite." Both songs sprang from Bono's adult relationship with his dead. Whereas "Kite" was about moving out, "Sometimes..." is about moving on (after the death of a loved one). The song is truthful and moving. Bono's gift for laying his feelings all out for everyone to see in this song will silence critics who accuse him of pandering and being a sell-out. No one sells out by writing a song like "Sometimes..." Next, "Love and Peace or Else" is a noisy, post-Pop manifesto for peace (by making threats). This song seems like a statement to those super activists who end up becoming the very thing they are fighting. Peace, should be born of love-not frustration and anger. If "Love and Peace or Else" were a road, "City of Blinding Lights" would be the destination. This song is classic U2, and is one of the stongest tracks. I love Edge's guitar work (his songs are always so fresh and unique). The song also has my favorite lyrics on the album "the more see the less you know/ the less you find out as you go" only a mature, world-weary Bono could write a universal truth like that (and sing it with such conviction...so much that my 21 year old ears automatically take the statement as fact rather than opinion). "All Because of You" another great single, is well...a great single. Not as fast as or furious as "Vertigo" but it's not meant to be-it's a great U2 love song. Speaking of love songs, "Man and a Woman" the next track is probably the best 'I don't understand love' song written. Totally encapsulating the whole 'what the hell is going on here' feeling of man and woman's relationships, the song features some great guitar work and brilliant chorus."Crumbs from Your Table" sounds like vintage U2, again the chorus is strong (the 'cool down mama' will stick inside your head for days). The album's weakest track is stuck down there at the bottom (where an album's weakest track belongs). The song, "One Step Closer" isn't really bad, just not very memorable and seems like a U2 song we've already heard. "Origin of the Species" and "Yahweh" close HTDAB, on a uplifting-hopefull note. The spiritual side we've all come to expect from U2 rears it head, and unlike many political bands, keeps from being preachy (while still making it's point). "Yahweh" alone is worth the purchase price of the CD (I think). A love letter to God...the song will break your heart with it's 'always pain before a child is born' chorus and humble before-the-universe lyrics. I love this album, and the band who made it. Many might dismiss U2 as a Dinosaur of the '80s, a relic still trying to cash in on their essential rock classic THE JOSHUA TREE-but HTDAB is proof positive that U2 tough (but willing to wear their hearts on their sleeves). I was, however, a bit dissapointed that the album didn't really seem to touch 9/11 or the War on Terror (I desperately wanted U2 to tell me everything was going to be okay). Upon further consideration, I realized that any attempt to do so would be an act of futility-also songs of healing and hope (like "Yahweh") are more in line with what this world needs right now (not "The Angry American").

This is a top notch CD. Unfortunately, there are many sad people here posting under fake accounts just to wail on this CD. Especially Roberto Diaz who is really GDB posting under another alias. He will be nailed shortly for account abuse. I've been watching this group for a while and there's one loser continuously posting under new accounts. IP tracking will be requested shortly.

All Because of You -- a great rocker which has gotten a lot of airplay.

Vertigo -- A FUN rocking song that most people will like if they lighten up a bit. :)

Yahweh -- A simple, catchy, straightforward hymn to Bono's God. I always appreciated his open spirituality, even if I don't believe the same things he does.

Crumbs from Your Table -- That funky chord they use and the rolling, rocking hooks. Wonderful tune.

Miracle Drug -- Sounds like something from Boy and I can't get enough of it.

Yes, this CD isn't perfect, however, it is NOT even close to being a 1 star effort like the lamers here are trying to say.

U2 reviewers tend to go wrong when they define a particular album or group of albums as the "real" or "best" U2. For 25 years now, U2 have been on an undending and various journey making music together, and though you may not like the latest installment as much as "War" or "Joshua Tree" or "Pop" (or whatever the "greatest" is for you), How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb is another essential landmark on the way.

What many U2 fans and detractors alike fail to recognize is that, at each stage of the journey, U2 has been calculated and deliberate in making their albums. As Bono said in the recent Rolling Stone interview, "We don't go after albums like rock bands. We go after albums like film directors: this is the subject, let's get into it." In that sense, every U2 album is very conceptual. U2 albums are "visionary" in that they seek out, create, and provide ways of seeing the world, of being in the world.

In other words, the music is written in service of particular themes/ideas/subjects. And these themes naturally change over time. In the late 80's, the music was in service of the idea of America (the "two Americas" as the Joshua Tree was almost called). Hence the huge, sparse soundscapes and the wonderful collision of hope/despair (innocence & experience) on both personal and politcal levels in the lyrics. In the early 90's the band looked to Europe for inspiration (the frenetic energy surrounding the collapse of the Iron Curtain) and also inward toward the heavenly heights and hellish depths of desire. Hence the experimental noise and purple-black (ultraviolet) tones. The rest of the nineties saw experimentation and a flirtation with dance and electronica as a broadening of the "palatte" of what U2 could be, mean, and sound like, and as an exploration of the themes of identity and spiritual quest in a brave, new postmodern world.

The latest two albums represent another shift in the U2 sound. And like all the others over an impressively long career, it is a very deliberate one. After far-flung musical exploration (with Zooropa, Pop, and especially Passengers) they made a conscious effort to rediscover what is most essential to this band as a band. Thematically, the resulting album focused on very elemental necessities: friendship, fatherhood, faith, hope, love, and grace. Far from being trite or trivial, that album captures a hardwon sense of "second naivete," and it's no wonder that the raw emotion of "All that YOu Can't Leave Behind" became a touchstone for many in America after 9/11.

"Dismantle" is another record in that vein, though it differs significantly from ATYCLB. Musically, with this album, U2 draws on its full palatte. As we might say about a writer or a visual artist, U2 has achieved artistic maturity. No longer seeking and stretching to realize their talent, they are now at the full height of their powers as composers and performers (and anyone who's seen the Vertigo tour has to agree the band has never played better than they are right now). Thematically, this album is very "adult." A paen to long-term monogamy, songs exploring parent-child relationships after an elderly father's death, the admission that "I've had enough of romantic love...I'd give it up for a miracle drug," the desire to hold onto youthful passsion while also channeling it into deliberate and systematic attempts to heal some of the world's great ills....none of this is very "rock and roll." U2, on their very first album, explored themes of innocence and adulthood. They do the same here, but from a very different vantage point, much further along the road of life's journey. At the end of the day, what U2 is doing on this album is making rock music by grown-ups for grown-ups that doesn't suck. That, in my book, is groudbreaking in itself.

This may not be your favorite U2 period, and there are fans that prefer the early 80's, fans that prefer the late 80's, fans that prefer the 90's, and yes, fans that prefer the recent stuff. But don't let your own prejudice about what you think is "the real U2" blind you from appreciating the breathtaking reach of this band, and the particular greatness of their latest achievement.