U2 Does It Again. Review on All That You Can't Leave Behind - U2

In October 2000, rock seemed to be in a slow period. Many of the 90s leading rock bands had either broken up or radically changed direction. The music scene had been overtaken by hordes of teen pop bands and rap-metal frat boys. It was then that those Dublin Bad Boys known as u2 dropped a bomb on the music world. That bomb (which was not a bomb in terms of chart success or artistic success) was All That You Can't Leave Behind. The album surged up the charts, has been nominated for some Grammys and proceeded to show the teenyboppers how it's done.

All That You Can't Leave Behind was highly anticipated. So the big question is: does the disc live up to the hype?

The answer (thankfully) is yes. After taking their experimentation with electronic sounds as far as it could go on 1997's Pop, the band decided to make a return to straightforward rock and roll. The result is their first straightforward rock album since the Joshua Tree and their best since Achtung Baby.

All That You Can't Leave Behind begins with the hit single ''Beautiful Day''. The song starts with a carefully played keyboard riff, which is accompanied by a drumbeat in the distance and then Bono's singing kicks in. The song is about looking beyond the dark aspects of life and seeing the beauty in each day. This is exemplified by the lyrics: ''Touch me/Take me to that other place...See the world in green and blue/See China in front of you/See the Bedouin fires at night/See the oil fields at first light''.

''Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of'' follows this. The song is an anthemic ballad that could sum up the spirit many Americans felt in 2001. Bono sounds soothing but commanding as he sings ''Oh lord/Look at you now/Stuck in a moment that you can't get out of''. He reminds us not to ''say that later will be better''.

''Elevation'' is a hard rocking track that out-rocks anything on Achtung Baby. The song starts out with a buzzing bass line accompanied by a plinking synth sound before the rest of the band kicks in. Bono sings: ''High/Higher than the sun/You shoot me from a gun/I need you to elevate me''. The song has a darkly erotic feel to it.

''Walk On'' is another commentary on the state of the world in 2001. The song has the feel of vintage U2 circa Joshua Tree. The lyrics reference sacrifice with the lines ''If your glass heart should crack/And if you should feel like turning back/Oh no/Be strong/Walk on''. ''I know how it aches/How your heart breaks/You can only take so much/Walk on'' is one of the most touching lines I’ve heard in rock music in a while. The songs final verses deal with starting fresh.

''Kite'' is another ballad that deals with life in general. The themes of sacrifice turn up again here as Bono sings ''I want you to know/That you don't need me anymore/...Who's to know when the time has come around/I don't wanna see you cry''. Later on, references are made to changing music scene with ''last of the rock stars/Now hip-hop drives the big cars''. Bono commenting on the pratfalls of fame perhaps.

“Wild Honey” is an upbeat Beatles type number. The lyrics are a reflection on innocence past and a longing for a simpler time. In a way it sounds like something that could have fit on Rubber Soul. One particular lyrics goes: “You can go there if you please/Wild honey/And if you go there go with me/Wild honey”.

“When I Look At The World” is a song that begins by asking “When you look at the world/What is it that you see?” The song deals with a sort of breakdown between two partners because one “does not see what you see/When I look at the world”. Musically the song again has that vintage U2 feel.

There are a couple of low-key songs on the album. “Peace On Earth” sounds like a recycled leftover from The Joshua Tree. It’s not necessarily bad. But it’s nothing exceptional either. Then there is “New York” which continues in the tradition of naming U2 songs after cities (tradition began on “Pop” with the weak “Miami”.). Good but nothing exceptional.

Were it not for those and a couple other minor songs, I wouldn’t hesitate to slap All That You Can’t Leave Behind with a 5 star rating. As it is, it rates a very high 4 stars. Definitely the best album of 2000.