U2

All That You Can't Leave Behind

Might be strong for lesser bands, but among U2's weakest

Review Score:

(4/10)
I found myself needed to write a review for this album after reading the sea of the 5-star reviews here, hails that this CD is a masterpiece, their best work, etc. U2 does in fact have two absolute masterpieces--Achtung Baby and Joshua Tree. Nearly flawless, groundbreaking, era-defining work. By comparison, this CD is at best a middling effort. The CD contains three wonderful songs in Beautiful Day, Elevation, and Walk On. On these tracks the band has never sounded better. But after that, the quality drop on this CD is significant. What's more, a couple of the tracks on the disc are positively atrocious (the vapid 'stuck in a moment' (possibly getting my vote as the worst U2 track ever, with Zooropa's "Babyface" coming 2nd) and equally trite and embarrassing 'Peace on Earth'). The remainder of the tracks on the disc range from average to forgettable. In any case, it's a spotty effort with some high points but not enough to rank this with the band's best work on the whole. This step towards bland adult contempo fare has seemingly expanded the already enormous fan base but honestly, if you're truly familiar with the bands work, to hail this as the group's best is blasphemy. U2 may very well be the greatest rock band of all time (and still a breathtaking live act), but this CD if anything indicates the band's best days may just be behind them.

To sum it up, the CD ranks above the earliest U2 work (Boy/October) but below everything else in the catalog. Yes, including the highly underrated "POP".

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