U2

All That You Can't Leave Behind

U2 managed to make "The Perfect Album"

Review Score:

(10/10)
Before this album was released in 2000, my favorite U2 albums were "Zooropa" and "Achtung Baby" (with "Joshua Tree" in third place) because they created a cool new sound and infused their lyrics with a great sense of irony. They caught the zeitgeist of the times in the early 1990s, poking fun at the European bureaucracy and capturing the sense of excited optimism with Eastern Europe's new freedom. After the dismal "Pop" album, U2 could have continued the kind of decline that happens to older bands, so when I first heard "All That You Can't Leave Behind", I was completely blown away. It was musically brilliant, with many catchy songs, including the one-two opening punch of "Beautiful Day" and "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" (my favorite song on the album). Even better than catchy pop hooks and musical arrangement, they had some great and relevant lyrics, which only seemed to resonate deeper with listeners after the 9/11 tragedy a year after this album's release. I listened to this album a lot in late 2000 and 2001 and have never grown tired of it. With this album, I became convinced that U2 is simply the world's greatest band at the moment and it's a moment I hope they get stuck in with the upcoming new release "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb".

The song "Walk On" is one of my favorites and I was especially pleased to see that it was written about and dedicated to Burmese dissident and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, one of my favorite people on earth. The song perfectly captures the difficulty and loneliness of choosing a solitary life to suffer with one's people over the easy and selfish life of living for only one's family. It's a great tribute song to a great spiritual lady and well deserved, not to mention great tune to begin with.

Other favorite songs include "Peace on Earth", "When I Look at the World" and especially "New York" ("In New York freedom looks like too many choices..." U2 sings). Every song on this album is strong, and even though U2 recently lamented that only "Beautiful Day" was a hit single, this album could have produced at least five more hit singles if American radio was like it was in the 1980s. Unfortunately, hip hop and rap are the dominant musical form today and corporate radio might view U2 as aging rock dinosaurs, but that doesn't take away from the brilliance and perfection of this album. This should quite simply be a textbook study for any band wishing to make a perfect record from opening song to closing song. It starts with a bang and ends with contemplative grace. I really hope U2's new album will build on this one and take us further into the realm of musical genius. They are a band that still surprises and grows better with age.

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