Explosive Opening, Powerful Middle, Poor Ending

Review Score: (6/10)
I bought this cd as someone who had never listened to a U2 cd before. Surprisingly, I had heard almost all of the first ten tracks on the radio and television before. I now know why I hadn't heard the remaining four: they are TERRIBLE.

Stunning, powerful, explosive guitar riffs, painful subject matter...these adjectives all characterize that wonderful opening. It sounds as if U2 actually care about the music that they write, as if they were personally involved in many of the events most of us simply read in a history book.

But the last four just seem to fizzle out into nothing; it's hard to even imagine that U2 sing them. And please, if I hear another duet with BB King by a rock band I'm going to scream. There's a reason why rock should not be combined with blues...quite frankly, the end is just a huge mess.

Nonetheless, don't let this whinging put you off buying the album - it's still fantastic, I just think it would be more worthwhile buying U2's individual albums which mesh together far better.

I'd recommend "The Unforgettable Fire," "The Joshua Tree," "Achtung Baby," (for some of their early 90s sound), and "All That You Can't Leave Behind" (which marked their recent resurgence in popularity).

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