A shame

Review Score: (2/10)
Nowhere near what old U2 was. Doesn't Deserve the One Star I'm Forced to Give

The hype this time killed the actually receiving of said wanted item. On my first play of U2's latest album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, I was incredibly disappointed. It's instantly recognisable as a U2 album. There's Edge's trademark guitar playing, and Bono's pleading, coaxing lyrics. There's the return of the usual themes of love, longing, spirituality and being lost. With the middle section of "Vertigo" taken from the Boy album, it even borrows from previous U2 songs.

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is probably the most commercial album that U2 have ever put out. This is not the album of a band trying to reaffirm their status of rock gods by exploring whole new sounds. This is an attempt to please everyone. The tracks are all safe and mainstream radio-friendly. Hurts to even listen to samples found here.

Most the album is mainly made up of slower tracks and ballads. These are too frequently unmemorable and mediocre. They sound like they should be on a film soundtrack as background music. U2 used to have a reputation for being different, for creating new sounds. Think of "Miami", "Numb", "lemon", "Discotheque", "Zoo Station", "Elvis Presley and America", etc. U2 were frequently criticised for their musical diversions, but at least in the past they tried.

All the fame and money has turned a once great band into a pathetic joke of their former glory.





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