U2

Pop

U2 speaks from the head

Review Score:

(6/10)
Being a band that had a reputation of setting trends and never really falling out of style with the times, it's rather strange that U2 decided to follow the electronica pack rather than take off in some other direction of their own. It's easy to believe that the successes of the Chemical Brothers and the Prodigy in the mid 90s American market gave U2 the incentive to pursue the dancier side of their sound.

Many U2 fans were shocked by such a transition and dismissed the band for turning into a 'techno' act. Of course, change was nothing new to U2, considering that The Unforgettable Fire, Achtung Baby, and Zooropa all signaled changes in their sound. But my qualms with Pop do not stem from the style of the music, but rather the songs themselves.

After listening to Pop over and over since 1997, I have come to this conclusion: Pop suffers because U2 created music from the head rather than the heart. This was a point in their career where their image seemed to matter more than their ambitions, and much of Pop sounds like music that U2 felt that they had to do rather than wanted to do. So as a result, the album sort of feels half-baked and unfulfilled.

No, the album is not unlistenable. I can listen to it straight through and restrain myself from skipping any tracks. There are lots of fine moments, including the dramatic single 'Please' and the rousing dance number 'Mofo.' But U2 are capable of so much more than this. Perhaps it was the next natural step in their evolutionary stage to get such trendy tendencies out of their system. But you can hear a far more comfortable U2 in All That You Can't Leave Behind. The reason? It came from the heart and not the head.

More Reviews: