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All That You Can't Leave Behind Image
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 161 Ratings

Top Track

Stuck In A Moment
... (With you, with you I wish we had another time, I wish we had another place.) Now Romeo and Juliet, Bet they never felt the way we felt. Bonnie... See the rest of the song lyrics
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 17
  2. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. As hopelessly antiquated as it may sound in the year 2000, it's as if they decided it was time to write and record an album of very good, extremely substantial traditional rock songs with an underlying inspirational bent.... the new work focuses on songs, not sonic gimmicks, and the difference is palpable.
  2. Now, as the group starts its third decade, U2 has found what it's looking for is good music, songs that ring with melody and hooks -- and meaning -- while still weaving in some of the ambient and electronic textures it explored on releases such as Achtung Baby, Zooropa, and Pop. The result is a richly crafted and filler-free pop album on which each song sounds like an individual work, calling to mind mid-period Beatles titles such as Rubber Soul.
  3. Spin
    80
    Call it the happy aftermath of a midlife crisis. U2 is relaxing, reasserting some beliefs critics love to shove back in their face--most importantly, that uplifing art is not necessarily dumb. [12/2000, p.233]
  4. All That You Can't Leave Behind returns to the grand gestures of old. Practically every song a potential hit single. Soulful, exuberant, at peace with its own clichés, this is one U2 record that will never be called antianything.... Call it their R.E.M. album, monster rock filtered through a sophisticate's restraint.
  5. All That You Can't Leave Behind is a rock record from a band that absorbed all the elastic experimentation, studio trickery, dance flirtations, and genre bending of Achtung, Zooropa, and Pop -- all they've shed is the irony. U2 also chooses not to delve as darkly personal as they did on Achtung or Zooropa, yet they also avoid the alienating archness of Pop, choosing to return to the generous spirit that flowed through their best '80s records.
  6. Checkout.com
    70
    The bottom-line is that while All is a good album, it isn't a great one.... All largely rides somewhere in the '80s, hitting a few heights (the ruminative "New York"), while occasionally missing the target altogether ("Peace on Earth").
  7. Subtle breakbeat drumming and glistening guitar be damned, Bono will ruin a song. And so the story goes for the entire album-- one of the band's finest, if not for the tweeting and hooting of The Fly and his grating lyrics.

See all 17 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 46 out of 62
  2. Negative: 11 out of 62
  1. PaulT
    Jan 25, 2010
    10
    A gorgeous, deeply inspiring collection of heartfelt music. U2 not only made a comeback with this album, they created a masterpiece that will A gorgeous, deeply inspiring collection of heartfelt music. U2 not only made a comeback with this album, they created a masterpiece that will lift your soul and break your heart. Bravo! Expand
  2. Apr 26, 2020
    10
    O Melhor álbum que o U2 Lançou depois do Achtung Baby (1991) e já estamos em 2020, 20 anos depois desse álbum, e o U2 não lançou nenhum álbumO Melhor álbum que o U2 Lançou depois do Achtung Baby (1991) e já estamos em 2020, 20 anos depois desse álbum, e o U2 não lançou nenhum álbum que conseguiu superar esse.

    Nem o excelente "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" (2004) conseguiu ser melhor que essa Obra-Prima de 2000. nem os ótimos "No Line On The Horizon" (2009) & "Songs of Innocence" (2014) conseguiram esse feito também.

    All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000) é certamente o 3° melhor álbum da carreira extraordinária da banda U2, Só perde para o The Joshua Tree (1987) e Achtung Baby (1991).
    Expand
  3. Jun 7, 2013
    10
    This is music. One of the best albums in history. Once you press the play button, you will not be able to stop it. If you have good taste,This is music. One of the best albums in history. Once you press the play button, you will not be able to stop it. If you have good taste, that is. It unleashes with breakthrough hit "Beautiful Day", a strong super-inspired track. A song that makes you feel. A song that touches. Just like "Walk On", the most deep song on the album. "Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out" and "Wild Honey" mark U2's best pop moment, with their "sweetness at all". "Elevation" is rock song of the album. It's moving and shaking. It's strong. "Kite" is just as deep and beautiful as "Beautiful Day" and "Walk On". "A Little While", a pretty romantic song. A song that only U2 could make. Actually, this album is an album that only U2 could make.

    The album moves into a dark zone. A "night zone", if you will. "Peace On Earth" and "When I Look At the World" have some of Bono's best lyrics, together with "New York", that strong track at the end of the album. So it all ends with quiet and calm "Grace", a beautiful meltdown. A beautiful closure to a beautiful album. And that feeling of willing for more. Willing to replay the entire album.

    This is U2's finest work. Their greatest moment musically. No one ever got close to music perfection as they did here.
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  4. KevF.
    May 22, 2007
    9
    This album has on it 2 tracks that for me mark highlights of U2's uniquely spiritual/soulful/philosophical take on the world they This album has on it 2 tracks that for me mark highlights of U2's uniquely spiritual/soulful/philosophical take on the world they inhabit with the rest of us. Beautiful Day is song of soaring hope, faith, and reaching for something better. 'Take me that other place', a refrain which gives guttural voice to the experience of longing and hoping that expresses our humanity. That other place means many things to many people, but the needing to get there is the same for us all. Kite is an opus of loss and departure. Edge incredibly captures and expresses the deepest of all human emotion in this song, the why, the oh no, the heartbreak and the dignity of our fragile existence. Just listen to what he plays throughout the track. It's as moving as anything I have ever heard. Especially when you consider the lyric, and the background to the track, uncertainty, fragility, and the loss of Bono's father. This for me is why U2 are universally appealing. In a belting stadium sounding way, they are able to uniquely in my opinion, capture, experience and reflect human emotion. All of their albums contain much of the above, but this album, next to How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, represents this special band perfectly. Expand
  5. May 4, 2017
    8
    Very good album. Perhaps their 3rd best album behind Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. Simpler sound that mimics their 80s sound, adds sincerityVery good album. Perhaps their 3rd best album behind Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. Simpler sound that mimics their 80s sound, adds sincerity and emotional power. Most songs have memorable melodies and Bono's phrasing varies much more than Songs of Innocence. Expand
  6. MaryP.
    Jun 5, 2004
    7
    I've been a huge U2 fan since the '80s, and I don't understand all this "U2 going back to their roots" hype with ATYCLB. Sure, I've been a huge U2 fan since the '80s, and I don't understand all this "U2 going back to their roots" hype with ATYCLB. Sure, it's a solid album with some nice melodies, but I've come to expect just a little more than that from U2. Even the most emotional moments, such as "Kite," don't get under my skin the way songs from War, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby do. And the lyrics, for the most part, simply don't measure up to Bono's previous work. They almost ruin the otherwise fantastic "Elevation." My favorite tune here is probably "In A Little While." I have the feeling Bono always wanted to be a soul singer like Marvin Gaye or Otis Redding, and I'll be darned if he doesn't nearly pull it off on this track. Well, at any rate I'm glad the album was such a huge commercial success if for no other reason than it might get some younger people interested in U2 and hopefully inspire them to check out some of their earlier work. Expand
  7. mariamaria
    Feb 8, 2005
    0
    it sucks

See all 62 User Reviews