> Switch to Advanced Search

New & Current Releases
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

60 31Knots
82 Abe Vigoda
71 The Academy Is...
53 The Airborne Toxic Event
79 Alias
77 Theresa Andersson
76 Apollo Sunshine
47 The Automatic
79 Azeda Booth
75 Joan Baez
84 Bajofondo
56 David Banner
76 The Baseball Project
77 Beck
77 Black Affair
59 Black Ghosts
74 Black Kids
79 Blitzen Trapper
74 Bodies Of Water
71 Brazilian Girls
72 Brightblack Morning Light
66 The Broken West
50 Buckcherry
78 Lindsey Buckingham
90 The Bug
56 Caesars
78 Calexico
70 Glen Campbell
70 Brendan Canning
63 Cats In Paris
74 The Chemical Brothers
65 Cold War Kids
69 Alice Cooper
79 Rodney Crowell
63 CSS
67 Miley Cyrus
46 Dandy Warhols
65 Kimya Dawson
73 Dead Confederate
72 Death Vessel
84 Deerhoof
74 Delta Spirit
79 Damien Dempsey
78 Ani DiFranco
58 DJ Khaled
66 The Donkeys
72 Dr. Dog
80 DragonForce
78 The Duhks
77 Dungen
73 Brian Eno + David Byrne
62 The Faint
67 The Fiery Furnaces
63 Ben Folds
64 iForward, Russia!
72 Friendly Fires
71 Fujiya & Miyagi
65 The Game
74 Inara George With Van Dyke Parks
74 Giant Sand
79 Girl Talk
83 Glasvegas
61 Golden Animals
64 Mike Gordon
68 Gym Class Heroes
78 GZA
66 Neil Halstead
64 Albert Hammond, Jr.
72 Juliana Hatfield
61 Hawthorne Heights
81 High Places
77 High Places
73 Zach Hill
85 The Hold Steady
83 David Holmes
80 Horse Feathers
74 Howling Hex
58 Jennifer Hudson
71 Human Highway
70 Ice Cube
66 Ida Maria
68 Jack's Mannequin
69 Jaguar Love
73 James
81 Jamey Johnson
70 Jonas Brothers
78 Damien Jurado
83 Kasai Allstars
57 Kerli
89 B.B. King
65 Kings Of Leon
67 Ladyhawke
77 Lambchop
73 Leila
54 Levellers
74 Jenny Lewis
76 Lykke Li
82 Lindstrom
72 Little Jackie
58 The Little Ones
57 LL Cool J
60 Lloyd
60 The Lord Dog Bird
81 Patty Loveless
76 John Mellencamp
71 The Melvins
70 Mercury Rev
77 Metallica
71 Metronomy
74 Mirah
75 Mogwai
64 Motorhead
66 Mugison
78 Nico Muhly
75 Murs
84 The Music Tapes
71 Nas
65 Nelly
79 Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
50 New Kids On The Block
77 The New Year
85 Randy Newman
80 Ne-Yo
57 Nightmares On Wax
68 The Nightwatchman
78 Nine Inch Nails
62 Noah And The Whale
68 Oasis
75 Conor Oberst
78 Okkervil River
76 Old Crow Medicine Show
80 One Day As A Lion
75 Oneida
73 Joan Osborne
75 Oxford Collapse
85 Paavoharju
78 Amanda Palmer
65 Parenthetical Girls
89 Aaron Parks
73 Lee "Scratch" Perry
51 Kellie Pickler
70 Pivot
58 Plain White T's
89 Plush
78 The Pretenders
64 Primal Scream
52 Pussycat Dolls
75 Ra Ra Riot
71 Ratatat
62 Re-Up Gang
62 Rex The Dog
76 Roots Manuva
71 Darius Rucker
72 The Rumble Strips
81 Raphael Saadiq
57 Sam Champion
73 Scars On Broadway
81 Pete Seeger
70 Ron Sexsmith
68 The Shaky Hands
39 Shwayze
58 Jessica Simpson
69 Slipknot
80 Patti Smith and Kevin Shields
73 Solange
69 Son, Ambulance
65 Rick Springfield
65 Staind
47 Stereo MC's
72 Stereolab
71 The Stills
63 The Streets
73 The Subways
83 Sugarland
70 Matthew Sweet
75 T.I.
72 Robin Thicke
71 Thievery Corporation
77 Irma Thomas
79 Tindersticks
71 Tittsworth
90 Shugo Tokumaru
74 Emiliana Torrini
67 James Jackson Toth
72 Randy Travis
69 Tricky
90 TV On The Radio
78 The Uglysuit
92 Underoath
56 UNKLE
61 David Vandervelde
77 Chad VanGaalen
71 The Verve
76 Volcano!
68 Loudon Wainwright III
80 The Walkmen
66 Ben Weaver
83 The Week That Was
77 Paul Weller
70 Brian Wilson
76 Wire
63 XX Teens
57 Yo Majesty
71 Young Jeezy
55 Yung Berg

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

All That You Can't Leave Behind
by U2


6.9

based on 17 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 53 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

LABEL:	Polygram
RELEASE DATE:	31 October 2000
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rock, Alternative, Pop

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Entertainment Weekly

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.

Village Voice (Consumer Guide)

They woke up one day, glanced around a marketplace where art wasn't mega anymore, and figured that since they'd been calling themselves pop for half of their two-decade run, maybe they'd better sit down and write some catchy songs. So they did.

Wall of Sound

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.

Spin

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]

New York Magazine

It's full of anthemic songs with echoing guitar, catchy choruses, and the kind of spacious production Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno also brought to The Joshua Tree.

Billboard

The chaotic electronic density of U2's last few efforts has been replaced by sticky, bite-size tunes -- sporting candy-sweet choruses that are often underlined by unabashed words of love.

Village Voice

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.

Q Magazine

Stepping outside of their natural environment ensured their longevity in the '90s, stepping back in seems to have given them a fresh boost. For all Zooropa and Pop's pushing of the envelope, limiting themselves to rock's core ingredients has given the band a new challenge. Certainly, not since The Joshua Tree have U2 sounded so like U2 but, with songs of this startling calibre, right now being U2 is no bad thing.

All Music Guide

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.

Sonicnet

U2 albums are generally slow growers, so it's much too early to label All That You Can't Leave Behind a classic. One can say with reasonable certainty that it's their most vibrant offering since Achtung Baby, their hardest-rocking one since The Joshua Tree, and their first true soul recording.

Rolling Stone

U2's tenth studio album and third masterpiece, All That You Can't Leave Behind, is all about the simple melding of craft and song.... The album represents the most uninterrupted collection of strong melodies U2 have ever mounted, a record where tunefulness plays as central a role as on any Backstreet Boys hit.... Every track -- whether reflective but swinging, like "Wild Honey," or poised, then pouncing, like "Beautiful Day" -- honors a tune so refined that each seems like some durable old number. Because this is U2, there's a quick impact to these melodies, yet each song has a resonance that doesn't fade with repeated listening.

Spin Cycle

The band neither succeeds wildly nor fails. There are only a few reminders of the lackluster dance sounds in its recent work... Otherwise, what dominates are the straight-ahead rhythms that drove the early days.

Checkout.com

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").

CDNow

Although devoted fans will welcome this straight-down-the-middle approach with open arms, those on the fringes who were intrigued by their tinkering will find it lacks some of the vibrancy of their recent artistic adventurousness.

Dot Music

Despite the almost universal hyperbole that has greeted 'All That You Can't Leave Behind', this is no masterpiece. Certainly not by U2's stratospheric standards.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Ten albums into its career, U2's emphasis on its basics--chiming guitars, a war-themed lament here and there, the enormous choruses of songs like "Beautiful Day"--is a refreshing reminder of the group's core virtues. But in terms of execution, it splits about 50-50 between soaring hits and dispiriting misses.

Pitchfork

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.

The average user rating for this album is 6.9 (out of 10) based on 53 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

[Anonymous] gave it a1:
I found myself nearly falling asleep to this,half way in the album loses its way,its vigor whilst still managing to stay in the middle of the road.And this what this is ;a band with money on the brains.I mean can you really take Stuck in a Moment seriously?Its ridiculous,I actually felt embarrassed each time it played. I think the album after this was much better.This album is the sound of a band trying to too hard to regain their crown.

scott w. gave it a10:
Every song on this album is fresh, vibrant and fool of life, and is done U2 style. One of U2s best and one of the best albums ever made. Its truly a pop rock album with lots of hits. Bono and the Edge show that they were fare from finished, in this big come back album for the band.

Kev F. gave it a9:
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.

Jonathan H gave it a0:
U2 can do better than this, POP was their last great album - it could of been even better had they not rushed it because of scheduling. How to dismantle an atomic bomb is even worse though. Can only hope for better things this year - please don't make it 2009!

Smokefree Rodriguez gave it a9:
Some of the best songs of the last 10 years are on this CD--U2's best album since Joshua.

M C gave it a10:
for those who voted this badly- inexplicable how you could vote this zero, i can only imagine its for a bit of worthless attention because even a deaf rabbit could understand this is not as bad as you struggle to make out. Admittedly not their greatest, but even their average is fantastic and this isn't average. catchy, inspirational, excellently written, well produced and bloody enjoyable. If you have ever heard some of these songs live you will understand their brilliance, u2 continue to produce great records.

Julian A gave it a10:
After a decade of performing for crowds of nearly one-hundred thousand people, U2 released "All That You Can't leave Behind" taking off the layers guitar and effects, and going back to their roots in the 1980's. The effect is a straightforward, graceful, and compelling album. Every song stands out, and the band has never played better.

All That You Can't Leave Behind by U2

All That You Can't Leave Behind
by U2