Summary:The band's first new album since 2000, a more stripped-down, "classic U2" disc than previous efforts, was recorded chiefly with producer Steve Lillywhite, with Chris Thomas and Nellee Hooper also helming some tracks.
Tough
You think you've got the stuff
You're telling me and everyone
You're hard enough.
You don't have to put up a fight
You don't have to always be...
From the arrangements to the inevitable crashing-wave crescendos, echoes of "I Will Follow" and "New Year's Day" rumble through the songs. [26 Nov 2004, p.115]
If BOY had been released in 2005, it is hard to think it would have had any impact, same if HTDAAB had been released in 1983. This is the If BOY had been released in 2005, it is hard to think it would have had any impact, same if HTDAAB had been released in 1983. This is the sound of a band who beyond making excellent albums, is intense on being relevant, on sending their material to the radiowaves and battling out with the fads, being them Heavy Metal, Alternative, Hip Hop, Pop. U2 has surfed thru all of these epochs, and this album is yet another amazing vehicle to soar above the rest of the general music out there.…Expand
I will offer my thoughts: If, by chance, you gave this album a 0 or a 1, I read your review. I am astonished by how so many people could miss I will offer my thoughts: If, by chance, you gave this album a 0 or a 1, I read your review. I am astonished by how so many people could miss the point. I don't know where so many of you got this crap about "selling out" and being in it for the money. If U2 wanted to sell out, they would certainly be making a lot more than they are right now. Do you realize that they didn't accept money for the iPod spot? Performances at awards ceremonies don't mean you are a sellout. If this album was produced for the sheer goal of making more money for the members of U2, they wouldn't have spend 5 years crafting it. They could release crappy albums every year and a half if they wanted and they'd make more money. Instead they put time and effort into what I believe stands as one of their greatest achievements. No, maybe not a Joshua Tree or an Achtung Baby, but certainly third on my list. Its track listing begins by painting a scene of fear and helplessness. The singer finds himself in this dizzying place called vertigo, scared, alone. He is captivated by a cross around a girl's neck. Tracks 2, 3, and 4 show hope for the miracle science we do not have yet, meditation over dead loved ones, and pleading for peace in a world gone wrong, respectively. The album soon begins to find the positive aspects of life in love, family, contentedness, and, finally, God. While the beginning presents this problem, this "atomic bomb," representative of the worst of humanity's fears, the end of the album presents the solution: love. One must kneel before love and they will find comfort and hope. The music itself is perhaps not sonically as revolutionary a departure from the previous album as most U2 fans are used to, admittedly. But this doesn't take the album down at all. I simply think it is on the same sonic plane without repeating the same sounds. Overall, my favorite album of 2004/2005 easily.…Collapse
What U2 have against them these days is if the album isn't better than Achtung Baby, then its crap. That's the standard they have What U2 have against them these days is if the album isn't better than Achtung Baby, then its crap. That's the standard they have set for themselves. This really isn't a bad album. But it isn't a great one either, U2 can do better. It opens with the fantastic Vertigo and even better Miracle Drug where Edge's guitar work is a touch of genius. There are other great songs such as 'Sometimes You Cant Make It On Your Own' and 'Original of the Species'. But it hasn't got that magic and deep feel that the Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby had. Its definitely one to have in your collection though.…Expand
Crushingly, achingly, heart-breakingly dull. Vague syrupy lyrics about "big stuff" with nothing to give any song emotional or intellectual Crushingly, achingly, heart-breakingly dull. Vague syrupy lyrics about "big stuff" with nothing to give any song emotional or intellectual resonance. U2, who once made some of the most successfully honest music in the business, now make nothing more than audio greeting cards for suburban housewives and fraternity jocks in SUVs.…Expand
I used to love U2 so much. I'm not sure if I've wised up or if they have descended into the realms of the retarded. This album is I used to love U2 so much. I'm not sure if I've wised up or if they have descended into the realms of the retarded. This album is junk. While some of the tunes are OK, Bono's lyrics are a series of painful couplets that with have you reaching for the crack pipe to drown it all out.…Expand