It's a good record, but it's not great and some fans will hold that against the band. The more you listen to it, the more you will appreciate it, but there are weak moments on the album and part of the problem is that when U2 repeats themselves, they don't outdo previous efforts, so why should we bother listening to the new stuff?
Also, the poetry of Bono's lyrics has become too simple and clichéd. In every song but "Yahweh" he refers to "I," but I don't know much about the narrator and they aren't all the same person. I want more interesting details in the stories he tells, and to be honest, God is a boring character. There's not much conflict when you are all-knowing and all-powerful.
I could have down with out the red, white black colors of the liner notes. Maybe that's petty, but since The White Stripes that palette is being used everywhere these days. From the film Ocean's Twelve to albums by Green Day and Lenny Kravitz. Even a Honda commercial uses it. It feels like grabbing onto something popular rather than striving for something original.
I was surprised that there weren't more political songs due to what's been happening in the world since their last album, but maybe with all that he's seen and the loss of his father, Bono sees love and God as being more important the politics of man. After all, nothing has changed since the days of their youth. People in different parts of the world are still experiencing their own "Sunday, Bloody, Sunday" and there continue to be "Mothers of the Disappeared," so what good would one more song really do?
Article comments
1 - Lono
Finally, someone with the courage to give U2 some press! Just kidding, sorry to be a dick. I think this album is a 6 or possibly a 7 on a scale of one to ten.
Where are the hooks, the fun, the chorus's for us all to sing along too?
2 - Mark Edward Manning
El Bicho: "I was surprised that there weren't more political songs due to what's been happening in the world since their last album, but maybe with all that he's seen and the loss of his father, Bono sees love and God as being more important the politics of man."
Maybe. Or it could be that politically conscious bands in the mode of U2 are a rarity. Instead of being threatening or insulting in the manner of Eminem or Green Day, U2 are more subtle in their protest: Bono reminds me a bit of John Lennon, because both men were very poignant in their pacifist beliefs but not aggressive with them, and Bono certainly doesn't call anyone out for special attention or ridicule. This is what I love about Bono/U2. Their point is taken without getting crude about it.
3 - Phillip Winn
Lono, you're kidding, right? Dude- this album is more hookish than any they've put out in a long while!
Actually, I think that this is probably their second-best album ever, finally beating out Boy for that spot. But I haven't published my full review yet, so I guess I'll bite my tongue for now.
4 - MOTOROLO
I think this album is more about how deep the lyrics are, that's it. One of the best albums of an evolved U2.
cheers.
5 - joey delbove
this is one of U2's best albums. It is a solid body of work and it doesnt slow down or drag like most albums do in the middle. This album is the bigger brother of ATLB, it is louder more powerful and pushes U2 farther back into the begining of the career wich has been widely prased. Also Bono seems to have had a strog reveivment of his voice. His voice is stronger and more powerful than it has been since the joshua tree. U2 have made another great record and this one may even live up to the best record in time. Critics of the album claim that it is not experimental or artistic but who said it had to be. I was a fan of the experimental albums of the 90s but this shows that U2 are good at both the experimental and the more classic sound.