Music CD Review: U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind

Over 100 million albums, a dozen or so GRAMMYs and two decades since their formation, there is little denying that U2 have cemented their reputation as being among the greatest rock acts in history. This album reunites the band with the production team of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois who have previously contributed to the massive commercial and critical successes of The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. This album will not merely fulfill the expectations of U2 fans around the world, it will certainly overwhelm them.

- U2 is Bono (vocals, guitar, synthesizer); The Edge (guitar, piano, synthesizer, background vocals); Adam Clayton (bass); Larry Mullen (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: Daniel Lanois (guitar, background vocals); Paul Barrett (brass); Brian Eno (synthesizer, programming, background vocals).

- Recorded in Dublin, Ireland and France.

- "Beautiful Day" won the 2001 Grammy Awards for Record Of The Year, for Song Of The Year and for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. All That You Can't Leave Behind won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. "Walk On" won the 2002 Grammy Award for Record Of The Year. "Elevation" won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of" won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.

- Seldom has an album title been as appropriate as All That You Can't Leave Behind. Here, U2 returns to its pre-irony '80s glory days with a straightforward rock approach, leaving behind the electronics and intentional mock-decadence of Pop and Zooropa. It quickly becomes clear however, that the band had to make those albums in order to get to the ego-free state from which this one emerges. While Larry Mullen's driving beat, Adam Clayton's insistently throbbing bass, the Edge's chiming guitar, and Bono's soulful vocals mesh as in the days of yore, there's a less messianic feel to the proceedings that must have resulted from the group's ego-deflating '90s endeavors.

- While Pop and Zooropa were the sound of four guys having fun, on this album U2 manages to combine unpretentious joy with the open-hearted rock power of its early recordings. From the spiritual warmth of "Grace" to the soul leanings of "In a Little While," the band regains the organic quality that had been missing from its music of the previous decade. What sounds like an unusually hands-off approach on the part of producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois can only mean that they were smart enough not to fix what was clearly not broken.

Prices and where to buy it online:

You can buy U2 All That You Can't Leave Behind at Amazon.com

U2 All That You Can't Leave Behind Song List:

Beautiful day
Stuck in a moment you can't get out of
Elevation
Walk on
Kite
In a little while
Wild honey
Peace on Earth
When I look at the world
New York
Grace

U2 All That You Can't Leave Behind Pictures and Wallpapers:

CD Critic Quotes and Reviews:

Rolling Stone (1/4/01, pp.106,118) - Ranked #2 in Rolling Stone's "Top 10 Albums of 2000" - "...They sound emotional, intense, sincere and full of themselves..."
Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.128) - Ranked #139 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND brought things back to essentials. The songs grapple with morality..."
Spin (1/01, p.73) - Ranked #20 in Spin's "Top 20 Albums of the Year [2000]" - "...A warm, relaxed album....Thesis: THE JOSHUA TREE. Antithesis: ACHTUNG BABY. Synthesis: this great record."
Entertainment Weekly (12/29/00, p.138) - Ranked #2 in EW's Top 10 Albums of 2000.
Entertainment Weekly (11/3/00, pp.79-80) - "...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....unwaveringly assured..." - Rating: A
Q (1/01, p.94) - Included in Q's "50 Best Albums of 2000".
Q (12/00, pp.116-7) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...U2 have turned the clock back to doing what they used to do..."
Mojo (p.56) - Ranked #84 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "The album defined an unprecedented moment, and sealed the band's place in history."
Mojo (12/00, p.102) - "...The performances are sparky and committed..."
CMJ (10/30/00, p.4) - "...You are now entering an irony-free zone, where you, too, can get back in touch with the 'real' U2..."
NME (10/28/00, p.41) - 7 out of 10 - "...Possibly their most straightforward, honest record...modern enough to sound new, but sufficiently evocative of their prime JOSHUA TREE days..."
Rolling Stone 9 of 10 - 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... each song has a resonance that doesn't fade with repeated listening.
Entertainment Weekly 9 of 10 ...it's as if [U2] decided it was time to write and record an album of very good, extremely substantial traditional rock songs with an underlying inspirations bent... But at a time when rock feels so earthbound, and dance steeped albums like Moby's Play provide the musical exhalation guitar bands once did, U2 simply want to reclaim some of that old stomping ground. In their hands, falling back on old habits isn't cowardice, but a virtue. Grade A. - David Browne

CD Details:

Release Date: 10/31/2000
Original Release Date: 2000
Label : Interscope Records (USA)
Number of Discs: 1
Runtime: -
Studio/Live: Studio
Mono/Stereo: Stereo
Producer: Daniel Lanois; Brian Eno
Engineer: Richard Rainey