How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

U2

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 23, 2004)
• Original Release Date: November 23, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Interscope Records
• ASIN: B0006399FS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,360 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,695 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The album that carries U2 into its 25th year--and likely the mixed blessings of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame--is one of its most frank and focused since the days of October and War. But its gestation was anything but simple, in part salvaged from '03 sessions the band deemed subpar. Enter Steve Lillywhite, the band's original producer and sometime collaborator in the decades since, who helped retool the track "Native Son" (originally an antigun screed) into the aggressive iPod anthem "Vertigo" and leaves his distinctive stamp on the muscular "All Because of You." Perhaps weary of ceaseless, fashion-driven reinvention in the wake of monumental success, U2 seem only too happy here to re-embrace their original sonic trademarks in service of more daring, pop-melodic hooks than they've collected in one place in decades. The Eno/Lanois produced "Love and Peace or Else" may shimmer with the duo's electro-production conceits, but it's Edge's lugubrious, postmodern John Lee Hooker guitar swagger that drives it. Elsewhere, Bono's trademark dramaturgy is spotlighted on "City of Blinding Lights," the unabashed romance of "A Man and a Woman," and the confessional "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own." It may come wrapped in a conundrum--is it nostalgic retrenchment or a sum of the band's endless musical catharsis?--It's also the album where, Fly and MacPhisto be damned, U2 boldly claims its arena titan mantle with apologies to no one. --Jerry McCulley

Recommended U2 Discography

War	The Joshua Tree	Achtung Baby
All That You Can't Leave Behind	The Best of 1990-2000	The Best of 1980-1990

About the Artist

U2 formed in their native Dublin in 1978 and remains intact with its four original band members: Bono, Larry Mullen, Adam Clayton and The Edge. The band has sold more than 120 million records worldwide in an extraordinary career that has firmly established them as one of the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands. Along the way, U2 has earned a phenomenal 14 Grammy Awards, seven of which were for their last studio album, 2000’s "All That You Can’t Leave Behind," including two consecutive awards for "Record of the Year." As popular for their legendary live shows as for their groundbreaking albums, U2 innovates and inspires while packing football stadiums and sweaty clubs around the world. What is next for the group that continues to reinvent themselves and push the boundaries of music?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entirely too conservative artistically; still great music, November 23, 2004

By	Mike London "MAC" (Oxford, UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

U2, known primarily for grandiose convictions, an intense desire to be the biggest band in the world, and a huge, guitar-driven sound with soaring vocals, have become rather conservative in their evolution. Retreating from their 1980s work, U2 primarily focused on broadening their artistic pallette, bringing in electronica, techno, and other weird fusions. This created a problem with U2's fan base as the decade drew to a close, because the farther U2 strayed into the eclectic musical territory they were pursuing, the more difficult it was for the fans to follow their evolution. When U2 experimented successfully, they made some of the most successful music of their career (ACHTUNG BABY). Yet they grounded their experimentation with a sense of purpose, and they always kept their ambition within the elasticity of the fans' and critics' admiration. At least, they tempered their music with a good dose of rock in the early 90s. ACHTUNG BABY, one of their most experimental, evolutionary records, has been universally hailed by both fans and critics alike as some of their most significant music. ACHTUNG BABY set the course for much of the decade, with U2 going more and more into post-modernism.

Then the 1997 nadir POP happened. Not that POP was necessarily a BAD album. Instead of sounding a natural progression of the band's ambition, the experimentation never really gelled, much like R.E.M.'s UP. POP comes across as torn between two different directions - the anthem-driven, spiritually aware U2 lamenting a loss world, and a strange, dance-driven beat that is supposed to celebrate living with almost primitive desire, instead of commenting on the moral and social decline of earth. Both a critical and commercial flop, U2 seriously re-evaluated their status as artists after POP, and streamlined their sign, making a very conscious return to their earlier sound.

In 2000, U2 delivered the followup to POP, ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND. The title is more than aptly representative of that album. Abandoning wholly the more progressive elements of their music, LEAVE BEHIND sounds like U2 trying to write a classicist record, returning to the styles of their 1980s output. While it was fun to hear them return to that era, ALL THAT YOU, out of necessity, didn't have a lot of artistic evolution. That wasn't the point.

So it's little surprise that U2, has streamlined their music even more on HOW TO DISMANTLE AN ATOMIC BOMB. While their early records were both revolutionary and a thrill to listen too, and the early 1990s work pure genius, HTDAATB is a much more calculated record, made to sound like classic U2 instead of just being U2. U2's experimentation had gotten them in trouble, and this is the result. U2, instead of playing the music they want to play, are now playing to win back the audience that much of their 1990s work alienated. In many ways, like Essau yielding to Jacob, U2 has traded their birthright for porridge, selling their artistic evolution out for trying to be the biggest band in the world.

Although POP did have some unmitigated disasters, at least it was the old U2, wedded to pushing the envelop with cutting edge music. That's the real irony of HTDAATB; the new U2 is returning back to the old styles to win back the fans, while the old U2 was much more interested in creating worthwhile music, combining their ambition with their musical sensibilities, growing artistically and commercially. This is a record that the old U2, after making the records they did in the 1990s, would never make. The old U2 would keep pressing on, pursing their musical evolution. But POP happened and U2 has been reeling ever since.

While this may seem to be a primarily negative review of U2's latest effort, there are some postive notes. While artistically a puzzling, entirely too conservative affair calculated to win back fans, there's some great music here. The lead off-single, "Vertigo," is jagged guitar rock. "Crumbs From Your Table" plays like we're back in the 1980s. "Love or Peace" is an interesting comment on war. "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own," written in 2001 when Bono's father died, shows us Bono at his most vulnerable. "Yahweh" (or to be strictly orthodox, YHWH), gives us U2 at their most spiritually thirsty. It has great music and a great sound, but that doesn't make HOW TO DISMANTLE AN ATOMIC BOMB the instant classic ACHTUNG BABY and THE JOSHUA TREE are.

U2's end result is rather a half-breed. HTDAATB is much too conservative and calculated to be truly revolutionary and an undeniable classic, but also just too good to write off completely (mostly because U2's trying to recreate an era of their career where they were writing and performing fantastic music. Hence my four star rating, though artistically it's three). For the causal fan, this may be a subtle point; it has a warm, big sound, and has excellent music. For those who loved U2 for being fearless pioneers will be rather disappointed.

In ways, I belong to both camps. There's some wonderful songs here. But I miss U2's sense of adventure.

[There are three songs left off the album that I am aware of. One, "Fast Cars," has surfaced on the UK and Japanese pressings as a bonus track. The band did covered Kraftwerk ("Neon Lights"). There's a non LP track on the second "Vertigo" single, "Are You Gonna Wait Forever?"]

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Idle Thought...Or Two..., November 30, 2004

By	Hank Kimble, County Extension Agent and Critic - See all my reviews

I only heard a short clip of Vertigo prior to buying this. When I came here to make the buy, thought I would see what some of the other citizens thought of it. As I read the reviews, a few idle thoughts came to mind, not listed in any order of importance:

Several people expressed dismay that the sound of U2 has changed. There was disappointment that the Edge may not still have that "edge" that separated him from so many other second fiddles that stood directly behind many group's headliners. There was an abundance of lamenting concerning Bono not possessing that "Bono Vox" he has given the world for the almost thirty plus years.

After reading the reviews and listening to this, I found that it is a work that is exactly where it should be. It sounds like U2 should sound today. It is reflective of an incredible musical career that is beginning to span two generations. And it is the sound and contains the energy and drive that makes U2 what it was....what it is today, and what it will be remembered as.

I did not buy this hoping it would sound like "The Unforgettable Fire". I already own "The Unforgettable Fire" and am very content and satisfied with the way it sounds. I bought this with a reasonable expectation that I would hear a musical group in the autumn of their career still putting out some of the best, most original and undoubtedly most creative musical work on the planet. And I was not disappointed....I don't think you will be either.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty darn good!, April 11, 2005

By	Jalil Khampur "Jalil" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This is a top notch CD. Unfortunately, there are many sad people here posting under fake accounts just to wail on this CD. Especially Roberto Diaz who is really GDB posting under another alias. He will be nailed shortly for account abuse. I've been watching this group for a while and there's one loser continuously posting under new accounts. IP tracking will be requested shortly.

All Because of You -- a great rocker which has gotten a lot of airplay.

Vertigo -- A FUN rocking song that most people will like if they lighten up a bit. :)

Yahweh -- A simple, catchy, straightforward hymn to Bono's God. I always appreciated his open spirituality, even if I don't believe the same things he does.

Crumbs from Your Table -- That funky chord they use and the rolling, rocking hooks. Wonderful tune.

Miracle Drug -- Sounds like something from Boy and I can't get enough of it.

Yes, this CD isn't perfect, however, it is NOT even close to being a 1 star effort like the lamers here are trying to say.