Reviews (page 2 of 8)
Alright lets give this a listen. Apparently this is them coming back to their roots after experimenting with electronic music like on Pop, and Zooropa. Beautiful Day starts off this album. It is a great song. Oh wow, I haven't heard Stuck in Moment...for a long time! I like Kite! When I look at the world is good too.
more entries from U2, their tenth overall album release and a return to musical styles from their earlier records after experimenting in the 90s, plus one of their previous albums, pop, having a mixed reception. returning to their roots and collaborating with the likes of brian eno seemed to be successful moves; the band achieved positive ratings and a good handful of singles got big, all from this cd here. i'm always torn with U2, especially their latter musical periods where a lot of their music sounds very... commercialized and sometimes hollow. music for commercials, pretty sure i've said it in the past. this album's strongest point by far is its production, it's super-duper clean. many pop albums are clean, but this is by far the cleanest. but... that's the only thing i can really say about it. i don't really care too much for the music. or the lyrics. or what it stands for, really. i like U2's early stuff but seriously, as time has went on, bono and the crew just loses more and more of their musical color until it's music made for the most general audience possible. it's stuff i've heard before on fm radio. it's kinda the musical equivalent of kroger white bread. maybe if i was a different kind of person i would appreciate the album more. at least it's not too maddening. or annoying. i'll take U2 over like... charlie puth if we're talking pop.
I don't like U2 but I know they have better albums than this. This is heavily uninspired and lacking energy.
Listened all the time when it was released. AMAZING album.
Starts very strong then sags in the middle.
Wish I had a better space to appreciate this one.
С претензией на говно
Love this record and I love this band. They're kind of one of those bands that I rolled my eyes at when I was younger. It was old guy rock and is somewhat self aggrandizing. But when you actually just listen, its impossible to hate. The song writing, the lyrics, the guitar. It all builds and crashes in beautiful ways. It draws you in but keeps you grounded. Today I thought a lot about Mitch when I was listening to this. He loved U2. He loved this record. I really miss him. It would have been fun to chat with him about this. Its a Beautiful Day.
U2's big return to form. No lie, Beautiful Day is a good song. Then they had to put their music on everyone's Apple devices and make it impossible to get it off...what a crazy decision by both U2 and Apple. Nothing makes you want to listen to some aging rockers more than a technology company abusing it's power to control your personal devices. Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of is another good one...strong start. Elevation as the third song, a song I have always argued is often the best on more albums than any other track, is good too. That's a strong start. They're losing me with Walk On and Kite a little bit. They're ok, but they should have spaced those first three tracks across the album more evenly. In A Little While is another highlight. These guys just got sideways with everyone by getting high on their own farts I guess. It feels like they have an accessible sound that isn't so watered down that it becomes unrecognizable in the sea of rock music...maybe it didn't evolve enough as time wore on. Maybe time just comes for us all and you might as well do what works for as long as possible and never worry about everyone else's reaction. The guitar in Grace reminds me of The Velvet Underground's Pale Blue Eyes, one of my favorite songs.
Funny this should come up cause I was listening to a comedy podcast where the guys argued about u2 vs Metallica for over an hour. And now here we are. And that aside u2 is the poster child for being fine. Ive never really thought about them. Not hating. Not loving. Just never crosses my mind. U2 is just some pop rock band who does things I never see or think about. They just are quiet in the background. And this album is just that. Don't hate it dont love it. It just is. Maube something like Joshua tree would make me see the light but this sure doesnt. It just went by and thats it. I dont even have much to say about it thus why I had to bring up the Dawgs likening it to gay vs straight. Cause there is nothing here. And im not a Metallica guy either. I'll be gay on this one cause I actively hate Metallica. This I dont even have enough passion for this to have anything though. Its almost worse but I guess jot in this case. Its just u2 and I could care less really
Detta måste vara Coldplays referensalbum för uppblåst musik helt utan innehåll. U2s sämsta av dom jag lyssnat på Luftslottsmusik
Har någon annan artist tvärdött konstnärligt så som U2 gjorde när de stod på sin topp efter Achtung baby och Zooropa? Det var total soppatorsk. Inga idéer kvar i förslagslådan. Jag vet inte hur många skivor de gjort sedan dess, men den här är en i mängden av grå massa. Kanske försöker de hitta tillbaka till det ovan nämnda soundet, men allt är bara så utplattat, oinspirerat, helt utan vilja att ta sig någonstans. U2 vill tillfredsställa så många att det inte blir relevant för någon.
Tänk om detta varit ett debutalbum? Inte en chans i helvetet att det kommit med i boken. Nu sitter några trötta rockrävar som av någon anledning fått för sig att U2 är bra oavsett vad och nickar instämmande i ett okritiskt grupptänkande. ”Den ska med”, klart att U2 är klass”. Nej, backa ett steg och inse att här har bäst före datumet sedan länge passerats. Pisstråkig radiopop.
Generisk mellopop anno år 2000.
It could be argued that this is an interesting album in the history of U2 as it’s the sound of a gigantically successful, commercial rock band trying to redefine and re-evaluate themselves for a new era after 20+ years of ever inflating pomp and ridiculousness that culminated in them sharing a stage with a giant lemon. But could it also be argued that it’s an interesting album beyond the history of U2? Nope.
This is the 1st U2 album that has been on the list so far and I assume there will be more than one otherwise this is a strange choice. While it has 2 or 3 great singles on it and it does the whole U2 thing - big blustery as well as gentler without being sickeningly mawkish ballads, it is not one of their best albums in my book. And U2 have played a big part in my life, seems a bit daft now but they were instrumental in getting me interested in politics in the 80s. If I was a teenager listening to this as an introduction to them there is no way this decent pop album could have that kind of impact.
“Beautiful Day” was overplayed, but the rest of the album was good (it’s been a long time since I heard it).
banco u2 pero no me vuelve loco. quizá es muy para momentos muy específicos, no para rotación semanal
Gran disco. Que pedazo de banda U2. Muy buen rock. No es tan icónico quizás, pero a mi me gustó mucho. 9/10
That was just not great. Beautiful Day is pretty good, but the rest is just bland and lifeless. It ended up being decent background music, but it's nowhere near the level of the other U2 albums on the list.
classic
The soundtrack to many a car journey when I was younger. Not a fan, I’m afraid!
Fine. 3/5
A pretty good album, I liked Beautiful Day, Kite and The Ground Beneath Her Feet the most.
Hab noch nie was von U2 gehört. War nicht schlecht
Not a fan of U2, but it’s a decent album
The first 4 songs are very good but after that it gets very boring very quickly besides the odd track. You'd expect better
Sorry, but sadly this is Starbucks music. The lead vocals are pretty good but the radio has prevented me from ever being able to hear these songs as they’re meant to be heard. I did like some of the less played songs but not enough to change my overall opinion.
A good pop record and I like some of the songs well enough. It’s not a record I revisit often. Heralded as a return to their earlier sound, sometimes it is. But not really. It’s still way overproduced and not a real rock record like they made in the beginning. I suppose it doesn’t matter much as it was a big hit, winning 7 Grammys, topping the chart in the UK and reaching #3 in the U.S.
Standouts Beautiful Day Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out of Elevation
it was quite nice sounding and would listen again, but I wouldn’t add any songs to my playlist.
I don't fuck with U2
Vamos hoy miércoles con una banda que sólo ubico por sus singles. Nunca me llamó mucho la atención sumergirme en su propuesta (es la primera vez que voy a escuchar un disco completo de ellos) pero muchas de las canciones de éste disco me hacen acordar a mi niñez y a MTv. Luego de la escucha, sólo puedo agregar que sirve como música de fondo, como algo que se termina volviendo parte del sonido ambiente. Quizás no es mi momento para escucharlos o quizás simplemente me aburren. Hasta mañana, gente.
First half of the album is okay, but the back half is God awful. Joshua Tree this is not.
A liiiight three. I’m more susceptible to the charms of U2 than many. I enjoy their earnest goofiness and sincerity. A lot of this album is still navel gaze-y and self important, and the last time U2 felt like they were “at their peak.” Reaaaaally sounds like 2000. Production is so dated.
A really good band with a lot of great songs throughout the years and a few of them are on this album. This isn't new music to me so today was just a day enjoying good music without much thought about what I was listening to.
I had forgotten about this album. I even had it on CD. The first few songs are good, the rest are not.
This is their official "we're middle-aged now; we give up" album. There's a few decent tracks on here, especially "Beautiful Day," but I think this is the first U2 album I didn't buy. Weird choice unless at least five of their other albums are on the list.
This is the second U2 album I get in less than a week... let's stop it right here.
I suspect this album’s reputation owes as much to timing as to music. After a decade of deconstructing themselves through Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop, U2 blinked. All That You Can’t Leave Behind isn’t the next chapter. It’s the band putting the old clothes back on and discovering they still fit. That doesn’t make it a bad album. It makes it a remarkably successful act of artistic retreat. The interesting thing is that the 1990s haven’t vanished. Larry Mullen Jr. has clearly absorbed breakbeats and loop culture, his drumming full of ghost notes and restless internal movement. The Edge occasionally swaps canyon-wide delay for repeated ostinati that think more like Eno than stadium rock. Tracks like “Elevation” genuinely integrate those lessons, producing a nagging, melodically unresolved groove that’s the most interesting thing on the record. Everywhere else, though, the lessons of the previous decade are mostly cosmetic. Underneath sits the original product: broad emotional uplift, chiming guitars, private feelings inflated into public ceremony, and Bono once again standing on the metaphorical cliff edge while the wind machine does its work. The surprise is Bono himself. I’d expected peak Messianic Bono. Instead, he repeatedly resists the temptation. “Peace On Earth” spends its entire running time threatening to become unbearable, only to pull back every single time. “When I Look At The World” avoids the obvious soaring climax in favour of a restrained vocal crack that says far more than another stadium note would have. The Bono who emerges is chastened rather than triumphant. Less prophet, more flawed preacher. Ironically, the album gets better as it becomes less important. “Wild Honey” ditches the iconography completely. The rough harmonies are less Everly Brothers than Please Please Me, sounding like people singing around a beach fire rather than saving civilisation. “New York” is a curious sketchbook whose chorus contributes almost nothing except repeatedly informing us where we are. (“Where are we again, Bono?” “NEW YORK!”) It shouldn’t work, but somehow does, because the verses are conversational rather than rhetorical. Listening in 2026, “New York” has acquired a melancholy the band could never have intended. It comes from the last confident New York before history intervened. The city that never slept became, for a while, the city that couldn’t. What frustrates me most is not that U2 became conservative. It’s that they became so extraordinarily good at it. This album knows exactly how to be U2. Every emotional beat has been tested. Every arrangement knows where it’s heading. Every gesture lands precisely where millions of listeners wanted it to land. The result is a record that communicates brilliantly while discovering almost nothing. That’s why I’d take the gloriously awkward failures of Kevin Rowland’s Don’t Stand Me Down or My Beauty over this every time. Those albums risk careers in pursuit of ideas. All That You Can’t Leave Behind risks almost nothing except disappointing fans by not sounding enough like classic U2—and it solves that problem by becoming classic U2 again. The final irony is that the album’s finest moments are the ones where it briefly forgets its own mission. When Bono stops preaching. When the harmonies get scruffy. When the drums think like breakbeats. When The Edge loops instead of echoing. When the band simply sounds like four musicians rather than a global institution. An enormously successful day at the office. A commercially flawless restoration. And a retreat into certainty after a decade of deconstruction.
There was storm last night and I was up keeping two scared dogs company. I was beyond exhausted this morning and wasn't able to sleep. This helped. It gets an extra star for sending me off to sleep after the third song. I see this album was released on 01.01.2000. Celebrating the second decade of their banality. It's anti-awake abilities earns it deux points.
I guess you can technically see all the worst tropes in a modern-day and post-Coldplay pop-rock world stemming from this one specific band; it's a satisfying observation. And I like Coldplay, and I like cheesy modern pop-rock (I grew up on it), but I'm not fully sure if I like U2, not sure about this album at least. It's an undeniably easy listen, in all its overproduced and overly-sentimental glory. It's that new take on arena rock that caters to massive crowd sing-alongs with these simple and semi-motivational choruses. And melancholic and bittersweet chord progressions and instrumental palettes like with 'Walk On' or 'Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of'. Those were generally songs I enjoyed, alongside the undeniable highlight of an opener, 'Beautiful Day'. "Wild Honey' was also pretty sweet; it's one of the less overblown tracks here. I also like the almost downtempo nature of 'New York' for a similar reason as well, and it's a sort of oddball song here lyrically. But a lot of the other songs here were a bit too much; it was dizzying to an extent. The number of times the mix gets filled to the brim with Bono's vocals, with every other instrument feeling the need to be just as loud, was a bit too much. It's like the loudness war before the fact - believe it or not, you CAN have too much going on in one song. Still, there's s a lot to love here, and it would be a pretty respectable collection of songs if it were trimmed down to its best moments. You know I always think I love this kind of music, until it's time to listen to a whole album-worth of it. Then I get exhausted and realize that music like this is defined by its best songs as opposed to its albums that contain said best songs. Luckily, there are more of those good songs here than your average early '2000s pop-rock album, so there's that.
Wow, everything but Beautiful Day is SO dull, right?
I have trouble with bands like this. Bands I like and know at least most of their catalog very well. Do I rate based on the album? Or do I rate based on how I feel about this album compared to others they've released? I chose the former early on in this little generator expierence. But it wouldn't change much when considering All That You Can't Leave Behind by U2. I don't like it. And it disappoints me more that its from a band I know can write songs that I like a lot. It has a couple of good songs, but I wonder if my feeling about U2 elevated my opinion of them at all.
I liked it a lot, felt good
Wow. Just had War. How much U2 is a person supposed to have all at once? Yeah. I said about War that I had to admit this was them at the top of their game. Which I realize is a funny statement in many ways, given that War is ONLY their third album. And Joshua Tree, their fifth album, is widely considered their masterpiece and a GOAT album. But… by Joshua Tree, I historically, really don’t like U2. I have made myself listen to Joshua Tree because of its status. I have not yet gotten it on the project. What’s the issue? Well, as Mr. Smith proclaims, “it’s the smell!” My 13 year old self knew, deep down, that U2 were a bunch of Stadium Rock posers. Posturing as something else. It’s the posturing that I have issues with. I ADORE Queen. But they never try to be anything but what they are. This… yeah. By 2000 I want to seriously leave U2 behind. And give this…. album a 2. 2 Boolean: False. Seriously. In 2000 SO much was released that is not on the list. Boot this tired BS and replace it with something relevant.
I have never listened to much U2, but it's quite different from what I expected it to be for some reason. Some of the songs are amazing. With the starting track of Beautiful day I thought it'd be more like 4 or 5 stars worth, but a lot of the tracks are unfortunately a bit disappointing, whiney or cheesy. I think they're best at doing somewhat higher energy songs.
1 very famous song on this album, besides that it’s just U2 being U2. Considering around the time of this album you’ll have the rise of the strokes, before you’ve already had great rap albums and indie rock albums it’s not the most important album and again I question if I needed to hear this before I die
Going from the Beastie Boys yesterday, one of my top-10 all-time favorites, to this, something that I avoided even at the time when my musical tastes were fledgling, is jarring. This is not the same band that did The Joshua Tree. It's weak department store music. I listened to Metallica's Black album just an hour ago, so I know what generic is, but this doesn't even have any songs about lycanthropy on it. No, the yelping on Elevation doesn't count. I need a palate cleanser after this. If you do as well, may I recommend Transcend the Rubicon by Benediction, or maybe 90's hardcore band Threadbare. Perhaps if you do need something more mainstream, go to one of the best: Blondie. Okay, there's my playlist for the morning.
Soft rock sewage. Hard to believe this is the same band who wrote Sunday Bloody Sunday.
Poop lowkey
I thought this was quite cloying and overly sentimental. Opening and closing tracks specifically were very on the nose to me.
This captures the 2000’s vibes perfectly
Has some good and well known songs. Feels like a linear and static album from a legacy music industry veteran. Nothing wrong with that, many bands fall into this mode.
Un album interesante, con su estilo caracteristico, pero mas alla de los primeros temas despues medio zz.
Good start, but kind of mid otherwise
Really good album A lot of songs on my playlist
Never been much of a U2 fan. They have an occasional good song in their repertoire, in this case, Beautiful Day. The rest of the songs were shlock and yawn (the opposite of shock and awe, get it?). There just doesn’t feel like they have much left in the tank. New York is particularly egregious. They’re also on my shit list because they forced an album on to my iTunes library almost 20 years ago. I chose what to put in there very deliberately.
Mmmmmm casi casi Nota: 2.7
When I was in middle school there was this guy I was **vaguely** friends with who was definitely a little weird in kinda a bad way. Anyways he was obsessed with U2 and I let him use my old Spotify account for some reason idk. Anyways. 3/5. Also technically this is my 100th album! Yay!
U2 so mid
Better than the other u2 albums I guess. Thought this one was fine
Nunca escuché tanto U2 y me sorprendió para bien, este álbum me llevó a los 00's directo.
Solid, multiple bangers
This might be the most offensively boring album I've ever heard, or it is at the very least right up there. Completely hollow, pathetic, vapid, weak shite without a single shred of charm, conviction, danger, individuality or anything otherwise remotely engaging about it. A bona-fide contractual obligation of an album. Genuinely don't think I could have been dealt anything worse for my soul after last night's England disappointment – in some perverse, sadistic way, it kind of accentuates that feeling of yet more hopes and dreams swirling down the plughole as entirely soul-destroying stuff. It's put me in a horrible mood.
Enjoyed this one even more than the last U2 album I reviewed.
I'm a certified U2 hater but I can acknowledge that this is a pretty good album. Is Bono up his ass? sure, can these guys write some good songs? also yes. Mind you the only one I really enjoyed was Beautiful Day, and even then its just not for me. Also there is a weird tone shift here partway through, like they decide to go soft all of a sudden. Blew their wad I guess. Pretty good album by a good band.
Half a great album! The first 6 tracks are spectacular and huge hits but man the back half is full of junkas. But holy shit Beautiful Day is such a banger and Stuck In A Moment might be one of their best songs in terms of a vibe. Just too bad they couldn’t stick the landing
a few songs, but that's about it 2.5 rounding up
God, I hate this album. There's something so visceral how much I hate this album. I don't know if it's because I was forced to listen to them in my teens becaue every Ipod was already preloaded with on of their songs. Or how their music videos for this album just look like Party frat boys who know their the shit just walking around. Who's daddy made these fuckers famous? Wait... THAT'S BONO? Ah, now I can attach this self aggrandizing prick to whatever pop culture I've heard about him. I could have peacefully died without having listened to this album.
I have a love hate relationship with this album. Beautiful day, stuck in a moment, elevation… one of the best first three songs on an album… but then it fizzles for me. I get it, everyone hates u2 because they forced everyone to get their album on apple… but they have hits… just that the rest of the songs don’t do it for me. 3.0
This one starts off extremely strong. Beautiful Day is a great song. Made me excited for the rest of the album. Unfortunately, after the front-loaded hits the album gets pretty mediocre. That said, I don’t quite understand the loathing shown in the top reviews. Sure, the hits are front-loaded here and the rest of the album is pretty middling, but damn, people need to get over themselves. It’s perfectly listenable pop rock, and you don’t have to hate it because it’s popular. 5/10 Decent
Favorite Track: Beautiful Day
It's a good U2 album. Not at the same level as Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby, but good. critics were right to herald it as a return to form after Zooropa and Pop.
I have grown to hate U2 over the years. I liked them ok before Achtung Baby. But since that record, I’ve not really enjoyed anything they’ve put out. I can’t really put my finger on why that is exactly. Part of it is that they just got crammed down your throat incessantly through the 90s and I think I got real sick of their sound. I also think Bono really got up his own ass around that time and he’s never really recovered in my mind. I dunno, objectively, this record probably isn’t terrible. But I have zero interest in it. I’m not enjoying it now, at about halfway through. I reckon I’ll just call it here and move on. 5/10
I actually do like U2 decently well, for the record! All three of their other albums on here deserve to be here. This, on the other hand, does not. In their previous work, they felt like they were pushing boundaries in a mega-popular context, but this feels like one of those albums where they just phone it in because their fans will buy whatever they put out.
The Singles are Albright.tge Rest is really boring
356/1089 The cover is SO turn of the millenium i love it Beautiful Day is such a nice and euphoric album opener, it has a timeless quality to it Stuck in a Moment is a bit of a momentum killer icl it’s a bit too saccharine Elevation is perfect, what a hit. Helps that I will always directly link it to Tomb Raider, which is my FAVE the middle 4 tracks kinda just existed When I Look At The World is cute faves: Elevation, New York, When i look at the world, walk on 73/100
U2 had some bangers but everything that's not a single just sounds a bit samey Fave track: Beautiful Day
Was interested to see if I would enjoy this based on nostalgia. Or succumb to the trendy thing to do and hate on U2. Unfortunately, I think I gravitated towards option b a little more. 3/5
Uno de los mejores discos de U2 del 2000 si no es que el mejor, transmite una paz increíble y un sentimiento de transición
Awful. It started as the pop rock band of the 80s and turned into the cheesiest cringiest dullest band ever. That album is incredibly bad.
It's competent but does rather insist upon itself.
As Len Houmous famously said ‘what’s Bono ever actually done for you, the average man?’ 0.5 2/12 Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out
Just because a record is made by U2 doesn't mean it needs to be on this list.
Não sabia que estava à espera destas músicas terapêuticas, começo muito forte. Mas depois mais meh
Tudo o que estava bem nos anos 2000
Não estava preparado para tanto banger nostálgico
Whilst this is a pale comparison to the Joshua Tree it was nevertheless a welcome return to the U2 I knew and liked after the Pop and Actuung Baby shenanigans of the 90’s. Played the album to death when I bought it but says a lot to admit that I haven’t played it in years until today. But I did rediscover one or two forgotten gems away from the well known hits. Grace is a lovely song and New York always grabbed my attention. Often wonder if that was the inspiration of Madonna’s I Love New York on her confessions album. Similar in rhythm and lyrical content. Biggest negative I can say about this album is that ITV used Beautiful Day as the theme to their Saturday night football programme when they nicked Match Of The Day off the BBC. Thankfully an injustice now repaired together with the reinstatement of that familiar and comforting MOTD tune. When I stopped playing this album also marked the time that I went off U2. But today’s listen was a welcome reminder of the wealth of material U2 produced sporadically up to the time this album was released. 4/5 7/7/26
The most January 1st 2000 album I've ever heard.
Which was also fine. No was that not enough.
I don’t love U2
I have no idea if this was musically a huge deal when it came out or I'm lacking in musical knowledge to appreciate this, but ultimately to me it ends up feeling generic. Not something I would ever go out of my way to listen to and, for having come out more recently than some of these other albums, still manages to sound more dated.
I didn't like the first half of this album, stopped listening after track 5, skipped through to make sure I didn't miss anything and went back to my day. Beautiful day annoys me. What the hell is New York?
I'd never really given U2 the time of day: I knew they were widely considered great (And this album shows why) but the being forced onto everyone's iPod left such a sour taste in my mouth I never did give them any attention
I like U2. Under a Blood Red Sky was one of the first CDs I bought when I was in middle school. Unforgettable Fire was just about a perfect album. But this? This is a band that is afraid of taking chances. It feels genetically engineered to make 35 year old white women feel good while driving to Starbucks. Front loading the album with the singles seems like an admission that no one is expected to listen to the whole thing.
I'm coming in a little biased. I haven't heard this U2 album, though I am familiar with the singles from this record. That said, have listened to U2's earlier albums, and I think I'm pretty familiar. To me, Brian Eno is the star and I don't care for U2. No standouts here. Seems like they just felt like they needed to make another album and sharted out some bullshit. A few ideas that could use some baking. "Peace On Earth" is a good song. Its a "Live Laugh Love" album. There is nothing _wrong_ with that slogan, actually its good advice. But also, there is something lame about it and how it is displayed. I get the same feeling while listening to this album. Two stars for Eno.
Not U2s best but pretty good for the time.
Judging the album in and of itself rather than the book of work done by U2, I thought the album was good, not fantastic, but a solid piece of work.
Bono certainly earned the biddy with this album.
Really bland soulless music. Did not enjoy this one at all.
Wow what an unbelievably lame album, easily the lamest, most uninteresting album so far. I already knew U2 was trash and Bono sucked, but even for them this was a low. I'm sorry but anyone who really loved this album has to have the personality of a saltine cracker and the musical taste of a child who had only been allowed to hear church music until now. This album makes Christian rock sound badass in comparison. Like wow how brave Bono, let's do a boring song with nothing musically interesting or creative whatsoever preaching about world peace, what a creative masterclass. Second only to John Lennon's Imagine in hollow and preachy music, the fact these songs are also incredibly bland and boring with absolutely nothing musically inspired going on really makes this album the gold standard for soulless and uncreative slop pushed out by a band that doesn't know when to quit. Bono is a music criminal with a career full of limp and flaccid songs I have inexplicably continued to hear throughout my life, implying somebody out there actually likes his sorry excuse for music, but even they probably don't like this album. If this album was a person, a 97 year old grandma or a 2 year old with 4 broken limbs could kick their ass it's just that God damn lame.
A most mediocre offering from the foremost experts in bland millennial pop rock. The album starts with a modestly strong opening in the track Beautiful Day, nearly giving the false impression that this is a good rock band, before each following track proves that this band has nothing interesting or unique to offer. Furthermore, the album grows worse and more tiresome as the listener is forced to endure Bono's overexerted and strained vocals, supported by the most milquetoast instrumental arrangements imaginable. I'll add this to the list of U2 albums that left no impression and served only to expand their catalogue of uninteresting music.
Not a big fan of late U2
#368 I heard that this album didn’t actually make the list but U2 did a deal with the publisher so that it was included with every copy of the book. I considered giving 3 stars but I didn’t want to raise the average score for this album on the site. Heard before? ❌ Would I revisit? ❌ Listen before you die? ❌ Fave track(s): Beautiful Day Rating: 5/10 ⭐️⭐️
This is good rock and roll, uh, music
Is stuck in a moment meant to be inspiring? I can't think of a more dreary tune for its message. It's offensively mid. The sort of thing David Brent woukd find philosophical. Dad rock in the worst way. The rhymes are so predictable. I normally give an album at least a tune if the lead singer can sing and the band can play. However I find this album so offensively dull that it's getting a 1.
Full disclosure, I’m a fan of U2. All that you can’t leave behind is their least creative album. It’s got a few solid songs, but there’s no fire. Not their best work.
näissä hyvin vähän mitään vikaa.
2 - u2 sucks
Wow is this boring and mediocre. U2 once again front loading their album. Not even Beautiful Day can save this as an entire project. Fav tracks: Beautiful Day Saved a song: N RYM: N
I’ve heard this AOR pablum before and am choosing not to revisit.
Frontloaded album haha! But okay second half, 7/10
S'alright
Classic album full of classic U2 songs, I remember how popular this album was and kind of like a comeback in ways for U2
I know there's a lot of U2 hate out there (mostly for Bono). But they've made some killer songs that I've loved listening to in my life. This album was massive. Those first four songs are all great. Beautiful Day was the anthem for a short while in the year 2000; you can't pretend it wasn't. If Joshua Tree is their best product, then this album is a stellar return to form after years of weird experimentation. I like it all the way through, honestly. 4⭐️
Very mediocre album. I remember this being everywhere when it came out. Makes sense given how inoffensive it is. U2 can really only do one thing, and this isn’t them doing that thing at their best.
I just do not like U2. it's not my type of band.
Meh, it was a U2 album. It was ok I guess.
There’s a couple of pretty good songs on here but most of the album is meh. I went through a U2 phase around 2009-ish. Did I outgrow U2? Or did I outgrow Bono?
U2 are a great rock band making pretty good music. This is is better than some otherU2, and some has been a bit overplayed.
Fine. Unremarkable. Why is it on this list?
Good U2 album tbh. Three good songs to begin with, then a bit weaker afterwards. Some of their best songs in here too really.
All That You Can't Leave Behind is an album that was quite a bit better than i was expecting. I only ever knew this album for Beautiful Day and i did think that this was gonna be at a point where U2 has lost their luster but this album turned out to be shockingly really good. Of all the U2 albums i have heard, this one is probably the most melodic of them all, and i really did like this direction. This is another album that is feels very spearheaded by it's singles as those tracks are the most memorable tracks on the album to me. I still think that War is a little better but this one is still a pretty close second when it comes to albums by this band. Best Song: Walk On Worst Song: Peace On Earth Side Note: Last U2 album, meaning: 1. War 2. All That You Can't Leave Behind 3. The Joshua Tree 4. Achtung Baby
nice soft rock. Totally subjective but I never quite liked the frontman's voice, and still I find the music really enjoyable. Honorable menti`on: Wild Honey. monke
This album, for me, signified the death of the U2 that was my favorite band in high school and college. Each album prior to this had gone in a definite direction with a distinct sound and vision. To be sure, some of those were better that others. But the last of that remarkable run, the much maligned Pop, it one of my personal favorites, a record that took a giant swing and connected, perhaps for a ground rule double, but never the less a fun original and new thing from an artist that had been at it for almost 20 years at that point. The critics despised it, and fans were perplexed by it. The band never recovered from the bad press. They did a hard 180 and went back to some sort of 80s U2 formula that produced a few decent tracks here (Beautiful Day, Elevation, and Walk On are solid additions to the canon) but mostly a bland regurgitation of what a band that loved U2 might sound like. See also, Coldplay. I've disliked this one since it came out and I revisit it frequently enough that I should know better but every time I hope I hear something to justify its stature but for me, it's just not there
I hate Bono.
A parte beatiful day avevo giá provato ad ascoltare peró non mi é piaciuto un granche
So painfully mediocre that it's worse than you can possibly remember. Just a real turd of an album, not because it's actively bad (the lyrics definitely are) but because it's so actively boring. Just really stupid all around from a band that had been on top of the world.
Never heard this album in full. It's so evil to follow up one of the most overplayed songs ever (Beautiful Day) with a moving tribute to Michael Hutchence (Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of). I don't want to be a massive hater because there are some U2 songs I do like and people on average are too mean to U2 but... this is the type of music that doesn't make you feel anything. Peak 2000s production, you can really feel the era on this. And it is well produced but the songs themselves are deeply unremarkable 2/5
Couple good songs, not much else
Just a whole lot of good songs. Not much else to be said.
Det er noook U2 nå! Jeg har konkludert med at U2 er et singelband, 1-3 merkverdige låter pr plate, resten er utrolig kjedelig.
I e lei han Bono nå.
Dette er en relativt sterk pop-skive med høy allsang på grensen-faktor. Minus for at de er U2 og at de har stjelt fra A-HA.
Pangstarten blir kvelt av en vanvittig anonym halvtime. Grace redde inn treeren helt på tampen. Stuck In A Moment står alene for to av de tre stjernen. Syns generelt U2 får litt for mye hat, men kan være med å hate de seks låten i midten. Kordan kan man gå inn med Brian Eno og bunnløst med spenn, og så ende opp med å ha med alle de seks?
Åpner med tre låter man har hørt før, og de er ikke de verste dette bandet har laget. Litt lekent og energisk, bare synd det er U2. Resten av plata er inni hampen kjedelig. Sovemusikk.
I turned my nose up somewhat at U2 when they popped up, they're a group I enjoyed as a kid but lost my passion for. Maybe I've been overly harsh, turning this album over in my mind it's actually solid and one of their best.
Yes, Bono’s voice is slipping at this point. Yes, it shouldn’t be over 50 minutes long. Yes, they’re far past their prime. But it’s got its moments! “Beautiful Day,” despite Bono’s 40-year-old vocals (you can still have good vocals at 40! Look at Laraaji, his vocals are still good to this day! Bono’s vocals are just not) is still an awesome song. “Stuck in a moment…” is an improvement, and Bono’s vocals are even bit better! From there it takes a bit of a drop though. This album’s biggest problem frankly is that it doesn’t really leave an impression, other than “Wild Honey,” which is easily the best song here. The most memorable parts, frankly, are when Bono’s voice breaks and you can tell he’s out of it. Nothing else is of worth! It’s almost funny, except it isn’t. 6.0/10
Trop ressemblant
I wish they’d left this behind! U2 at their worst. Inane lyrics with a nice middle of the road sound.
I don’t really get the hate. This was a perfectly fine pop-rock album. Nothing spectacular, but like said, perfectly fine.
Really really cool. Need another listen
Always found u2 a bit dull. They start strong on this with the first two songs then it becomes quite meh.
Really list?! Really?! This album? Of all of the wonderful, landmark U2 recordings we get this one first? This is the absolute twilight album of relevance in modern music. It’s the last even partially listenable record in their catalog and really besides the singles it’s a very subpar affair. Bono insists on singing songs that just do not fit his voice and for an elder statesman he seems to have remarkably little worth singing about. I give it one extra point simply because I know they can put out even worse albums than this. After this album the released one of their next albums for free to download on iTunes. It’s so bad that even at free I felt ripped off and I couldn’t even make it all the way through. Let’s hope we get to see Joshua Tree or Rattle And Hum or Achtung Baby or fucking Zooropa or really any of their albums before this one.
Good lord U2, stop making music. This was just awful. Just a bunch of boring song ideas full of childish lyrics.
Peak
This album has great production, but is so boring it is pretty much just Muzak. Only reason it is not a one is that is ok to listen to.
A good more recent one
I am a big fan of their earlier work, up until probably the album Pop. I just can access this album it sounds overblown
my type shit
Not as annoying as I thought it’d be. It was an era of U2 that stung given the urgency and inventiveness of their earlier albums. Very MOR and I can’t help but think that you couldn’t have had Coldplay as the biggest band in the world if this hadn’t come before. And that made me a little pissy to be honest. But ok to listen to. Some nice songs I guess?
Prior to this journey, I wasn't much of an album listener(which is the main reason why I'm doing this journey). However, I still have a sub-category of albums in this generator I call "Nostalgia Fueled", meaning the nostalgia of Hit Songs, OR the entire album itself fuels my rating. I concede to this, because I remember singing some of these songs as a kid with my friends. Aside from the Hit songs, this album slaps as I listened to it on a beautiful day. The only flaw is the second half of the album could have been more satisfying. Favorite Track: "Elevation".
Front-loaded, 3 of the first 4 tracks are actually strong (though the other one is rank rotten). The production is as you'd expect - solid, stadium-filler-fare - but the guitar is so hackneyed and the guys sound washed up a lot of the time. Several extremely cringeworthy lyrics. Stilted and lumpen.
Fine for background music at work
It's a U2 album with a bit of millennium optimism sprinkled in. Terrific production and some real earworms on this one. It reminds me of other albums from groups that have been making music for decades: they'll never hit you in the guy with album 14 but by this point they've found the formula and still find themselves inspired enough to put a solid record together with real feeling.
I came in ready to dismiss this record, because U2 were very experimental in the 90s and this "return to rock" felt very bleah. While it's no How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb levels of dad rock, there are a few undeniably good songs front loaded in here like the inescapable "Beautiful Day", "Elevation", "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of", and the now-questionable "Walk On" (written about then-longtime Burmese political prisoner turned Rohingya genocide denier Aung San Suu Kyi). It's not as seismic as The Joshua Tree, it's not a massive pivot like Achtung Baby, and it's not even half-finished like Pop, it's just U2 becoming decidedly MOR and playing it safe for the new millennium. It’s the sound of a legacy band prioritizing commercial survival over artistic risk, crafting stadium pleasing background music that offends absolutely no one. It’s certainly not a terrible listen, and those initial hits still hold a lot of nostalgic weight, but the overall experience ultimately lacks the raw fire and passion that made U2 great in the first place.
This is my third U2 album in three weeks and I have to ask, what do people listen to U2 for? What do they get out of listening to it? I listen to Nina Simone to hear the beauty and power of her voice. I listen to Fela Kuti for the long danceable numbers. I listen to Husker Du because Bob Mould screaming in my ear does weird (not gay) things to me. I listen to the Ramones for short, loud, catchy songs etc. So what draws people, and keeps them coming back to U2? Im genuinely curious, because to me they sound like your average rock/alternative rock band with a handful of hits. They’re a greatest hits band to me, and I think this album really cemented it. Joshua Tree was great, other than that you can skip the albums and just listen to their singles.
Just not very interesting?
3.5 Starts off with some hits but after that it's a bit safe and uninteresting for the most part, that one peace on earth song made me understand all the anti bono sentiment
I didn’t really care for the album.
I enjoyed most of this. If you like U2, you’ll probably like this but it isn’t anything groundbreaking. 3.5/5
I didn't think I'd experience thanks to this generator what being a dad in his fifties feels like, but here we are. 2.5/5
Mouais. C'est encore un de ces albums qui ne sont pas mauvais du tout, mais qui sont quand même assez inintéressants et pas franchement mémorables. U2, je connais assez mal (finalement, ce que je connais le mieux, c'est la reprise d'I Will Follow, de Fear Factory, qui est une reprise assez improbable, d'ailleurs), mais il m'a toujours donné l'image d'un groupe dont la popularité repose... heu ben je sais pas, en fait. Je ne comprends pas vraiment, parce que ça m'a l'air sympathique sans être non plus foufou. Et le truc, c'est qu'à l'échelle de leur discographie, cet album m'a l'air franchement anecdotique. Pourquoi cet album en particulier ? Si leurs meilleurs albums sont déjà dans la liste, pourquoi ajouter celui-là ? Encore une fois, c'est tout sauf un mauvais album, mais c'est pas très très intéressant, en fait. Quelqu'un qui aime le pop rock y trouvera sûrement son compte, mais pour quelqu'un qui ne s'y intéresse pas trop (comme moi), ça entre par une oreille et ça sort par l'autre.
This falls off so hard. Dull dross from Bono
I dont know how I feel about this. Nothing offensive here, but nothing memorable either. 3/5
If I could stop getting U2 that would be great. Yes this has beautiful day, but if this is your tenth studio album and it’s called back to basics and it sucks ass, then I don’t get the whole thing. I really didn’t enjoy this one a lot.
It's now as good as their earlier work, but it still has a few good songs (which appear to be front-loaded).
Better than I remember it, but that's not to say its great once you get passed the first 3ish songs. Maybe a 3 star, but rounding down because there are probably albums that deserve to be on thos list instead of this. Heck, there are probably U2 albums more deserving
I just don't think this is any less overwrought than other U2 albums - they just have less meaningful things to say because they're flying on private jets and hanging with billionaires. Sure, the album isn't as good as some of their earlier stuff but it isn't committing war crimes the way the reviews would make you think. Honestly, I'm more offended by the blues-raping of Clapton and so many of his cohort than this early aughts wankery.
4/5
While I own and enjoy the album, I am not entirely sold that it is an essential album, although it is better than most of the albums during the decade in which it came out. To me, an argument can be made for THE JOSHUA TREE, ZOOROPA, and ACHTUNG BABY; and while this album was a real comfort after 9/11, it feels like it should be removed to open up a spot for another essential album by another artist that was overlooked. Front half of the album, particularly the first 4 are the bangers, while everything else feels fairly uninspired with the exception of maybe "The Ground Beneath Her Feet".
Ce que j'aime chez U2, c'est les blagues sur le chanteur. Par exemple : quel est la différence entre dieux et Bono On a jamais vu dieux de balader en se faisant passer pour Bono C'est marrant mais cet album est vraiment pas le meilleur de U2 et en aucun cas un album à avoir écouté dans sa vie. Peut être fait il partie de la liste des album a écouter une seul fois dans sa vie pour comprendre que U2 n'est pas un groupe très constant. À contrario, How to dismantle an atomic bomb lui est à écouter dans sa vie plusieurs fois, parce qu'il comporte vertigo et plein d'autres chansons que je ne saurais citer. S'il y a des fan de cet album, merci de ne pas me contacter pour me dire pourquoi vous l'aimez, il ressemble à une parodie de U2. Il est sûrement présent dans parce que qqun à écouter beautiful day et s'est dit que tout l'album était comme ça, mais non tout l'album n'est pas bien sans plus, il est majoritairement médiocre. Est ce que ça vaut 5 non Est ce que ça vaut 4 non plus Est ce que ça vaut 3 pas sur Est ce que ça va 1 non plus À mes yeux c'est du 2,5 ce qui donnera un 2 au final.
Je connais bien cet album, et je pense que sa première moitié est vraiment forte, et malgré ça ce n'est vraiment pas une œuvre magistrale... Playlist pick : Elevation (ooh-ooh)
Gud bedre!
A pretty collection of songs, it peaks immediately with "Beautiful Day" and never reaches quite that high again, but it doesn't have to achieve that for the rest of the tracklist to still remain a varied but pleasing experience
Incredibly boring. Lyrics to New York are so bad.
Rendu là, j'avais décroché de U2. (Le titre de l'album fait référence à eux-mêmes??)
Pas très stoïque comme titre d'album, Marc Aurèle dirait que rien ne peut ps être laissé derrière... Bon, j'ai vraiment appris à aimer U2 faut croire. Cet album est particulièrement soft listening, mais j'y reviendrai volontier. Les 4 singles dès le début bang bang bang bang!
Toutes les singles pour commencer, c’est bold. Beautiful Day et Walk On sont encore excellents. Elevation et Stuck in a moment ont mal vieillis j’ose dire. Le reste me semble assez quelconque/u2 generique. Bien aimé kite et New York. Mais bin ça n’acotte pas Joshua Tree et Achtung Baby!
U2? Not me.
a slog
U2's big return to form. No lie, Beautiful Day is a good song. Then they had to put their music on everyone's Apple devices and make it impossible to get it off...what a crazy decision by both U2 and Apple. Nothing makes you want to listen to some aging rockers more than a technology company abusing it's power to control your personal devices. Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of is another good one...strong start. Elevation as the third song, a song I have always argued is often the best on more albums than any other track, is good too. That's a strong start. They're losing me with Walk On and Kite a little bit. They're ok, but they should have spaced those first three tracks across the album more evenly. In A Little While is another highlight. These guys just got sideways with everyone by getting high on their own farts I guess. It feels like they have an accessible sound that isn't so watered down that it becomes unrecognizable in the sea of rock music...maybe it didn't evolve enough as time wore on. Maybe time just comes for us all and you might as well do what works for as long as possible and never worry about everyone else's reaction. The guitar in Grace reminds me of The Velvet Underground's Pale Blue Eyes, one of my favorite songs.
Honestly, the first half was really good and had some really catchy and exciting tracks, but then it just lost steam and there was still 6 songs left to go on the album.
I'm really only familiar with a couple of the older U2 albums. I remember Beautiful Day, of course, but funny I always thought this track came out like a decade earlier than it did. Props to U2 for staying relevant for so long. Elevation I remember as well. Second track is a little whiney, as are several more scattered throughout. If you're a U2 fan, then it seems on brand. For me, it's like some of their other albums. Some clear hits, then a lot of filler. New York is a decent deep cut. 3/5
I like beautiful day
lol these guys suck. Bono sounds like he thinks he’s the second coming of the Beatles but in reality this is much closer to shitty contemporary Christian music. Boooo
Absolute vocal masterclass. How can someone sound so earnest with so little to say?
Bono is whiny and warbly, and there's just one problem, he's not any good. And what the fuck are these lyrics All the rest feels like set dressing, and it's fine, but no band member stands as particularly talented. Maybe just one more effects pedal will fix it. Even the hits landed softer punches than I remember. To quote another reviewer: "as annoying as it is forgettable"
Compared to many other albums on this list I think this one actually deserves to be here. I doubt there is any person in the world - young or old - who at least once have not heard "Beautiful Day".
> the Beatles So much hate for such a fun album
On the back of singles… otherwise forgettable
Jeg hater alt ved dette. Hver gang jeg tror jeg ikke kan hate dette mer, så kommer det ny låt som klarer å irritere på atter en måte. Dette er -- og jeg sier ikke dette uten omtanke -- kanskje det dårligste albumet vi har hatt så langt. Gir i hvertt fall Emmylou Harris konkurranse i bunnsjiktet...
Det er egentlig et ganske chill album. Liker soulinnflytelsene, men sliter litt med de tidlig 2000-talls produksjonsteknikkene. Foretrekker de tidligere platene til U2
I know two things when it comes to U2. 1. Vertigo. 2. They had their album on all our phones at one point without us knowing. This is my first time listening to more of their music. Very 2000s UK, if that makes sense. Nothing memorable.
U know what? There’s 2 many albums by this band on this lists. Could have left this on behind.
I honestly loved this album. Aside from Beautiful Day, I didn't know any of this music very well. There are so many great songs on here! The entire first half is particularly good. This album has a positive, uplifting feel that I really appreciate. I love the 2000s feel too. It seems like there are lots of U2 haters out there, but I'm not one of them.
Once again sounds like all the rest of their music. Is this the last U2 album on the list?
Lovely and inoffensive (for me personally). So much hate for such easy listening, god damn. Wild Honey was a fave of mine. Theres little flickers of noise and sound on here that go a long way for me, as im such a detail oriented guy myself. Cool to know Brian Eno had a hand in this, I'd be interested to know where his input and expertise came in, and how it would have sounded differently had he not been around for this album. Honestly more memorable for me than War and Achtung Baby.
3/5
Discover a new song (‘New York’) that I like, and didn’t realize ‘Walk On’ was from this album. A solid 3.5
i went ":o" when i saw i got this album bc my dad rly likes u2! he listnd 2 em alot when he was younger, i js recently listnd 2 joshua tree (very good album!!) anyway, i like this album. he has a nice voice n i like the melodies n chords, i rly liked elevation n wild honey! wild honey reminded me abit of the beatles wild honey pie (bc of the name) which i quite enjoy, tho ive seen alotta ppl say they dont like it (wonder y.. jk ik y, its abit odd. i still rly enjoy it tho). good message in peace on earth. its all quite groovy, ive alot of u2s albums on my "should listen 2" list! anyway now im gonna go watch good omens "season" 3. i rmbr seeing THE SPOILER (every) n getting my hopes up... then when i watched s2 e6 when it came out in 2023 i was DEVESTATED. CRUSHED. i cried so hard i got lightheaded. now "season" 3 is finally out 2day, may 13th 2026. i cant believe itll all b over after this... n only in 90mins bc neil fucking gaiman decided 2 b an ass. fuck that guy. im so excited but also nervous as balls :1 hope its good!! im getting off track i js realised, whoops. anyway, gr8 album, i luv it! i js watched s3. o my stars. i cried so hard dude. im not sure how i feel abt the ending honestly. but it was gr8! cant believe its over, the show holds such a special place in my heart😭 all im gonna say is PLZ watch it its actually totally worth it trust me plz
Decent for a later period U2 album. Pretty average compared to their early, more energetic output. 3.5
This summed up 2000s soft rock
It's fine. The U2 hate goes overboard i find, but it's hardly revolutionary either. Beautiful day is pretty good.
Awful album that shouldn't have been made, and definitely shouldn't be on this list. Overproduced, dull songs, trite lyrics. So bad it makes me angry it exists.
Not my favorite U2 album but still good music
7/10: pompous, over-the-top and preachy. Bono is a ridiculous man who fronts a ridiculous band. But my god when they get it right they get it so so right. The highs are 10/10 moments, but the lows are really quite low. A good album, super inconsistent. Best song: Elevation
This album commences by three of the greatest snippets of U2 discography. It remains an easy listen beyond that point but I'm on the fence so as to whether this is memorable enough for inclusion. 7/10 [DROP]
Maybe the last tolerable U2 album. They get really boring and start sounding the same.
Se nota el oficio, pero después de la cuarta canción sobra seguir escuchando a U2. Mejor volver a sus primeros discos.
How convenient that 2 is part of the band name. Outside of the hits, there aren’t any high points to this album.
For the post-pop U2 albums this is one of my favorites. It is pretty solid from top to bottom and went back to some great Edge guitar play.
Haters are wrong this is dental office music it’s enjoyable and great from the beginning to end
Decent, not as good as Joshua Tree. Feel like about halfway through most of the songs really drop off, like Bono just ran out of things to sing about. They lack any sort of oomph. The first half is really good though.
U2 getting back to more of what they do well (after the mess of Pop & Zooropa). Love the raw lyrics of Stuck in a Moment. Walk On, In a Little While also excellent tracks. Does drop off a bit toward end of album, but still solid listen. Great variety, strong guitar hooks, and lyrics. 4.5 stars
Nooo
A bland album from a band that somehow persists without having any real reason to anymore. This album is about as inoffensive as it gets. Like something you'd be forced to listen to while shopping at a grocery store. And I'm sure the singles played in a lot of grocery stores in the early 2000s. I don't know what it is about U2, but they just really irritate me for some reason. Maybe it's because I feel like they could make actual good music, but instead make music that sounds completely uninspired. Maybe I don't think they can make any good music any more (and haven't really for decades, from what I've heard). Maybe it's because I think their name is stupid. I don't really want to think about them long enough to figure it out. Despite my criticisms, there were a couple decent songs here. I remember liking Elevation when it came out and I was 9ish years old. It's still fine, I guess. But nothing on here is actually memorable, except for reminding me that it's not very good. And the not-very-good far outweighs anything decent on here. The only reason I don't rank this lower is because there wasn't a lot that was actively bad. It somehow does an OK job of staying around OK. But even at its best, I didn't need to hear this before I died. We can definitely leave it behind, U2. Overall: 1.6/5
# Album Name: All That You Can't Leave Behind # Artist: U2 # Rating: 2/5 # Comments: God, this reminds me why i dislike bono. Not a patch on the early stuff. On the back of a terrible 90s. Couple of decent songs, albeit annoying, at the start. Terrible back end. # Top Tunes: Walk On # Would I listen to it again? No.
Did this album really have to be on the list? Oh well… The album is actually decent with five pretty big hits, but I don’t think I would put this on again anytime soon. The hits are good and fit on a U2 greatest hits playlist to play for the kids
Bono isn’t a great singer
The Bono-ness is a lot, as always. Underneath, there are some very fine little songs (Stuck in a Moment is just hook after hook).
U2 is so overrated, and this is not their best.
zzzzz
Last of the great U2 albums. Catchy guitar/bass/drums rock music, this is all we ask of U2. Though they ask more than that from themselves and that's when it goes a little bit off. Which is why songs like Elevation and Walk On are great - they go hard emotionally, it's sincere and the band isn't trying to do something that doesn't fit them. Incredibly entertaining live band and an astonishing lifetime of work with virtually no controversy except people think Bono is cocky, or something. I love U2 and I was glad when they made this as a kind of return to the form that made them so outsanding in the first place.
A lovely, meaningful album, with many stories of everyday, ordinary people and their struggles; it was rather chill and relaxed to listen to 👏
Very good start, same as the singles, but then....kind of feels repetitive. Don't get me wrong, i like it, but not as much, it's ok
I’m not a U2 big fan but I really enjoyed this album.
Great record, some hits and a great flow overall. It sounds like a modernized good version of U2, and it achieves everything from beginning to end.
Très bien
De más a menos
not the biggest u2 fan but its good
had higher hopes
Not my favorite U2 but I liked it more than War. Great album
What a throwback. Great tunes.
Anodyne stadium rock with cringeworthy lyrics. Only Beautiful Day moves it from one to two stars.
I’ve never been able to go all in with U2. The Joshua Tree is a masterpiece and they’ve never hit those heights since
Despite Beautiful Day being U2's gift to ITV Sport, this all seems a bit meh. Not Coldplay-level meh mind. 3*
Tää on löytynyt julkaisustaan asti omasta hyllystä. Ei oo jäänyt miksikään omaksi suosikiksi, vaikka U2 fani oonkin. Oikeastaan tämän levyn jälkeen, on bändin musa ei oo hirveästi kiinnostanut. Tulee kuunneltua levyjä ennen tätä.
It occurred to me that this came out shortly before 9/11. I can still remember the sense of hope and optimism that surrounded us. Yes, there were problems but they weren't insurmountable. Beautiful Day hit the zeitgeist perfectly. This is an album for its time. I love it, especially, The Ground Beneath Her Feet which was taken from a Salman Rushdie book of the same name.
nope. one of my most beloved bands turned to shite. will not listen.
I thought the first few tracks were really nice and then it started to kinda get boring to me.
It's not very good when you listen to the lyrics but I have a lot of nostalgia with this album as I heard it played a lot in my mid teens as I was just getting into music. I still recall most of the lyrics even though I didn't buy the album but just heard it played by my parents or friends of my parents.
p861. 2000. 3 stars. Stadium Dad rock for the new millennium. Some decent tunes here, but it's let down by filler and Bono's vocal hysterics.
U2 is just too bland for me. The first 3 songs "Beautiful Day" "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of" and "Elevation" are the best on here, and they're still just kind of okay?
Aggressively mid, and I say this as a U2 fan. They haven't put out anything good since Pop (and I'm not sure that even holds up).
Just … fine. Very “millennium”-sounding. Still not jiving with Bono’s sound/style.
Has there ever been a more insufferable boob in rock music than Paul David Hewson? No. This whole album is a testament to that, especially "New York," which should be shot into deep space. Definitely not something you can't leave behind. Calling bullshit, Bono — there's no way that U2 flies commercial!
ass
In the year 1999, Daniel Lanois kidnapped the members of U2 and brought them to his goon cave deep in the English countryside. He drugged them into a delirious haze, strapped each of them to a surgical chair, and was in the process of extracting their essence through a complex network of tubes and machinery, which hummed beautifully with hall reverb despite the cave’s highly treated sonic profile, when Brian Eno burst into the cave. “Daniel!” he cried, “what’s the meaning of all this?” “I’m done with these bastards, Brian… first they thought they could do it without me… then they thought they could do it without you. Did you hear that fucking Pop album? They’ve been playing shows under a McDonald’s arch… it's all gone too far.” His eyes gleamed with an evil pride that Eno hadn’t seen since The Edge had first introduced him to dotted eighth-note delay. Eno traced the essence-carrying tubes to their endpoint, a massive vat of embryonic fluid containing four twenty-something dudes orbiting a glowing CD that read “Coldplay - Parachutes.” At his control board, Lanois carefully distributed the essence. “Yes… we’ve reached the band’s entrance in track 3, one drop of The Edge should do it…” As the Edgessence fell into the vat, famed Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland came to life. His mouth formed an “O” shape and instantly emitted the iconic guitar line of “Spies.” “Damn, that shit is pretty good!” cried Brian. “But Daniel, this is so extreme! What are you doing to these poor lads? Can’t we just make another U2 album? Let them get back to their roots a bit?” “Nah Brian, fuck that. I’m creating something even better by jacking their swag and vital essence… and it’s too late anyways, I’ve extracted too much…” Suddenly, Brian lunged towards the control board, knocking Daniel out of his chair. He slammed the bright red reverse button, and essence began flowing back into U2. Bono opened his eyes and whispered “it's a beautiful day!” “YES!!!” screamed Eno. He worked and worked, puppeteering the reinhabited band members to create a new U2 album. After days of labor, Brian popped “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” into the cave’s CD player. As the album progressed, a wry smile crossed Daniel’s face. “It… it sucks ass… but how? I did everything right…” Eno muttered despondently. “I told you it was too late, you old fuck” said Daniel, “now do what must be done.” With great pain, Brian re-extracted the essence from his old friends and allowed Daniel to finish his sorcery. By the end of 2000, U2 had been completely chillmogged by the sexy and fresh Coldplay, their essence never to be returned. 1.5/5
I want to shoot whoever is shaking that tambourine on Walk On like 11 times.
brian eno, daniel lanois, and famous protestant singer Bono team up to make some FUCKING BULLSHIT!!! i have a real soft spot for "Beautiful Day" and "Stuck In A Moment" because i used to listen to my mom's CD copy of this in middle school but man the rest of it is just Nothing
god. Fucking. DAMMIT. as a proud u2 defender i'm sorry to all my friends in advance. see the stuff i said about the gallaghers and the conservatism for "the greater good" in the libertines review. to genuinely go from trying to push the electronica rock envelope but (with classic u2 hubris) pre booking the tour and (after functionally fixing it in mexico city) not making a live album to then biting the melody from A-ha's second biggest hit. fucks sake. they're lucky the edge is an all time guitarist (along with the always mint rhythm section) and eno/lanois is just about as close to a scratch production winner as you can get. atomic bomb was when the real downturn began but. as aforementioned. it portends. it just portends. first two songs are near all timers. although finding out "stuck in a moment" is meant to be about the INXS guy is. y'know. a bit shitty. what's that one joke about god and Bono? elevation is probably their worst soundtrack based song. makes me want to listen to the batman forever one (let alone miss sarajevo). if madonna's die another day had an (aidan says i can't use any CENSORED irish slurs 🥲) 'RA based twin. "walk on" is underrated. coldplay would copy this word for word but change the bars up writing x&y half a decade later. kite would be fine if it didn't end with big Bonissmo going "erm ackshually u guys didn't get the postmodern² of the kmart lemon disco ball". we know. you're having a normal one about it. pillock. everything else is john mayer lite and ballad treacle that mj wouldn't even touch. that's a lie. mj would try a ballad written by himmler if it had enough kiddie mentions. "when i look at the world" + "grace" are nice enough. not peak. but nice enough. 2.2-2.5. re j diddla: "massive massive indicator that the list was first published in ‘05 today"
bland but decent
No matter how much you think you should you can’t hate U2. It’s comfort music.
Lots of classics. 3/5
I'm not an outspoken fan of U2, but I don't despise them like quite a few on this site. This album is much more the U2 I like, but not their strongest one. There are the obvious hit singles, some quite good tracks, and then there are some fillers.
U number 2.
Decent album from early 2000s. Good album for background while working
Hello, hello... F you Bono! And while we're at it, what grown adult calls themselves 'Bono' or 'The Edge' without a sense of satirical irony? Even Johnny Rotten moved on from the 70s punk scene. Your names are Paul and David and you're old men.
Yes, this past-their-peak U2 album was really important for me to hear. Life = changed. It’s fine, really, but I just can’t help but think of all the things that are NOT on this list! Whhhhyyyyyyy????!?
I am happy beyond words to get this. My fourth and last U2 album.... U2 and i have made some unforgettable memories along the way but today is special. Today is the day I am finally free from U2's tyrannical grip on my life, and i never have to listen to them again!!!! Bono see you in hell
I could relate to the idea of being stuck in a moment, as someone who can get into my own head easily. I don't know if this was any better or worse than the last U2 album.
First 4 tracks pretty strong, with decent variety of tempo and style, plus their trademark uplift. Was thinking I might have to give it a 4-star rating, if the quality continued. But, in fact, the other 7 songs (5 through 11) were pretty forgettable. So, in the end, a 3-star rating feels a little generous (as with the previous U2 album - and I won't be surprised if you guys go with 2 stars, again), but I guess I'll go with 3 stars again. I'm not entirely comfortable with this approach (and it's similar to what I did with Simple Minds, yesterday, too), where I give 3 stars, but it's mostly based on a few good songs -- but I guess I'll stick with that approach, at least for this album (and for Simple Minds).
unlucky for U2 that two of their albums came up in quick succession, but I don't think either one deserved to be on this list and I'm sick of it gonna side with the haters. Their style is like a pharmaceutical commercial
Yeah, it’s got some decent tracks on it, but this was a safe album. I remember buying this at a midnight release party. Other than a couple tracks I barely listened to it. I’ll listen to Songs of Innocence over this any day of the week.
After a decade of messing around, U2 finally came up with a successor half worthy to follow Joshua Tree.
Soulless, risk-less corporate rock slop
Kann man machen
Front loaded with the singles and then it’s just kind of there.
Holy shit guys you have to listen to this album. It's so bad.
I like U2, there I said it! This album starts off very strongly but unfortunately it does fade a little in the middle towards the end which is a shame. For me it’s the last strong U2 album, after this it all goes downhill unfortunately. Here’s hoping 2026 will see an uprising!
I have never listened to this album before. By the time it came out I was done with U2 and had been for some time. I also did not love the bit I was forced to hear (Beautiful Day). So, in the spirit of project integrity and intellectual honesty, I gave it a listen. I only listened to about half of each track but I listened to all of them. To call this album a hate crime would be hyperbolic but I hated it. It is probably better on some level than the 1 star I am giving it but I don’t care. This is garbage.
9 - EXCELLENT
U2 always sound like they have something really important to say, but I struggle to get what it is. Bono's lyrics seem lazy with rhymes that seem amateurish at best. U2 at their least effective for me.
I had forgotten about this album as it kind of slipped out after Pop. it has some beautiful songs on it that seem to cross the divide between rock n roll U2 and Pop U2. It still stands up for me.
Loved it
Good album! Some moments are really corney, but this I want to listen to again.
Very lame
yes
was more bearable than the previous entries
Favorite track(s): Elevation
It seems very trendy these days to hate U2. I don't know why. I do agree this is not their best album (maybe the worst) - not sure why this one made it to the list and not The Unforgettable Fire, for example. I much prefer U2's earlier records, up to The Joshua Tree, but there's good stuff after that too. They haven't stood still; it would have been easy to stick to a recipe but they rather explore new avenues, which I appreciate even though some of it isn't my cup of tea. This album is just too plain pop for me. Some fine songs, quite a bit of filler. Inoffensive, and that's not a good thing for a band stat started with sharp, edgy rock in Boy, War, etc. Another 3* album.
At this point, U2 was as sterile as a surgical field. All their songs sound like a meticulous wank fest with zero sense of camaraderie between the guys. I get it, you're pushing 40, you got a family, kids, you have little to no gas in the tank left to create something worthwhile, but you gotta put food on the table, so you churn out an album with some singles and say "Look! E l e v a t i o n", and what not. I get that, but don't make ME listen to some boomer, reminiscing-to-the-old-days, slog and say, this is one of the greatest musical achievements. I could find 1001 albums that sound better than this. We'll add a stronger track, a ballad, some filler, another ballad. See ya in a few years, folks! Fuck off Bono, retire already...
This is #day611 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… as much as I like U2, face it, this isn't a record you must hear before you die. It just doesn't carry the same sense of value or novelty as War, The Joshua Tree, or Achtung Baby. There are a couple of solid tracks here, and the whole thing does sound like U2, but again, it doesn't feel essential. Speaking of the '00s U2, I'm actually more of a fan of the follow-up, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. I do have a friend who likes "New York," though. This is a 3 out of 5. Looking forward to #day612.
4- Stars (10/15)
Liked this a little more than I wanted to. Weak 3.
Some really great songs but damn this is just way too long of an album. 51 tracks for 4:30? No thanks
2,8 Highlights: Beautiful Day, Elevation
Worth a relisten with the lyrics. Lots of good songs here. 5 stars.
I like it. Sounds a bit more pop like but without losing that rock air.
Fantastic first three songs, then the rest.
7/10
Added a star for beautiful day, apart from that it’s rubbish
Astonishing that they were once the biggest band in the world.
Oh my goodness gracious me was this a bore. To be honest there are SOME cool parts but mostly this was just straight bland and boring. There aren't too many things to comment on other than it sounds like U2's other stuff from the 90s. Seems like I just can't get with it. Highlight Song/s: "Walk On" and "Wild Honey Pie"
Not since Joshua Tree had I really listened to a U2 album, only the singles that were unavoidable because they were all over the place. It was better than I thought, well-produced and intricate. The first few songs are really good and I need to spend more time with the rest
Solid songs by a solid band. U2 just never made more of an impression than solid for me.
It’s classic for that time period
I enjoyed the singles off this album as a teen, let’s see how the album holds up. I pretty much stopped listening to U2 around 20 years ago, was that justified? Did not listen to the four and a half hour pretentious anniversary edition, just the 56 minute normal version. I can't unhear that Beautiful Day is 90% guitar whammy. Stuck in a moment you can't get out of is Meatloaf but 15 years later and without the passion. I have memories of enjoying Elevation as a teen but... Walk On is probably the pick of this album so far. But they've front loaded all the hits on this pop album. Most of the rest of this album is forgettable. Side note: The other radio staple Never Tear us Apart by INXS came up on the randomiser immediately after the end of this album, and that song is way more enjoyable than anything on the U2 album.