Reviews (page 5 of 8)
not as good as their older stuff bit disappointing and uninspiring unfortunately :(
Nothing has changed, and I still don't like U2. However, the album is not bad in general.
kinda boring
if i didn't know better, i'd think this was a greatest hits album. say what you will about them, but U2 has a deep, impressive catalog of smash hits. this album puts me in a good mood whenever i hear it.
Good
Great album and in my opinion their first into what I'd call the "modern sound" considering their 90s work was alot more experimental in nature. This album was great and though quite front heavy, there are still some solid tracks in "In a Little While", among my personal favorite U2 tracks. 8/10.
how do all but one of these songs have Wikipedia pages
"All That You Can't Leave Behind" seems to be the peak of U2's popularity, but sadly not their creative peak. The album sees the band complete their transformation from underground post-punk inspired grittiness to radio friendly stadium rock giants. And it's kind of good in the same way that Coldplay is good. The songs are undeniably well made and many are catchy. U2 were trying to regain their past success after a string of experimental and increasingly unsuccessful efforts. "Pop" in particular is widely seen as a failure, perhaps similar to Kiss's ridiculous attempt to make a disco album. If "All That You Can't Leave Behind" was meant to return to some simple roots and bring back a wider audience, it clearly worked. But is it that interesting? I don't know. It has a handful of great songs but I honestly found the album as a whole to be kind of forgettable. Even Brian Eno's involvement hasn't done much to expand any horizons here. But it has a handful of good songs at least.
I’d rather just listen to Coldplay…
Really liked this one. I've finally been coming around to U2 so gonna inflate the score a tad here to make up for some of my previous ratings of theirs Rating: 4.6
What is it with the late 90s / early 2000s. Put all your singles as first 3 tracks and then the album fizzles rather than builds. In fairness - I expected to hate it - but wasn’t terrible
Hm, wird nicht mein Lieblings Album von U2. Geb mal ne Drei
Bin kein Fan von U2. Hat schwach angefangen, war dann zum Ende hin aber noch ganz okay. Schafft es mit letzter Kraft auf 3 Sterne
Dear 1 Star Voters. Seriously? I mean I can see that maybe you like this album less then others. But "mUh jOsHua tReE iS beTTur! 1 stAR" lol get a grip. Theres a hook from a german rapper that describes that perfectly: They've changed. Who allowed that? It was MY band, that ruined my day.
A bunch of really good songs sandwiched between a few ok songs
Mate, nah.
Beautiful Day 2.4 Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of 2.3 Elevation 2.6 Walk On 2.2 Kite 2.3 In a Little While 2.4 Wild Honey 2.5 Peace on Earth 2.2 When I Look at the World 2.4 New York 2.5 Grace 2 Score: 2.345454545
The album starts off with a great one-two-three punch: "Beautiful Day," "Stuck In A Moment," "Elevation," which are all pretty well-known of later U2 hits. I used to like "Elevation" more, but the "hoo"s got a little annoying, along with the overemphasis of EL-E-VA-TION. Other songs did get a little repetitive, like "Peace On Earth," but I really liked the counter melody in "The Ground Beneath Her Feet". I though that that waas really effective. All in all, a pretty good mature U2 album (although I was never a fan of just the older stuff, it IS what most people know...) Top tracks: "Beautiful Day," "Stuck In A Moment," "Ground Beneath Her Feet"
So I'm closing in on album 1,001 +75?? (I'm at 976) and sometimes I wonder what albums are still to come. Feels like all the well known ones (and bands) have been covered. And then one like shows up and I think, oh yeah. Problem is, I was done with U2 after the 90's. I hated this album when it came out - how everyone gushed over what seemed to be bubblegum pop, especially Beautiful Day (ugh), Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of (without its video, would it have taken off?), and Walk On (aka the title track, double ugh). It's not as bad as that, or at least that's what I though after listening to these three and their fourth single Elevation (the only one I liked), which are the first four tracks. But the rest of the album is pretty pedestrian and of the 10 albums they had released to this point, it's one of their weakest. It only seems decent because they released the even weaker Pop the album prior and maybe everyone thought they were done after their greatest hits came out. Fine, they bounced back (a bit) but this album is average at best. Next. Please. And please make it a good one. Like, truly and deservedly good.
It's funny, all the reviews of this album talk about how it was a return to form after U2's apparently misguided (according to critics) foray into electronica in the 90s. Problem is, I really like those 90's albums - Zooropa is one of my favorites and I always enjoyed Pop. So, to me, this album is not a recovery, but almost a retreat. Problem is, most of these songs don't draw me in as much as songs on, say, Achtung Baby or The Joshua Tree (or War or, yes, Zooropa). It's not bad - I like U2 - it's just not (for me) the second coming of U2 and I would not have included it in the 1001. Favorite tracks: Beautiful Day, Stuck in a Moment..., Kite, Peace on Earth.
When my best friend and I were little we used to run around outside and sing U2 in the sunshine. She passed a few years ago and U2 brings me back in a good way♡
Nah
Itunes sounding ass music. 5/10
far from their best work
I will never understand U2’s success. The best I can say about any of there work is that it’s just there. Nondescript, if I had to pick one word. I didn’t want to listen to it, didn’t hate it while I did, and didn’t care when it was over. Well, maybe a little, because it meant I could move onto something, anything, else.
nope... U2 is U2... daar beginnen we zelfs niet aan
good, nothing spectacular
I saved to my playlist
It’s not a perfect album by any sense. Side one is fantastic. Side two drags a little. However, it is a Very Good album by a Great band.
Not bad.
U2 gets a lot of shit, but this album was actually pretty decent. There's some ups and downs, but it's wholly inoffensive.
Love this album, very close to my heart.
Not a fan of any of these singles, and then the rest of the album was very generic. One must like Bono's voice to like this music and that's an issue for me.
Beautiful Day is a banger that warranted being overplayed into oblivion, but the rest of this is the very steep hill U2 deliberately climbed to become aggressively mediocre dad rock
I actually really enjoy Beautiful Day and enjoy Stuck in a Moment even more, but! the problem is the whole rest of the album. It is so boring, and any punctuation is rhymey wimey.
4/10
Cut-and-paste rock-inflected pop music manufactured for the purpose of selling as many units as possible. Pure commercialism.
Summer vibes need a Green Day
I get that it's trendy to hate on U2. This one is fine. I'll see how their earlier albums are. Will I listen to again: 5%
This album is a masterpiece! All tracks are perfect. Beautiful Day is a masterpiece! The same for Elevation, Walk On and for many others.
I am not a U2 hater actually as many seem to be cause of Bono's ego/their kind of proto coldplay style but this one definitely is not one of their best.
This is better than I remember. For me, U2 is a three album band: War, Joshua Tree, and Achtung. And what a remarkable three albums they all are. Around them are a bunch of uneven but often band shifting albums with the occasional remarkable song. With All That You Can’t Leave Behind, U2 technically finds their future voice that becomes more consistent but a little less interesting. Some really solid tunes but none of the edgy excitement from earlier efforts. I couldn’t tell you if all the singles off this album were from this any of the next five. Beautiful Day and Elevation are classics at this point.
Solid album. U2 have always made quality albums and this one is no different. Stuck in a Moment is a highlight for me.
Als dit zeven Grammy’s heeft gewonnen weet ik het ook niet meer hoor. Het is gewoon saai en combineert alle kutte punten van U2 (veel).
Im on the edge about Bono's voice. Its kinda good but he also sounded like he lost control of his voice a couple of times. He is also raspy but im not sure if its by default or did he damage his vocal cords. Did not know U2 was a christian band. New York song was odd. 'Beautiful Day' is a beautiful song. That last song was a surprise. Really liked that one. That weird melody that plays few times is beautiful as heck. Best song in the album. Kinda cool dadrock album. I get the vibe. The guitars were awesome.
Pretty good. Quite a bit of Filler the hard hitting tracks were almost always amazing. 3/5
This album follows the awful trend of the 90s and 00s where all the singles are upfront and the rest doesn’t matter. Unfortunately, I only liked Beautiful Day and did not care for the rest.
How does this have an average rating of nearly 3 stars? Pure schlock. What a joke. They couldn't even get people to buy this album at release, they had to make everyone go through the trouble of deleting it from their iPods.
Stadium pop.
mixed feelings here. I listened to a lot of u2 in the 80s-90s. With this album, u2 retired the mcphisto persona (which was fascinating!) and took a totally different direction. It's like we broke up on good terms; they "walked on" and I tuned in more to radiohead, etc. Not a bad album by any means, but not the formative music that built our relationship.
I got this album this morning, and then later that day got diagnosed with glaucoma. Listening to U2 was the worst part of the day.
Solid big radio friendly rock album. Some killer tunes on here. Beautiful Day was everywhere but Stuck In A Moment and In A Little While are lovely. Sure Bono can be intolerable at times but don't let it spoil the fun
...
actually not as bad as I thought. Not great though and bono's lyrics are like a six year olds english lesson in rhyming.
for the second time U2 give me a very good album that ultimately fails to break into my personal top tier. I must commend the band for putting out great material 20 years into their career even if it isn't something I particularly love.
More than anything else, with this album, so deep into their careers, Bono definitively proves that he defeated Sting as the preeminent single-name white Celtic rock singer to emerge from the punk's wake. The first two tunes are impossible not to crank up on your car radio and sing-along to at the top of your lungs. Unfortunately by about the 4th or 5th tune, this album starts sounding like a parody of U2. I have no idea why this record is on this list. I like U2 best when they're singing about Catholic shit I don't understand. War, definitely. Boy, Under a Blood Red Sky, Unforgettable Fire, sure. Maybe even Joshua Tree if you're of the persuasion. After that it's hard to argue they were anything more than an inconsistent singles band. Side note. It's interesting to me how many of the lyrics of their songs are second person scolding. I wonder who Bono thinks he's singing to?
Although it's their latest of four albums in this collection, it's the first U2 for me so far, which is always a bit disappointing to get a band's albums out of order, but fine (and it's still from 25 years ago). And nice to see that Brian Eno (who is everywhere) and Daniel Lanois produced this album, much as they did with 3 earlier U2 albums. I was a bit surprised to realize that I'd heard all of the singles from this album many many times on the radio, as I foolishly thought that since I didn't recognize the album title I wouldn't have heard many of their songs. I particularly enjoyed "Elevation" (and didn't realize that the album version was somewhat different from the "Lara Croft" single version), "When I look at the world", and the semi-bonus track "The ground beneath her feet" (largely because of the lyrics by Salman Rushdie and then Daniel Lanois playing steel guitar, and the connection to yet another Wim Wenders movie featuring U2 music). It's funny to read that this album was considered more of a return to their musical roots, as I guess I was completely ignorant that U2 had veered in electronic dance music in the 90s, although I guess that characterization includes "Achtung Baby", which I would never have called EDM.... Either way, I'd say that few of their tracks on the album seem like throwback songs (maybe the Aung San Suu Kyi homage "Walk on", but only somewhat, and definitely "In a little while" and "Grace"). Overall, though, while it's a good album by a solid (and now clearly older) band, I'm not sure why this fourth U2 album was needed for this collection, as it's not particularly distinctive or ground-breaking.
This was fine though nothing really grabbed my attention. Bono has a good voice; music was solid, just a lot of plaintive urgency...
Dadrock, det kræver sit humør, men ok
Empalagoso
Very good
Could not Stream it.
Eh. It's not a bad record but not great either. If someone asked me what U2 albums they should know about, I wouldn't say All That You Can't Leave Behind.
What a middling effort by a band that otherwise has some pretty good material. I don't really care for the hit singles on this album and the deepcuts are even less interesting. Bono's voice is still pleasant to listen to and there's some nice moments that remind you of the good band they once were back in the 80's, but overall it's an unremarkable album.
Kinda wanted to hear Beautiful Day at the end just to feel like it had got back on track, and I'm kinda sick of that song anyway.
This truly might be the album least deserving of its success. Utterly devoid of emotion, inspiration, and innovation. I know they’re capable of better (Achtung Baby, Joshua Tree), but this one was so sterile and boring. Coworker music at best.
Nuria: consciente de lo que significó, pero me suena todo igual.
Thoughts before listening: While I get that U2 is extremely important to rock music history, it feels like this particular album probably could have been left off. I'm sure they have plenty of albums already on the list so maybe share the love with some other bands. Review: This era of U2 is just so bland. I like their early stuff, especially the Joshua Tree, but man this album isn't doing anything for me. It starts off with 4 huge hits that were inescapable at the time....and I'm super bored hearing them today. This came out my freshman year of college and you'd think I'd have some sort of fun nostalgia around these songs...nope I'm just reminded of how much I thought this sucked back when it came out. I'll give it 2-stars.
my day was indeed a little more beautiful for having listened to this
så löjligt plain
I've forgotten every second of this album. And Pop, which I turned on the second I finished this one.
I know the consensus and I do not care. I enjoy All That You Can't Leave Behind, and although the latter half of the record is weaker than the first, there are still some great pop rock songs on here.
Why do people seem to dislike this so much? It’s a U2 album produced by Lanois and Eno opening with a strong set of singles. A daring move, as the closing half is not as great as the first - but then again … It doesn’t contain EVERY single from the album in continuation, so how could it be?
Soft pop rock, I've always heard how huge U2 were and I didn't really get it before. I actually liked this album quite a bit, but I still don't see how this band ever took the world by storm. But they remind me a lot of what Coldplay and Imagine Dragons would become, which to me is the epitome of bland pop rock. I really did like the riff in In a Little While, and there is a pretty poignant cynacism in Peace on Earth I enjoyed. Not as bland as I expected.
Not their best album but a well balanced album you can listen to from start to finish. A rare feat in albums made in the 2000’s.
É interessante ver as músicas que não são hits. Algumas muito boas, que não dá pra entender porque não fizeram sucesso, outras são dispensáveis.
The only record I have skipped thus far doing these listens was another U2 record but I might actually try. I like "Beautiful Day" it reminds me of being a young kid and maybe 9/11? hahaha. I don't think I'll like this, but heck we're trying. "Stuck in a Moment and You Can't Get Out of It" is a song I also know, which I didn't expect. It's not the worst and it's not the best? Hahahaha it happened again I knew the song "Elevation" without knowing that I knew it before starting to listen. Now again I know the song "Walk On". I'm starting to wonder...did my dad own this record in his car or something? Overall, I don't really like U2 and still don't at the end of the record...nothing wasted except the hour I spent listening to this. lol
Not as good as their more adventurous stuff, but has some great songs
Platan byrjar ágætlega og fyrstu 5-6 lögin eru góð eða bærileg. Svo er þetta bara drasl.
Skil ekki hvað þessi plata er að gera á þessum lista, fyrstu plötur U2 eru miklu betri. Fjögur af fimm fyrstu lögunum ágæt, restin algört drasl. Þristur þar sem mér hefur alltaf þótt vænt um Kite.
First four tunes are outstanding all timers, the rest of the album is slid too. Just not totally up to the lofty standards set by their other work.
Good
Album is just OK. I liked the early stuff by U2 and also Achtung Baby, but the other stuff just seems kind of boring
Not a big U2 fan but a couple songs on here what I recognized. So we'll call it average.
U2 write some good hits, but the rest of this is pretty dog. That bit when he's singing about "peeeeeaaaaccee on eeeaaaarthhh" made my skin crawl. Very wanky.
This was an alright album, nothing too exciting, only one song that was popular, and just the generic U2 sound throughout. I would say that it was a bit meh after a while but it's overall not too bad.
Soulless drek from a once great band...
Couple nice songs from my youth, but overall this album fits well into the U2 mold - which is a boring and uninteresting pop rock. I'm still not a fan and every record just shows more of the same. Average at best.
I was considering giving it a 5, but New York was just a bit too cheesy. P.S. Why so much hatred for Bono and the boys?
I rate beautiful day a 4 star because it has a nice beat and the energy I out the roof. I rate elevation a 4 star because it has a nice beat and the energy I out the roof. I rate new york a 4 star because it has a nice beat and the energy I out the roof.
Song: beautiful day I like this song because I love that it is saying it is a beautiful day and don't let it get away but I would like if the beat is a little better because its just a little weird because the words don't like match up but I love it Song: elevation I like this song because it matches up Song: New York this son is okay but not my favorite but the one I like more out of this album is elevation and a beautiful day
I like this album because the song has a good upbeat. I do not love the singer's voice, but it's alright.
I don't like this song because it's too sad at the start. I would not recommend this song. I don't like this song because it kinda gives me rock vibes. I would not recommend this song. I don't like this song; it's too sad again. I would not recommend it to anyone.
I think this album is pretty good because I like the voice of the singer. I think the lyrics are kinda cool. I like the background music. I would reccomnend this album.
Do you want to listen to some music that has a lot of piano? Well in Beautiful day you can! I rate this song a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. I highly recommend this song. Do you want to listen to some music that has a lot of guitar? Well in elevation you can! I rate this song ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. I highly recommend this song. Do you want to listen to some music that has A lot of guitar? Well in New York you can! I rate this song a ⭐⭐⭐⭐. I recommend this song.
i like this song i like the beat and i like how the song sounds and it sounds more like a happy song. I like the second song because i like the guitar . i recommend this album because of the beat
I like this album because I like how the voice sounds and how upbeat the music is. I would recommend this to someone else because I feel like someone else would really like it. I give it 4 stars out of five.
the first one Its kinda weird I don't like it I do like the lyrics the second one I don't really like it its just not my style of music I just don't like how the voice cause I can the second one I didn't really like
the first song is alr i dont really like it because it has good background music but the voice or the way it sounds isnt good. the second song is kinda good the end was good. the last song is uhm not cool I don't really like it
Where is the picture taken for the cover? I liked "Beautiful Day" because it was fun. The music was cool and the singing was nice. "Elevation" was okay, I would like a bit more difference. "New York" was good. I liked the music. I would recommend this album.
I dont like this album, I dont like it because it's just weird and the songs are annoying I would not recommend this album to anyone I know because they would not like it.
I’ve never connected with U2’s music, no matter how catchy. This album is no different unfortunately. Happy to leave it behind.
New York is not a good song at all, it sounds like a parody. This is not one of U2s best albums but the first 4 songs are fun.
takes me back to worship leader brian who loved u2 and would sing beautiful day after service as folks walked out but then he had an affair with the other singer and they both moved away :/
Not a huge U2 fan but thought there were a lot of good songs- particularly early going.
In a Little While makes it at least a 3 … and Beautiful Day is on here, too … but that New York song was plain insulting—guys, that’s my home!
This is the music Lite FM really thinks we all should like. Some good melodies and even a couple classics here but the corniness makes my body cringe. I remember seeing an a cappella group cover Beautiful Day and that feels exactly right.
cool look they’re in an airport
Has some really great songs, and seems to be the last relistenable U2 album
Listened: 10/03/2025 Album no: 33 % rating: 56% Fave song: Beautiful Day Alright so I was excited about this one. I’ve never listened to U2 properly before, but I have listened to a few individual tracks recently and thought *yeah that’s a massive tune*. They used to be a band I proper hated on when I was younger, but in my age I’ve revisited a few bands/musicians I used to hate on and changed my mind. I was fully expecting U2 to be one one of these bands, however, at about the half way point, I can assert that my hate was justified 😂 Nah, I don’t hate this. It’s not bad all things considered, and I think it’s probably the best of this kind of music. But I just fundamentally have a problem with men having a whine about something when they actually have nothing to whine about. This album gives off this energy. Yeah not for me. They do have some massive singles tho, I’ll give them that.
The beginning of U2’s elder statesmen of rock era. The maturity produces some great ones as well as a few snoozers. It’s funny how they always seem to front-load their albums with their biggest hits.
I don't ever recall consciously listening to this entire album; I have no memory of this album cover. How do I know almost every song? 3.5
Overall fine to listen to, but is carried completely by its singles. Standout songs: Stuck in a moment you can't get out of Elevation
Really good.
The tracks that aren't hits are middle of the road filler and highly forgettable.
It was ok, Deliriou5?
A fine album! Not my favorite from these lads, but wouldn’t kick it out of bed.
Nah. Out of 1000??? This doesn't go here.
Like this a lot more than I thought I would
Very decent, I can hear how this inspired Coldplay 4/5
The first half of this album is a 5/5 for “raising kids” music. My mom loves U2, and I heard every track on here so many times growing up. The sappy lyrics, the spacey wailing vocals, the instrumentation, all as familiar and to me as the color of my bedroom or my childhood dog. I’m almost now my mom’s age when she first had kids, and this is hitting in a way I can’t say I expected. Stepping back from sentiment , the second half kind of dawdles
Weirdly good but still kind of corporate sounding. I forgive them though
Gets kind of samey. It’s no Joshua Tree and U2 is still no The Killers
Beautiful Day is the big single from this album and it overshadows the rest. So much so that the album seems lesser for it, but there are some great tunes here. U2 playing older U2 style with the wisdom and knowledge accumulated from 20+ years of musicianship. Often overlooked and underrated.
Massively talented artists collecting their paycheck.
It’s U2! This isn’t one I remember growing up with, but tbh my parents may have missed it since I was screaming and crying 24/7 when this came out. I know beautiful day, but nothing else from it really stands out to me. U2 is always a good listen though
Hmmmm...U2 in the 2000's. They did not move so farm from their original selves to feel like this was a complete 'sell out' album, but there are bits that feel like they are just keeping up with the times. They have big themes, mental health, aging, violence, and battling evil, all these topics fall into their wheelhouse and are important topics to focus on. But something about it just doesn't have the same passion or emotional depth as their early work. Maybe the themes are too much or too varied or just trying to build it around today's lens...but it not their best. Stuck in a moment is top for me. The hits are good, the rest aren't bad, just sort of meh for U2.
At first listen I felt like this was a pretty mediocre album by a pretty great band. But after several listens it really started to grow on me. The poetry is a complex mix of melancholy and hope, both deeply personal (Stuck in a Moment, Kite, Walk On) and about the world we live in (Beautiful Day, When I Look at the World, New York). Peace on Earth is an interesting song because it feels BOTH very personal but also connected to the greater tragedy and heartbreak of the world. Throughout the album is The Edge's great guitar playing and I like how he crafts the sound of the guitars to fit the moods of the songs. It's kind of subtle and I like that this album works like that. It's the kind of album I can keep coming back to and the songs reveal new things. Wild Honey is another favorite. And Elevation rocks!
Every song on here sounds like it’s trying to be the most important song to ever be made. This version of U2 sounds too generic to me. I prefer The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby and even Zooropa and Pop, where the highs are super high, the lows are at least interesting and the hits are timeless.
Beautiful Day is one of my favorite songs and the perfect track to start an album and a day with! This is really front-loaded with the four best songs in my opinion, but the rest is pretty damn good too. The more times I listened, the more songs I loved. It's interesting to see how songwriting evolves as artists age and gain new and different perspectives on life. U2 is just an outstanding band who showed how powerful they still were 20 years after their first album. Can't believe this is now 25 years old!
I wouldn’t say this is a masterpiece but it’s fun to listen to and I felt like I was in a 2000 movie montage.
Some good songs here and there but got boring very quickly
No private session used for Spotify. I got out of U2 before this album came out, but most of these songs were unavoidable.This album is good, a little too poppy bland to be great, but still fun
World wide pop appeal Generically bow wrapped Too cleanly produced
Starts super strong and then wanes. Some 4 star songs. 3.5
Didn’t love it
nooo no more u2 i dont like u2 stop it fuck off bono slightly more enjoyable than most u2 albums but i still dont like it. thank god the last track isn't available on streaming so i could get done with this sooner
Kind of hate this
This is when U2 began to fall off dramatically. Elevation is a good song but the rest is corporate, hokey schlock that has hindered the band since. Such a waste.
Bullshit - why is this album on the list!!!!
Truly one of my favorite U2 albums; it is hard to believe it is 25 years old. A departure from their 80's progressive rock band sounds, this has elevated synth, layered melodies, and catchy groove on every track.
I wish I could leave this behind. Pure cack
Felt this one was pretty bland. The most corporate of the “corporate” rock.
Some of U2's best work
Never found U2 that interesting
I didn't really get along with this one, the lyrics were a little funky a times and some of the production was a little debatable. Just don't think this one was for me, I liked certain tracks, especially the first few, but the greater picture was missing. Favorite track: beautiful day. Overall score: 4.5/10
ugh
Idc this is a good album 🤷
good
Was "Beautiful day" their last good song? I think so.
U2 sucks so much
Classic U2. A good listen.
1st song better than rest (or more memorable??)
I am bias against U2 so I was never going to review this album well. If they are your thing, go for it. But it's not for me.
Maybe this is a really incredible album... or maybe I'm just blinded by nostalgia. I love U2. Favourite Track: Wild Honey
Ach, das Album. Ich erinnere mich.
Maybe I've been wrong all these years, maybe U2 really IS this powerful, creative force with interesting, memorable songs. If that's the case, this album is not a great representation of it. For me, it's boring and generic, but non-offensive. Something you'd happily listen to during a long elevator ride, perhaps. What is slightly offensive is the sheer arrogance of this group to pump out mediocre music while gaslighting people into thinking its exceptional because they say it is. From Bono "in our heads we've written 11 singles for this record". As the kids say, are the 11 singles in the room with us? They can't all be winners and I know U2 has done some things, but this one just wasn't it for me.
The embodiment of the famous phrase: "you have two choices "take it" or "leave it"". I'd be satisfied with either.
Aggressively fine
If this were the first U2 album I’d ever heard, I probably would have liked it a lot more. Some pretty solid, catchy singles here. But, fair or not, I always compare their later works to War, Boy, and Joshua Tree. And after Achtung Baby, their work seemed to lose its passion. Solid pop, meh rock.
Perhaps I am rating this too high because I had such low expectations, but I found the songs to be mostly enjoyable, without any lemons.
If our project was to listen to all of U2's discography I could understand this album being on the list, but that is not our project. I found this to be just okay and Bono's voice sounded off at times. Elevation and Wild Honey brought this up to a 3.5 but I'm still rounding down. (The best track may be the extra one that I normally wouldn't have listened to but got curious because lyrics were by Salman Rushdie.)
Bono sounded really bored singing this. I agree.
More dire shit from U2. I cannoth for the life of me see how this album deserves to be on this list.
Eeeurgh! U2 at their most bland, lowest common denominator, commercial rock, music for adverts.
It's cheesy. Middle school me was super into "Elevation" but for the most part this didn't age as well now re-listening as an adult. "Beautiful Day" is still good at the right time.
#479. There is probably nothing you could say or do that could convince me that U2 is worth listening to. I just found this annoying. 2/5: dumb Song added to playlist: Elevation I've created a playlist on Spotify that consists of the best and/or my favorite song from each of the albums in this book. This list can be found here if you are interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7MAXDGLWlwLkFLb8veGfkA?si=FqkQQPgZTFWG0jAUJXLFZA&utm_source=copy-link
U2 has always struck me as way more lame than they think they are. “The Edge”? Really? That’s a lot of middling guitar for that “badass” moniker. I usually try to stick to how much I like the sound, the lyrics - but U2 annoys me. This album has very few palatable tracks and I think “New York” might be one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. “In a Little While” with its “Beasts of Burden” rip-off lick isn’t bad and “wild honey” might actually be good - and those two save this album from the trash heap.
Nothing wrong with it. But really nothing great though. So far I would say this is the least worthy album to be on this essential listening list
Fine
Sorry, but I have a soft spot for U2.
I'll be honest, I've possessed a deep-seated hatred for U2 since 2014. I hold the band personally responsible for their Songs of Innocence album being force downloaded onto my iPod Touch. Imagine my young horror as shuffle brings up 'The Troubles' after listening to 'Timber' by Pitbull feat. Kesha. Jarring to say the least. I go to remove the album, as surely this must just be a mistake, right? WRONG. The album is unremovable. I spend the day dodging generic U2 song after generic U2 song in my attempts to listen to my own swill until I can access a computer to hide the album from my device. Truly a nightmare tale. Were we reviewing the Songs of Innocence album? No. Have I reviewed the All That You Can't Leave Behind album? No, not really. Am I still giving this a one star simply because it is U2. Yes. Yes I am.
This album is totally fine, Beautiful Day, and Wild Honey are my two favorite songs but there's a decent number of snoozers on this too. I like U2 well enough generally, but this isn't essential in their catalog. Overall, it was fine, and I might revisit a few of these tracks if I'm in the mood.
I have to admit that "Beautiful Day" is a well written song that I enjoyed listening to. I didn't think I would even get that far. U2 has strayed so far from what they once were that they're just background noise. That giant residency at the Las Vegas Sphere has got to be the biggest musical event that absolutely nobody asked for. I know it wasn't this album, but when Apple forced every device they owned to get a (free!) U2 album it couldn't have been more appropriate. This is the "thing everyone has" of rock albums. It's so generic, there's barely a feeling in the whole thing. Quite literally just the first track. I can't believe the same people that wrote Joshua Tree wrote this, what a fall.
It's not good but it's not aggressively bad. It's department store music for the 2000's. Comparing this to earlier U2 work that has some heart and message to it, namely War, displays an aging rock band with nothing to sing about. The singles are catchy and I could sing along after 22 years. If you go to the Wikipedia page for U2, Edge is always listed as "the Edge". I think it's adorable that he thinks he is both sharp and the only one.
Bueno
More would be more enjoyable as an instrumental album in my personal opinion - always fun listening to The Edge, but the vocals are not to my taste at all. Nothing in particular really stands out, besides Elevation.
Overproduced rock with OTT lyrics - trying so (too?) hard to be soulful that it ends up being soulless and.
Beautiful Day
High school nostalgia, I will associate this album with PJ Harvey's "Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea" both have an optimistic pop sheen and stadium rock production (and both artists toured together at the time). U2 hadn't yet become a perpetual punchline although they were well on their way to becoming complacent celebrities with performative activism and albums of love songs. The first four tracks on a theoretical side A were all radio hit singles and product placed, comfortable on corporate playlists with Dido, Sting and Bon Jovi and the soundtracks of CBS sitcoms. "All That You Can't Leave Behind" was banned in Myanmar because Bono dedicated "Walk On" to dedicated to Burmese human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi, which sounds a bit convoluted because she was under house arrest. I suppose it could be about the plight of refugees, exiles, and political prisoners, but it often just sounds like a bland affirmation of "moving on," although it had a different meaning after 9/11. After getting to "Kite" I realized that the remainder of the album is a mystery to me, yet it offers no sonic innovations or surprises. Rhyming "new media" with "the big idea" is indolent. "In a Little While" does have a blues-inspired guitar and gritty vocal delivery that "elevates" it above the preceding songs. "Wild Honey" is saccharine and generic, all breezes, bees and swinging through the trees. "Peace on Earth" aspires to invigorate the album with political content but it just sounds shallow and insipid. If only lines like "Peace on Earth/Hear it every Christmas time/But hope and history won't rhyme" were more present in a song that contains this verse: "They're reading names out/Over the radio/All the folks, the rest of us/Won't get to know/Sean and Julia/Gareth, Ann and Breda/Their lives are bigger than/Any big idea." Though well-intentioned it just sounds superficial and clichéd. New York is an tuneless and meandering ode to the City that inspires countless better songwriters filled with generic statements like "in New York summers get hot" and "Irish, Italians, Jews and Hispanics/Religious nuts, political fanatics in the stew/Happily not like me and you/That's where I lost you." This is the sound of an popularly acclaimed band coasting on an established image and nostalgic fanbase. "Grace it's a name for a girl...it's also a thought that changed the world" such adolescent banality seeking to combine the poetic, philosophic and political into something profound, but just sounds smug and obvious.
Not my favorite U2 album, there are a few songs that are nice but some songs almost seem cheesy at this point. I don't think I have heard the whole thing before today and don't regret it but it's not on the same level as some of their other work.
I wanted to dislike this because of Bono, but Kite is beautiful.
This is an okay album. Nothing really jumped out at me. The band does not seem as great as they used to be. Bono's voice sounds a bit tired and strained at the limits of his range. The Edge's guitar work is solid and more versatile than it was earlier in his career. Bass and drums are tight. The lyrics were just okay. They didn't seem as well thought out as in previous albums.
I recently listened through all of U2's catalog and became a (lower tier) fan. That said, even though this one is a return to form, I'm lukewarm on it. The songwriting is really solid for the most part, but a bit boring--maybe too simple?
Beautiful Day Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of Elevation Walk On Kite In a Little While
Well that was certainly some more U2.
Yep, this certainly is some mid-level early 2000's stadium rock. As someone who existed in the UK when this album came out, I have the first few tracks of this burnt into my prefrontal cortex, and it turns out those were the only semi-decent tracks here...? Yeah, not going to be coming back to this any time soon. It's fine, it's palatable because it's specifically designed to be crowd-pleasing, but it elicits basically NO reaction from me.
Difficult to rate the entire album since it was a bit inconsistent for me. Some of my favorite U2 songs are on this one ("Walk On," "Beautiful Day") but then there are moments when Bono goes into his sad mode like "Peace on Earth," which just didn't hit right for me.
Yeah, not much to talk about here.
Pretty good album. First time I listened to the whole thing.
'You elevate my soul / I've got no self-control / Been living like a mole now.' That's bad, as is much else here, never quite reaching the heights (and how high are those heights, really?) of 'Beautiful Day.' There appear to be authentic moments of poppy breakthrus, but they persist for even less than a chorus. 'I don't know / which way the wind will blow.' It's difficult to write that and get away with it. U2 doesn't. Their best and most soulful ('In A Little While,' by far) unfortunately can't save this album from itself, which manifests most dreadfully on 'Peace On Earth.'
U2 on its own is a boring band for me. It got famous just because of Bono and his ego. I got bored.
I am not sure that I need Achtung Baby Part 2. The first one was really groundbreaking and cool, but this is kind of a return to that album. While not offensive it does not seem like required listening.
not bad, really liked a lot of the songs
2.5/5
Vapid. "a mole, digging in a hole, digging in my soul ...."
first time ever listening to a u2 album the whole way through. always been lukewarm on the radio singles, and i feel the same with this album. the intro is great, no doubt about that, but nothing really left a lasting impression on me outside of that
Day361 - i was surprised how many of these songs i knew. i like u2 but not necessarily one of my favorites but this is a solid album
All That You Can't Leave Behind is the tenth studio album by U2, originally released in 2000. This is a very interesting later-career effort from U2. I feel like they meshed into the 2000s indie/alt scene pretty damn seamlessly. Their sound on here reminds me a lot of Coldplay. That airy yet clean production with very heartfelt lyrics. Sure, it's not as solid as their earlier work but I quite enjoyed listening to this.
Gear: Focal Clear (ZMFed) Artwork: 📸🛫🥱 Production: 🎧😐🆗 Music: ❌❌❌ Rating: ❌/5
This is a nostalgia rating, because this album came out during my formative music years when I was discovering U2 beyond just the hits. Would have been a 5 back then, but over time, it's objectively very generic U2.
Actually pretty flame, short and sweet
Listened Before? N I've heard the singles from this album so many times. It's completely overplayed. That being said, it was an attempted return to their roots for U2, and I can respect that. Unfortunately for them, I'm one of the minority that liked their more experimental stuff on the previous two albums. Additionally, as a return to form, it falls flat. The messages so prevalent in their early works are missing here. These are just pop songs with less electronics. Solid "meh" on this one. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Stuck In A Moment...
Elderly everything here is worry of topping the charts. And the songs, while not quite as U2 branded as on past albums, are catchy as hell, even if they miss the mark on lyrical content sometimes. Looking at you Peace on Earth.
Though lauded as a “return to form” and harbinger of U2's 2000s resurgence, ATYCLB marks my favorite band’s retreat from risk-taking and the definitive end of their most innovative era.
Same song over and over again with occasional bobbing above the line into good.
These guys are from England and who gives a shit!
I was never a fan of U2, the hits/singles were always ok but not great and i never got the hype. Listening to this made me question how they are so big. This was just dull and felt made by committee
Started off with back to back bangers and stayed pretty strong throughout. This is good music but it also feels like music someone who wears a leather band on their wrist listens to. I bet they’re great in concert.
Rating: 4/10 Commercialized, uninspired, and mostly boring.
U2 will have to listen to this rubbish
U2 is so not cool, but I can’t really hate this. It’s a beautiful daaaay
Great start, but less interesting afterwards
A bit too poppy, but I have to admit I quite enjoy U2
3+
Pretty classic U2, well-produced, I enjoyed this. Stuck in a Moment is a banger. 4
Boring AF
meh
Welcome when it came out, one was skeptical but was quickly convinced that U2 was worthwhile/cool again after crappy/dancy/clubby previous few albums. Remaster seems to have dialed up the studio trickery and synthiness more than one would idealy like. This is the sound of a band navigating through its middle ages and adjusting more effectively to shifts in musical style. It also shows them being maybe a bit too concerned (even slightly desperate) to remain relevance. And there are hints of the bombast that has become the band's (mainly Bono's) major characteristic in the years since. But, to be clear, this is a collection of mostly first-rate songs – "Beautiful Day" is a great opener and "Elevation" a quality banger, while "Kite" and "Walk On" and "Grace" more than adequately hold up the quieter/more serious and contemplative side of things. The overall effect is largely what U2's best records do best – inspire, comfort and reckon. Though they've added far too much dreck to their catalog, that this is their 4th or 5th best record (behind Boy, War, UF, JT – not necessarily in that order) speaks to the sustained quality output.
Compared to their earlier work its particularly bland and uninspired. But while its not for me, I didn't completely hate it. It probably would have got a 3 until it took a turn for the worse at the very end. 'Grace' is absolutely horrendous.
3.4 2x good album but overplayed
A lot of people slamming this for not being as good as some of their earlier albums, but this feels more accessible to me. I'm not the biggest U2 fan, but I'm actually appreciating the craft of the songs and his voice. I much prefer this to the upbeat jangly nonsense they became famous for. 3.5 rounded down.
I’m still not sick of the big 4 singles from this record, and in fact, the first 7 songs are pretty fantastic in my book. It unfortunately loses a bit of steam after that, though none of it is bad. Rounding up for the website, but could be a true 4 one day. 3.5/5
Amazingly strong opening run of four songs — some of my favorite ever. Unfortunately the back half gets embarrassingly bad (“New York” “Grace). I have to give it 4 stars on the strength of the openers, but it is not an album I will revisit in full.
Beautiful Day is always a good song... but Bono is so smugly annoying. He's like a caricature of the "Imagine" video sung by those celebrities back during covid. The rest of the album is still U2 so it's not my thing, although New York was good. Kind of pretentious
A U2 classic. Lots of great songs. I think this was a high for U2's career.
U2 is a bit like comfort food.
Cuddling time
Typ erkeeksempelet på midt på treet, utrolig lite provoserende, og gir utrolig lite
Fav: Walk On Least Fav: In A Little While I actually like Brian Eno’s production on this album quite a lot
1.5
There's too much U2 on the list, don't you feel?
Oh lord, I can’t stand U2 with every ounce of my being. Such pretentious nonsense I can’t even comprehend how they got so popular. Sadly there are another 3 or 4 albums of theirs on this list… sigh
Sorry. No U2. 0/5
Oof. Bono hasn't aged well. Some of those last tracks his vocals are way too high up in the mix and it's rough.
God I hate U2, the smug voice of Bono just really rubs me the wrong way. Everything sounds the same. Absolutely forgetabble human turd music.
This is a lovely album. I had never listened to it, though I recognized about half of the songs from radio play. I have a feeling I will come back to this one. It isn’t as anthemic as some of their others, and isn’t overly-ambitious. I mean all that as a compliment. This is a U2 album with heart in it, which is when they are at their best.
Drops off in the second half, but still some good tracks there. And the first half of the album is about as good as can be. Nostalgia bomb.
stuck in a moment - random sgt pepper bside elevation i hate everything about this oh god the fucking phaser vocals bono is genx john lennon? where is genx mark david chapman wild honey -ringo drums, paul melody, the worst singing and lyrics you've ever heard peace on earth - trying to rewrite imagine after hearing it once
I regret that the minimum is one star.
радио смърт
U2 is in an interesting place. For the longest time, it felt like Achtung Baby was the last "classic rock album," because any later songs by other classic rock acts couldn't get airplay for even big hits on the format (looking at you, Aeorsmith). But did this album also open up the format again? Beautiful Day got so much play I just thought that it was from an earlier album, but especially after hearing How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb getting hype on stations (because classic rock radio does not hype new releases), and then hearing other new artists like Coldplay, the Goo Goo Dolls and Green Day in the rotation, U2 may be a significant factor in the broadening of the genre. I'm not a music academic, so this might be incredibly wrong, accepted fact, or something that people have written theses over. Either way, it's a band that gets a lot of hate in the "general discourse," most of which, it's pretty clear by now, is unrelated to the actual music (Bono's a bit of a prick, Apple sucks, everybody's got An Opinion on the Troubles). Anyway, none of that is about the actual album. I would actually rate it a bit below the two albums that follow it, and it's no where near their highs, but it's okay. It felt like it was just trailing off for the last half of the album. I can definitely feel the Brian Eno here, and I don't think they complement each other. I could be argued into a three on another day, but...
The stage explodes in light as you step out in front of the crowd. The noise swells to a roar, they're chanting U2! U2! U2! They're screaming your name, although that's not quite how you pronounce it. You stride in your godlike leather trousers to the front of the stage and spread your legs in a godlike pose, open your arms wide as if to embrace the heaving masses below, and somehow look even more godlike. You pause, drinking in the adulation and the energy. You can feel the planet spinning beneath you at 1000mph and spread your legs even further apart to brace against it. You reach, godlike, into the sky and feel the Earth's magnetic currents sparking off your fingertips. You send your feet, godlike through the stage and into the ground below and speed along the underground networks, growing, dividing, out around the world until you can feel the pull and push of the tectonic plates. You are a god. A seagull incautiously flies above the stage. With a twitch of your eyebrow you send it spiralling into the queue for beer. You feel immortal. You glance to your right. There stands The Edge, real name Edgbaston Molloy. He looks at you expectantly, like a trained hound ready for his master's nod. To your left, bass guitar slung low and quivering slightly, The Adam, real name Adam. His face tightens as he feels your eyes on him. Behind you, neck muscles tensing, sits Larry Mullen Jr, real name Laribaldi Mullen, ready to attack the drums arrayed in front of him. They are your fearsome angels and you are their lord. You are Bongo. You are U2. You are the saviour of rock n roll. You are the dawn. You are the night sky. You are the stuff of the cosmos itself. You were there at the big bang. You can hear the melody of the heavens. You roar the opening words of the first song. The crowd roars back. They are yours for the next hour and twenty minutes, one ecstatic writhing mass. They are still screaming your name, again with that strange pronunciation. Two songs in and you notice the crowd's energy waning. They're sitting down and chatting amongst themselves. A small group has gathered driftwood to start a campfire and is roasting marshmallows. One young woman to the side is reading D.H. Lawrence. A group at the back in leotards is having a yoga session. The seagull you brought down earlier has revived and is sipping a guava saison at a pop-up poetry slam. A man wanders on stage and asks if you want a herbal tea. Edgbaston has unplugged his mighty Fender von Rickenbacker and is quietly strumming an inoffensive tune on a borrowed acoustic. Laribaldi has gone for a wee lie down. Adam sips his herbal tea. You stop singing and drop to your knees. No-one notices.
Like its two monumental predecessors (Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby), ATYCLB is very anthem-focused, almost to the point of losing the emotion and passion that backed a great deal of rock, punk, and post-punk in preceding decades. (Although, I will say – this sort of alt-rock is leagues ahead of nearly any post-punk on this list.) Beautiful Day is a complex, multifaceted power ballad that may be my favourite U2 album opener. The following track, Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of, is catchy, guitar-heavy, and has some lyrics I can really relate to. Elevation and Walk On are similarly great. However, the album becomes much less sonically memorable after these first four hard-hitters, and I couldn't tell you a single thing about the record's latter half. Well, maybe a couple of things. Peace On Earth, New York, and Grace are three limp, powerless songs on side 2 that give zero sense of progression despite all being around 5 minutes long. The Ground Beneath Her Feet is passable as a bonus track, though like most bonus tracks, it feels more like a blandish afterthought that doesn't mesh well with the earlier music. 3/5 Key tracks: Beautiful Day, Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of, Elevation, Walk On
U2 is a band that I have always liked a few singles of, but not much more than that. This album is the purest proof I have had of that. Beautiful Day is obviously the most popular song off the album, but I honestly have never cared for it much. I'd put it as third best, behind Walk On and Kite, both of which I surprisingly enjoyed. They were the only two songs that made me nod along. As a whole, the first half is better than the second half and it is a bit dull. Some of the guitar parts are good, but otherwise I found it to be a dull album with dull lyrics and dull vocals. I'd give it a 2.5 if I could.
okay, I used to like U2, a long time ago, this album brings back some kind of nolstalgia. I didn't listen to this type of music (what even is this? commercial rock? I don't know) for a long time and it's not as good as I thought it was to be honest. Elevation is an attractive track though.
Average.
If there's such thing as a perfect album, this album is not it. It starts off real strong. The first few songs are incredible, but it really drops off on the bottom part of the album.
Really don't like this album. I remember when it came out and it got all the acclaim it got. Didn't see it then, don't see it now. Admittedly I'm not the biggest U2 fan, but even by their standards this is clearly naff right. Absolutely souless and meaningless.
This album was better than I expected, but I can really only stand some earlier U2, at this point. Personally, Bono's voice and delivery grates on me and this album and a lot of their later stuff is just too pop in its delivery. "Beautiful Day" is basically a meme song for me, as it feels trite. The music was mostly good, and "New York" was a song I truly did enjoy. I might give it 3.5 stars, but, for me, all it is a good pop rock record, nothing truly amazing, which is also why it makes sense to me that it sold so many copies...
Favorite Track: Beautiful Day
I am not a big fan of U2. Never was. I just listened to the beginning of some of the tracks but they just didn't do it for me.
Listen, I know U2 is an Irish band, but this album is the sound of pre-9/11 America. The opening tracks have such a naive “rock music can save the world feel” to them. It takes you back to a time where U2 could say, with a straight face, that they are “re-applying for the job ... of best band in the world.” To that end it is probably the perfect last gasp for Gen-X to feel relevant again. It sounds exactly like the album a couple of rich, popular musicians that fell off on their last few albums would make trying to recapture the magic of their youth. A lot of this came off as trying to hard. I listened to The Joshua Tree earlier in this project, and can admit that album slaps and deserved inclusion on the list. To me personally, some of these songs are fine when I’m in the right mood. But for some reason, this just sounded so forced as an attempt to reclaim former glory that it was kind of sad. And even sadder, it worked at the time, and U2 regained relevance, subjecting us to another decade plus of them being a part of the culture (and subjected eveeryone to getting a “free” album delivered to their iPhone that they didn’t ask for, IYKYK)
Solid album, very U2. But nothing that makes me love it.
I enjoyed this album. As I understand it, they and their sound got a little discombobulated during the ’90s, with real questions about whether they could still make real music or if they’d become the butt of their own jokes. Good recovery.
No idea why this is on the list. It breaks no new ground. It is average by U2’s standards. Very few sons are remarkable or stick out in any way. This is a throwaway for sure.
This list really slobs the U2 knob.
This album actually helped me realize how good of a band U2 is. I think I’ve just been pushing them aside, because they’ve never been my favourite, but this album really showed me how good their music is. Everything sounded amazing together and it genuinely left me wanting more.
The vocals on this album always sounded to me like Bono was lying in bed while recording many of these songs. Think about that while listening to this record. Once that got into my head I realized quickly that it was Bono's voice that had driven me fully away from the band. Liked their early stuff a lot, started wavering in the late 80s, but this one it sounds like Bono mailed in. I think I bought this within a day or 2 of its release. Not at all sure why, maybe I got caught up in the buzz and was bored with whatever I'd been listening to at the time and wanted to like them again, but instead I just ended up never buying another U2 album. (aside: it's a bit weird isn't it how people hate Bono the person so much... really? Fine - he can come across as pompous and all-knowing but check your fking heads - if you'll rail on him but less-so on actual shithead wankers like Lou Reed, Stephen Tyler, Roger Waters, Jimmy fucking Page, or hello Eric Clapton who are actual for-real shitty people ... that ain't right) TL;DR: Inoffensive and bland but fine. The worst is that it was a formerly excellent band signing off from a run of creativity and authenticity but honestly who cares. First few songs were big hits and that catchiness carries the day as that second half is a real rough slog to get through. In retrospect this album highlights how U2 were the blueprint for the Coldplay career path. 5/10 2 stars
Enjoyable but I wouldn’t listen especially. Liked Elevation and Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of.
I mean, it's U2, so there are some great songs here. But somebody needed to say no to the various versions and edits included.
Well it's alright. I didnt finish the entire album though.
Lame and bad for U2 but not bad.
I think I am perhaps poisoned by my age to be so set against U2’s music. Some catchy tunes for sure, but so corny, so sappy, I can’t bring myself to rate it highly. It all sounds like the music in the credits of a feel-good movie about a dad learning to give a shit about his kids instead of working 24/7. Were I introduced to it in its own time, perhaps I wouldn’t be so cynical.
listened to again guitar tone is immaculate but i still struggle to find anything interesting about this band
Quality album, one of U2s best.
I always thought I didn't like U2, I am still quite convinced, but this album is actually not bad
Beautiful Day is solid. The rest was the generalized U2, that I knew before listening. Good. Nothing caught my attention
The first half of this album is exactly what people who love U2 claim they are. The 2nd half of this album is exactly what people who hate U2 claim they are.
I enjoyed “Wild Honey” but wasn’t captivated by the rest.
Far from my favorite U2 album but still pretty good.
Another album that feels like it’s been included because of the popularity and past glories of a band when the album itself is poor. When the quality of the singles is this poor the album completely struggles. At least with previous U2 albums the singles were good enough to raise the overall album. Not with this one though. Dull and bland and reflective of a band well past its best.
i wasn’t looking forward to this listen because U2 just seems like a band that exists. just kinda there. and this listen didn’t disprove that but i did make me realize i’d probably never turn OFF U2. i just probably wouldn’t ever turn them on. honestly a tough rate but i never was really bored so we’ll go with a low 4
Smash
Starts with a great song then it becomes usual U2, nothing too interesting
A return to form for U2 after the unfortunate Zooropa-era detours. Several perhaps overplayed hits, but awesome second-side songs like "When I Look at the World." Very solid if not spectacular.
Pretty underwhelming especially compared to their peak music from the 80’s and early 90’s.
U2 far from their peak. A solid album though with a few a few stand out tracks, like Stuck in a moment and Beautiful day.
Trying so hard to be deep and meaningful
I have to begrudgingly admit, this was pretty good.
Ok
Poppy, preachy, cheesy
Aside from Beautiful Day and Elevation, there's not a lot to love here. Skipped a couple of tracks.
Bra, men inte det bästa från U2
Starts out really strong, but peters out a little bit.
The first half is great but the second half wanders down where the streets have no name.
Beautiful Day was a life changing song for me when it came out, so I have a special relationship with this album. It’s lovely, has a good thread through. I’ll come back to it.
A lot of "hits" but still U2. I have never really understood the appeal.
OK
It was a massively popular album when I was growing up in the early 2000s. It's an overall okay album but it's not on the same level as some of their earlier works (Achtung Baby, The Joshua Tree, War, to name a few). U2 went back to their roots after their more experimental era in the mid-1990s, and the result was not bad, it's just not as innovative or interesting as other albums. The hits are good but towards the end of the album it gets a bit too bland overall.
U2 is a disgrace to Ireland and Bono should be barred from the country forever
Pleasing Sound. Obviously Pop, but not in a bad way. Would listen again.
I'm docking Bono points just for the Mole/Hole thing. C'mon try a bit harder than that.
Except the weaker ones "Peace On Earth" and "Grace" I like every song on this album. And of course there are the hits "Beautiful Day", "Stuck In A Moment..." and "Elevation". Not as iconic like "The Joshua Tree" or "Achtung Baby" but a really nice and homogenic album. Weak ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. 4,5
The Good: U2 explains to us that you can't leave things behind. The Bad: If you can't leave things behind, you don't look back. The Ugly: As U2 doesn't know how to look back, they forgot how to make great RnR and just morphed their efforts into adult-contemporary blandness. Then again, I am old, thus an adult, and taking the cue from U2, I don't leave things behind, and so I will just continue removing lint from my bellybutton while enjoying the soothing sounds of grown-up U2 3*
Welp, I guess I have to admit that I actually really like U2. Yeah, it's undeniable at this point. When you've listened to three albums from a band or artist and really liked all of them, you've officially reached the point of no return. You're a fan now. I guess I'm a U2 fan now. Admittedly, All That You Can't Leave Behind isn't the most inspired album ever. It's pretty similar tonally to The Joshua Tree, an album from 13 years prior to this one's release. The album's still good though, I swear. I don't get the hatred. I mean, the album starts with "Beautiful Day"! That's a great song. Sure, the album kind of peaks at the beginning. But the ending isn't bad. It's still alright, just not the best. I still really like the sound, both instrumentally and vocally. The writing is still pretty good, but not quite as good as it was on some of their earlier albums. This may not be the best U2 album or the best album of 2000, but I still like this album for what it is. 4/5.
I didn’t finish this when I first gave it a try a few years ago and went in with a more lenient mindset. I’m still not a huge U2 fan but I’ve got something out of their other albums on this list, and think I gave them all either 3s or 4s Anyway this one still sucks. Beautiful Day is a fun opener and the second track is good too, but it all goes very quickly downhill from there. The production is so clean and the lyrics are so awfully basic and soulless, and at least half the songs on here have at least one part where it’s completely out of Bono’s vocal range. If he was at least giving it some effort and emotion and straining for the high notes I’d forgive it (I just gave Bone Machine by Tom Waits a 5 for Christ’s sake) but it just sounds so flat and lazy, like he doesn’t care that it sounds bad. It’s just all so forgettable and meaningless, and even the songs with an important message (like Peace on Earth, which was written after a car bombing that killed 29 people and Bono described as being ‘as bitter and as angry a song as U2 have ever written’) just sound so flat and empty of anything
Beautiful day and elevation were the only worthwhile 8 mins of the album, and even elevation is only because of the OHHHHOH
I have to admit, I enjoyed this album more than I expected. I remember it being heavily promoted when it came out, but after the mess they made in the ’90s, I had no interest in hearing it. Even in the mid-2000s, the songs I heard from them were just as bad, if not worse, than their ’90s output. But since this was my daily album from the 1001 album generator, and I’ve committed to listening to every album from start to finish, this one took me by surprise. I wouldn’t say it was super impressive, but it’s a well-balanced album where U2 seemed genuinely focused on making a solid rock record without trying to be something they’re not.
Beautiful Day