U2 singer Bono has been going around declaring the death of a lot of things lately. Death to "winging rock stars." Death to "progressive rock." He should know. U2 has been proclaimed dead by critics a couple of times in the past twenty years. Any reports of the end of U2's viability after the fiasco of 1997's "Pop," however, are greatly exaggerated.
U2 rebounds with "All That You Can't Leave Behind," the band's strongest album in nine years, if not ever. After U2 embraced electronica and post-modern irony for a decade, "All" cuts a refreshing path which melds the earnestness of the band's 80s rock with the elusiveness of its 90s pop for a collection of tunes that is something else altogether.
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The tone of "All" is surprisingly joyful. U2 hasn't been jaded by fame or the music industry. The band also exhibits its ability to innovate as it weaves joy into different sounds. The sonar pings and buzzing guitars of the danceable "Elevation" give way to the gospel-toned, heart-rending "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of." Within the songs themselves is a flexibility of style that years of experience have taught U2. "New York" leaps from introspective quietude to a thrilling rush as guitarist The Edge lets loose on the chorus.
Over the past few years, Bono has struggled with his voice. "All" finds him sounding better than ever. His soulful tenor and unwavering falsetto speak volumes that his late-80s roar could only hint at. The Edge's minimalist guitar and the band's steady rhythm section complete Bono's vocal astral projections.
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U2 has not become complacent with its secure legend status. The band has always set out to break expectations, and so expectations have risen. The result has been a series of cringe-worthy moments for the cynics out there: the white flags, Bono's early-90s smirk, the giant lemon. "All" is no exception. Cynics, wind up your eye-rolling muscles, and believers, take heart - "All" is as politically charged as anything the band has ever done. The anthemic, gorgeous "Walk On" is dedicated to Burmese peace activist Aung San Suu Kyi. The touching, embittered "Peace on Earth" was written after a bomb in Northern Ireland killed 29 people in 1998.
U2 albums have always been thematic, but "All" strives for the songs themselves, not the concepts. Even so, the album has a voice: the sinner who has seen the world, wants to cleanse himself of it, but is continually drawn back into the glories of the earth.
Bono writes some of his most thoughtful lyrics here, as in "Kite:" "Did I waste it? / Not so much I couldn't taste it / Life should be fragrant / Roof top to the basement."
The hands-off attitude of longtime producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno allow the pure soul of a legendary band to shine through. The songs are immediate, some of them literally - "New York" was only played twice by the band; "In A Little While" was recorded on a whim after a very big night on the town, Bono's raspy voice belying his hangover.
What makes U2 so beloved for so long has been that intimacy that allows for great live shows. Honesty, too, is making a comeback; Bono has been parading around lately minus the sunglasses that symbolized rock-star irony for him in the 1990s. His rediscovered openness may be best expressed in a non-album track, "Summer Rain," which was a free giveaway with "All" at Plan 9: "Just as you find me / Always I will be / A little bit too free with myself." Here's to twenty more years of being a little bit too free.