#all that you can’t leave behind

[alfairb]

What you don't have you don't need it now What you don't know you can feel it somehow What you don't have you don't need it now Don't need it now It's a beautiful day

[thisaintascenereviews]

U2’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb: 20 Years Later

My previous piece, which was about my newfound love for Irish band U2, was meant to be a precursor to this one — the 20th anniversary of 2004’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. This record is interesting for a few reasons, namely that it’s their last extremely popular record. U2 is still a huge band, but this is the last album that got them a lot of accolades and attention akin to their early work. Not saying that their newer material is bad, as it’s not, but this is the last time the band was in the zeitgeist. Lead single “Vertigo” is a song I remember hearing in one of the first iPod commercials, but the album itself was nominated and won eight Grammy’s, so it was a big deal for the time. It was the fourth highest selling album of 2004, and for good reason.

This album also comes at the tail end of an interesting history for the band, some of which I went over in my last piece that talks about how I finally understand what this band is all about. At the time, the band was coming off the heels of the 1990s, where they decided to go into an alternative direction, due to the rise of alternative and electronic music, and due to a mixture of a case of self-indulgence from the band (they played a lot with mocking and satirizing rock’s tropes at the time, especially in the second half of the 90s), as well as mixed reactions from fans and critics, the band took a step back from the theatrics and went to a “back to basics” approach that a lot of bands opt for when experimentation isn’t quite working. 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind is the first in that vein, and it’s my favorite of the two, but How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb came off the heels of their newly (re)found fame.

While I prefer the last album, 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb is a good one, nonetheless. This record has a bit of a harder edge than the previous one, which is still quite catchy and soaring, but it still has the same qualities that All That You Can’t Leave Behind did. If anything, this album’s a good case of an album that sounds the same as the last one, but with a small tweak (this album has more energy, and not quite as many ballads or softer tracks), and your enjoyment will determine how much you enjoyed the last one. This album does have a lot going for it, though, especially lead single and opening track “Vertigo,” which I mentioned earlier, but a lot of the deep cuts are great, too. Songs like “Miracle Drug,” “Love And Peace Or Else,” “City Of Blinding Lights,” and a few others, are utterly wonderful. They’re catchy, slick, and larger than life, but a few songs that slow things down, such as “Yahweh,” or the rather poignant “Crumbs From Your Table” are great, too.

One thing that makes this record so good is that Bono himself sounds at the top of his game. Even if this record isn’t quite as good as the last one, but it’s close, Bono is still a powerhouse vocalist. Really getting into this band has meant that I can really appreciate his genius. I’ve always respected and loved Bono for his very giving persona, but I also enjoy his vocals and lyrics a lot more now, too. He has a way with words, even if he isn’t saying that much, but it’s what he says that is important. Bono has written some songs with incredible lyrics, especially in their classic 80s output, and with their 2000s output, he shows that he can still write poignant and insightful songs but with a catchy and accessible edge.

How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb would still be a great starting point if you’re not familiar with U2, but you can’t go wrong with All That You Can’t Leave Behind, either. That would be my first choice, especially outside from their classic material, but this is a great first choice. I can’t believe this record turns 20 this year, but it’s a record that deserves to be celebrated. If you’re new to U2, or you want a good place to start, I’d recommend this one. I don’t know if I’d call it underrated, as it was majorly successful at the time, but I think its popularity has gone down with time, yet this record is still worth revisiting.

[mceproductions]

Best of 2023 Music #26: U2 “Walk On (Ukraine)”

U2 has had many hits. This year we saw a compilation album full of new versions of their classic and most recent jams.

The standout belongs to this simple acoustic version with switched out lyrics revolving around the ongoing Ukraine War and how Bono performed this in shelters.

A jam still the same.

SUM 22: Bono reworks the classics from U2 with this years compilation album with this new version of Walk On being the standout.

[karaspal]

realistically, if kara was to accidentally travel back in time and end up back on krypton, she’d probably want to stay and not actually escape unless someone depends on her and needs her help in the present. then she’d be forced (by her very own moral code) to escape and save them and that will cause her a lot of internal turmoil. and it would be great.

[ssreeder]

every time I picture chang in LIAB I just think of those little Italian chef statues people put in their kitchens.

just thought to let you know.

well just so you know when I picture Chang this is all I can think about:

I have a type <3

[theoryofwhatnow]

i don’t know who needs to hear this, but Louis Tomlinson (former member of One Direction) was indeed in Like Minds.

[excellentrectangles]

let the record reflect that if it turns out agatha couldn’t control taking power when she was hit with it and accidentally killed witches like that until her mother decided she was evil and needed to die? and rio was the only one she couldn’t hurt? i will be fully devastated.

[donlyonewhogetsmep]

Thank you Florence Welch for reminding me to run fast toward happiness today.

[live-laugh-tubesun]

Jonny and nastya made some sort of pact in the beginning, when it was just the two of them that they would they would stick together, always fight back to back. And now imaging Out and thinking of jonny biting his tounge to stop himself from saying something as childish as “you promised”

[transmechanicus]

Blankie time we share body warmth and the bad dreams bounce back and crash into a wall and die <3

Blankie time💙🖤

[thisaintascenereviews]

I Finally “Get” U2: One Music Fan’s Journey Of Self-Discovery

Irish band U2 is the ultimate “classic rock” / “dad rock” band. They’ve got a very accessible sound, soaring hooks, larger than life lyrics, as well as a larger than life vocalist in the form of Bono, and their career has been going on for 40+ years. They’re one of the best-selling bands of all time, but they’re also one of the most interesting bands of all time. Most people know their big hits from the 1980s, and even a few from the 1990s, but they’ve reinvented themselves a few times over their career. Since starting in 1976, the band went from a post-punk sound in the early 80s to their trademarked and well-recognized arena-rock sound of the late 80s (Joshua Tree, specifically, but they also experimented with blues and soul on 1988’s Rattle & Hum), moving to an alternative and electronic sound in the 90s (with diminishing returns as the decade went on; 1991’s Achtung Baby is considered to be one of their best albums, but the following two records of the 90s, well, aren’t) to their “classic sound” in the 00s with a brief return to superstardom with 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind, and 2004’s How Topic Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

Since the 00s, their star power has faded slightly, but more so delegated to legendary status, despite still selling well (they did just do a residency in the Las Vegas Sphere and it was a huge success for them), and Bono put out a memoir last year along with a companion album, entitled Songs Of Surrender, that recontextualized and redid 40 of their biggest hits in an acoustic format (the book, which has the same name, has 40 chapters and each of them are named after a U2 song). In the last decade, however, they’ve gone down in history as being the band that put an album onto everyone’s iPhones without asking. That album, 2014’s Songs Of Innocence, isn’t half bad, at least from what I remember, but it was my introduction to the bands and that’s not a good idea. Ever since, I tried listening to a few of their albums, and while I did enjoy 1987’s Joshua Tree, and 1983’s War, among listening to a couple of others, I just didn’t “get it.”

In all my years of being a music fan, U2 has been the band that I’ve just never got into, even though I always felt like I should love them. I realized my problem after all of these years — they’re best digested in a greatest hits package. I randomly found their 80s greatest hits album on Amazon for $7 a few months back, and I decided to pick it up, especially after realizing that I love a lot of the songs on it. U2 is a band that I’ve always enjoyed songs from, but I just never got into a full album. What I ended up doing was going on a bit of a deep dive of the band from their 80s greatest hits to listening to their albums from the 1990s and the two albums from the early 00s that I mentioned earlier. I wanted to really sink my teeth into the bulk of their discography, and I plan on listening to the rest of their 80s albums, but the greatest hits is a perfect place to start if you’re new to the band.

The band’s distinct eras are very interesting, as they’ve always been ambitious and interesting, even when it didn’t work as well as it should have. The greatest hits album from the 80s, however, is what I should have always started with; some bands are just better off as “greatest hits” bands, and I’d say U2 is one of those, but a lot of their deep cuts are great, too. While their 90s output doesn’t do so much for me, although I do enjoy Achtung Baby quite a bit, and 1993’s Zooropa and 1997’s Pop are both pretty good for what they are, but U2 got very self-indulgent at this time, only to bring themselves back to Earth with the masterpiece of 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind. 2004’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb is a fantastic record, too, but the former album is gorgeous in every way. It’s a great pure rock album, filled with the hooks, vocals, and lyricism that U2 was originally known for, and I wish that I would have started off with this album, or the greatest hits.

It took me years, but I understand them now; I finally get what the hype is, especially when it comes to Bono and his larger than life sound, but this is a good case of listening to the wrong album(s) can sour one’s interest in something. Some bands need the right starting point, and U2 is the best example of that. Because of their different eras, and how I started with their late 00s and early 2010s material (while I did go back to a few classic albums, I just didn’t appreciate them at the time), I just didn’t care for them as much as I should have. Looking back, I’m not sure why I wasn’t into them. I love bands that are huge, soaring, catchy, and fun, especially with a vocalist as unique as Bono and The Edge’s unique guitar playing. There’s no other band like U2, and after doing a deep dive into their work (and reading Bono’s memoir), they’ve become one of my all time favorite bands.

[flowercrowngods]

always so funky to be reminded that your parents might love you but they don’t actually like you very much

[aengelren]

“You’ll be fine”

Zaragreenbite on twitter

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

what kind of mental illness is it to constantly be battling the urge to disappear into a small New England town and write the most deeply haunted shit imaginable