Review:

on 2011-05-09 CharlesMartel Said:

I had followed U2 on and off throughout their 25 years as a band, from their early days as a post-punk outfit, right up until their much maligned album "All That You Cant Leave Behind". I had missed out on a fair bit of their material through the 1990s but then that the period of my musical hiatus and there was a lot I missed out on around that time. I had stood by U2 but when this album came out I felt that my patience had been tried beyond breaking point.

To say that this is not U2 at their best is an understatement. Normally, they always produce one or two tracks on any album which can often seem to make the whole album worth getting. "Vertigo" initially seemed to be just one of those tracks, even with the comparatively naff opening counting is Spanish. But its appeal soon wore off. However, to think that the album is worth getting on the back of that track is a mistake. This is not an album to compare with anything they managed earlier in their career and is definitely not worth getting.

The album is an attempt by the band to return to more of the pure rock roots they set out with, but in that sense it fails. This may actually be a way for Bono to keep his preachy profile high so that he can continue to push his messages, but he does not need a new album to do that. Perhaps it would have been better if he just released the odd single now and again rather than put out an album with two good tracks and a load of fillers.

For a start the title is a trite variation of the swords into ploughshares concept. And that is so dull. Everybody knows that U2 are Christians but they never really seemed to shove it your face as much as many other bands did. And so what is the purpose of "Yahweh"? So Bono is a Christian. Good for him. Apart from Joan Osborne's "One of Us" there has never been a good overtly Christian rock song (and that one was only redeemed by the incredibly infectious guitar loop). The song is just plain awful, and if it is Bono's attempt to write a modern hymn then it has failed abysmally.

The album never got off to a good start. They say never judge a book by its cover and I try not to judge albums by their sleeve, but the front cover to this is uninspired and the stripes make it feel like somehow this is banned. If it is to be banned it should be because it is a disappointment, not for any radical sentiments contained within. Then there are the ballads, as always, the ballads. As always Bono feels he has something to say, only this time I feel he really out to shut up for once. "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" is passable without being that good. "Miracle Drug" sounds like another attempt to line up for a bout of preaching. Leave it out!

Sadly, U2, a band which started out as post punks, have outlasted their contemporaries and turned into their predecessors. They are now in the position, envious if you want an easy life, of being able to put out any trash and know that people will buy it. They have lost that spark which produced their best work. They are now over the hill, a parody of themselves. So what do we have? Dare I say (hope) U2 on the way out. I shall not be following U2 any more and cannot see myself getting another album.
Rating: 5/10