U2
All That You Can't Leave Behind

Saying that U2 ended with “Achtung Baby” is excessive. If we put together those that, for me, are the most brilliant songs from “Zooropa” (“Lemon,” “Stay,” “Zooropa,” “Numb”), from the “Passengers” period (“Miss Sarajevo,” “Your Blue Room,” “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me”), and from “Pop” (“Discotheque,” “Gone,” “If God Will Send His Angels,” “Staring at the Sun,” “Please”), we have a great album.

Obviously, making three bad/useless/decent albums (choose your adjective) that each sell 7 million copies (those are the figures) makes less art but more money than one single album that sells 12 million copies. Without this greed, they would have made only one excellent album (though not a masterpiece) and today we would appreciate U2 even after 1991, who were not like they were in the 80s, but who, nonetheless, have left us many beautiful things and even a few gems.

So, their greed allows me, in a way, to justify their post-"Achtung Baby" inconsistency.

However, I cannot justify “All That You Can’t Leave Behind.” It is their blandest, and most constructed album (meaning it’s made to please everyone, without disturbing anyone). Even “Joshua” was an album “for everyone,” but it had immense class and masterpieces worthy of a bow, successfully being popular without being obsequious. This, however...

I vividly remember an interview with Bono at the end of August 2000. He said, very sure of himself, but without a hint of arrogance: “This album will surprise you. It’s our return to our roots. After almost 10 years, we’re finally back to doing what we do best.” I went into ecstasy. I was ready for an “Achtung Baby” without technology. What more could you ask for?

Imagine my surprise when I put it in the CD player and “Beautiful Day” started. Three years of waiting, and this was the launch single? A pleasant song, to be sure, but as far as I’m concerned, really very basic. “Discotheque” (the launch single from the previous album), in comparison, is a jewel – and, moreover, it even had a classic U2 arpeggio.

We move on to “Stuck in a Moment” – certainly a group classic. But distinctions must be made. It is a song of depth because it talks about the death of a friend. Why wasn’t such a song arranged minimally with those Edge guitar phrases that have made U2 history? And above all, would this excessive use of keyboards be a return to the roots? A song that would have guts, but they forgot to implant them. A missed masterpiece. But, after all, a great song – and that's no small matter.

“Elevation.” Another song that immediately gets into your head, but you immediately understand that here we are, for me, even below “Beautiful Day.” Here, the melody is borderline banal, and, on top of that, technology dominates. I’m still waiting for the return to the roots.

“Walk On.” Finally, the origins. It doesn’t excite me like “Stuck in a Moment,” but it doesn’t have the arrangement flaws of the latter. Splendid. Another group classic. The structure – notice it – is identical to that of “Until the End of the World.”

“Kite” is a great slow song – though nothing transcendent. More than in the melody, it’s Edge’s work that makes the song memorable. The change in the sung part is very good and capable of exciting. An excellent song; the “masterpiece,” as some define it, simply does not exist.

“Peace on Earth” has a very beautiful melody but is sung too softly. Bono seems like a sweet and naive kindergarten child saying “viva la pace”: really irritating. Musically, I don’t understand what the acoustic guitar is for when the song itself demands Edge’s guitar, which appears for only a few seconds in the middle of the piece and then disappears immediately after. What a great return to the roots…

“When I Look at the World,” “In a Little While,” “Wild Honey,” “Grace,” and “New York.” Here, for me, the limit of mediocrity is surpassed. They are excellently produced songs and some even pleasant, but anyone could have written them. Truly ordinary songs.

What is strange is that U2 released, during this period, a B-side titled “Summer Rain,” an acoustic ballad that, as an "ordinary and unpretentious song," is much, much better than the previous five – certainly better than the other acoustic ballad: “Wild Honey.” Another of their absurd B-sides. Go listen to it.

The numbers for “All That You Can’t Leave Behind”: 12 million copies sold, countless Grammys, and celebrations from the world’s top critics, who called it – hear, hear – “their third masterpiece after “War” and “Joshua.”

Returning to reality, a noun comes to mind: disappointment; a verb: forget; an adjective: deceitful (because it's not a return to the roots).
Speaking of the cover, just one adjective: horrendous.

Giving a rating is not easy. Judged on individual songs, it’s fair (2.5 stars), because amidst the mediocrities, we still find – with many “ifs” and “buts” – two classics, and two great songs (“Kite” and “Peace on Earth”), and a single that is reasonably enjoyable and memorable, like “Beautiful Day.”

But globally, I can’t give it a 3 (fully acceptable/good), despite the objectively perfect packaging. The smell of mediocrity is too evident in at least 5 songs.

Too little for an album they worked on for three years.