U2: Bono (vocals); The Edge (guitar); Adam Clayton (bass guitar); Larry Mullen Jr. (drums, percussion).
Recording information: 2004.
Much in the manner of their previous album, ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND, U2 largely strips down the stadium-sized approach of years past on the provocatively titled HOW TO DISMANTLE AN ATOMIC BOMB. Whether they were inspired by the garage-rock revival that took place in between the two records, or just felt like making some visceral rock & roll, this 2004 release has as much unbridled energy as such early U2 benchmarks as BOY or WAR. The album starts with a bang, courtesy of the charging, angular "Vertigo," whose driving bass line and shouted vocals announce the band's intentions in no uncertain terms.
The bluesy "Love and Peace or Else," and the fuzz-guitar-fueled "All Because of You" follow suit in a similarly high-energy manner. That's not to say that this is a mere rockfest from start to finish, though. There are an equal number of reflective, mid-tempo tunes whose direct emotional impact recalls the more elegiac tracks on OCTOBER, giving the whole album a dynamic depth of field. Whether rocking like madmen or getting in touch with their inner selves, though, the band sounds totally committed throughout ATOMIC BOMB, which has always been the first requirement for a great U2 album.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (p.172) - 4 stars out of 5 - "This is grandiose music from grandiose men, sweatlessly confident in the execution of their duties."
Rolling Stone (pp.152-3) - Included in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Records Of 2004 - "U2 soar to adult glory with a guitar-driven vigor that hearkens back to 1980's BOY..."
Spin (p.64) - Ranked #29 in Spin's "40 Best Albums of the Year" - "An '80s rock band making a great 11th album."
Entertainment Weekly (pp.115-16) - "'Crumbs From Your Table' is the type of glorious gallop this band can write in its pub nap, but no one does it better." - Grade: B
Uncut (p.136) - "[I]t's their most unabashedly strident record since THE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE....Though the band rattle and strum with their old '80s vigour, the lines that stay with you speak of a creeping malaise."
Uncut (p.76) - Ranked #35 in Uncut's "Best New Albums of 2004" - "[A] brilliantly expansive album and their best since ACHTUNG BABY."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.60) - Ranked #17 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2005" - "HTDAAB harmonised post-punk U2 and the modern, humanistic concerns of Bono Inc..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.96) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[T]hey continue to pioneer a new future for rock music....What is clear is that there's a new maturity to Bono's lyrics."
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Reviews
– Customer review on 23/06/2007
I'm a huge U2 fan but this album is not one I reach for automatically. There are a couple of good tracks ie Vertigo, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own but unfortunately the others are forgettable. It's not a bad album as such but given U2's history this one falls a bit flat.
With Bono trying to herald himself as the greatest humanitarian that ever lived I don't know why the band doesn't just go their separate ways.
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is just tired crap from a very boring band.
I have never been interested in anything they do and this is no exception.
i can only repeat what other reviewers have said: this indeed is not the great band u2's greatest album. it some how does not contain any of the famously u2 sounding tunes that older albums have had, i guess it is only to be expected that after so many years of great music, the band has to be one stinker
only 11 songs on this album, which is pretty good, and a lot more modern than some of their other stuff. they have lost a bit of their uniqueness on this album, and also some of the more emotionalness that was found in some of their other hits, such as angel of harlem. there are, however, some nice and epic songs on here, such as Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, but most of this album is pretty forgetable.
I feel that in this CD U2 tried to keep up with the times, and sort of lost the plot a bit, and some of their originality. The songs feel over produced at times, and sound largely rather generic. I do quite like the first track, "Vertigo" though, it has a cool beat. But there is not much else worthy on this album, sadly enough.
Are these guys getting boring or whhhat! Man bono just wants everyone to acknowledge him as such a great person, infact he is too caught up in that, that his music has gone crap. Not that it was ever too good to start with anyway. But still, bland bland bland. not worth buying.
U2 seem to have lost their way and their originality with this new release. Too much same old same old, with very little of the innovation which marks their earlier releases. This is probably a process that has been occuring over the last few albums, and has reached the point of no tolerance. Trading on a name can only happen for so long.
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– Customer review on 23/06/2007
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