How many more times am I going to start off a review with the admission that I'm not really a fan but...? It seems to happen quite a lot, but I suspect I'm not the only one who would buy an album or two by Band A but is not really into them. Some artistes, of course, I avidly collect all of their material and love just about everything they release, and conversely there are some artistes whose music I am not into and never will be, and would not consider even listening to any of their albums, never mind buying them.
And of couse there's nothing wrong with that. There is no law anywhere that says that once you listen to an album by Band A you have to be into them and get the rest of their catalogue, though generally speaking, most of us probably hope that this will be the effect: a band or singer we have previously ignored or just never listened to will, through the experience of one of their recordings, cause us to change our minds about them forever and become a fan. It has happened: I never listened to Nick Cave prior to hearing “The good son”, after which I bought all his albums. The Divine Comedy was unknown to me until a workmate loaned me “Casanova”, and I was hooked.
But then, in essence, isn't that how most of us get into whatever we're into? Few of us know in advance that we're going to love an album, or an artiste, but either recommendation or exposure via the radio or TV nudges us in their direction and we find we like them. Or don't. Then of course there is the less than scientific approach of buying an album by a new artiste (to us) purely because we like the sound of their name, or their album, or both. A positive result in this manner for me was Lanterns on the Lake's debut, “Gracious tide, take me home” --- I loved both the artiste name and the album title, and was blown away by the album --- and an instance where this approach did not work is in Charred Walls of the Damned's second album, “Cold winds on timeless days”. Like they say, great name, shame about the content. Or something.
All that you can't leave behind --- U2 --- 2000 (Island)
Nerd alert! When I heard the title of this album I immediately thought U2 were ripping off the title of the last ever episode of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”, which is called “What you leave behind”, and had aired the previous year. There is of course no proof to link the two, but it did seem strange to me that, prior to the DS9 episode, I had never heard this phrase before, and suddenly there it was again.
Anyway, leaving that aside, it's the old story, as related above. Although I like and rate U2, and feel justifiably proud that they, an Irish band from the poorer part of Dublin, rose to become mega-famous and indeed one of the biggest bands in the world, I had none of their albums, other than their greatest hits compilation. My sister had “The Joshua Tree” on vinyl (what?) and one of their concerts on VHS (again, what??) but I had none of their music. She of course only had those items because she had a crush on Bono.
But --- and again, I couldn't tell you why --- I decided to go for this one, and not really expecting that it would live up to the hype, I listened somewhat in trepidation that my hard-earned had been squandered when I could have bought something I really wanted. But by the end of the album I was definitely impressed, though as ever I have not been sufficiently affected to actually go out and buy more of their albums. I think it was tracks like “The fly”, “Angel of Harlem” and “Hold me, kiss me, thrill me, kill me” (or whatever it's called, that one from the Batman movie) that began to turn me off U2. I'd enjoyed classic songs like “Still haven't found what I'm looking for”, “Pride”, “The unforgettable fire” and my own personal all-time favourite, “Where the streets have no name”, but when they began experimenting with new styles it turned me off. I know, naïve: bands have to evolve. Hey, I was younger then.
So it was no small thing to find that “All you can't leave behind” is a very solid rock album, with little if any surprises for someone who had grown up on the above songs. It opens with “Beautiful day”, which being the lead single to the album I had already heard. It's a good rocker, with some great drumming from Larry Mullen and the usual class guitar from the Edge, Bono in introspective voice until the chorus when he comes alive, and there are probably few who have not heard the track at least once, not to mention its clever video with them apparently playing on a runway as an airliner takes off, so let's move on to track two.
“Stuck in a moment you can't get out of” is a great semi-ballad, with very much gospel leanings, Bono singing in memory of his good friend Michael Hutchence, INXS lead singer who committed suicide. It's quite keyboard oriented with a strong message of trying to get it together before it's too late, as Bono sings
”Don't say that later will be better/ Now you're stuck in a moment/ That you can't get out of.” A song about recognising the hole you've dug for yourself, or found yourself in, and making plans to dig yourself out before it's too late, it was another single and so again most will be at least familiar with it. Nice brass from Paul Barrett gives the song something of an optimistic feel.
“Elevation” is a little of the more post-rock experimentation U2 had flirted with on previous albums “Pop” and “Zooropa”, with a hard-edged (pun intended) guitar and a sort of stuttering, staccato beat and some lingering dance influences left over from previous albums, but used quite well. Production by the legendary Brian Eno and the equally formidable Daniel Lanois --- both of whom also play on the album --- is sharp and clear, dispelling any cobwebs that might be hanging around after the disappointing “Pop”. Eno and Lanois previously worked with U2 before, of course, on “The Joshua Tree”, “Achtung baby” and “The unforgettable fire”, and surely it's no coincidence that some of their biggest and best-loved hits came from these albums?
There's no actual title track, but the title is mentioned in the opening to “Walk on”, one of the standouts on an album with, to be fair, few if any bad tracks. A tribute to Burmese human rights activist Aung Suu San Kyi, the inclusion of this track irked the authorities there so much that the album was banned in Burma. It's a great half-ballad, with great keyboards paired with just perfect guitar touches from the Edge, Bono in his element as he sings about causes that matter to him, and should matter to us all. One thing I do like about Bono is that although he puts a lot of his politics into his lyrics, it's not forced down your throat like some others try to: it's usually quite subtle (although when he's talking about these issues there's little of subtlety about him, and so there should not be).
The title phrase comes back in for the fadeout ending, as he sings
”All that you fashion/ All that you make/ All that you build / All that you break/ All that you measure / All that you fear/ All this you can leave behind” almost mirroring the lyric in Pink Floyd's “Eclipse” off “Dark side of the Moon”. Another great track is “Kite”, with a slow, lazy guitar and a sort of swaying rhythm, with the guitar getting stronger and more insistent later on in the song, and a really nice solo thrown in too. One nice thing about the Edge is that, despite being one of the world's best-known guitarists, he seldom takes the spotlight for himself: I can honestly say that this is the first solo I've heard from him on the album so far, and even then it's not a big, ostentatious, “look-at-me” type of thing. Very workmanlike, and fits well into the song structure.
For me, the song quality dips slightly then. It does recover before the album ends, but “In a little while” is a weak track in my eyes. It's not terrible, a sparse, blues type of song with a lot of heart, but coming after two powerhouses like “Walk on” and “Kite”, I just feel it falls short of the grade, and “Wild honey” can really only be described as filler, and it also features two subjects I really don't like --- monkeys and honey --- but we're soon back to greatness with the sumptuous “Peace on Earth”, which I felt sure would have been a Christmas number one had it been released, and it should have been, as the album came out in October. But it seems never to have been considered for single release, perhaps because the lyric concerns the Omagh bombing of 1998, making it too much a political hot potato.
Whatever way you view it though --- as an honest appeal for peace or as a bitter realisation that such a thing will never happen --- it's a starkly beautiful, powerful and emotional song, as Bono relates the names of those who died in the bombing, and speaks of the heartache suffered by those left behind.
”Sean and Julia, Gareth Anne and Breda/ Their lives are bigger than/ Any big idea.” Bono admits in the song that in the
”Song I wrote/ The words are sticking in my throat”, the whole thing carried on atmospheric keyboard and semi-acoustic guitar, and yeah, it does bring the tears, especially to an Irishman who remembers that awful day. Time don't dull the pain.
Kind of carrying on from this, “When I look at the world” is a song about losing faith, a more uptempo sort of tune with lots of warbly keyboards and a mid-paced rhythm, then after all the heavy lyrical themes, “New York” is a song about, well, New York. It's a fast, powerful rocker --- though it starts out slow and low-key --- which betrays Bono's love of the city, and after September 11 certain lyrics had to be altered, like
”Religious nuts, political fanatics/ In the stew” . The tempo and rhythm actually remind me of the rushing tempo of the streets of New York (though I've never been there, but who hasn't seen it portrayed on telly or film a million times?), where everyone is dashing here and there, trying to get to where they need to go. It's also the first --- only --- song on the album where you can really hear the signature guitar sound the Edge is known for, roaring triumphantly as he lets it loose.
The album ends on a laidback almost acoustic ballad, “Grace”, which beats out “New York” as the longest track on the album by one second (does anyone really take note of these things? I do...), with a beautiful little guitar intro, the Edge almost going Hawaiian in his playing. It's a really introspective, simple little song to end an album that is full of ideas, great songs, interesting themes and a band getting back to doing what they do best.
TRACKLISTING
1. Beautiful day
2. Stuck in a moment you can't get out of
3. Elevation
4. Walk on
5. Kite
6. In a little while
7. Wild honey
8. Peace on Earth
9. When I look at the world
10. New York
11. Grace