| If U2 hadn't used the title already, "A Sort Of Homecoming" might have suited this, their 10th studio album. All That You Can't Leave Behind sounds, at various points, like any or all of U2's previous albums, as if the band are sending postcards back from a protracted ramble through previously conquered territories. The euphoric first single, and opening track, "Beautiful Day", reintroduced Edge's signature delay-laden guitar solos, pretty much absent since The Unforgettable Fire. Elsewhere, the gospel stylings of Rattle & Hum resurface on "Stuck In A Moment", and the deranged, Prodigy-influenced dance textures that characterised their previous album, Pop, crop up on "Elevation". None of this should be taken as suggestion that this always commendably restless group are running out of ideas. Having spent the 1990s making three of the most bizarre and adventurous albums ever delivered by a stadium rock band (the consecutive masterpieces Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop), it's as if they are now trying to figure out if there was one particular thing they always did best. On the evidence presented here, it's that combination of U2's facility for the epic playing alongside Bono's increasing lyrical interest in intimacy: "Walk On" and "Peace On Earth" are two of the best things he has ever written or sung. All That You Can't Leave Behind confirms that U2's laurels are continuing to make them itch. --Andrew Mueller |
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