Interscope
Alternative Rock, 2000

All That You Can’t Leave Behind may as well be the lesson U2 learned so far. After a disastrous attempt at a Village People revival that alienated their many fans, they now return to their rock roots to come up with one very melodious and fine record.

Isn’t Beautiful Day one of the best tracks of this year? The beautifully depressing song kicks off this album, and it is one of the best tracks in All That You Can’t Leave Behind. Then there’s the rocky Wild Honey – sexy yet intelligent, the chorus has me singing along. Even when the usually pretentious Mr Bono goes all melancholic and The world is screwed up and doomed on tracks like Peace on Earth and New York, while he comes close to being pretentious, he manages to keep it wonderfully listenable and musical.

And yes, for once The Edge’s guitar flies free instead of being masked by electronic bleeps. That man is too good be just another sound on the backing track, and this time he proves it.

Listening to this album is definitely like being Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of – welcome back U2 to doing what they do best: creating bloody good tunes.