Votes: 48Highest Rank: 1st (1)
Lowest Rank: 11th (1)
Well here it is, the album that officially was the most bizarrely ranked album of all of them - first in one person's book, last in another's. Now, I think it definitely falls in the middle somewhere and is DEFINITELY not the best nor the worst album U2 has ever made...but the fact that people judged it to such extreme I think deserves a second look.
To be honest, I find this musically to be a far superior album to the much higher ranked (and more critically acclaimed) All That You Can't Leave Behind. Once all context is removed I think many more people would be willing to agree with me. However, ATYCLB is considered the superior album I believe for three main reasons:
(1) ATYCLB was one of the three "Transformational Albums" U2 released while Dismantle was not. To me, there were 3 albums that firmly transformed U2's career at the time they were released: Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby and ATYCLB. Sure the band's first 4 albums established them as stars, and "Pride" really took them to a new level within the States, but Joshua Tree firmly transformed them from just another band to the "biggest band in the world" label. After the relative failure of Rattle and Hum, both artistically and commercially (the film, not the album), it was Achtung Baby that reinvented the band and transformed them once again from a band seen as perhaps clinging to an 80s' sound into one enthusiastically embracing the 90s' sonic barrage. Finally, after Pop's tepid American sales' numbers and the corresponding (though relative to Zoo TV) disappointment of the PopMart Tour, the shift to a more stripped down sound of ATYCLB not only transformed their sound again, but firmly retrenched themselves as the Biggest Band on the World. Thus, when Dismantle came out it was simply an extension of ATYCLB, rather than a seismic shift in the U2 soundscape that became ATYCLB's legacy.
(2) Elevation Tour vs. Vertigo Tour. This was a slam dunk for the Elevation Tour. Building on the success of their stripped down sound, U2 stripped down their tour as well. Trading in stadiums for arenas and giant lemons for heart-shaped stages, the Elevation Tour brought fans and band closer together, resulting in perhaps the most satisfying tour of their career. Nearly every show was a sellout, and the critics and fans both agreed. After Dismantle came out and many called it an extension of ATYCLB, the Vertigo Tour cemented those beliefs. The same 4 screens following each member of the band? Check. The same arenas? Check. The heart shaped stage...no! it was now an ellipse. Bottom line, same tour with some new music. Thus while attending an Elevation show seemed like something brand new and exciting, going to a Vertigo show was fun...but didn't seem all that different.
(3) 9/11. Let's be honest, the soundtrack to our heartbreak as a nation was primarily filled by a band from a small island country on the other side of the Atlantic. 9/11 occurred as the second part of U2's North American tour was gearing up, and the shows quickly took on a new meaning with every song, every performance, every note. Bono pulled back the inside of his leather jacket to reveal the American flag. "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" turned into our "Tuesday, Bloody Tuesday", "New York" transformed from a mediocre song into a love note to our fallen towers to the northeast and "Walk On" became our mission, our goal...and we all sang it as one. More than in any other medium, emotion is wrapped up in music...it binds us, reminds us of times past, and brings back feelings we thought long ago had been lost. It's not Dismantle's fault, but ATYCLB came along at the right time for the USA.
Thus, this album may be the stepson of ATYCLB, but it's not a bad stepson to have around. Although "Yahweh" is one of the more annoying wishful little songs Bono and the boys have ever put together. Ugh. The fact that many shows on the Vertigo tour ended with this still annoys me. Also, "All Because of You" could have been sung by anyone - nothing distinguishes it and as Jack so eloquently put it "it bugs."
Still, does it get any more anthemic than "City of Blinding Lights?" I happen to think it's one of the best songs they've ever done (though Jessica vehemently disagrees with this assessment) and was even better live. Though it was REALLY overplayed, "Vertigo" arrives with a sizzling guitar riff from the Edge and is 3 minutes of great rock and roll. "Sometimes You Can't Make it on It's Own" has the rare distinction of being one of the best slow songs U2 has ever done despite the fact that it has one of the worst opening lines of any song ever ("Tough, you think you've got the stuff"). I mean, really Bono? The fact that it can bounce back from that is impressive in its own right. "A Man and a Woman" and "One Step Closer" are understated in their brilliance, and "Bullet the Blue Sky" has nothing on "Love and Peace (or Else)" in my opinion.
So overall, while I think it's tracks are stronger 1 to 11 than ATYCLB, it never hits a high mark like "Walk On" and due to not being a Transformational Album, it promises to stay in ATYCLB's shadow.
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