So why is U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
U2 has been such a big presence in my life, dating all the way back to watching the “Sunday Bloody Sunday” music video on MTV (during its earliest era!) when I was a little kid.
I’ve had phases of being more “into” U2 than at other times, which is only natural for a band that has been “around” for decades. U2 went through many machinations and changes over the years and decades, as did I… though one of the two out of this equation happened to be massively prolific and world famous, of course.
By the time that All That You Can’t Leave Behind was released in 2000, I didn’t dislike U2 by any means, but wasn’t necessarily burning up to hear their latest release either. I enjoyed “Elevation” quite a bit (and still do), and it eventually found its way onto a burned CD mix or early mp3 playlist or two that I put together, while I vaguely recall thinking that “Beautiful Day” was quite pretty.
Then more time passed, as it tends to do, and roughly over the last five years, All That You Can’t Leave Behind started finding its way into my life in a different kind of way. I’d play it straight through on Spotify while working or cooking, and my admiration, respect, and love for it went up a notch each time I did*.
* I went through a very similar evolution with R.E.M.’s sorely underrated Around the Sun, #92 of best 1,000 albums ever.
My current assessment is that half of the album’s material comfortably sits with the best songs that U2 has ever produced. The first four tracks – “Beautiful Day,” “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of,” “Elevation,” and “Walk On” – are all smashers, while I’m also in absolute head over heels love with “In A Little While,” an exquisitely gorgeous pop song that is equal parts simple and perfect.
If any of this blather interests you even slightly, I strongly recommend you check out the music documentary It Might Get Loud. It focuses on three legendary guitarists: Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, Jack White, and U2’s The Edge. The personalities and passions of each are fascinatingly revealed, and in The Edge’s case, we learn a lot about his obsession with playing around with audio production at his studio in Dublin, Ireland.
We see him playing a few notes over and over, producing a melody that would not seem all that interesting by itself. But then cut to him masterminding what those notes produce through his soundboard, and the colossal, booming guitar part of “Elevation” springs forth gloriously.
And on a final note, the song that’s been playing in my head the entire time while I write this piece is the delightful and lovely, “Wild Honey.”
Some stats & info about U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Album Rock, Contemporary Rock, Pop Music
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was All That You Can’t Leave Behind released? 2000
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #224 out of 1,000
U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
In a little while, I will blow by every breeze. Friday night running, to Sunday on my knees.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.