For a long time, I was resistant to listen to U2. Maybe because the age I was when they were presented to me and what I was listening to at that time. I thought it was too “motionless”. I’m glad maturity hit me, and I could appreciate, in its full essence, the band and, as consequence, one of the best and most positive albums from the 2000s.
Contextualising, the band had released in ‘POP’ in 1997, a not so catchy album which many consider a “departure” from their roots, since they were using some experimentalism in their sound, and didn’t make anything “notable” since the ‘Joshua Tree’ era (1987). Particularly, from the three albums released between ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’, which I want to talk about today, and ‘The Joshua Tree’, only the ‘POP’ doesn’t please me, and I think that both ‘Achtung Baby’ (1991) and ‘Zooropa’ (1993) have got relevant songs, but I understand when the media points as “notable”, since their sound are different.
With the millennium passage, there were some concerning about the Y2K (the Millennium Bug) and even if we were ready for future’s evolution once the imagination and stories about future even put flying cars. Well, nor the Millennium Bug or flying cars happened, at least not until the moment of this text haha, but U2, with the album ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’, tried to bring some positivity message that invites us to be better beings, how to appreciate the small details in life, and how to empathise with each other.
You take excerpts like:
“After the
flood all the colours came out, it was a beautiful day”
(Beautiful Day)
“And if the
night runs over, and if the day won't last, and if your way should falter along
the stony pass, it's just a moment. This time will pass.”
(Stuck In A Moment
You Can’t Get Out Of)
“Grace makes
beauty out of ugly things”
(Grace)
But we also have songs talking about what we should worry about, which situations deserve our attention, the promised peace on Earth, and how to bear in front of it all.
“I'm sick of
all of this hanging around. Sick of sorrow. Sick of pain. Sick of hearing again
and again that there's gonna be Peace on Earth.”
(Peace on Earth)
“When you
look at the world, what is it that you see?”
(When I Look At The World)
From all the songs, the five which delight
me the most as they are played in sequence, are:
- Beautiful Day
- Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
- Walk On
- Peace On Earth
- Grace
The album is charming and makes you reflect on what to admire and what to change.
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And until our next text, keep on building your memories.
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Listen to the full album on:
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com.br/albums/B073JQNMTV
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/album/216487
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7a5U0GPoAvT3gvEY66FRuN?si=CO98Hht2QSum06VvqI9pdA
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k42_UsooiR2YdJr436syBEft-s95iDGps
YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k42_UsooiR2YdJr436syBEft-s95iDGps
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References:
