Review: U2's latest both catchy and clever
Natalie O'Neill
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Pop music is one of the last places we expect to find political activism. "Top 40" bands don't typically succeed in the skillful merging of melody and message.
But then there's U2.
Internationally known for making political statements inside and outside of their music, the Dublin-bred band has blended powerful political discussion with a punchy pop sensibility for the last 25 years. Since the 1983 release of their third album, "War," which commented on religious war in Northern Ireland, U2 has been deemed the band with a conscience. Lead vocalist, Bono, has used his fame to aid social and political causes all over the map, from playing at a telethon for victims of Sept. 11 to a fundraiser for children in Bosnia.
With a history like this, U2's latest album, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," was expected to be highly politically charged. Instead, the album is only sprinkled with illusions to war and peace. It is less a protest album and more a catchy pop album that touches on concepts of God, love, and war.
Using infectious guitar hooks, light electronic elements (that are subtle enough not to dominate tracks), and emotional vocals, the band is able to make its listeners simultaneously think and dance--to contemplate and gyrate--a rare combination.
One track that is hard to overlook lyrically is the dark and desperate, "Love and Peace or Else." A title like this promises edgy commentary on war, but the only song on the album that directly addresses political issues does so in a self indulgent way. While it is often lyrically poignant and conjures appropriate feelings of hope and fear using heavy guitar distortion and effective fast to slow tempo changes, it drifts too casually between personal and universal themes.
Halfway though the song, Bono wails "Lay down your guns/All you daughters of Zion/ All your Abrahams sons", a clear reference to violence in the name of God. Here, U2 makes a big picture statement about spreading love and stopping war, until Bono belts (like an angsty teenager) "Here is my heart you can break it," a line that seems ego-centric considering the heavy content of the song. Lyrics like this hold U2 back from effectively delivering the larger message this song seems to reach for.
Bono's vocals, however, are delivered with enough passion and emotion that lines like this can almost be overlooked.
His delivery makes the tracks that address personal issues (as opposed to those that try to tackle worldly matters) the most powerful. Upon first listen, the third track, "Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own" seems like a typical whiney love song, with cliche croons like "A house doesn't make a home/ Please don't leave me alone." But when the listener looks closer, it's clear that the song was written for Bono's father who died of cancer last year. Themes of death and longing then emerge through lyrics that are more genuinely heart-felt than preachy.
While "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" is certainly not U2's best album, it is smarter and more contagious than most of the records that are hitting the top of the charts this month.