Ticket 2 Ride

I sort of lost interest in U2 somewhere in the late 1980s, after becoming a big fan with their debut album. I didn’t completely abandon them, but I became highly selective of their work. I like the weirdness of Achtung Baby! and the shimmer of No Line on the Horizon. U2 has some of the strangest album titles.

So, why write about How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb? The album is 20 years old and has been remastered and offered in several boxed set versions, getting another opportunity to show its wares.

When HDAB was released in 2004, it sold like crazy, now at over 10 million copies. Nominated for eight Grammy Awards, it won them all, including Album of the Year, and topped the charts in many countries.

The album was a monster hit, but its reputation doesn’t seem to reflect that.

MOJO ranked this album number four on their U2 list saying, “ A sleek, state-of-the-art warship with the wind of a mainstream guitar rock revival at its back.”

Ultimate Classic Rock Radio ranked it number nine saying, “Dismantle does strip away much of the artifice around U2’s music and brings the Edge’s guitar hooks straight to the front. The sound is crunchier than ever, in a way that occasionally recalls R.E.M.’s similar departure on Monster in 1994.”

Louder ranked it number ten, adding, “…might be the most ‘U2-sounding’ album of U2’s career; all gargantuan, hook-heavy, soft rock, precision-tooled to trigger the synchronised sparking of lighters above head height in the world’s largest venues.”

Spin ranked the album also number ten, summing up the album as, “an attempt to reconnect with U2’s harder-rocking post-punk roots, kicking off with the anthemic bluster of megahit ‘Vertigo.’”

The album seems to fail because it achieves its goals, is what some critics are implying. U2 reminds me of the pushback towards Coldplay. Massive album sales, sold out arena tours, but many people hate the band and call their music generic, formulaic and boring. I had that same feeling about U2 at times, even though they have been experimental with their sound and trendy. We want the sameness, but we tire of it. The Bee Gees burned out with sameness; it wasn’t just the disco backlash.

What I like about the album is the Edge’s guitar is less cluttered and the melody in the songs is easier to find. It’s funny, in 2024, the Edge is quoted as wanting to make a more direct rock guitar album, which I hope is in the works. U2 has always been about his guitar, even more than Bono’s crusading lyrics. U2 has a history of going off in strange directions, which sometimes works, other times falling flat.

HDAB has a listed producer as frequent collaborator Steve Lillywhite, who was brought in after the band had recorded a lot of material with Chris Thomas. Not happy with the sound, they continued working with Lillywhite, Jacknife Lee, Carl Glanville, Nellee Hooper, Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Flood. Individual producers listed with each song.

1. “Vertigo” Steve Lillywhite 3:14
2. “Miracle Drug” Lillywhite; Carl Glanville, Jacknife Lee 3:59
3. “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own” Chris Thomas; Lillywhite, Nellee Hooper 5:08
4. “Love and Peace or Else” Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois; Thomas, Lee, Flood 4:50
5. “City of Blinding Lights” Flood; Thomas, Lee 5:47
6. “All Because of You” Lillywhite 3:39
7. “A Man and a Woman” Lee; Lillywhite, Glanville 4:30
8. “Crumbs from Your Table” Lillywhite; Lee 5:03
9. “One Step Closer” Thomas, Lanois; Lee 3:51
10. “Original of the Species” Lillywhite; Lee 4:41
11. “Yahweh” Thomas 4:21
12. “Fast Cars” Lillywhite 3:43 Originally a bonus track on some versions, added to the 2024 release.

This is definitely a rocking album, loud and atmospheric, and alternating beautiful in simplicity. I’ve never thought of U2 as a rock and roll band, not in the traditional sense. Maybe Rattle and Hum was, but U2 has a very different musical sense, ethereal and operatic, a grand canvas of ideas and sound.

The song I absolutely love is “A Man and a Woman” which is a great song love, not sappy or irrelevant. There’s even a version on YouTube of just Bono and Edge performing it. The version here shimmers with the outstanding bass and stripped down percussion. Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. find the groove.

There’s not a bad song on this album, although some are good and most great. Even “All Because of You” is a rocking thunderstorm of guitars, bass and drum. Bono’s lyrics for “Crumbs From Your Table” is a bit over the top, but saved by the music.

Is there a better all-around guitar player than the Edge? Not a showy soloist, he creates a guitar symphony of riffs, fills and swirling effects.

The basic band is Bono on vocals (additional guitar, piano); Edge on guitar, piano, synth, backing vocals; Adam Clayton on bass; Larry Mullen, Jr. on drums, percussion and backing vocals.

Brian Eno contributes synth on one track, but his presence is felt everywhere. Daniel Lanois, longtime producer provides guitar, pedal steel mandolin and shaker. Jacknife Lee is everywhere with synthesisers and keyboards, and what is termed additional “guitar atmospherics”. Engineer Carl Glanville provides additional percussion and synthesizer.

I don’t understand the low ranking, but so be it. The remaster makes it even better.