SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 49:00 Min.
Released by Island Records & Interscope Records, U2’s tenth studio album was released in late 2000. The album’s eleven tracks are:
Running Time:
- “Beautiful Day” 4:07
- “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” 4:31
- “Elevation” 3:46
- “Walk On” 4:55
- “Kite” 4:26
- “In a Little While” 3:38
- “Wild Honey” 3:46
- “Peace on Earth” 4:47
- “When I Look at the World” 4:17
- “New York” 5:29
- “Grace” 5:29
All That You Can’t Leave Behind subsequently scored seven Grammys over the next two years. At 2001’s 43rd Annual Grammys, Track 1 (“Beautiful Day”) won Song of the Year, Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal, and Record of the Year.
In 2002, in addition to a nomination for Album of the Year, three separate tracks won: specifically, Track 2 (“Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out of”) won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal; Track 3 (“Elevation”) won Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal; and Track 4 (“Walk On”) won Record of the Year. The album concluded with 2002’s Grammy for Best Rock Album.
Note: This album made Grammy history as the first and only effort to win Record of the Year two consecutive years.
REVIEW:
Given its slew of accolades, the album’s projection of a mature, self-reflective vibe should seem impressive. Yet, All That You Can’t Leave Behind, from a production standpoint, comes off as both overdone and dated. Competing against U2’s vintage sound, the album clearly can’t escape the era from which it was released.
Listening to these songs years after the fact only highlight the album’s sonic limitations. The biggest offender would likely be Track 4: “Elevation;” still, others like the simplistic Track 11: “Grace,” age much better. For the most part, this assortment of tunes presents a reverse sort of anachronism.
Specifically, the album resembles less traditional U2 and more so the bands it subsequently influenced, such as Coldplay. All That You Can’t Leave Behind tries too hard to emulate classic U2 that that it becomes a sanitized, rock-influenced pop record lifting their 80’s run. Unfortunately, this album falls short of the edgy, alternative rock that the U2 of the ‘90s and their contemporaries were putting out a decade prior.
The band goes too far backwards into their thought-provoking roots vs. pushing forward a new and more unique experience. This creative strategy can largely be attributed to the underwhelming reception to their two prior records; hence, returning to their original sound made sense purely from a commercial standpoint.
The result is deliberately superficial, and, therefore, more accessible than other U2 works; yet, to deeper music fans, this bland effort could play like shallow U2 fluff seeking mainstream relevancy. While there’s some solid hits and decent deep cuts, All That You Can’t Leave Behind represents a step down from The Joshua Tree and other ground-breaking U2 albums.
PACKAGING:
Including a solid casing, the standard CD accessories are all here. The CD’s contents are accurately listed.
ROSCOE & BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 5 Stars
