I forgot about that one. I don't care for it either. The last great U2 recording was Achtung Baby. I prefer Zooropa to either Pop or All That You Can't Leave Behind.

I think they rock

Watch it, chris...All That You Can't Leave Behind is my very favorite U2 album...

...But I'm glad you think they rock. And I think Pop was a very valid transitional album for the band. There's some really powerful tracks there. "Staring At The Sun" is among my favorite U2 tunes.

iknow it is, rev- its still one of their weaker efforts though due to the seemingly hurried lyrics. then havnt seemed this rushed since October [when they actually were cos Bono lost all his lyrics juste before they went to studio and they only had so much time and money back then]. idont know why they didnt juste sit on it a little longer and really try n knock out some U2 standards lyrics rather than juste shoot this shite out. musically, its great though still not one the completely consistent throughout. 'Beautiful Day' really, really stands out as the best trak by a mile on All That You Can't Leave Behind.

No, I disagree. The lyrics are a big part of why I love this album.

cmon,

A mole, digging in a hole,
Digging up my soul now,
Going down, excavation...


The last of the rocks stars,
When hip hop drove the big cars...


the entire sentiment of New York is a little corny [ilike it though]
and then the two tracks that really kill it:

-Peace On Earth
Heaven on Earth, we need it now,
I'm sick of all of this hanging around,
Sick of sorrow, sick of the pain,
I'm sick of hearing again and again,
That there's gonna be peace on Earth,

Where I grew up there weren't many trees,
Where there was we'd tear them down
And use them on our enemies,
They say that what you mock
Will surely overtake you,
And you become a monster
So the monster will not break you,

And it's already gone too far,
You say that if you go in hard
You won't get hurt,

Jesus can you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line?
Peace on Earth,
Tell the ones who hear no sound,
Whose sons are living in the ground,
Peace on Earth,
No whos or whys,
No one cries like a mother cries,
For peace on Earth,
She never got to say goodbye,
To see the colour in his eyes,
Now he's in the dirt,
Peace on Earth...

They're reading names out over the radio,
All the folks the rest of us won't get to know,
Sean and Julia, Gareth, Ann, and Breda,
Their lives are bigger than any big idea,

Jesus can you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line?
Peace on Earth,
To tell the ones who hear no sound,
Whose sons are living in the ground,
Peace on Earth,
Jesus and the song you wrote,
The words are sticking in my throat,
Peace on Earth,
Hear it every Christmas time,
But hope and history won't rhyme,
So what's it worth?
This peace on Earth,
Peace on Earth,
Peace on Earth,
Peace on Earth....

-Grace
Grace, she takes the blame,
She covers the shame,
Removes the stain,
It could be her name ,

Grace...
It's a name for a girl,
It's also a thought that, changed the world,
And when she walks on the street,
You can hear the strings,
Grace finds goodness in everything,

Grace, she's got the walk,
Not on a ramp or on chalk,
She's got the time to talk,
She travels outside of karma, karma,
She travels outside... of karma,

When she goes to work, you can hear the strings,
Grace finds beauty in everything,

Grace...
She carries a world on her hips,
No champagne flute for her lips,
No twirls or skips between her fingertips,
She carries a pearl in perfect condition,

What once was hurt,
What once was friction,
What left a mark
No longer stings...
Because Grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things,

Grace finds beauty in everything,
Grace finds goodness in everything....

now, those songs [especially 'Grace'] are juste ass lyrically- especially for Bono. and 'Grace' is the worst song they done musically too, its juste awful.

I don't own any of their albums, but I quite liked the few songs that I heard of All The You Can't Leave Behind, except "Elevation" that is, I kind of hated that song when it got such enormous airplay, and that song about Michael Hutchence was also rather weak I thought... but "In A Little While" must be one of my favourite tunes by them, and "Beautiful Day", "Walk On" and "Wild Honey" are also very enjoyable...

My brother has their best of the first period and it doesn't really make me itch for more U2... The classics ("Sunday Bloody Sunday", "With Or Without You", "New Years Day" and all) are very good, but I didn't like most of the other songs

I couldn't disagree more. To understand what a great lyric "Grace" is, you've got to look beyond the words to the theological concepts behind the words. "Grace" is one of Bono's greatest lyrics.

What you're not getting at all, chris, is that these lyrics are not over-crafted. They're very honest, heart expressions. That was the whole point of the album for the band, to strip away the deliberate pretense of their 90s work and make music from their souls again. For those of us who loved their early work, "All That You Can't Leave Behind" was a total return-to-form. It has heart and spirituality and honest passion.

If you don't get it, that's your problem. I get it, totally.

i"get" it juste fine. ilov their early "heartsontheirsleeves" records- this one juste sucks though. iget all the "thoelogical concepts"- theyre juste too fookin corny to enjoy, yes, it does harken back to some of the earlier work, but you cant always go back and thats proven here.

its like R.E.M.'s Reveal album. its suchan obivious effort to "get back". they try n say how its a strippin away of the pretense but its really juste the pretense of tryin to regain that early innoncence. thing is, the innocence is gone- long gone. if you try n recapture it now it juste comes off as being contrived.

U2 pulled it off fora few traks on All That You Can't Leave Behind, but couldnt maintain the facade fora whole album. eventually the cracks appear and it looks juste awful. there was no way they were gonna be able to recreate another "Boy" or "The Unforgetable Fire"- it was silly of them to try.

'Grace' is an awful song- and if you think it is even remotely good yure very misled on that one.

Well...we just disagree...nothing new about that, of course...