This Tuesday’s album comes from U2, in the form of 2004’s How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb.
It’s an album that seems to me to be overlooked in the vast catalogue of U2’s work. It’s hard not to be when there’s Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, Boy, The Unforgettable Fire…and so on…and on.
But it’s this album to me that encapsulates all that came before into a tidy, no filler package. Whether it’s “Vertigo”, coming at you with power from the top or slowing it down with “One Step Closer.” It hits all the marks it needs to, and doesn’t miss.
This is my favourite of U2’s work. Maybe it’s because it was the album that made me a fan. I mean I’d known who U2 was beforehand. I’d heard them on the radio growing up until that point. I was in grade eight when this came out, and beginning to form my musical tastes, with How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb being a large part of that. I was the only one I knew my age that was into them. One morning after a sleepover birthday party, I remember watching Much Music, and the “All Because of You” music video came on. Someone said something to the effect of “ugh. Who likes this.” I stayed silent…I wasn’t yet at the point of going against the flow. But about five seconds later, someone came in from the kitchen “These are the guys you like, right, Jade?” a meek “yup” came from my corner of the room. I don’t hesitate now to state my love of the band.
Yet, as I began to delve deeper into U2’s discography I still always came back to this album. I still do. Maybe it’s my history with the it, or maybe it’s just a damn good one. Either way, turn this one up, and enjoy.
What’s your favourite song?
Also, don’t hesitate to add your suggestions.