All That You Can't Leave Behind
| U2
All That You Can't Leave Behind
All That You Can't Leave Behind is the 10th studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, and was released on 30 October 2000 on Island Records in the United Kingdom and Interscope Records in the United States. Following the mixed reception to their 1997 album, Pop, All That You Can't Leave Behind represented a return to a more mainstream sound for the band after they experimented with alternative rock and dance music in the 1990s. At the time of the album's release, U2 said on several occasions that they were "reapplying for the job ... [of] the best band in the world". U2 brought back Eno and Lanois, who had produced three of the band's previous albums. The album was originally named "U2000", which had been a working title for their PopMart Tour. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
U2’s tenth studio album and third masterpiece ... is all about the simple melding of craft and song.
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Pitchfork
...one of the band's finest, if not for the tweeting and hooting of The Fly and his grating lyrics.
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NME
This being U2, there are naff moments, notably ‘Peace On Earth’, where Bono’s idealism veers into sentimentality. And, like all comfortable, streamlined things, ‘…Leave Behind’ is also a teensy bit dull. It is, nevertheless, a laudable achievement.
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BBC
A peerless display of rejuvenation
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Ultimate Classic Rock
...stands as one of U2's best albums and one of the greatest records of the 21st century
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Slant Magazine
...comes off as a bit too safe. It’s like watered-down U2 for the Britney Era, albeit more credible than its company of course.
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AV Music
U2's emphasis on its basics—chiming guitars, a war-themed lament here and there, the enormous choruses of songs like "Beautiful Day"—is a refreshing reminder of the group's core virtues. But in terms of execution, it splits about 50-50 between soaring hits and dispiriting misses.
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The Guardian
This is U2's most accessible and emotional recording since 1991's Achtung Baby.
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Drowned In Sound
It's Pleasant, easy to listen to and easy and easy on the ears, packed full of hummable tunes and choruses you’ll be singing after the first verse…but that’s not enough.
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All Music
Like any work from craftsmen, All That You Can't Leave Behind winds up being a work of modest pleasures, where the way the verse eases into the chorus means more than the overall message, and this is truly the first U2 album where that sentiment applies -- but there is genuine pleasure in their craft, for the band and listener alike.
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The Solute
...the deep cuts from ATYCLB are not as ultimately satisfying as that from The Joshua Tree ... but the high moments are just such great works of pop-rock that it still ends up one of my favourites as a result.
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Diffuser
...them remembering that direct and honest songwriting is timeless. And U2 do that best when the only people they're trying to be is themselves, without an ounce of irony.
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Anti Music
Bright and joyful, it is the band's most optimistic and tender album.
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Cluas
This album is not just a return to form, it's a return to greatness.
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NZ Herald
The first proper U2 album in years and by a band who have got back to the idea that sounding like U2 isn't such a bad idea after all - old fans should rejoice.
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The Music Box
It's simply the best album they've created, perfecting all that has come before it without sounding old in the process. Instead, the members of U2 sound as if they are just getting started.
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Orlando Weekly
Bono and his bandmates have put aside the sonic experimentation, opting this time out to create songs fans can simply enjoy.
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Entertainment Weekly
New-generation dullards like the Wallflowers would do well to scribble notes.
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The Irish Times
U2 have come home, and All That You Can't Leave Behind is the crackling of the hearth fire: warm, tender, laughing, forgiving, but not very exciting.
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Spectrum Culture
...presents an image of U2 that people know and love without the artistic daring that made the band so interesting.
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Enjoy the Music
Whether going through personal triumph or personal tragedy, the new CD All That You Can't Leave Behind, by U2 is the calm after the storm, the peace after the war.
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U2 France
U2 have made an album that sounds like U2 again. Only better.
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Wycliffe College
...a continuation of U2’s venture into the territory of faith in a way that few “secular” or contemporary Christian artists dare or are permitted.
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Crosswalk
Its a rediscovery of the bands generous abilities that begs to be sung along to in a speeding convertible, top down and speakers cranked to 11.
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Ultimate Guitar
It's a pleasing enough album if you aren't familiar with the older stuff
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The Online Reviews
U2 manages to combine unpretentious joy with the open-hearted rock power of its early recordings.
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USA Today
...all that you can ask of great rock music. Simultaneously classic and contemporary ... exudes warmth, vitality and passion in 11 beautifully crafted songs that recall the Irish quartet's unfussy roots.
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