How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
| U2
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is the 11th studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was released on 22 November 2004 on Island Records and Interscope Records. Much like their previous album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb exhibits a more mainstream rock sound after the band experimented with alternative rock and dance music in the 1990s. The album was produced by Steve Lillywhite, with additional production from Chris Thomas, Jacknife Lee, Nellee Hooper, Flood, Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno, and Carl Glanville. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
This is grandiose music from grandiose men, sweatlessly confident in the execution of their duties.
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Pitchfork
It's a classic mix of colossal ballads and jerky rockers-- part-The Unforgettable Fire, part-Achtung Baby.
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AV Music
Finds U2 sounding just as passionate as it did on 1980's Boy, and just as committed to converting that passion into sprawling pop songs about God, love, and the world's injustices.
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Slant Magazine
U2 continue to “bring it all back home,” and we’re more than willing to let them in, perhaps now more than ever.
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IGN
U2's latest borders on the medicore ... Easily the most mainstream and the most mellow U2 album that the band has ever crafted.
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The Guardian
U2 have returned to their early, embarrassing style.
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Paste Magazine
Unabashedly grand and inspirational ... this album may well possess enough substance and power to put it on the rarefied level of The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby.
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Pop Matters
It's actually a quite good album. It's neither aggressive nor retro, and U2 sounds better for moving forward, even if they seem increasingly diluted in delivery at times.
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BBC
Old sounds, new sounds, the bass right up in your face - they've taken all that is U2...
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Uncut
It’s their most unabashedly strident record since The Unforgettable Fire.
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All Music
A very good U2 record, but what keeps it from reaching the heights of greatness is that it feels too constrained and calculated, too concerned with finding purpose in the past instead of bravely heading into the future.
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@U2
Might not truly be a great album. but it is a very, very good album -- rich for its simplicity, confidently executed and ultimately compelling.
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Music OMH
This may not be the best U2 record yet – Achtung Baby still holds that title and probably always will – but it’s certainly one of their most consistently satisfying.
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The Solute
Most of the music is too similar to have any kind of distinguishing features, and all the problems tend to be the same: Length, Bono’s lyrics and a sense of just trying too hard.
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Looking Closer
I prefer U2 the trailblazers. But I’m more than content to accept whatever they choose to offer at this point, because I trust them. And what we’ve got here is the best rock and roll album of the year.
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Chicago Tribune
Suggests a band settling into middle age by recycling its best riffs and ideas. No matter how thrilling these moments may sound today to U2 die-hards weaned on "War" or "The Joshua Tree," they are destined to pale in coming years as second-hand versions of those classic albums.
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Cluas
The latest chapter in a career that has so far exemplified experimentation and reinvention sees U2 deliver an album which, despite clear strengths and moments of excellence, treads on well-worn territory.
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Entertainment IE
We're back to the U2 you either love or hate: big, elemental, rock-soul songs, often a bit pretentious but usually redeemed by irresistible melodies.
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Anti Music
There is not a single throwaway track on this album and the stand-out songs are as good as anything U2 has ever done.
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Melodic Net
A more easy listening affair - Classic U2 it is.
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Entertainment Weekly
Not only is the Edge once more flicking away at his strings just like old times, but many of the grand gestures U2 had dismantled with each new, exploratory album following The Joshua Tree are also back for a return engagement.
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The Music Box
The twinges of disappointment that initially greet the listener give way to the warm comfort that comes from rekindling a relationship with an old friend.
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Vintage Rock
It appears the members of U2 have stopped looking over their shoulder for confirmation and embraced a harder edged, somewhat slick production balanced by a rich layer of social consciousness borrowed from their earlier records.
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HK Clubbing
A work of genius and something you could only expect from the grandiose superstars U2.
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RTE
More of the same. The band's 1990s experimentation makes you think of a completely different outfit, and while some of that was doubtlessly misguided, it still meant that if U2 weren't pioneers, they were at least daring. Now it's all just safe, safe, safe.
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Explore Faith
U2 Dismantles Bomb with Love
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The Other Journal
It is good to see the boys from Dublin at rest with themselves and willing to embrace and be embraced by what they have been chasing all these years.
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Daily Vault
Simply an affirmation of everything U2 has done right so far and shows the band can age gracefully while still making music that matters.
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The Boston Globe
U2 returns to soulful form on 'Atomic Bomb'
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Vinyl Fanatics
Clearly their best album for thirteen years. The reason is simple; they have worked very hard on consistently strong songs, the key element missing from their music for a long time.
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The Online Reviews
Whether rocking like madmen or getting in touch with their inner selves, though, the band sounds totally committed throughout Atomic Bomb, which has always been the first requirement for a great U2 album.
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Shaking Through
As compulsively listenable as these songs are -- and they are, more so than those on Leave Behind -- it's hard not to notice that there are no musical risks being taken here.
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Christianity Today
Pop Love for a War-Torn World - Atomic Bomb is classic U2, with a prescription for healing the world.
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CNN
It isn't a dud. There's too much tight playing, too many solid songs for that. But the album tends to hold back when it needs to let go.
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Houston Chronicle
It fits snugly next to U2's earlier works of mass consumption like 1984's The Unforgettable Fire with just a hair more attitude then the foursome's crowing achievement, The Joshua Tree.
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Clems Music Reviews
The quality of the music on this record is top-notch.
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Guidance Recordings
Their artistic excellence is on full display as they have once again delivered a brilliant collection of tracks that could very well be their best work to date.
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Independent
No, it simply isn't happening this time. Instead, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb just offers a new benchmark of mediocrity.
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Los Angeles Times
U2's spirit is still on an upward drive
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