U2's new album is da bomb

As one of the most popular bands in the world, U2 is used to following up platinum records. Even so, when the band headed into the studio to begin recording their first album since 2000’s mega-hit All That You Can’t Leave Behind, the band had a task of Herculean proportions: top an album that had sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is the result of four years of work, and it is another formidable accomplishment. Bomb is a complete record, an amalgamation of both old and new styles. As the band’s 12th full-length album, it marks another step forward for U2.

The opening track and first single, “Vertigo,” opens with Achtung Baby-era crunchy guitars and a guttural vocal track as Bono screams his way into the chorus. It is a strong opening, a marked departure from the power ballads so prevalent on All That You Can’t Leave Behind.

“Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” is Bono’s heartfelt, beautiful tribute to his late father. Although Bono had worked on the song since his father died in 2001, during the making of the album, the track was recorded in only one take. The fifth track, “Love and Peace or Else,” is a mediocre, trite ode to peace from the U2 frontman, quickly rendered filler by the two fantastic tracks that follow: “City of Blinding Lights” and “All Because of You.”

These two, along with the closing two tracks, “Original of the Species,” and “Yahweh,” form a nucleus of soon-to-be-classic U2 songs that propel the album from average to one that will get attention come Grammy time. A fusion of old and new sounds, the tracks illustrate where the band is going and how U2 has improved.

“Original of the Species” kicks in with a killer hook as Bono screams, “I’ll give you everything you want / except the thing that you want.” The track stands out as U2’s finest love song since "Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses," and it leads perfectly into "Yahweh," the best closing track the band has ever produced. In between spine-tingling choruses, Bono pleads for cleansing and forgiveness.

Despite the return to an early-’90s U2 style, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb does lack the epic feel that was prevalent in earlier releases, like the band’s finest album, 1987’s The Joshua Tree. Although U2 will likely never reach the heights that allowed the band to produce a record with three hits like “Where the Streets Have No Name,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “With Or Without You,” their newest record will figure prominently in the band’s canon. Epic or not, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb signals yet another rekindling of the U2 flame, one that will burn long after the band has stopped making music.