How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (20th anniversary)

大傑作『All That You Can't Leave Behind』(2000年)に続く格好でバンド回帰を推進して世界34か国でチャートを制し、グラミーの〈年間最優秀アルバム〉も受賞した2004年の11作目が、20周年を記念して初リマスター。本編の良さは言わずもがな、スーパー・デラックス仕様の5枚組では、5つの未発表曲を含むレア・トラックスやリミックス集、ライヴ音源まで盛りだくさん!
bounce (C)狛犬

2004年11月22日にリリースされたU2の11枚目のスタジオ・アルバムが、発売20周年を記念して初リマスター

グラミー賞「年間最優秀アルバム」を含む8部門受賞、世界34か国で1位を獲得。世界的大ヒット・シングル「Vertigo」、「Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own」、「City Of Blinding Lights」収録

◆CD5枚組
CD1:20周年記念リマスター・オリジナル・アルバム + ボーナストラック「Fast Cars」 収録
CD2:アルバム・セッションのアーカイブから発見された未発表曲5曲を含むレア・トラックを収録
CD3:Hot Chip、Trent Reznor、Jacknife Lee などのコラボレーターによる厳選されたリミックス未発表リミックス4曲収録
CD4,5:「Vertigo 2005: Live From Chicago」初音源化
・Anton Corbijnによる独占コレクターズ・エディションのハードカバー写真集には、写真家による手書きのメモと未公開の写真が掲載
・バンドがイラストを描いた特別版プリント8枚のユニークなセットを二つ折りのスリーブに収納

Ever since the beginning of their career, U2 had a sense of purpose and played on a larger scale than their peers, so when they stumbled with the knowing rocktronica fusion of 1997's Pop -- the lone critical and commercial flop in their catalog -- it was enough to shake the perception held among fans and critics, perhaps even among the group itself, that the band was predestined to always be the world's biggest and best rock & roll band. Following that brief, jarring stumble, U2 got back to where they once belonged with All That You Can't Leave Behind, returning to the big-hearted anthems of their '80s work. It was a confident, cinematic album that played to their strengths, winning back the allegiance of wary fans and critics, who were eager to once again bestow the title of the world's biggest and best band upon the band, but all that praise didn't acknowledge a strange fact about the album: it was a conservative affair. After grandly taking risks for the better part of a decade, U2 curbed their sense of adventure, consciously stripping away the irony that marked every one of their albums since 1991's Achtung Baby, and returning to the big, earnest sound and sensibility of their classic '80s work. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, the long-awaited 2004 sequel to ATYCLB, proves that this retreat was no mere fling: the band is committed to turning back the clock and acting like the '90s never happened. Essentially, U2 are trying to revirginize themselves, to erase their wild flirtation with dance clubs and postmodernism so they can return to the time they were the social conscience of rock music. Gone are the heavy dance beats, gone are the multiple synthesizers, gone are the dense soundscapes that marked their '90s albums, but U2 are so concerned with recreating their past that they don't know where to stop peeling away the layers. They've overcorrected for their perceived sins, scaling back their sound so far that they have shed the murky sense of mystery that gave The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree an otherworldly allure. That atmospheric cloud has been replaced with a clean, sharp production, gilded in guitars and anchored with straight-ahead, unhurried rhythms that never quite push the songs forward. This crisp production lacks the small sonic shadings that gave ATYCLB some depth, and leaves How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb showcasing U2 at their simplest, playing direct, straight-ahead rock with little subtlety and shading in the production, performance, or lyrics. Sometimes, this works to the band's detriment, since it can reveal how familiar the Edge's guitar has grown or how buffoonish Bono's affectations have become (worst offender: the overdubbed "hola!" that answers the "hello" in the chorus of "Vertigo"). But the stark production can also be an advantage, since the band still sounds large and powerful. U2 still are expert craftsmen, capable of creating records with huge melodic and sonic hooks, of which there are many on HTDAAB, including songs as reassuring as the slyly soulful "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" and the soaring "City of Blinding Lights," or the pile-driving "All Because of You." Make no mistake, these are all the ingredients that make How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 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. It's a minor but important detail that may not matter to most listeners, since the record does sound good when it's playing, but this conservatism is what keeps HTDAAB earthbound and prevents it from standing alongside War, The Joshua Tree, and Achtung Baby as one of the group's finest efforts. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine