A brand new century, a brand new sound and new information to be damaged. An entire lot was taking place in U2’s world in 2000, however most of all, there was a brand new album that Rolling Stone described as their third masterpiece.
After the richly experimental odyssey of 1997’s Pop, the band determined that it was time to remind individuals of how they’d come to prominence within the first place: by making superb, celebratory rock music, this time for a brand new millennium.
And in doing so, they emerged on October 30, 2000 with All That You Can’t Depart Behind, which has offered a spectacular 12 million copies thus far, and achieved one thing that no different artist had accomplished, or has since. The album contained the Grammy-winner for Document of the 12 months not simply as soon as, however twice, with “Beautiful Day” in 2001 and “Walk On” in 2002. These had been simply two from a bounteous haul of seven Grammy Awards. The contract for the position of finest rock‘n’roll band on the planet had been firmly and enthusiastically renewed.
All That You Can’t Depart Behind, recorded in 4 Dublin areas, together with Windmill Lane, in addition to within the south of France, was a contented reunion of what you would possibly name the U2 dream workforce. Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, who had helped the band create the sound that made them world-beaters with The Unforgettable Hearth and The Joshua Tree, and once more with Achtung Child, had been again within the producers’ chairs.
In addition they offered backing vocals and different instrumental duties, and there was extra manufacturing by authentic collaborator Steve Lillywhite, amongst others. The outcomes had been explosive and joyful.
From PopMart to The Simpsons
After nearly a 12 months as one of many grandest-scale rock excursions of all time, the PopMart itinerary lastly concluded within the spring of 1998, quickly after U2’s first present in South Africa. Their subsequent accolade was afforded to solely a choose few after they appeared on The Simpsons. In Trash of the Titans, regardless of gatecrashing the band’s PopMart live performance, Homer wins a landslide victory as Springfield’s Sanitation Director. No marvel, with a marketing campaign slogan of “Can’t someone else do it?”
Because the band launched into their very own, real-life campaigning for Amnesty Worldwide that 12 months, the identify of U2 remained an indelible chart presence all through the world. “Sweetest Thing” turned an enormous hit, the higher a part of 20 years after it had been recorded.
A memorable begin to 1999 for Bono had him presenting a Freddie Mercury Award to Muhammad Ali, becoming a member of Bob Dylan on stage once more after which inducting Bruce Springsteen into the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame in New York. However songwriting and demo periods, for what could be the follow-up to Pop, had been already effectively underway.
The no-nonsense, back-to-basics method to creating every tune on All That You Can’t Depart Behind right into a keeper was summarised by Bono. “From the beginning,” he mentioned, “we were excited when music met the real world, and, going into this, we reckoned that people aren’t buying rock records anymore because of this progressive rock lurgy, which is on the rise, where the single has been forgotten. In our heads, we’ve written 11 singles for this record.”
A top-of-your-lungs anthem
Absolute affirmation of that decision got here within the opening single “Beautiful Day.” It was a kind of uncommon, top-of-your-lungs anthems from the second it left the studio, and it’s been a part of each single dwell efficiency by U2 because it was launched.
“Beautiful Day” went to No.1 within the UK (on the October 21 chart) and internationally, offering the very best trailer for the album that arrived quickly afterward. What higher celebration of a brand new century than a lyric that beamed, “It’s a beautiful day, don’t let it get away”? The monitor was not solely the Tune of the 12 months on the 2001 Grammys, however Document of the 12 months and Greatest Efficiency by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
Components of the club-compatible U2 sound of the late Nineties remained in “Elevation.” It was one in all three extra compositions honored on the subsequent Grammys, because the band uniquely retained that Greatest Rock Efficiency trophy. The center and soul of the album was the inclusive immediacy of the music, with “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” taking the 2002 Greatest Pop Efficiency Grammy, because the inspiring, defiant “Walk On” received the Document of the 12 months title. The band had been available to carry out it on the ceremony.
Supporting these celebrated numbers was a spine of highly effective album tracks reminiscent of “Kite,” the ultra-positive “In A Little While,” the charming “Wild Honey,” “Peace On Earth,” and “When I Look At The World,” and the mild “Grace.” U2 haven’t as soon as taken such issues as a right, however the album accrued a dizzying array of No.1 positions, all via Europe, Australia, and past.
Purchase or stream the multi-format Twentieth-anniversary version of All That You Can’t Depart Behind.
Rolling Stone known as the album a masterpiece as a result of, mentioned the journal, it represented a masterful sum complete of all of the expertise they’d gathered. “U2 distill two decades of music-making into the illusion of effortlessness usually only possible from veterans,” went the assessment. “The album represents the most uninterrupted collection of strong melodies U2 have ever mounted.”
On the highway for 2001
The Elevation tour that commenced in March 2001 was a celebration of one other album triumph. The band had been on the highway for the rest of the 12 months, enjoying 113 exhibits in 14 nations, to a wide ranging complete of two million individuals. The European leg included 4 nights at Earls Court docket in London and a summer season present at Slane Fort in Eire.
The encore was the super-prestigious slot on the Tremendous Bowl XXXVI half-time present on the Louisiana Superdome. The band devoted their efficiency to all those that had misplaced their lives on 9/11. It was some stage on which to marry U2’s current with their previous, as they performed “MLK” and “Where The Streets Have No Name,” after they’d unleashed that hedonistic new signature tune of theirs. Stunning days certainly.
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