U2

Most of this 1988 release was recorded during the band's Joshua Tree tour. It is often derided for marking the moment U2 began to balloon out of control, veering into something near overblown parody. But, the great moments are great and there are several highly inspired tunes including "Desire," "Heartland," and "All I Want Is You" that make it all worth it.

Rattle and Hum is an expression of U2's urge to have it both ways. A sprawling double album
that incorporates live tracks, cover versions, collaborations, snippets of other people's
music and a passage from a taped interview, the record is an obvious effort to clear the
conceptual decks and lower expectations following the multiplatinum success of The
Joshua Tree. But ambition has always been U2's gift and curse, and the band cle... More >

Pretentious? Eux? Naturellement, mais that ain't all. Over the years they've melded Americana into their Old World riffs, and while Bono's "Play the blues, Edge" overstates this accomplishment, their groove is some kind of rock and roll wrinkle. This partly live double-LP is looser and faster than anything they've recorded since their first live mini-LP, with the remakes of "Pride" and "Silver and Gold" and "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" improved by both practice and negligence. A good half of the new stuff could knock over unsuspecting skeptics, the B.B./Hendrix/Dylan cameos are surprising and generous, and as a token of self-knowledge Bono concludes a lecture on South Africa with a magisterially sarcastic "I don't wanna bug ya." Yet as usual things don't get any better when you decide to find out exactly what he's waxing so meaningful about. (Grade - B+)