This is a review of the original 2000 release, with twelve tracks (including `The Ground beneath Her Feet).
After the disappointment of `Zooropa' and especially `Pop', I decided back in the 1990s to give U2 just one last try.
`All That You Can't Leave Behind' is certainly better than the previous two albums. We're back with production credits of Eno/Lanois and even some Lillywhite. Indeed, the opening tracks do hark back to the glory days of the 1980s, but do we really want this? You can't go on repeating yourself indefinitely. Rather, we want progression but progression in the right direction, which `Zooropa' and `Pop' failed to provide.
As the album progresses, I felt I was hearing nothing new. I wanted to be inspired but there is precious little inspiration to be found, apart from the two songs `Walk On' and `Kite'. It's not that the rest of the songs are bad; it's just that they are not memorable - mere album fodder.
So enough is enough. I decided not to waste anymore precious time and money on a group who reached a peak in the 1980s, but instead of crossing a plateau soon plummeted into a crevasse from which they failed to escape.
