U2 -- Rattle and Hum
6/10
I may not be an ordinary U2 fan in the fact that my favorite U2 album is 1984's The Unforgettable Fire, but I am a very ordinary U2 fan in that 1988's Rattle and Hum, the band's sixth full-length release, is likely my least favorite U2 album. I can pinpoint the moment I decided I did not like U2's Rattle and Hum, a hybrid live performance and studio album. It comes 2:45 into the second track, "Van Diemen's Land, and features a snippet taken from an interview where the band was asked "What has happened between the writing of The Joshua Tree album recording The Joshua Album, the tour, and now the new songs?" The response is a delayed pause and then laughter. The implication, whether the band intended it or not, can only be these two things:
A. The new songs are so much better than the old ones, they put them to shame, or
B. The new songs are so incredible and on another level, it's nearly unbelievable.
Okay, maybe those two mean the same thing, but the point stands. U2's initial five-album arc is my favorite from any band. The insinuation that those past works pale or lack in comparison to what is found on this album automatically puts my ears on defense. And then those new songs come, and they most definitely pale and lack in comparison to what was found on U2's initial five album arc. The reason is simple.
You ever go to see a band play, and at some point 3/4 of the
way in, someone wheels out a keyboard to the frontman, who to this point, has
not played any instrument. When something like that happens, not only does the
whole show stop, but when it resumes, the only attention you can really pay is
to the fact that the frontman doesn't really know how to play the keyboard.
That's Rattle and Hum in a nutshell. U2 trying to play like they're some
kind of classic soul and blues-rooted American rock band, when it is clear to
everyone that they are indeed, not a classic soul and blues-rooted American rock
band, but the one and only U2, who are--go figure--ill-suited to pretending that
they are a classic soul and blues-rooted American rock band.
With that said, I won't pretend like Rattle and Hum doesn't contain a few shining moments. Even though it feels a bit self-indulgent, the gospel-choir augmented live performance of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" feels like a natural extension of the already gospel-tinged song. This version of the song works even better in the corresponding film of the same name that was released along with the album. Did I already say "self-indulgent?" Other bright spots: a live rendition of "Pride (In the Name of Love)" from Denver, Colorado is stirring. "When Love Comes to Town," a rollicking collaboration with bluesman, B.B. King, works well, largely because of King. The dark and moving "Heartland" contains the darker strains and seeds of the band's 1990's work (as does, just a bit, the intro to the bloviating "Hawkmoon 269"). The band's fiery, extended live version of The Joshua Tree's "Bullet the Blue Sky" is brilliant, and the moment Bono viscously pontificates toward greedy televangelists "...well the God I believe in isn't short on cash, mister" in his Irish brogue is borderline transcendent in its unexpected power. Speaking of transcendent, the string-augmented, sweeping "All I Want Is You" deserves its place among the best of U2's songs. It was one of two U2 songs played at my wedding. It's the only one of the FOUR--count em!--FOUR Rattle and Hum songs found on U2's The Best of 1980–1990 compilation. That's more than the three taken from The Joshua Tree. It's ludicrous, especially considering the band didn't seem to look fondly on this era before it'd even ended, hitting a hard reset before reaching their second peak, just three years later.
1. Helter Skelter" (Beatles cover, live at Denver, Colorado) 3:07
With that said, I won't pretend like Rattle and Hum doesn't contain a few shining moments. Even though it feels a bit self-indulgent, the gospel-choir augmented live performance of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" feels like a natural extension of the already gospel-tinged song. This version of the song works even better in the corresponding film of the same name that was released along with the album. Did I already say "self-indulgent?" Other bright spots: a live rendition of "Pride (In the Name of Love)" from Denver, Colorado is stirring. "When Love Comes to Town," a rollicking collaboration with bluesman, B.B. King, works well, largely because of King. The dark and moving "Heartland" contains the darker strains and seeds of the band's 1990's work (as does, just a bit, the intro to the bloviating "Hawkmoon 269"). The band's fiery, extended live version of The Joshua Tree's "Bullet the Blue Sky" is brilliant, and the moment Bono viscously pontificates toward greedy televangelists "...well the God I believe in isn't short on cash, mister" in his Irish brogue is borderline transcendent in its unexpected power. Speaking of transcendent, the string-augmented, sweeping "All I Want Is You" deserves its place among the best of U2's songs. It was one of two U2 songs played at my wedding. It's the only one of the FOUR--count em!--FOUR Rattle and Hum songs found on U2's The Best of 1980–1990 compilation. That's more than the three taken from The Joshua Tree. It's ludicrous, especially considering the band didn't seem to look fondly on this era before it'd even ended, hitting a hard reset before reaching their second peak, just three years later.
1. Helter Skelter" (Beatles cover, live at Denver, Colorado) 3:07
2. Van
Diemen's Land 3:06
3. Desire 2:58
4. Hawkmoon 269 6:22
5. All Along the
Watchtower (Bob Dylan cover, live from "Save the Yuppie Free Concert", San
Francisco) 4:24
6. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (live at Madison
Square Garden, New York, with The New Voices of Freedom) 5:53
7. Freedom for My
People (performance by Sterling Magee and Adam Gussow) 0:38
8. Silver and Gold
(live from Denver, Colorado) 5:50
9. Pride (In the Name of Love) (live from
Denver, Colorado) 4:27
10. Angel of Harlem 3:49
11. Love Rescue Me (co-written
by Bob Dylan) 6:24
12. When Love Comes to Town (with B.B. King) 4:14
13.
Heartland" U2 5:02
14. God Part II U2 3:15
15. The Star Spangled Banner" (live
cover of Jimi Hendrix's taken on John Stafford Smith original song) 0:43
16.
Bullet the Blue Sky (live at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona) 5:37
17. All I
Want Is You" U2 6:30
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