10 Overrated Rock Music Albums Of The 2000s
4. U2 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
U2 tend to move in phases, and after 2000’s excellent and sweeping All That You Can’t Leave Behind, the band found themselves in the middle of a rocking trilogy. Unfortunately, this record replaced all the soaring guitars and varied songwriting from the previous album and replaced it with dumb guitar music and mawkish ballads, with nothing in between.
Exhibit A is lead single “Vertigo”, among the band’s worst ever tracks. Its riff is lazy, by the numbers power chords, and the often-unfairly maligned Bono is at his charmless worst, a walking rockstar cliche spouting “yeah yeah yeah”s in a manner that’s probably supposed to be ironic but is still very annoying.
"All Because of You" is a similarly lifeless rocker, and while the ballads fare a bit better, they’re on the bland side: "City of Blinding Lights" is instantly forgettable, and “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own”, while clearly and commendably sincere, just goes on and on.
The album did well at the time, selling 10 million copies and picking up the odd rave review, but this was U2’s last hurrah as a genuine commercial force. The band were capable of greatness before and even after; this one is stodgy and often embarrassing.