Unknown Dog

It would probably be prudent to give this cd a few more spins before writing a review, but I’ll go ahead and throw some thoughts out there anyway. Overall, I’m disappointed with this album on several levels, but I suppose that’s not a huge surprise. Yeah, Bono can still sing. Yeah, Edge can still play guitar. It has its moments, and granted anything U2 puts out is better than most of the stuff on the market, but nothing really stands out to me and six months from now I can’t picture myself ever choosing it over the early classics like The Unforgettable Fire.

Maybe it’s not fair to compare it to those classics and perhaps it will grow on me, but right now I don’t even envision liking it as much as All That You Can’t Leave Behind. That album had a few catchy songs like “Elevation” as well as some more subtly entertaining and solid offerings like “Walk On” that I enjoy quite a bit. The most striking tune on this one is the “Vertigo” single that has already been beaten to death by iPod commercials. I like the second song on the album, “Miracle Drug,” quite a bit too. It builds to a nice crescendo and the quality of the mix is apparent throughout. Nothing else on the album is offensive in any way, but nothing else really stands out either and I get the sense they phoned it in on a lot of these offerings.

The best thing I can say about this album is that it is well-produced. That shouldn’t really come as a surprise since they are freakin’ U2 after all and they should have the best equipment and producers the world has to offer at their beck and call. But giving credit where credit is due, Steve Lillywhite did a bang-up job mixing the sound. The guitar booms, the vocals resonate, the sound is top notch.

Before I heard the album I read a few reviews saying that U2 “returned to their roots” and that, in particular, Edge’s guitar playing was more like the glory days than on other recent albums. In fact, I heard Bono himself say something to that effect. What a bunch of hooey. Edge’s guitar is back to the glory days only in the sense that there’s a lot of that ringing and building strumming reminiscent of the intro to “Where The Streets Have No Name” or something along those lines; however, nothing nearly as distinct or impressive as that. This isn’t a return to the pop tangent they went on for Zooropa or anything like that, but it’s not too far removed from All That You Can’t Leave Behind so I’m not on board with that sentiment.

With the album title How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and song titles like “Love and Peace or Else” and “Yahweh” one might also expect a more striking and coherent political message. There’s the usual fare of sympathy for the world’s oppressed, but nothing in terms of a profound message and lyrics like, “Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die” just can’t be that challenging to write.

In summary, the album is ok and I expect it grow on me a bit, but overall it’s nothing special. A lot of the criticism of this review stems from the fact that U2 is held to a high standard in my head, but so be it. There would be nothing wrong with putting this album on for any occasion ranging from Sunday morning background music to a loud jam in the car, but 99 times out of 100 another U2 album will be the better choice.

Four Stars

It is with great pleasure that I fire the opening salvo in amateur hour at the music reviews with a review of The Shins debut album, Oh, Inverted World. Fueled by the hype they received from their inclusion on the “Garden State“ soundtrack, The Shins have exploded out of Albuquerque based on the strength of this debut album and it’s not hard to see why. It isn’t perfect, but it is a special album in which the unlikely bedfellows of 60s-pop and early-90s British psychedelic dance converge and the result is and album with some memorable songs with nearly flawless melodies.

While the music defies categorization, describing it as Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd meets The Stone Roses sufficiently captures the mood of many of the tracks. The vocals on “Weird Divide” and “Girl Inform Me” in particular sound as though they could have come straight off The Piper at the Gates of Dawn right down to lyrics that include references to hallucinogenic objects such as a “furry moon.” A handful of the songs are reminiscent of simple Beatles pop tunes in their structure and upbeat vocals, but the selections with the deeper rifts and more brooding vocals are the ones that really stand out. These comparisons risk an over-simplification of the music, and the songs are really a complex blend of several musical styles. On “Your Algebra” there’s even a Native American influence. (Finally, there’s something that makes sense coming out of the Land of Enchantment.) The final result is a nearly flawless blend of harmony.

The true masterpiece of this album is the opening track, “Caring Is Creepy.” The lyrics would stand on their own as poetry. A powerful blend of imagery, stream-of-consciousness expression and philosophical waxing like the chorus’ “Never betray the way you’ve always known it is” blend in perfect harmony with the music. The nearly perfect vocal inflections that complement the music continue throughout the album. The result is a song whose dark undertones are contrasted against an uplifting movement and an indefinable sense of accomplishment that sets the stage for what is to follow.

The pace of the album lightens a bit with the two tracks that follow, but picks up again on a series of songs that compose the creamy nougat center of the album. “Know Your Onion!” is perhaps the most accessible stand-alone track. It lacks the complexity of the opening offering, but holds its own in terms of catchy rhythms and musical progressions. The abstract brooding and haunting lyrics return in full force for the sixth track, “New Slang.” (Which, along with “Caring Is Creepy,” are both included on the Garden State soundtrack) Opening with “Gold teeth and a curse for this town were all in my mouth,” this song builds musically and lyrically to an elevating chorus. Followed by quality offerings “The Celibate Life” and “Girl On The Wing,” the heart of this album leaves nothing to be desired.

Coming in at just over 33 minutes, the album is undeniably short and it does weaken ever-so-slightly on the last two tracks. Considering the final cut, “The Past and Pending” comes in at nearly five and a half minutes on its own, the slight stumble is just enough to withhold it from the five-star ranking, which I intend to keep meaningful by using only on the absolute elite. That’s not to say short albums can’t achieve the ranking. Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline and the Pixies Doolittle would both attain that Holy Grail or rakings with similar running times. Combining the strong, but unspectacular finish with the slightest of imperfections in a couple of the Syd Barrett genre offerings is just enough to hold this one back. That’s not to say this album won’t stand the test of time, because it will. In fact, this could easily be the best debut album from a band since Luna’s Lunapark , and it’s been over a decade since that release. Them’s strong words, but this album is worthy.