Rattle and hum
Evidently, the massive success of The Joshua Tree left U2 a little confused, if its half-live, half-studio double-album follow-up Rattle & Hum is any indicator. Functioning as both the soundtrack to the group's disastrous feature-film documentary and as a tentative follow-up to their career-making blockbuster, Rattle & Hum is all over the place. The live cuts lack the revelatory power of Under a Blood Red Sky and are undercut by heavy-handed performances and Bono's embarrassing stage patter; prefacing a leaden cover of "Helter Skelter" with "This is a song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles, and now we're stealing it back," is bad enough, but even that pales next to Bono's exhortation "OK, Edge, play the blues!" on the otherwise worthy and decidedly unbluesy "Silver and Gold." Both comments actually reveal more than they intend -- throughout the album, U2 are paralyzed by the idea that they have now inherited the mantle of "rock's most important artist" by predecessors like Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles. In an apparent attempt to boost their credibility, they have decided to embrace American roots-rock, something they ignored before. Occasionally, these experiments work: "Desire" has an intoxicating Bo Diddley beat, "Angel of Harlem" is a punchy, sunny Stax-soul tribute, "When Loves Come to Town" is an endearingly awkward blues duet with B.B. King, and the Dylan collaboration "Love Rescue Me" is an overlooked minor bluesy gem. However, these get swallowed up in the bluster of the live tracks, the misguided gospel interpretation of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and the embarassing answer to John Lennon's searing confession "God," "God Part II." A couple of affecting laments -- the cascading "All I Want Is You" and "Heartland," which sounds like a Joshua Tree outtake -- do slip out underneath the posturing, but Rattle & Hum is by far the least focused record U2 ever made, and it's little wonder that they retreated for three years after its release to rethink their whole approach.
1. Helter Skelter
(Lennon/McCartney) - 3:07
2. Van Diemen's Land (Edge/U Two) - 3:06
3. Desire (Bono/U Two) - 2:58
4. Hawkmoon 269 (Bono/U Two) - 6:22
5. All Along the Watchtower (Dylan) - 4:24
6. I Still Haven't Found What I'm... (Bono/U Two) - 5:53
7. Freedom for My People (Mabins/Magee/Robinson) - :38
8. Silver and Gold (Bono/U Two) - 5:50
9. Pride (In the Name of Love) (U Two) - 4:27
10. Angel of Harlem (Bono/U Two) - 3:49
11. Love Rescue Me (Bono/Dylan/U Two) - 6:23
12. When Love Comes to Town (Bono/U Two) - 4:14
13. Heartland (Bono/U Two) - 5:02
14. God, Pt. 2 (Bono/U Two) - 3:15
15. Star-Spangled Banner (Key/Smith) - :43
16. Bullet the Blue Sky (Bono/U Two) - 5:37
17. All I Want Is You (Bono/U Two) - 6:30
