The question might seem obvious to the casual music observer, the music fan who is less analytical and is only concerned with whether a song makes them want to sing along or not. To the more seasoned music fan though, it was a question that had no real easy answers. Then again, have there ever been any easy answers when the band being talked about is U2?

And so, the question for U2 was how do you follow up your critically acclaimed, four million selling "comeback" album, All That You Can't Leave Behind? How do you follow up an album that spawned the most acclaimed tour of your now 25 year career? How do you continue to reinvent yourselves, keep the public's interest, and make radio, MTV/VH1, and your record company, happy? How do you deal with the events of the last four years that have affected your band, ranging from the death of Bono's father while on the European leg of the Elevation Tour, 9/11, the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan, and Bono's constant fight for money for AIDS in Africa and the forgiveness of third world debt?

There's no doubt that each of these questions weighed on U2. But their new album, How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, shows the band to be more capable than ever of handling the stress of being possibly the greatest rock band ever. More than any of the above issues, it is the death of Bono's father that comes across most clearly and most often throughout this release. The other issues listed above are skirted over. 9/11 became a central theme of the band's second run through of America in 2001, so perhaps it's no surprise that here it is all but absent. Besides, despite being released close to a year before the events of 9/11/01, perhaps no album was more appropriate in the aftermath than All That You Can't Leave Behind.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan only truly come up in the track Love and Peace Or Else, and even then, the song's lyrics hardly point at those wars specifically. Instead, it's a general anti-war tome, a different kind of protest song. To be sure, it's hardly as insightful as the band's previous protest material (most notably Bullet the Blue Sky), but the general tone and atmosphere of the song is terrific, thanks to the down and dirty production by Steve Lillywhite. The song sounds apolocalyptic, thanks to bassist Adam Clayton's rumbling bassline, and guitarist the Edge lays down perfect chords and riffs throughout the length of the track.

Some may be disappointed that first single Vertigo is hardly representative of a majority of the rest of the album. I know I was. Despite it's problems lyrically, Vertigo is still a great pop song, from Bono's counting down at the beginning, to the churning riff from the Edge, to the pure exuberance that comes across in Bono's vocal performance later in the song. The guitars seemingly come at you from every angle, a tactic that should have been used to greater effect on ATYCLB (especially on the over slick Beautiful Day and the inferior album version of Elevation). And on that count, that is how Vertigo is representative of the new record: the Edge is the unquestioned star, and the rest of the band, while not quite just along for the ride, clearly take a bit of a back seat.

This might not be obvious on the first few listens to the record. Many of the songs take time to build and get much of anywhere. The one exception to this rule, outside of Vertigo of course, is All Because of You, which I'll go on the record right now and say it will be a single, it will be huge, and it will be a standard part of the band's setlist when they tour next year in support of this record. The song is an obvious ode to The Who, from its drawnback production, to the guitar chords that make up the bulk of the song (at times the song bears resemblance not only to Won't Get Fooled Again, but also early Who singles like I Can't Explain and Substitute).

The most personal song on the album is without a doubt Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, a song written specifically about Bono's father's death, and a song that was sung at Bob Hewson's funeral (Bono's real name is Paul Hewson). The song is a melodic, slow building ballad in the vein of previous U2 classics like With Or Without You. While passion in his vocals has been a problem at times over the past couple of albums, there is no such problem here. It's a solid reminder of how good a vocalist Bono can be, and how well he can connect with a listener. Not to be outdone, the Edge sprinkles terrific playing throughout the song, whether it's simple single notes, or chords that ring with a mix of hope and sorrow.

Other tracks well worth your listening attention include the slow, well worth it build up of the nearly six minute City of Blinding Lights, and the closing Yahweh, which manages to encompass everything classic about U2 as a band in one four and a half minute exercise.

Amazingly, only one track has really failed to grow on me much at all in the 20+ listens or so I've given this record. A Man & A Woman is a boring, acoustically driven track that not only has failed to grow on me, it actually just irritates me and gets under my skin. While some of the Edge's work here on both acoustic and electric guitar (especially the little flourishes on electric that add some spice to the song) is solid, it can't save this song in my eyes.

A couple of the other tracks towards the end of the record, like One Step Closer and Original of the Species, are good tracks, but ultimately don't quite match up to the best of the material found on this record. Ultimately, it is the downgrade in quality of these tracks, along with the very much mediocre A Man & A Woman, that forces me to give this disc four stars. Maybe some will say the difference is minute, but for me, it is a bit more than that.

When all is said and done, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is a solid record, and an improvement on the somewhat over-rated All That You Can't Leave Behind, which was really only a 3.5 star record (which I rounded up to 4 stars IIRC). It's an album that demands multiple spins from the listener, but also an album that rewards for patience. Sure, I would've liked another really good rocker or two, but what's here instead isn't bad at all. 4 stars.

Recommended: Yes