U2 – How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb Review

A last stance of pop-rock whimsy was how U2 made their splash into the culturally compelling, politically heart-wrenching year of 2004. To say their misguided attempt at topping the charts failed to capture the mood is an understatement, but within How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb was a genuine desire for change. It is their last great album, until now. How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb may be dubbed a shadow album and comprised primarily of throwaway material from the studio sessions of the time, but they are far stronger than the project which first released. It has taken twenty years for Bono and the band to form what is, effectively, a stronger message than the immediate reaction they had to strife and warfare. Better late than never, especially since this reworking still rings, unfortunately, with a hint of truth.  

Move on from the relatively tame first eleven tracks and into the deep cuts, those extra bits which, had they been released at the time, would have made all the difference for the stance U2 takes here. Fast Cars is the worthiest of the bunch – the link into Picture of You (X+W) is both mature and staggering when it comes to the subtext shared by the two tracks. The almost identical nature of the two songs is no surprise, the remodelled Picture of You (X+W) into Fast Cars is fairly close to the completed Fast Cars, though a few subtle instrumental changes give it the edge. The trouble with How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is the soft-rock tone peddled by The Edge. While his instrumental purpose is strong, he felt relegated behind Bono and the pompous lyrical drive. Anything with a beating heart was relegated to the shadow album, it would seem. Evidence of Life is proof enough of this, a bold and bulky track with plenty of strong vocal variation.  

These are not mere extra pieces but each track feels stronger than anything found on How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. From the classic-sounding Luckiest Man in the World to the staggering consistency of Bono’s voice on these additional songs, there is a real joy and hope in these performances, something that the initial album lacks. Where many of these songs are just previous versions of the original run of songs or re-recordings, How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb solves the errors the band were dealing with on Songs of Surrender. It is not enough to cover your work. An artist must provide new context or evidence for its continued relevancy, and that is what U2 achieves here. Treason takes a shocking club beat which feels more like a Robbie Williams or Peter André piece, and therein lies the excess of pop-rock. Not all winners, then, but a fascinating encounter nonetheless.  

Happiness may still stick out like a sore and uninteresting thumb but the songs to follow are of solid quality. Are We Gonna Wait Forever? and Theme from Batman are neat additions to How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb and they feel far stronger than what they would either become or what replaced them. Such is the strange effect of U2 at the time, a band who had their hands on firm instrumentals and bold lyrical context but were too afraid, or too uninterested in the specifics, to release it. Instead, they meandered with a sluggish soft-rock project which missed the point of a fired-up generation on the cusp of hardships that, like it or not, are still having an impact today. U2 was never going to stop that but they missed their chance to leave a mark with the political sound Bono has since pursued on and off stage.