Published on Jun 20, 1999
Is
Rattle And Hum a movie soundtrack, a U2 live album, an
“in-the-process” look at how the band records, or just a
hodge-podge of music?
I think critics have been trying to figure this out for years,
and I’m not going to pretend to have any answers. But as long as
it’s a decent album, who really cares what you label it as?
Featuring the music from the documentary film of the same name
(a film which I haven’t watched since I was in college), Rattle And
Hum seems to show Bono and crew trying to move away from the
“holier-than-thou” stance that was the backbone of
The Joshua Tree. How else do you explain the curious but
interesting choice of cover tunes – the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter”
and Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower”? How else do you explain
rockin’ numbers like “Desire” and “When Love Comes To Town”, the
latter featuring B.B. King on vocals and guitar?
This isn’t to say that U2 wanted to abandon the stoic and
serious stance they took with
The Joshua Tree – not completely, anyway. Tracks like
“Freedom For My People,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking
For” and “Bullet The Blue Sky” all represent the political views of
U2, and they’re represented well, even if Bono gets a little too
preachy at times. (“Am I buggin’ you?” he asks at one point, then
adds – slightly sarcastically, “I didn’t mean to bug ya.”)
Jumping from the studio to the stage, one would expect that this
collection of tracks would suffer, in terms of overall quality.
Fortunately for U2, the quirky variety is just what the doctor
ordered. The Edge gets his first chance to sing on the track “Van
Diemen’s Land,” and turns in a command performance. Likewise,
tracks like “Hawkmoon 269,” “God Part II” and “All I Want Is You”
are excellent tracks. Only “Love Rescue Me” sags a bit – and this
could be because I’m used to a live version featuring Ziggy Marley
that I have on the CD3 (remember that marketing disaster, kids?) of
“Angel Of Harlem”.
I will admit this much about
Rattle And Hum: It’s an album that you really have to be in
the mood for. Sometimes, it feels like there’s a lot to take in and
digest musically; other times, it’s like the album is over in a
matter of minutes. It’s still a good album overall, but it’s not
always the most approachable – though it’s more approachable than
The Joshua Tree these days.