On the record: U2

Artist : U2
Album : How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Universal Music)

Let's just say this record, which brings U2 into its 26th year, is not their best outing, especially coming after 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind.

Full of recycled melodies and hooks, it takes several listenings to confirm that it is still a good album.

Like All's first single Beautiful Day, this album's Vertigo also does not grab you right away. But later, the aggressive, kicking riff grows on you.

Skip mushy Miracle Drug and Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own (where Bono lamely ponders his father's death), and instead go straight to shimmering Love and Peace or Else, a Brian Eno/Daniel Lanois produced song with their trademark electro- production fused with The Edge's unmistakable guitar swagger.

Other standouts are City of Blinding Lights, a classic U2 song, as well as One Step Closer and Yahweh.

Still, there is a feeling that this album should've been better. "I like the sound of my own voice," Bono sings on this album. We do, too, we do too, but on more solid songs -- and with more convincing political and emotional laments. -- Hera Diani