All That You Can’t Leave Behind – U2 (20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition)
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I have a long, and complicated, relationship with U2. From the Christian content on War the brilliance of The Joshua Tree and through Achtung Baby, U2 was my favorite band. I saw them in concert for the first time on their Zoo TV tour – a concert that I really looked forward to – and was completely turned off. I skipped their Zooropa and Pop albums, and was pretty much done with them. In October 2000, they released All That You Can’t Leave Behind. Pete, a team member of mine, ran over and bought the album over lunch. I didn’t plan to purchase it, but he let me borrow it that night. The U2 I loved was back.
I saw two shows on their tour supporting the album – one before the 9/11 tragedy and one after, two very different shows. The album would go on to win seven Grammy Awards, including record of the year and best rock album.
U2 has released four studio albums in the past 20 years, all good but not great. This was their last great album. Some of their political views (pro-abortion, for example), of the past few years has again soured me on the band. Like I said, my relationship with the band is complicated.
Twenty years to the day of its original release, the band released a 20th Anniversary Edition of the album in multiple formats. The “Super Deluxe” audio edition includes 51 songs, including the unreleased “The Ground Beneath Her Feet”, a previously released (on video) Boston concert, B-sides, outtakes and remixes. The original album has been remastered and sounds great. I’m generally not a fan of remixes, and four dances remixes of “Elevation” seems excessive. Still, I would recommend this for fans off U2’s music.
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- Music News
- Song of the Week Lyrics
- Sing to One Another. Matt Boswell shares three reasons why we sing from Psalm 96:1–3.
- New NEEDTOBREATHE Album. Last fall when NEEDTOBREATHE couldn’t go out on tour to support their album Out of Body, they all got COVID tested, moved into a house in the middle of nowhere in Tennessee, and made what will be their eighth studio album… Into The Mystery, which will be released later this year. The band gave themselves 21 days to record and produce this record from scratch. A few friends and familiar faces joined them. I’m looking forward to this, and hopefully catching them in concert when they tour.
How Great Thou Art by Carrie Underwood
This week’s song of the week is my favorite hymn “How Great Thou Art”, written by Carl Boberg, and performed by Carrie Underwood at the Ryman Theatre in Nashville on Easter Sunday. You can watch the performance here. The studio version of the song is included on Underwood’s excellent gospel album My Savior. You can read my review of the album here.
O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Chorus:
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on a Cross, my burdens gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
Chorus
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”
Chorus
