Review by Paul Monkhouse for MPM
U2 still write rebel songs. Five decades after the teenagers formed the band under the name of Feedback at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin they’ve conquered the world, filled stadiums all over the globe and have sold over one hundred and seventy million albums you would have forgiven them for thinking there’s nothing left to prove.
The band are built differently than that though and whilst the youthful punk energy of old may have faded a little over the years, there’s still a burning fire within them and a passion to change the planet.
New single ‘Greatest Show On Earth’, the third from forthcoming album ‘Carnaval de Luv’ shows the band as one that’s matured beautifully, their craft almost effortless and their ability to create music that moves utterly undiminished. Starting with the Edge’s gently ringing guitar pattern and a lushly smooth vocal from Bono, it builds slowly, the throbbing bass of Adam Clayton and rolling percussion of Larry Mullen Jr’s drums all layered as the cinematic yet intimate landscape unfurls.
Perfectly produced by Jacknife Lee, this is U2 at their sonically finest but, as always with the outfit, it’s the message in the lyrics that bears the heaviest impact. Standing against a rising tide of darkness in the world, ‘Greatest Show On Earth’ is a hymn to the bonding power of love and its ability to change everything in our world and for those around us. When Bono sings “The light scatters, things can get worse, these dark matters of the universe, could not compete with us” it’s impossible not to be moved and inspired. Fifty years into their career, U2 still have a voice that needs to be heard, now more than ever. Triumphant
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