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U2
Forget the movie. I’m not reviewing the movie. I’m reviewing the album. Musically, Rattle and Hum is ill conceived right from the start. Coming on the heels of the brilliant, moving album The Joshua Tree, expectations for this double album were high. Unfortunately, reality dropped those expectations with a thud. The album contains songs that were recorded as the band worked its way across America. For the past two albums, U2 displayed their obsession with American culture, so this album was intended to be a looser way of portraying that obsession, featuring high-profile guests such as Bob Dylan and B.B. King. Instead of offering anything compelling, though, the double album contains a lot of filler and just plain bad ideas.
The album opens (!) with a cover of the Beatles’ "Helter Skelter". Bono may have a powerful voice, but he is simply incapable of replicating Paul McCartney’s blood-curdling screams, made only worse by his wobbly pitch and mangling of the lyrics. "Van Diemen’s Land" exists for the sole purpose of proving that the Edge can sing; the song itself goes nowhere at all. Both "Helter Skelter" and "Van Diemen’s Land" end before the songs play themselves out, which happens to be a merciful act. The Bo Diddley stomp of "Desire" almost sets things straight, only to be derailed again by the awkward pretensions of Hawkmoon 269" (By the way, that’s Bob Dylan on Hammond organ).
Speaking of Dylan, side two starts with yet another cover of "All Along the Watchtower". Why? There must be fifty major artists who have recorded this song since Jimi Hendrix defined it, but have any of them improved on his version? No. Neither does U2, not by a long shot. The gospel chorus version of "I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For" is lovely but, surprisingly, doesn’t add much to the soulful impact of the original. Actually, it has the opposite effect. The best songs here are those that are performed faithfully; "Bullet the Blue Sky" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" sound fine, but they are both extraneous if you own the original recordings.
The Memphis blues style of the Dylan/U2 collaboration entitled "Love Rescue Me" is a highlight. So is "Love Comes to Town", if only to hear B.B. King’s masculine roar. "Angel of Harlem" qualifies as the project’s most ‘commercially viable’ single, but it hardly compares to the best the band had done previously. Are you interested in U2? Look elsewhere.
Grade: 
 
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