Sound Check — Geoff Carter: U2 can still unleash inspired work

Friday, Nov. 3, 2000 | 10:05 a.m.

Geoff Carter's music column appears Fridays in the Sun. Reach him at geoff.carter@vegas.com.

U2's best record in almost a decade, "All That You Can't Leave Behind," opens with "Beautiful Day," a sun-stoked anthem with its roots buried deep in the superstar Irish band's idealistic past. It starts, quite literally, at ground level -- "The heart is a bloom, shoots up through the stony ground," sings Bono -- and hurries skyward. By the middle eight, the band is in orbit: "See the world in green and blue/see China right in front of you."

"Beautiful Day" is a sparkling four minutes -- picturesque, effervescent and wholly giddy. The band practically trips over itself to deliver it; it's hard to recall the last time U2 has seemed so eager to please. It was before the overwrought, ironically-titled "Pop," before the slapdash muddle of "Zooropa" -- perhaps even before "Achtung Baby," the solid album that unwittingly put U2 in orange jumpsuits and awkward club music arrangements until "Beautiful Day" cleared the air.

It's that hard reset that allows "All That You Can't Leave Behind" to be an easygoing, hassle-free and tuneful experience for band and listener alike. The album gets into your head at first listen and only becomes more familiar, more amicable with each successive listen, like a budding romance.

Hopefully, for the band's sake, the time for "All That" is ripe. In the wake of Radiohead's churlish (but fun) "Kid A," U2 is bound to be critically faulted for the guilelessness of "Walk On," "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" and "Elevation," three perfect pop songs that can be whistled, hummed and quickly memorized. Even "New York," the record's artiest moment, breaks into a broad, memorable chorus.

As for the playing, it's pretty much business as usual. The Edge cranks out his familiar guitar arpeggios; Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. prove themselves the best rhythm section in Europe once again; and Bono bellows, whispers, screams and intones with the fervor of a true believer. Hard to believe these guys have had two distinct lives before this one.

Falling for "All That's" songs may seem too easy, but good pop songs are like that. Every musician writes a song hoping at least one other person will hear, no matter what they say to impress their critics. "All That" demonstrates how U2 became a million-seller in the first place; it also demonstrates how rock 'n' roll became the most popular form of musical expression.

In "All That You Can't Leave Behind," U2 has made a record that you can fall in love with; that it's brilliantly assembled and played is purely accidental. The band's just having a good day, at long last.