Arts , Greenbelt

Album: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

Of course I've got the new U2 album. Of course it's good.

Actually, it's interesting how the album's grown on me in between listens. At various times during the day I've found riffs and phrases from the record buzzing in my head. On the next listen, they draw my attention to detail I'd not noticed before.

For me the most remarkable thing is that U2 have discovered what Over the Rhine knew with Till We Have Faces and Radiohead caught on to with Amnesiac. When the world copies your product for free, the best defence is to transform the product into something less easily duplicated. The deluxe edition of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb comes with a DVD of extras, and a hard-back book of notes and sketches.

But back to the music. It's twelve tracks of rock stuffed full of direct and oblique references to faith, justice and art. Can a record be any more Greenbelt than this?

"Love and peace or else."