U2 - A couple more comments

In a previous post I noted two reviews of U2's latest album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

Now a couple of comments on these reviews.

Regarding Courageous Crooners - U2 Dismantle[s] an Atomic Bomb I found the focus on the Christian/biblical aspects of U2's work to be fascinating. I actually disagree with a lot of what the author had to say because it is very different from how I've experienced U2's music over the last 15 years. It may sound odd, but to me their music has always seemed secular in a way that a born again Christian could see their message in the lyrics or an Atheist could find meaning that is just as powerful and personal. I relate to the lyrics as a way to express powerful emotion rather than as a way to express powerful faith. After writing that last sentence I'm curious to know if other people find these two things, emotion and faith, to be one and the same?

Review: U2's 'Bomb' fails to explode

Apparently this album wasn't what this reviewer was hoping to hear. I can only say that one of the things that I like about U2 is that they don't just rely on producing the same album over and over again. They seem to have a knack for surprising listeners and I think it takes a little while for an album like this to grow on the listener. For me it's agood sign when it takes a couple of dozen listening sessions before I figure out which song on an album is my favorite. At this point my favorite part of the new album is tracks 5-8 as a series. I get lost in them in a way that I don't in the rest of the album. When listening to tracks 1-4 I find myself tempted to hit skip a couple of times to get to 5-8. And once I'm up to track 9 I'm feeling like I'm on the downward slide to the end of the album. I have to also add that Track 1 is a fantastic way to start and 11 is an equally great way to close the album but 5-8 still really stand out for me both lyrically and musically for me. I'm still trying to figure out why those 4 tracks stand out from the rest.