U2 have sold more than 140 million albums worldwide and have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band. Read reviews at 91¸£ÀûÉç Music of all their studio albums.

Like all of U2's best work there's a schism at the heart of their 12th studio album. It's the polarity between the hedonistic and the profound; the thin line between the general and the particular: rock and a very hard place.

The range of sounds, emotions and joy pumped into How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb make it hard to resist.

All That You Can't Leave Behind sees them return, if not to basics, then to safe ground.

It's the sound of a band not reinventing themselves (as they did on Achtung Baby), but straining to keep up with the zeitgeist.

Or how U2 reinvented themselves into something deliciously post-modern.

Or how U2 reinvented themselves into something deliciously post-modern. A while in rock, it was impossible to escape from the spell and influence of Achtung Baby.

Following the release of The Joshua Tree, U2's first truly huge album in global terms, the USA lay supine before them.

By 1987 the band had undoubtedly become stadium fillers in Europe, but it was America that was their heartland, and they were on the verge of cracking it wide open.

U2 would never be the same again. Although often overshadowed by its successor, The Joshua Tree, The Unforgettable Fire is a record of great, moving beauty.

You can't knock the sure-footed pure power-pop of 'Two Hearts Beat As One' and 'New Years Day'. Adam Clayton's bass line set off a chain reaction of exultant flag-waving around the world.

October remains their least favourite offering, but still stands as a fine document of a band finding its legs.

All the warning signs were here in this brave, life-affirming cry of youthful defiance.
91¸£ÀûÉç © 2014 The 91¸£ÀûÉç is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.