Desert island discs part one – U2’s How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb

I thought it would be nice to do a series here on Bob's Bloggery and, since I love to make lists, I thought I would start a series on my desert island discs – albums that, were I to be stranded for a while on a desert island with a CD player and the power to use it (a somewhat unlikely scenario,) I would want to have with me. I have no idea how long this series will last so this isn't a top-ten list but each week (or so) I'll list another cool album that would be good to have with me.

Some ground rules:

1. For a while at least I'll avoid two albums by the same group. However, artists who are part of another group are not disqualified – for example, I can have both the Beatles and Paul McCartney albums.
   
2. This isn't a best ever list – it's a personal list. So, while I might agree that Achtung Baby is probably a better album than How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb I think I'd rather have Atomic with me because I happen to like it more.
   
3. This type of list is always bound by time – my thoughts right now aren't what they would have been a year ago and they're not what they will be. I have the right to revise. For example, right now I'm tempted to put McCartney's Memory Almost Full on the list – I like it that much – but I don't know if I'll still be as excited about it in a year. So I reserve the right to revise at any time without penalty. I can even replace an album already listed with another one or I can change the rules to allow me to add a second one to the list. Hey, it's my blog so I get to play by my rules.
   

   
   

I'd like to challenge my frequent readers who also blog to join me in this endeavor. You know who you are, What would be on your list? You just have to add one every week and the writeup doesn't have to be long. Come on, you can do it. Who's in? I promise to link to you every week if you do.

So this week I'll begin with U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. This album absolutely floored me when it came out. I had it in heavy rotation on my itunes, in my ipod and on my car stereo for months after it came out. You need to understand that I have a LOT of music and it is rare for an album to keep my interest as long as that one did but I don't think there is a weak track on that record from the heavy rock of "Vertigo" and "All Because of You" to the beautiful "City of Blinding Lights" and "Miracle Drug ." In this post I called it my top album of 2005 (even though it was released in 2004!) and in this post, written at the end of 2006, I mentioned that it had still probably one of my top current albums. Now, well over two years after its release I still think it is great and it's in my car again right now too. Seeing U2 in concert on the "Vertigo tour" and being in Ireland soon after it's release put it over the top for me. I especially appreciated how Bono continued allowing his faith to come through in his lyrics in almost every song on the album. I certainly don't want to dismiss other U2 albums of which I'm very fond (especially All That You Can't Leave Behind, Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree – and all the other ones too) but this one has a special place in my heart.