“As the band plunged into ‘Vertigo’ and ‘All Because of You,’ the sound of early U2 – the Who’s power chords blasted into U2’s own domain of spaciousness and yearning – was merged with an added 25 years of experience, experiments and world-beating success. Standing with one leg forward and one behind him, Bono rocked back and forth and belted, ‘I’m at a place called Vertigo/It’s everything I wish I didn’t know/Except you give me something I can feel.’

Tensions between intellect and passion, and between pragmatism and faith, drive the songs on ‘How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb’; so do burly guitar riffs, galvanizing crescendos and fearlessly emotional vocals. The album easily stands alongside the best work of U2’s career – ‘Boy,’ ‘War,’ ‘The Joshua Tree’ and ‘Achtung Baby’ – and, song for song, it’s more consistent than any of them.” — New York Times rock critic Jon Pareles.