U2– Pop (Island)

Now three albums into their flirtation with techno, U2 have finally figured out how to make a consistently listenable album out of it.

As signified by the album title, the band wants to wallow in the kitsch of modern life. Pop gets offto a bit of a rocky start with the clanky swirling Zooropian single “Discotheque,” but things soon get back onto course. The techno aspects of the band’s new map click into place with the haunting “Do You Feel Loved?”

Also, unlike Zooropa and Passengers Original Soundtracks Part 1, U2 and savvy new producer Flood know when to cut back on the electronic theatrics and just make a good song like “Staring At The Sun.”

If Bono and company pick on some pretty obvious pop culture targets, like Miami and the Playboy mansion, hasn’t their longstanding mistaken belief that they were blazing new trails on crowded roads always been part of U2’s charm? (4/97)

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©1997 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: April 12, 1997.