Music / How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

Unos, dos, tres, catorce!

I've seen you walk unafraid
I've seen you in the clothes you made
Can you see the beauty inside of me?
What happened to the beauty I had inside of me?

— "City of Blinding Lights"

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is the 11th studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was released 22nd November 2004.

It started under producer Chris Thomas, but the band weren't satisfied with the songs, so they brought in their first producer Steve Lillywhite to finish it off. The album has a harder rock sound than the previous one, though it still has a relatively straightforward style with straightforward lyrics as well. Some of the tracks were influenced by the death of Bono's father in 2001.

It spawned singles "Vertigo", "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own", "City of Blinding Lights", "Original of the Species" and "All Because of You".

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Track listing:

1. "Vertigo" (3:14)
2. "Miracle Drug" (3:59)
3. "Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own" (5:08)
4. "Love and Peace" (4:50)
5. "City of Blinding Lights" (5:47)
6. "All Because of You" (3:39)
7. "A Man and a Woman" (4:30)
8. "One Step Closer" (5:03)
9. "Original of the Species" (4:41)
10. "Yahweh" (4:21)

Different editions of the album include one or more bonus tracks:

1. "Fast Cars" (3:43)

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Personnel:

• Bono – vocals, guitar, synthesisers
• The Edge – guitar, piano, vocals, synthesisers, strings
• Adam Clayton – bass guitar
• Larry Mullen Jr. – drums, percussion

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"Lay down, Lay down your tropes"

• Album Title Drop: Invoked. None of the regular album songs include the title, so Fast Cars was created partly as a song to include it.
• Big Applesauce: "City of Blinding Lights" references a concert in New York. Or possibly the city itself.
• Birth-Death Juxtaposition: "One Step Closer", referencing Bono's father's death, is followed by "Original of the Species", a song about The Edge's young daughter.
• Coolest Club Ever: Vertigo's lyrics are described as "Someone at a nightclub who doesn't want to be there".
• Deliberately Monochrome: Mixed example. The cover includes a grayscale picture of U2, but with a red border and other red splashed over the artwork.
• Face on the Cover: The band sitting together.
• Gratuitous Spanish: Vertigo's 1, 2,3 ....14. Either a reference to the album's Steve Lillywhite worked on, or Bono misspeaking. Take your pick.
• Grief Song: "One Step Closer" and "Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own" were inspired by Bono's father's death.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: One popular theory is that 1, 2, 3, 14 is a reference to the albums Steve Lillywhite wproduced for U2...except that this album was number 11. However, Lillywhite did help produce some songs for the actual 14th album, Songs of Experience.
• Mood Whiplash: Somewhat from "Vertigo" to "Miracle Drug". One is a fast moving, energetic song, the other is a more emotional one.
• One-Word Title: "Vertigo".

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