It’s you when I look in the mirror
It’s you when I don’t pick up the phone
Sometimes you can’t make it on your own
The music video for All Because of You was shot in New York City by the band U2 and at the end of the day of shooting they performed a “surprise” concert at the Brooklyn Bridge. It was filmed and released as a concert video; this four-song EP was also released, featuring three songs from their newest album, at the time, that is, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and one throwback. It’s a really brilliant EP. It starts with All Because of You, a very nice live version, and then it improves from there. The version of Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own here is my new favorite version of the song, I think; Bono’s vocal performance is really beautiful and heartfelt and the song just builds to this explosive, cathartic bridge. It’s also a moment when you can hear the live rawness of the song in a way you can’t always hear it on live recordings. The falsetto sections of the chorus are not totally on, if you know what I mean, but somehow that gives the song an even more ragged emotional feel. Then there’s a frantic performance of I Will Follow from their debut, Boy, and it’s just pure frenzy. And where does one go after the most frenzied version of Boy ever recorded? Well, it’s obvious; a place called Vertigo. Great rendition to close out the EP. It’s only sixteen minutes, this entire EP, and I think selecting songs from throughout the set really helped them focus on the super-strong stuff from the concert. I have no idea how well the entire concert would play on disc if it had been released; maybe these four songs were the best in the set and, on a full album release, they’d have gotten lost between some less than stellar stuff. So, I feel like this is a good argument for the EP format. There’s probably a little filler in there when you look at the whole set-list, but the EP format allows the band to release the cream of the crop in a short, energetic, very emotional burst and it really, really works. This is a great live album, EP or not. Great stuff. 4 stars.
tl;dr – live EP captures U2 at their energetic and cathartic best; only four songs, but they’re all absolutely gripping and brilliant. 4 stars.