25 years ago,U2released a song that would become my very firstmusicobsession - and would one day become one of their most underrated hits. I was barely even aware of my own consciousness at the time U2 released the first singles from their albumAll That you may’t Leave Behind, but with a mother who’s still a U2 super-fan to this day, it was playing on a constant loop during the earliest years of my childhood.
One single in particular from this album became my go-to. It’s since become one of the mostunderrated songs from U2’s collection of hits, even if it did win them the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 2002 and became the namesake for their highly successful 2001 tour. It’s not a song I often hear mentioned among their best, but according to my earliest music taste, it deserves a spot there.
“Elevation” Was My Most Highly Requested Song As A Child
“A Mole, Digging In A Hole!”
Though initially released as a part ofAll That you’re able to’t Leave Behindin 2000,“Elevation” was released by U2 as a single in June 2001, when I was still far from being considered a toddler. Of course, as mentioned above, this song and plenty of others fromAll That You Can’t Leave Behindwere played over and over again on car rides, at summer get-togethers, and more, and clearly, I couldn’t get enough of it. I’m sure I drove my mom crazy asking for the “mole digging in a hole” song time and time again.
Everything comes back to the dynamics of a song like “Elevation,” with strong instrumentation, a catchy rhythm, and big vocal moments from Bono.
Regardless, looking back now, it’s so easy to see howthis one song has since shaped my current music taste. While it’s pretty all over the place, everything comes back to the dynamics of a song like “Elevation,” with strong instrumentation, a catchy rhythm, and big vocal moments from Bono. That’s what I continue to find most compelling in the music I listen to today, even if it’s from more modern artists like Taylor Swift and Harry Styles.
I wouldn’t hesitate to put “Elevation” on today, and I would still know all the words as well as I did when I was a child - if not a little better now that I actually have a fuller vocabulary. It’s easily one of the band’s more underrated hits,buried beneath the greatness of their ’80s and ’90s prime, and I think it deserves more spotlight, despite the accolades it achieved at the time. In fact, this song isn’t the only part of U2’s early 2000s discography that deserves more love.
All That You Can’t Leave Behind Remains An Underrated U2 Album
It Truly Defined An Era For U2
As with any album, it has its highs and its lows, butAll That You Can’t Leave Behindis overall a fairly underrated yet solid body of work for U2. The semi-title track “Walk On” alone is a song that I cannot believe many people probably do not know. Its lyrics are still so meaningful and breathtaking to me all these years later, with the solid message that no matter how hard life gets, you just have to walk on towards the better things that are undoubtedly awaiting you.
It could not have ended up being more timely, either. Just under a year after the album’s initial release, the 9/11 terrorist attacks took place, anda song like “Walk On” became a message for those who carried unimaginable pain, sorrow, and fearfrom such a devastating tragedy. While there was, of course, no way U2 could have foreseen this happening, it still ended up being a consolation through art for those who were processing one of the most terrifying events in United States, and global, history.
All That You Can’t Leave Behindmay not be widely considered as one ofU2’s best albums, but it definitely deserves some more love, along with “Elevation” as a song. It defined the earliest memories of my childhood and shaped my music taste into what it is today, and for that I’ll always be so endlessly grateful.U2has released plenty of incredible songs and albums, but these two will always have such a special place in my heart.
