POP, the first studio release by the band in four years (unless one counts the Passengers' release, "Original Soundtracks I") has a very rich sound. The use of over dubs and sampled sound-bites, which for most bands tend to be pedantic and unoriginal, in this case greatly enhance the enjoyment of this work.

Lyrically, the band returns to it's roots. Most of the songs contain Christian imagery, though it is a rough and tumble look, a questioning of the validity of the faith. This is not an album for the weak of spirit. In terms of growth, both lyrically and musically, it is reminiscent of the War album in which the band had set aside the naiveté of Boy and October to rail against the violence so prevalent in this world. In War, they asked "how long to sing this song?" In POP, they ask "will we ever live in peace? 'Cause those that can't do, often have to. Those that can't, often have to preach." ("Staring At The Sun") The central theme of this album seems to be the eternal question, "where is God when there is so much pain in this world?"

Take for instance the track "If God Would Send His Angels" where Bono emotes "God has his phone off the hook, babe; would he even pick up if he could?" And later, "Jesus never let me down, you know Jesus used to show me the score; Then they put Jesus in show business, now it's hard to get in the door." This is an album that echoes, spiritually, back to the October album, but this is no "Gloria." Instead they have turned the search light on themselves, and gazing inward note their own willingness to ignore the failings in their own lives. "Nobody else here, babe, no one else to blame, no one to point the finger...just you and me and the rain."

The Beatle-esque "Staring At The Sun", the second single to be released, echoes the psalmist who cried out to the Lord, "search me and know me", but notes that we are often too afraid to see the truth revealed. "I'm not the only one starin' at the sun, afraid of what you'd find, if you took a look inside. Not just deaf and dumb, I'm staring at the sun, not the only one who's willing to go blind."

The song "Please" can aptly be described as "Sunday Bloody Sunday" for the 1990's. It vividly describes the after-shock at the scene of a car-bombing in U2's native Ireland, "streets capsizing...spilling over, down the drain....shards of glass, splinter like rain, but you can only feel your own pain..." The imagery includes that of a young girl, returning from school, who is caught in the blast, "your catholic blues / your convent shoes / your stick-on tattoos / now they're making the news." The song itself could have been written by the greiving father of the young victim, who cries out "Please...leave me out of this, please..."

The final track, "Wake Up Dead Man", is one of the most poignant songs U2 has released yet. It is an open prayer, a cry of desperation perhaps, addressed to Jesus. In fact, it contains possibly the best summation of the band's weariness when Bono sings, "Jesus, Jesus help me. I'm alone in this world, and a f***ed up world it is too. Tell me. Tell me the story, the one about eternity, and the way it's all gonna be."

Yet, though this is a very dark album, in typical U2 style they acknowledge a hope, expressed in the song "The Playboy Mansion", which is a veiled reference to heaven. First they express their desperation, "Don't know if I can hold on, don't know if I'm that strong." Then they add that "Then there will be no time of sorrow, there will be no time for pain, there will be no time for sorrow, there will be no time for shame."

So where does that leave the band? It is obvious that they have a deep faith; they are continuing to search themselves, continuing to seek God, and continuing to question, "what is He up to?" In "If You Wear That Velvet Dress", they add, "it's OK... the struggle for things to say. I've never listened to you anyway, and I got my own hands to pray."

Timothy Travis
April 1997