U2 released How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, its first album in four years, this past November.

The album starts off with the first single “Vertigo,” which many listeners will recognize from recent Ipod commercials. The song shows off U2 throwing away all the electronic production values that occupied most of their 90’s music and going back to the sound of their early eighties albums like "War and The Joshua Tree." With a grungy, guitar and drums driven sound, “Vertigo” sets the tone for the rest of the album.

While most of the CD is straight rock and roll (“War and Peace or Else,” “Yahweh,” and “Vertigo”), there are a couple of ballads. “One Step Closer” and “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” are two songs lead singer Bono wrote about the 2001 death of his father. With the line “You’re the reason why I have the operas in me,” Bono infuses his own grief and grand voice to make the listener know he means it.

Featuring the usual top notch musicianship from guitarist the Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen, singer Bono continues to sound like he hasn’t aged since they first broke on the music scene twenty years ago. While some of the band’s work from the 90’s was their best, most notably Achtung Baby, the new album shows that U2 isn’t staying in the comfort zone of most classic rock acts by dismantling its sound and continuing to rock into its 25th year and hopefully for a long time after that.