14 October 2000
It wasn’t just me. I remember the widespread first impression of ‘Beautiful Day’, after its world premiere radio play one weekday morning, as one of being underwhelmed. The subdued verses; the bland, unremarkable chorus; Edge dusting off his distinctive early ’80s guitar: it all seemed to symbolise U2 not willing to take any chances and instead regressing to something more conservative. Pop the album had flopped but the popped-up 1998 ‘Sweetest Thing’ had done well, so U2 were now clearly doubling down on the latter. The success of All That You Can’t Leave Behind and its Elevation tour revived U2 as a going concern, at least for another two album cycles. Further down the downside, it was also a template for the subsequent stadium pop sound of Coldplay. Thanks, guys!
Re-listening to it now, I just find ‘Beautiful Day’ a weak song. Long-time U2 producers Eno on ambience, Lanois on shimmers and Lillywhite on bombast add their trademark touches, and they do a good job: those synth washes and pulsing beats at the start are likeable enough. Less Edge on a U2 record is also a positive move – but nothing fills the gap: again, that chorus is really lacking in energy or spark. Edge gets to cut loose with some attractive post-punk riffing in the post-chorus (heavily dependent on that borrowed line from ‘The Sun Always Shines On TV’) and outro, but any momentum is lost again by the music dropping out for the mid-section. A stronger song wouldn’t have had such problems, but of course any song written and performed by U2 immediately starts off at a disadvantage in life. As with all stadium-sized soft rock, though, millions love it. Later hits off All That You Can’t Leave Behind will be more muscular and arena-ready, but especially given how it’s an event release—the lead single from the new album by The Biggest Band In The World™—’Beautiful Day’ is a damp squib.
