Studio album · No. 9
All That You Can't Leave Behind Songwriting Credits by U2
Produced by Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno · Engineered by Richard Rainey, Ger McDonnell, Alex Haas, Stephen Harris, Mark Howard, Chris Heaney, Alvin Sweeney, Jay Goin, Keith McDonnell, Arnie Acosta
Island/Interscope
RockPop rock
100%
Authorship
Holds writing credit on 11 of 11 tracks
Authorship Breakdown 11 / 11 documented
Who wrote the songs?
Scored across the 11 tracks with documented writers, by whether U2 carries a lyricist or composer credit.
11 trackswritten by U2
0 tracksoutside writers
U2's roles on this album
Share of the 11 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
Lyricist100%
Composer100%
Producer0%
Performer100%
By the Numbers
11
Tracks
2
Lyricists
6
Producers
12 million
Worldwide Copies Sold
2000
Released
Data Insight
The credit line on this record is the plain one U2 used through most of their catalogue: music by U2, lyrics by Bono. That splits the money four ways on every song while the words stay with one man. Three tracks break the pattern and name The Edge alongside Bono as lyricist, and they are the three most inward songs here: "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", "Kite" and "When I Look at the World". Eno and Lanois produced all eleven tracks and Eno played synthesizer on nine of them, but neither is credited as a writer, which is worth noting against the later U2 albums where producers do turn up in the songwriting credits. The one outside lyric on the album is not on the standard US edition at all: Salman Rushdie wrote the words to "The Ground Beneath Her Feet", the bonus track added in Ireland, the UK, Japan and Australia.
U2's tenth studio album, made with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois after the mixed reception to Pop sent the band back toward the sound of their earlier records. Eno pushed them to write in the studio rather than arrive with finished songs, and sessions ran from late 1998 demos at Hanover Quay through studios in Dublin and the south of France. The band worked to the idea of a group in a room playing together, which is why the record sounds plainer than anything they made in the 1990s.
Track Listing & Credits 11 tracks
Written by the artist
Written by outside writers
| # | Title | Lyricist(s) | Composer(s) | Producer(s) | Performers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Beautiful Day
#21
|
Bono | Paul David HewsonDavid Howell EvansAdam Charles ClaytonLaurence Joseph Mullen Jr. | Daniel LanoisBrian EnoSteve Lillywhite | U2 (Performer)Brian Eno (Synthesizer, Programming)Daniel Lanois (Backing vocals) |
| 2 |
Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
#52
|
BonoThe Edge | Paul David HewsonDavid Howell EvansAdam Charles ClaytonLaurence Joseph Mullen Jr. | Daniel LanoisBrian Eno | U2 (Performer)Paul Barrett (Brass)Brian Eno (Synthesizer)Daniel Lanois (Additional guitar) |
| 3 |
Elevation
#3
|
Bono | Paul David HewsonDavid Howell EvansAdam Charles ClaytonLaurence Joseph Mullen Jr. | Daniel LanoisBrian Eno | U2 (Performer)Brian Eno (Synthesizer) |
| 4 |
Walk On
#5
|
Bono | Paul David HewsonDavid Howell EvansAdam Charles ClaytonLaurence Joseph Mullen Jr. | Daniel LanoisBrian EnoSteve Lillywhite | U2 (Performer) |
| 5 |
Kite
|
BonoThe Edge | Paul David HewsonDavid Howell EvansAdam Charles ClaytonLaurence Joseph Mullen Jr. | Daniel LanoisBrian Eno | U2 (Performer)Brian Eno (Backing vocals)Daniel Lanois (Backing vocals) |
| 6 |
In a Little While
|
Bono | Paul David HewsonDavid Howell EvansAdam Charles ClaytonLaurence Joseph Mullen Jr. | Brian EnoDaniel LanoisRichard StannardJulian Gallagher | U2 (Performer)Brian Eno (Synthesizer, String arrangement)Daniel Lanois (Additional guitar) |
| 7 |
Wild Honey
|
Bono | Paul David HewsonDavid Howell EvansAdam Charles ClaytonLaurence Joseph Mullen Jr. | Brian EnoDaniel Lanois | U2 (Performer)Brian Eno (Synthesizer)Daniel Lanois (Additional guitar) |
| 8 |
Peace on Earth
|
Bono | Paul David HewsonDavid Howell EvansAdam Charles ClaytonLaurence Joseph Mullen Jr. | Daniel LanoisBrian EnoMike Hedges | U2 (Performer)Brian Eno (Synthesizer) |
| 9 |
When I Look at the World
|
BonoThe Edge | Paul David HewsonDavid Howell EvansAdam Charles ClaytonLaurence Joseph Mullen Jr. | Brian EnoDaniel Lanois | U2 (Performer)Brian Eno (Synthesizer)Daniel Lanois (Additional guitar) |
| 10 |
New York
|
Bono | Paul David HewsonDavid Howell EvansAdam Charles ClaytonLaurence Joseph Mullen Jr. | Brian EnoDaniel Lanois | U2 (Performer)Brian Eno (Synthesizer)Daniel Lanois (Additional guitar) |
| 11 |
Grace
|
Bono | Paul David HewsonDavid Howell EvansAdam Charles ClaytonLaurence Joseph Mullen Jr. | Daniel LanoisBrian Eno | U2 (Performer)Brian Eno (Synthesizer, Programming)Daniel Lanois (Additional guitar) |
Songwriter & Credit Spotlight 14 contributors
AC
Adam Charles Clayton
Writer
B
Bono
Writer
DH
David Howell Evans
Writer
LJ
Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr.
Writer
PD
Paul David Hewson
Writer
TE
The Edge
Writer
BE
Brian Eno
Producer · Vocals
DL
Daniel Lanois
Producer · Vocals
SL
Steve Lillywhite
Producer
JG
Julian Gallagher
Producer
MH
Mike Hedges
Producer
RS
Richard Stannard
Producer
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Frequently Asked Questions All That You Can't Leave Behind
Who wrote the songs on All That You Can't Leave Behind?
The music is credited to U2 as a group, meaning Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. share it equally. Bono wrote the lyrics on his own for eight of the eleven tracks. The Edge is credited with him on "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", "Kite" and "When I Look at the World".
Who produced All That You Can't Leave Behind?
Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois produced every track, the fourth U2 album the pair worked on together after The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. Steve Lillywhite added production to "Beautiful Day" and "Walk On", Mike Hedges to "Peace on Earth", and Richard Stannard with Julian Gallagher to "In a Little While".
How many copies has All That You Can't Leave Behind sold?
Over 12 million worldwide, which makes it U2's fourth best selling album. Nielsen SoundScan had it at 4.4 million in the United States as of March 2014. It entered the Billboard 200 at number three with 427,826 copies in its first week and went to number one in 32 countries.
How many Grammys did All That You Can't Leave Behind win?
Seven, spread over the 2001 and 2002 ceremonies. "Beautiful Day" took Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 2001. The next year "Walk On" won Record of the Year, "Elevation" won Best Rock Performance, "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" won Best Pop Performance, and the album itself won Best Rock Album. No other album has had two different songs win Record of the Year.
Why is "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" missing from my copy?
It was a bonus track in Ireland, the UK, Japan and Australia, and it came back on the 20th anniversary reissue. The US Interscope pressing runs eleven tracks and ends on "Grace". Salman Rushdie wrote the lyrics, taken from his novel of the same name.
Did "Elevation" chart on the Billboard Hot 100?
No. It stopped at number 16 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and never crossed into the main list, and "Walk On" did the same at number 18. Both did far better in the UK, where "Elevation" reached number three and "Walk On" number five.
Where was All That You Can't Leave Behind recorded?
Mostly in Dublin, at the band's own HQ plus Windmill Lane, Westland and Totally Wired, with more work done in the south of France where Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. had bought houses in 1999. The first demos came out of three weeks at Hanover Quay in late 1998, which is where "Kite" started.
Why did the album take so long to finish?
U2 expected to have it out in 1999. Bono's work on the Jubilee 2000 debt campaign kept pulling him away, and the sessions broke for two months while he worked on The Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack with Lanois and Hal Willner. After rushing Pop to meet a tour deadline, the band refused to set one this time.
Is this album a return to U2's older sound?
Partly. The band called it a record that acknowledged their past, and The Edge won an argument inside the band by keeping a guitar tone on "Beautiful Day" that he had barely used since War in 1983. The 1990s did not vanish, though: that same song opens with a beat box and a string part under the chords, and "New York" grew out of Eno and Lanois messing with a drum loop Mullen had recorded.
Sources
Wikipedia: All That You Can't Leave Behind (infobox and lead)
Wikipedia: All That You Can't Leave Behind, Writing and recording section wikitext
Wikipedia: All That You Can't Leave Behind, Commercial performance section wikitext
Wikipedia: All That You Can't Leave Behind, Accolades section wikitext
Wikipedia: All That You Can't Leave Behind, Track listing section wikitext
Wikipedia: All That You Can't Leave Behind, Personnel section wikitext (adapted from the CD booklet liner notes)
Wikipedia: All That You Can't Leave Behind, Certifications and sales section wikitext
Wikipedia: U2 discography, 2000s singles chart table
MusicBrainz release group search: All That You Can't Leave Behind
MusicBrainz release group: All That You Can't Leave Behind
Cover Art Archive: All That You Can't Leave Behind by U2