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U2: Pop (Island)

James Hunter, Spin, April 1997

WITH BRITISH soul sage Howie B. dispensing '90s groove advice and a thousand rhythm tracks bulldogging throughout this exhilaratingly complex album, Pop could get slotted as U2's dance fling. When it grasps for so much more. "Take this tangle of a conversation," Bono intones on 'Do You Feel Loved', the second track, "turn it into your own prayer." And for nearly an hour, swinging free of genre sentimentality, philosophical posturing, and any known brand of studio sugar, U2 deliver precisely that transformation.

Total word count of piece: 802

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