Pop (U2 Album) - Reception

Reception

Upon its release, the album debuted at #1 in 35 countries, and drew mixed reviews. Rolling Stone gave Pop a 4/5 star rating, praising the band's use of technology on the album: "U2 know that technology is ineluctably altering the sonic surface – and, perhaps, even the very meaning – of rock & roll." The review also stated that U2 had "pieced together a record whose rhythms, textures and visceral guitar mayhem make for a thrilling roller-coaster ride" and that the band had "defied the odds and made some of the greatest music of their lives." Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B rating, stating, "Despite its glittery launch, the album is neither trashy nor kitschy, nor is it junky-fun dance music. It incorporates bits of the new technology -- a high-pitched siren squeal here, a sound-collage splatter there -- but it is still very much a U2 album". Others felt that the album was a disappointment. Neil Strauss of The New York Times wrote that "From the band's first album, Boy, in 1980, through The Joshua Tree in 1987, U2 sounded inspired. Now it sounds expensive." He further commented that "U2 and techno don't mix any better than U2 and irony do." Although an early commercial success at the time of its release—it reached number one in 32 countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States—Pop's lifetime sales are among the lowest in U2's catalogue, and critical reaction was mixed. It was certified RIAA platinum once, the lowest since the band's album October.