You can't tell an album from its title
But it never hurts to have a good one
By Todd Leopold
CNN
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(CNN) -- The title of the new U2 album is "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb."
Now, you can't tell a book by its cover, the old saying goes, and that's usually true. By the same token, you can't tell an album by its title -- usually.
But "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb"? It's clunky, overlong and doesn't quite say anything. (Yes, I know it was inspired by a riddle: Q. How do you dismantle an atomic bomb? A. Don't build one. That's no excuse.)
The best album titles somehow manage to capture the spirit of the artist and the work in a few words: "Bringing It All Back Home" by Bob Dylan, which heralded his turn to electric rock 'n' roll, and "Blood on the Tracks," about his divorce. "Rubber Soul" by the Beatles -- a nice pun and a classic record. "Exile on Main Street" by the Rolling Stones. "Murmur" by R.E.M.
Nick Lowe managed to come up with two great titles for the same record -- "Jesus of Cool," which was known as "Pure Pop for Now People" in the United States. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention said it all with their 1968 opus, "We're Only In It for the Money." Along the same lines: "The Who Sell Out," which cleverly lives up to its title for its first two-thirds or so.
And I can't help but smile at "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" by Public Enemy, "One Nation Under a Groove" by Funkadelic, "Double Nickels on the Dime" by the Minutemen and "Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah" by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.
But bad album titles are like a stick in the eye.
Yes -- not the greatest of band names, either -- has albums called "Tales from Topographic Oceans" and "Tormato." Huh?
The Grateful Dead, no doubt inspired by a drug-fueled fondness for made-up palindromes, has an album called "Aoxomoxoa," which sounds like an intestinal tract parasite. (Ed. note: I've since been informed that "Aoxomoxoa," or "-oA," is not invented, but a term for the blissful state of mind reached by kite flyers. However, it still sounds like an intestinal tract parasite to me. I admit it: I just don't get the Dead, never have.)
Fiona Apple gave one of her albums a really long title usually abbreviated "When the Pawn ..." The whole thing reads like the doodle of a high school girl attempting to channel old Dylan liner notes. Not a good idea.
A friend of mine nominates a large portion of the Journey oeuvre: "Infinity," "Evolution," "Departure," "Captured" and "Escape" (all of which have dreadful album covers to match).
And that reminds me of the tedious list of Chicago LPs, starting with "Chicago II" and continuing ad infinitum up the number line. (In Mark Shipper's book "Paperback Writer," a character notes that the band's albums still go gold because people believe they should own the complete set, "like encyclopedia annuals.") When Chicago did give an album a real title, the band called it "Hot Streets," which is about as bland as it comes.
Genesis once called an album "Abacab," after a rhyme scheme. Of course, the band's drummer, Phil Collins, wrote a song called "Sussudio," which was a nonsense word from the dummy lyrics. Both are a long way down from "Selling England by the Pound."
And then there's Van Halen, which has given giggles to 10-year-olds everywhere with the titles "OU812" and "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge."
Well, the title will only take you so far -- and, often, a good album makes a title seem much better. (Would we still remember "Rubber Soul" if it had been done by Freddie and the Dreamers?)
Which brings us back to the U2 album. Is it any good?
Eye on Entertainment hits the "play" button.
Eye-opener
U2 has been one of the biggest bands in the world since the "Joshua Tree" days, but the group has never rested on its laurels.
After "Joshua Tree," the band took off in search of American music and came out with "Rattle and Hum," with nods to B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Billie Holiday and haunted Appalachian ballads. "Achtung Baby" burrowed into electronic music. "Zooropa" and "Pop" offered forays into the avant-garde.
"All That You Can't Leave Behind," which won a handful of Grammys, was heralded as a return to "classic" U2, but Bono, Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton would probably tell you there is no such thing. Is "classic" U2 "I Will Follow"? "New Year's Day"? "One Tree Hill"? "The Fly"? The band has grown and changed.
Still, even they're more than pleased with "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." Bono has called it the group's best since "Achtung," which is usually ranked first or second in the U2 pantheon.
The album explores a number of themes. Some songs, most notably "One Step Closer," look at the relationship between fathers and sons (and life and death); Bono's father died three years ago.
The group's political activism comes out in "Love and Peace or Else" and "City of Blinding Lights." And then there's the single "Vertigo," which just blasts away.
Most reviewers agree with Bono's assessment. Rolling Stone gave the album four stars (out of five); Newsweek said the band was "at the top of its game."
Those who dislike the record, such as a number of contributors to the UK review site www.albumvote.co.uk, disapprove of the soft sound on several songs. One person said "Dismantle" was "hardly rocking." Another suggested Rick Rubin should be producing the band (Steve Lillywhite and Brian Eno handled the production on "Dismantle"), which sounds like a great idea regardless of what you think of "Dismantle."
If Rubin does take the reins for a future U2 CD, I hope he suggests a better title.
"How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" (Interscope) comes out Tuesday.
On screen
Everybody's favorite resident of Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob SquarePants, finally gets his own movie, called -- naturally -- "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie." In the film, SpongeBob and buddy Patrick have to go after King Neptune's crown. It opens Friday."National Treasure" stars Nicolas Cage as an adventurer who determines an ancient mystery is encoded on the back of the Declaration of Independence. If this sounds like Indiana Jones meets "The Da Vinci Code," you're in the ballpark. Opens Friday.On the tube
U2 drops by "Saturday Night Live" to promote "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." 11:30 p.m. ET Saturday, NBC.The latest Hallmark Hall of Fame production, "Back When We Were Grownups," stars Peter Fonda and Blythe Danner in a movie version of an Anne Tyler novel. The plot concerns a widow who wonders what her life would have been like had she married an old flame. 9 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS.Sound waves
"Lovely Runs Both Ways" (Rounder), the new album from Alison Krauss and Union Station, comes out Tuesday.Gwen Stefani tries the solo life with "Love, Angel, Music, Baby" (Interscope). The album comes out Tuesday.Paging readers
Jonathan Kellerman's new book, "Twisted" (Ballantine), is due Tuesday."Whiteout" (Dutton), the new novel from spy specialist Ken Follett, comes out Tuesday. His topic this time around: bioterrorism.Tony Hillerman's new book, "Skeleton Man" (HarperCollins), starring Joe Leaphart, comes out Tuesday.Video center
If you've got nothing to watch, you may as well watch nothing -- as in "Seinfeld," the alleged "show about nothing" that ended up being about pretty much everything from Junior Mints to birth control. DVDs of seasons 1-3 (Columbia Tri-Star) come out Tuesday. 
