U2 have spent the last 20 years getting to something they can`t leave behind. From the hoarse cries of their political and religious messages in the early eighties through their arena-rock grandeur and finally their leanings towards dance-pop, they have returned with material that fuses all their best-known elements; and more than anything, a great rock record.

Throughout the record, you`ll get the feeling that this veteran supergroup, clad in its best pair of well-worn jeans, is easing itself on the couch next to you, to talk of love, peace, perseverance, pain and moments you can`t get out of. Produced by the team of Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, the same blokes that made some of U2`s best stuff,

Beautiful Day, the first single to spin off the album, inaugurates the proceedings, and it`s probably U2`s strongest anthem since Where The Streets Have No Name. The hope that comes across so strongly on Stuck In A Moment You Can`t Get Out Of (that`s the second long name on this record) is mirrored in the proud Walk On, dedicated to the iron determination of Aung San Suu Kyi, still under house arrest in Burma.

The soulful Kite is worth a mention, with its soaring, gripping description of a relationship fraying at the edges. The quiet simplicity of In A Little While is another typically cloying U2 pop tune, fashioned around The Edge`s minimalist playing. The cynical Peace On Earth and the up-beatWhen I Look At The World are quintessential Bono, with an emotional urgency that few can parallel.

All That You Can`t Leave Behind is like a distillate of all of U2`s work, and it`s passionate and graceful enough to leave an echo long after the record has run through its 50 or so minutes. That`s something for a band that`s celebrating its twentieth anniversary.