Looking for a more hard-hitting sound than that of their previous album, U2 began recording How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in February 2003 with Thomas. After nine months of work, the band had an album's worth of material ready for release, but they were not satisfied with the results. The group subsequently enlisted Lillywhite to take over as producer in Dublin in January 2004. Lillywhite, along with his assistant Lee, spent six months with the band reworking songs and encouraging better performances. U2 lead singer Bono described the album as "our first rock album. It's taken us twenty years or whatever it is, but this is our first rock album." In terms of thematic, the record touches on life, death, love, war, faith, and family, the album spawned four singles "Vertigo", "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own", "City Of Blinding Lights", & "All Because Of You".
According to guitarist the Edge said the group felt it was the appropriate moment to explore their early musical inspirations. U2's lead vocalist Bono said in a 2005 interview, "I went back and listened to all the music that made me want to be in a band, right from the Buzzcocks, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Echo & The Bunnymen, all that stuff. And what was interesting is, that was what a lot of people in bands now are listening to anyway. So in a funny way, it made us completely contemporary." U2 also wanted to make a concerted effort to revisit the same creative approach from their formative years: the ethos of the band members playing together in a room, with just guitar, bass, and drums. The Edge said: "The limitations that that creates are an interesting challenge because you have to do it with just those instruments, and dynamics become a hugely important part of the creative process.
The first sessions started with Chris Thomas, who had worked on some of their favourite records, including early works by Roxy Music and Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols by Sex Pistols, but in retrospect, the group struggled with Thomas at the helm. They had begun with a lot of basic song ideas that were "out of focus", which they sensed Thomas was not accustomed to when working with musicians.
So the group brought in their long-time producer Steve Lillywhite to mediate the disagreement. After they played him the album, Lillywhite assessed that it felt like "it had the weight of the world on its shoulders. It certainly wasn't any fun." After lengthy discussions, Bono and the Edge were convinced that the album needed more work. Bono thought their songs were good but admitted "good won't bring you to tears or make you want to leave your house and tour for a year". Without making any firm decision on the album's producer, the group decided to undertake recording sessions with Lillywhite and see where it led them.
After nine months of work, the band had completed an album's worth of songs. In October 2003, they met in Dublin to review their work. Bono and the Edge believed it was good enough to release; Bono said, "All we needed was the assent of the politburo and the record would have been out for Christmas." Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr., however, disagreed with their bandmates and voted against releasing the record. Mullen said that the songs "had no magic", while Clayton said, "When it comes to signing off on a project, you ask questions like, 'Have we got a first single to open the campaign?' Frankly, we were missing more than just a first single." Clayton and Mullen also had a nagging feeling that All That You Can't Leave Behind had been overpraised, and they considered "Beautiful Day" to be its only hit single. Clayton thought that if U2's goal was to continue to be the world's biggest band, they needed three or four hits from their album that could attract new fans.
So the band began recording with Lillywhite and his assistant Jacknife Lee in Dublin in January 2004. The Edge says that the group quickly fell into a much more organic creative process with Lillywhite, with he and Lee reworking songs and encouraging better performances from the band. Lillywhite and Lee ultimately worked with the band for six months. Several other producers received credits on the album, including Lanois, Brian Eno, Flood, Carl Glanville, and Nellee Hooper; Bono acknowledged that the involvement of multiple producers affected the record's "sonic cohesion".
The composition of the album tends to be more stripped down rock and pop sound. It's very much a guitar record. Tracks such as "Vertigo", "Love and Peace", "City of Blinding Lights", "All Because of You", all pretty up, rocky tunes. A lot of them are a kick-back to our very early days, so it's like with each year we have gathered a little bit more and this is what we are now."
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