U2: Anthems

Holding the job of stadium-rock giants hasn't curbed these Irish icons' sense of adventure. Core elements remain—The Edge's distinctive guitar sound shifting from spangled web to blaring siren; Bono's declamatory vocals calling out injustice and wrapping the world in a bearhug. Yet U2 have shape-shifted steadily across their long career, absorbing such new elements as glossy electronic grooves and hard rock grit that further amplify their appeal.