Editing Rattle and Hum (section)

===Album===
{{Music ratings
| title = Professional album ratings (1988)
| rev1 = ''[[The Arizona Republic]]''
| rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name="az-rep"/>
| rev2 = ''[[Austin American-Statesman]]''
| rev2score = {{rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite news|title=U2 twice as good on double album|newspaper=[[Austin American-Statesman]]|first=Michael|last=MacCambridge|date=20 October 1988|page=C3}}</ref> 
| rev3= ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]''
| rev3score = {{Rating|3|4}}<ref>{{cite news|last=McLeese|first=Don|date=17 October 1988|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3909656.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214202808/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3909656.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 February 2018|title=Story of U2 album incomplete without film|newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|access-date=14 February 2018|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]''
| rev4score = {{rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="cin-enq"/>
| rev5 = [[Knight Ridder|Knight-Ridder News]]
| rev5score = {{rating|2|4}}<ref name="kn-rid-rev"/>
| rev6 = ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
| rev6score = {{Rating|4|4}}<ref name="latimes"/>
| rev7 = ''[[New York Daily News]]''
| rev7score = {{rating|2.5|4}}<ref name="nydn-rev"/>
| rev8 = ''[[NME]]''
| rev8score = 8/10<ref name="Jobling"/>
| rev9 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev9score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref name="RS-rev"/>
| rev10 = ''[[The Village Voice]]''
| rev10score = B+<ref name="Christgau"/>
}}
The album divided critics when it was released in 1988.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hilburn|first=Robert|date=20 November 1988|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-11-20-ca-441-story.html|title=The First Temptation of U2|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|at=sec. Calendar, pp. 80, 86|access-date=27 August 2015}}</ref> Some reviewers panned it, feeling that U2 were making a deliberate and pretentious attempt at rock and roll renown.<ref name="Jobling"/> [[Jon Pareles]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called it a "mess" that exuded "sincere egomania", and said the "band's self-importance got in the way" of their ambition for the album. He said it was plagued by the group's "attempts to grab every mantle in the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame|Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame]]" and that each one was "embarrassing in a different way".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/16/arts/recordings-when-self-importance-interferes-with-the-music.html|title=When Self-Importance Interferes With the Music|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|first=Jon|last=Pareles|author-link=Jon Pareles|date=16 October 1988|page=H31|access-date=22 March 2021}}</ref> [[David Stubbs]] of ''[[Melody Maker]]'' said that ''Rattle and Hum'' "lacks cohesion" and "is musically, stylistically confused". He criticised Bono's "reverential nods to the great white heroes of rock" and the band's "homages to the bluesmen and gospel greats".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/u2-irattle-and-humi-island|title=The Lord's Prayer|magazine=[[Melody Maker]]|first=David|last=Stubbs|author-link=David Stubbs|date=15 October 1988|volume=64|issue=42|page=37|access-date=23 March 2021}}</ref> Thom Duffy of the ''[[Orlando Sentinel]]'' said that ''Rattle and Hum'' is "greatly in need of a focal point" and "often sounds like an over-reaching attempt to claim chunks of pop history as [U2's] own story". He believed the group had "merely celebrated its own ascension into the pop history books... and little more".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1988-11-04-0080120227-story.html|title=U2's sprawling 'Rattle and Hum' buzzes with self-congratulation|newspaper=[[Orlando Sentinel]]|first=Thom|last=Duffy|date=4 November 1988|page=E-8|access-date=23 March 2021}}</ref> Tom Carson from ''[[The Village Voice]]'' called it an "awful record" by "almost any rock-and-roll fan's standards", and said the group's failure did not "sound attributable to pretensions so much as to monumental know-nothingism".<ref>{{cite news|title=Elvis is Alive!?|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|first=Tom|last=Carson|date=15 November 1988|volume=33|issue=46|page=75}}</ref> Fellow ''Village Voice'' critic [[Robert Christgau]] was more complimentary, calling the record "looser and faster than anything they've recorded since their first live mini-LP".<ref name="Christgau">{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=22 November 1988|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv1188-88.php|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|location=New York|access-date=27 August 2015}}</ref> [[David Browne (journalist)|David Browne]] of the ''[[New York Daily News]]'' said the album's "scope and disjointedness" recalled double albums such as ''[[Exile on Main St.]]'' or ''[[The Beatles (album)|The Beatles]]'', but that until it aged as well as those records, "'Rattle and Hum' just prattles and numbs".<ref name="nydn-rev">{{cite news|title=U2 Prattles On|newspaper=[[New York Daily News]]|first=David|last=Browne|author-link=David Browne (journalist)|date=9 October 1988|at=sec. City Lights, p. 27}}</ref> Andrew Means of ''[[The Arizona Republic]]'' thought the album was "no substitute" for the "exhilaration and conviction" of the Joshua Tree Tour. He believed that Bono's passion on record was not "quite as mesmerizing as it is on stage" and that the group's new material did not "add significantly" to their message or image.<ref name="az-rep">{{cite news|title=Overshadowed by 'The Joshua Tree'|newspaper=[[The Arizona Republic]]|first=Andrew|last=Means|date=25 October 1988|pages=B6–B7}}</ref> Lynden Barber of ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' called it "an ambitious project, and the result is almost inevitably a mixed bag". He lamented the songs that presented the band's Christianity "as a fait accompli", as well as their proclivity for "jams around a couple of chords substituting themselves for considered song-writing".<ref>{{cite news|title=Lost amid the certainties|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|first=Lynden|last=Barber|date=25 October 1988|page=22}}</ref> A reviewer for [[Knight Ridder|Knight-Ridder News]] said, "this double-album boondoggle manages to make the band sound like quintessential overreachers".<ref name="kn-rid-rev">{{cite news|title=In the Record Store|newspaper=[[Daily Times-Advocate|Times-Advocate]]|agency=[[Knight Ridder|Knight-Ridder News]]|date=3 November 1988|at=sec. North County magazine, p. 27}}</ref>

Writing in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', [[Anthony DeCurtis]] said that the record succeeded at capping U2's rise to stardom "on a raucous, celebratory note", finding it to be "most enjoyable when the band relaxes and allows itself to stretch without self-consciously reaching for the stars". DeCurtis ultimately deemed it a "tad calculated in its supposed spontaneity" and said it demonstrated "U2's force but devot[ed] too little attention to the band's vision".<ref name="RS-rev">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/rattle-and-hum-19881117|title=U2's American Curtain Call|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|last=DeCurtis|first=Anthony|author-link=Anthony DeCurtis|date=17 November 1988|access-date=10 August 2011|issue=539|page=149}}</ref> In a rave review for the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', [[Robert Hilburn]] called ''Rattle and Hum'' a "frequently remarkable album" that more than matched ''The Joshua Tree'', and he credited U2 for reviving the "idealism and craft of [rock's] finest moments".<ref name="latimes">{{cite news|last=Hilburn|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Hilburn|date=9 October 1988|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-10-09-ca-5251-story.html|title=U2 Embraces the Roots of Rock|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|at=sec. Calendar, pp. 66, 68|access-date=30 August 2015}}</ref> [[J. D. Considine]] of ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'' said that the album's songs "draw upon every musical strength U2 has developed over the years" and that the "sheer muscular physicality of its sound" set ''Rattle and Hum'' apart from its predecessors. He said that despite the record being "occasionally pretentious", the group "never seems out of its depth" amongst the guest artists.<ref>{{cite news|title='Rattle and Hum': The Gospel According to U2|newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|first=J. D.|last=Considine|author-link=J. D. Considine|date=16 October 1988|pages=1M, 8M}}</ref> [[Jay Cocks]] of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' said, "U2 has never sounded better or bolder", calling ''Rattle and Hum'': "the best live rock album ever made. The record, in every sense, of their lives".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,968983,00.html|title=Music: U2 Explores America|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|first=Jay|last=Cocks|author-link=Jay Cocks|date=21 November 1988|volume=132|issue=21|pages=146+|access-date=23 March 2021}}</ref> ''[[Hot Press]]'' reviewer [[Bill Graham (author)|Bill Graham]] said it was U2's "most ambitious record" yet,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.hotpress.com/music/rattle-and-hum-551874|title=Shake, Rattle and Hum|magazine=[[Hot Press]]|first=Bill|last=Graham|author-link=Bill Graham (author)|volume=12|issue=20|date=20 October 1988|access-date=23 March 2021}}</ref> while John Mackie of ''[[The Vancouver Sun]]'' said it "should consolidate the band's stature as [[the Beatles]] of the late '80s".<ref>{{cite news|title=U2's new album confirms them as Beatles of the '80s|newspaper=[[The Vancouver Sun]]|first=John|last=Mackie|date=8 October 1988|page=E12}}</ref> Cliff Radel of ''[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]'' said that ''Rattle and Hum'' "proves the achievements of the band's previous album... were no accident", and that it demonstrated the group's ability to create "highly charged songs in the studio and on stage".<ref name="cin-enq">{{cite news|title=U2 settling score for Lennon|newspaper=[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]|first=Cliff|last=Radel|date=8 October 1988|page=D1}}</ref> In the UK, Robin Denselow of ''[[The Guardian]]'' said that "the whole sounds far greater than the sum of the decidedly variable parts". The review found the cover songs to be the weakest material but judged ''Rattle and Hum'' overall to be a "solid, versatile piece of work" that "leaves much of the best until last".<ref>{{cite news|title=A claim to the Hall of Fame|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|first=Robin|last=Denselow|date=7 October 1988|page=33}}</ref> Stuart Baillie of ''[[NME]]'' gave it a positive 8/10 review.<ref name="Jobling">{{cite book|last=Jobling|first=John|year=2014|pages=195–197|title=U2: The Definitive Biography|publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]]|isbn=978-1-250-02790-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xKFzAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA196|access-date=30 August 2015}}</ref> Contentiously, his review replaced a much more negative 4/10 review by Mark Sinker, in which he described it as "the worst album by a major band in years". It was pulled by ''NME'' editor Alan Lewis, as it was feared that criticism of U2 would affect the magazine's circulation;<ref name="NMEreview">{{cite magazine|title=How the West Was Won|magazine=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]] |first=Stephen|last=Dalton|date=October 2003|issue=77}}</ref> Sinker resigned in protest.<ref name="Jobling"/>

At the end of 1988, ''Rattle and Hum'' was voted the 21st-best album of the year in the [[Pazz & Jop]], an annual poll of American critics published by ''The Village Voice''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres88.php|title=1988 Pazz & Jop: Dancing on a Logjam: Singles rool in a world up for grabs: The 15th (or 16th) annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|date=28 February 1989|first=Robert|last=Christgau|author-link=Robert Christgau|access-date=23 March 2021}}</ref> In other critics' lists of the year's top albums, it was ranked number one by ''[[HUMO]]'', second by the ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''Hot Press'', 17th by ''[[OOR]]'', 23rd by ''[[NME]]'', and 47th by ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]''.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}