Play the album from start to finish
Listen for the contrast between urgency and reflection
Focus on the political themes and personal confessions
Compare the production to U2’s earlier work
Note the prominence of guitar-driven arrangements
Pay attention to the vocal delivery and lyrical repetition
Identify the singles and their role in the album’s structure
Track the shifts in mood across the tracklist
Consider the album’s place in U2’s 2000s output
Revisit the closing tracks for the album’s emotional arc