#315Albums is a list of 315 albums that appear on both the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, as well as the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die book, edited by Robert Dimery. At its best, it is a representation of some of the greatest music ever released; at its worst, it is a journey through the history of music that the majority see as important, influential, and/or relevant. If nothing else, these albums are worth experiencing at least once to get a better understanding of music, which is why we are working to complete all #315Albums.


No. 018

“[All That You Can’t Leave Behind is] U2’s third masterpiece.”

Artist: U2
Album: All That You Can’t Leave Behind
Released: 2000
Label: Island
Rolling Stones Ranking: 280

This albums starts out fantastic, with the one-two punch of “Beautiful Day” and “Stuck In a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of”. These two songs are staples of my high school days, and they both hold up perfectly today. There were two other singles released from this album – “Elevation” and “Walk On” – but I honestly don’t think I’ve ever heard those two before. The rest of the album, though strong, doesn’t really stand out to me at all. The biggest takeaway from this album is that I will be switching up the way I handle the random album selection. If the random number generator selects an artist or band that has multiple releases on the list, I will automatically move to the oldest unfinished album on the list. This will allow me to see the progression of a band more clearly, which is also important. So even if All That You Can’t Leave Behind didn’t light my world on fire, I did learn something from it, and enjoyed the hell out of a couple songs, so that makes it all worthwhile!

Cinefessions’ #315Albums Rating: 65%

Image and quote courtesy of Rolling Stone Magazine.