In retrospect, U2 didn't waver as much as we thought during the Clinton years. For a rock band, they were properly unconventional -- even rebellious. Just as grunge rock began to grumble with angst, Bono stretched into the top of his vocal range on "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)." Later, their spate of "Achtung"/"Zooropa" remixes predated the short-lived electronica boomlet in the States by almost five years. And then, when boy band and Britney fluff infested the pop charts with disposable confections, U2 arrived with "All That You Can't Leave Behind," a no-frills rock celebration of guitars, bass, drums and vocals.

Oddly enough, there are only two tracks -- "Beautiful Day" and "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" -- from "Behind," both trumpeted as a return to their guitar-band roots. (What about "Walk On" and "Elevation," the epitome of the uplifting songs picked for "1990-2000"?) Maybe that's U2's mischievous rebelliousness peeking through serious passion. That would help explain the inclusion of "Miss Sarajevo," their collaboration with Luciano Pavarotti from the "Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1" fake film score album.

But judging from the flashy techno populating the bonus B-sides disc, U2 prefer to hammer home their defiant teenage outlaw side on this half of the collection. "Salome (Zooromancer Remix)" sounds vaguely like Duran Duran's "Save a Prayer" after an extended bit of chilly disco, while "Dirty Day (Junk Mix)" is an odd collage of sound with old pal Brian Eno on keyboards. "Even Better Than the Real Thing (Perfecto Mix)" and "Numb (Gimme Some More Dignity Mix)" are saturated with gospel choir vocals of early '90s house music, and "Discotheque (Hexidecimal Mix)" cribs a crash-and-burn synth echo from the Chemical Brothers' "Setting Sun." Only a few tracks -- in particular the hushed "North and South of the River" and "Your Blue Room" -- tone down the frenzy for more solemn reflection.

While not terribly groundbreaking in terms of danceable electronica, these songs nevertheless are a more honest representation of U2's music from the 1990s. The samples and big beats twist the band's comfortable sound in new directions. The songs aren't always successful, but hearing them now, warts and all, is a welcome diversion from the frustratingly simplified recasting of the band on the A-sides disc.

The main thing "1990-2000" reveals is that U2 seem trapped by the mythology of their own earnestness. This carefully selected A-side collection feels like the members of the band have resigned themselves to the fact that they are best when writing passionate, uplifting songs. With the exception of bonus disc innovations, even their attempts of rebellion -- "Miss Sarajevo's" arias and the glitzy keyboard explosions on "pop" -- feel sanitized, occurring within the constraints of their larger-than-life, iconic image so that the compilation will flow well.

This is interesting because the oddball deviations and experiments on the bonus disc are more valuable than the limited edition availability. It proves that U2's club kid and jaded hipster phases just led them right back to the end of the 1980s -- right back to the type of music that made them successful and famous in the first place. The problem is that now U2 is trying to rewrite that story. Because "1990-2000" is the band's version of themselves as they want to be remembered. Burn those yearbook photos, ignore the wraparound shades and toss out that giant citrus fruit, because the 1990s were simply a wrong turn down an otherwise straightforward path. No harm done, no integrity damaged, right?

Well, no. Unfortunately, "1990-2000" also shows that the earnest U2 of 2002 isn't the same earnest U2 of 1987. The two new songs on the collection, "Electrical Storm" and "The Hands That Built America" (from the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio movie "Gangs of New York") buttress the point. Both are gorgeous: The William Orbit mix of "Storm" swells with choruses that climax in a crash of guitar and Bono's yearning falsetto, and "Hands" screams with cinematic schmaltz and sweeping strings. At the same time, the emotional content of both songs is abstract, tugging at the heartstrings with vague declarations like "Storm's" "Let's see colors that have never been/ Let's go to places no one else has seen." These songs are cookie-cutter U2: Start with guitar chime, cue grand choruses, now end with a big crescendo and universal revelation. Despite how moving they sound, they emerge somewhat hollow and empty.

Even more disheartening, they sound contrived and somewhat complacent, which was what U2's changes in the 1990s were supposed to prevent. The band members said they didn't want to become caricatures of themselves, spitting out the same echoey chords and 4/5 songs album after album. Striking those ironic poses had its price -- it stole the innocence and purity that made the earnestness of their early music so magical and true.

The forced solemnity found on "1990-2000" is a sort of conformity that's antithetical to what the band has always stood for, and negates the limitless freedom of sound that made U2 great in the first place. Pass me some Maybelline and crank up that Bauhaus; I feel like a couple of spins of "Pop" are in order.

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