U2 had finished up the wildly successful Elevation Tour with their iconic performance at the Super Bowl and had resoundingly risen to Bono's throw down issued on the eve of the release of All That You Can't Leave Behind; they really had reclaimed the title of biggest band in the world. Bono said, "Wow, if we could bottle this, what mad elixir would it be?" So, the band decamps in a basement in Monte Carlo to start work on a pure rock and roll album. But it doesn't quite go as planned as they end up finishing an entire album with Sex Pistols & Roxy Music producer Chris Thomas that Adam and Larry veto. They then turn to Steve Lillywhite and come away with How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. Tune in for our Part 1 on the backstory, making of and discussion of the first half of this front loaded record.