"Vertigo" means a confused, dizzy state of mind, and the music reflected that. The lyrics were even more confused. It almost sounded like Bono lifted words from old U2 and INXS songs, wrote them down on index cards, shuffled them, and then sang them. At one point, I thought of an aged, over the hill superstar trying to be hip and cool again, like that ill-fated project Neil Young did with Peal Jam.

I’ll listen to it when it comes on the radio again, but I think this song would be better in a concert setting, or on the album with other songs around it for context. Live, it’d work sandwiched between "The Fly" and "Bullet the Blue Sky," or I could see it in between "I Will Follow" and something heavier. But as a single, once the novelty of a new U2 song wears off, I don’t think it’s going to age very well.

This isn’t the first time this has happened to them. Some early Achtung Baby masters were stolen too. Those did leak out. I’ve heard them; it was good stuff but not very cohesive. Most of the songs on that particular master ended up being used as b-sides.

And All That You Can’t Leave Behind was available on Napster for a good couple of weeks before the album’s official release.

Did they ever catch that guy?