"Elevation" was inspired by a sound that guitarist the Edge achieved from a vintage effects unit when playing his Gibson SG guitar through a Fender Bassman amplifier.

[1] Co-producer Daniel Lanois, who had brought the unit to the studio, called it his "secret weapon", saying: "It's like a distortion pedal that has a warp, or a tone control, built on.

[1] For the heavily distorted sound of the song's main guitar riff, the Edge played his instrument through a 1970s Hiwatt amplifier.

[1] The song was mixed at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin by Tim Palmer and was included on their 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind.

The "good U2" join forces with Croft and leave the scene for an unknown place, passing a street with levitating vehicles and a pachyderm (remnants of the "evil U2's" crimes), ending with a Boeing 747-400 flying overhead before fading to black (the plane is also seen at the very beginning of the video).

Shows would traditionally open under the venue house lights with the Influx Mix of "Elevation" playing as the band's intro music.

When reviewing the album, Adam Sweeting from The Guardian praised the song, calling it an "irresistible mix of crude techno and raw guitar-swagger.

"[6] New Zealand Herald editor Russell Baillie called it a "grand surge" noting the song's guitar and vocals which he described as "churning" and "giddy", respectively.

"[8] Along with "Wild Honey" and "Walk On," Entertainment Weekly contributor David Browne called the song "lusty" and stated it has "the charging-horse feel of U2's youth, with a bumpy-noise upgrade courtesy of producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.

"[9] Brent DiCrescenzo of Drowned in Sound gave a negative review of the song, labelling Bono's lyrics as: "slaughters hope with reckless chops of the hackneyed sword.

[14] In 2006, when the NFL asked teams to stop using "Rock and Roll (Part 2)" by Gary Glitter as a touchdown song, the New England Patriots chose to use "Elevation"; they used it for the 2006 through 2009 seasons.