 After nine months of work, the band had an album's worth of material ready for release, but they were not satisfied with the results; drummer Larry Mullen Jr. said that the songs "had no magic".The group subsequently enlisted Steve Lillywhite to take over as producer in Dublin in January 2004.Lillywhite, along with his assistant Jacknife Lee, spent six months with the band reworking songs and encouraging better performances.