Description
Songs of Innocence is the thirteenth studio album by the Irish rock band U2, released on Island Records in September 2014. The album was recorded at various studios in the UK and the US during five years, 2009–2014.
September 9th, 2014 and Apple’s iTunes subscribers (estimated to be about 500 million) found themselves with the new U2 album ‘Songs Of Innocence’ whether they wanted it or not. The backlash was immediate and massive and Apple was forced to allow people to uninstall the album. Over a month later, the album gets a physical release with new cover art, and on the deluxe edition, 3 new songs, and 8 acoustic or alternate versions. Unfortunately, the earlier snafu caused loads of people to condemn the album and U2 as desperate with hardly anyone discussing the music. Fortunately for fans, the album is rather good, better than ‘No Line On The Horizon’ and at least as good as albums like ‘All You Can’t Leave Behind’ or ‘How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb’. While not a dramatic reinvention, this finds them mining their best bits from the past to very good effect. Supposedly their most personal and produced mainly by Danger Mouse (one of my favorite producers), with additional production by Flood, Ryan Tedder, Declan Gaffney, and Paul Epworth, it has synth and light Hip hop flourishes, similar to ‘Pop’ or ‘Zooropa’.
After the ambient lull that was their previous album, we get rockers like the anthemic punk/glam rock-tinged «The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)», the gently jangling «Iris (Hold Me Close)» which builds and builds (about Bono’s mother who died when he was 14), the stomping «Volcano» with a chorale bridge (and Bono declaring “You and I are rock & roll” – should please fans of «Beautiful Day»), and «Raised By Wolves» (punctuated by explosive bursts, and lyrics touching on violence in Dublin in the 70s). «Every Breaking Wave» is a gently pulsing song similar to «With Or Without You» but not as affecting. «California (There Is No End To Love)» has an intro that sounds like The Beach Boys harmonizing before breaking into a typical U2 rocker. The tender ballad «Song For Someone» finds Bono pleading “If there is a dark that we shouldn’t doubt, then there’s a light don’t let it go out”. «Cedarwood Road» features stuttering and sawing guitar work from The Edge, and pays homage to Bono’s childhood address – so far, so personal. The fuzzy groovy synth ballad «Sleep Like A Baby Tonight» (with a tortured Bono falsetto section) reminds me a bit of «Wake Up Dead Man» from ‘Pop’, the prettiness contrasting the dark lyrics – about a pedophile priest. «This Is Where You Can Reach Me» is disco-tinged rock with a haunting feel. «The Troubles» is an atmospheric string-swept ballad with a pained Bono handling the verses, Lykke Li singing the chorus, and an uncanny resemblance to Duran Duran’s «Come Undone».
The deluxe edition features the rocker «Lucifer’s Hands» (just average, really), and the incredible «The Crystal Ballroom» (with a catchy singalong chorus, much better), acoustic versions of «Every Breaking Wave», «California (There Is No End To Love)», «Raised By Wolves», «Song For Someone», busker version of «The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)» (I can actually imagine someone doing this on the London Underground), and alternative versions of «The Troubles» (alternate vocals from Bono, and no Lykke Li), and «Sleep Like A Baby Tonight» (basically alternate vocals from Bono and more fuzziness from The Edge), and hidden at the end is the synth rocker «Invisible» – new to the album but actually released earlier in the year.
Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I am very glad Songs of Innocence showed up
on my phone. [Shawn McLaughlin, Christian Musician Magazine, November/December 2014]
Amazingly, it’s been over five years since the previous U2 studio album. There’s been the anniversary re-issue of ‘Achtung Baby’ since then, but apart from a couple of downloadable singles, nothing else. For those of us long-time fans, ‘Songs Of Innocence’ comes as a relief, but more than that, it seems like a call-to-arms: an act of rebellion. The journalist Paulo Hewitt once reminisced about how, as a teenager, he’d walked into a record store to buy The Jam’s debut single. The girl serving almost threw his purchase at him in disgust: despite their mod threads, The Jam were associated with the new punk rock movement at the time which was causing tabloid outrage. Hewitt remembered how good it felt to partake in such subversive cultural activity as buying a pop record. Nowadays, admitting to purchasing and enjoying U2 product seems to come with similarly outrageous connotations. The group which once had such great crossover appeal and critical respect is now the band the cynics love to hate. Ill-informed claims of tax-evasion, dislike of ‘do-gooding’ in the third world by the band’s singer Bono, or just backlash against their enormous worldwide success, U2 have become uncool on almost every level. That was before the decision to give away the album for free to half-a-billion iTunes consumers a month before the official album release. The hysteria which greeted such a gift, with allegations that the recipients had been “cursed”, highlights how radical and contrary it is just to engage with ‘Songs Of Innocence’. Therefore, whilst I could comment on how a charismatic frontman is in great voice, or how the rhythm section of Clayton and Mullen is about as perfect as any could be, this record (in context) is all about how it makes the listener feel. Clearly, to listen to U2 at all is now a crime to some. What is it that makes listening such an illicit activity? What will be discovered there? ‘Songs Of Innocence’ is a collection of sounds which are familiar to anyone who has dared to checkout their last two long-players; sounds which also carry a hint of the debut, ‘Boy’. Moreover, lyrically, many of the themes hark back to their days starting out as a new group in new wave Dublin. Apparently, Bono wondered why anyone would want another U2 record – it led to them reflecting on why they wanted to be a band, back then. Hence, amongst Kraftwerk, Clash and Ramones’ influences, we have songs about punk being like a religious experience for them – and songs about religious experiences at the start of their Christian journey. Hints of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Killers and Coldplay help provide a contemporary sheen, but with «Cedarwood Road», again we have insight into how Bono fledgingly studied the Bible at a teenage friend’s house, at number five. With several tracks jostling for the position of standout, «Song For Someone» – a lament and a psalm of praise to Jesus – is notable for many reasons, not least the twist in the final verse with the singer casting himself as Judas: “If there is a kiss I stole from your mouth.” ‘Songs Of Innocence’ is a punk record in the truest sense of the word. It will be pilloried by many, jealous that U2 show no signs of stopping; or just not caring for the cover-art which, on first-inspection, appears homo-erotic but actually shows Mullen embracing his own son, resplendent with crucifix. Likewise, the music: listen without prejudice. [John Cheek, Cross Rhythms, October 2014]
> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/songs-of-innocence/1444749940)
CD tracklist:
01. The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)
02. Every Breaking Wave
03. California (There Is No End To Love)
04. Song For Someone
05. Iris (Hold Me Close)
06. Volcano
07. Raised By Wolves
08. Cedarwood Road
09. Sleep Like A Baby Tonight
10. This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now
11. The Troubles
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl double LP, and CD by Island Records.
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