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U2 Songs of Innocence Album Release on iTunes - A Review - MatthiasV - 15-09-2014
First off, Iâll say this - for a band to release their album for free to iTunes subscribers is just short of awesome. Either by the band or by Apple, pushing it on ALL customers is arrogant. Personally Iâm thankful! But there are A LOT of U2 haters out there, and I can only imagine how pissed they were when a âU2 albumâ magically showed up on their iDevice/PC/Mac. Absolutely arrogantly awesome (AAA) I call it. I mean, lets not hope this doesnât catch on. If an âAkonâ or âBeyonceâ album magically shows up, Iâm going to be pissed. Final thought on that, I smell a stupid lawsuit coming. I can easily see a civil law suit on Apple for âpushing unwanted material to your deviceâ. And technically they didnât do that, you still have to download it, but you can stream it and it shows up in your library automagically.
Arrogantly I claim that title: âBest U2 fan you know personallyâ. I jest - kinda. These guys are as much of a mainstay in my life as the Beatles are. Maybe more, but only by a little. Little unknown factoid about my life: ALL, every, single, car accident Iâve ever had, I was listening to U2. Curiously enough âMysterious Waysâ (in some incarnation) was playing. Off topic a bit, but my history with U2 trumps a lot of peopleâs, still, 22 years later. Though my U2 music collection has slowed over the years it is still one of the best out there. I can say that with some sort of authority because Iâve researched such things. <â <shocker> Though my U2 music collection isnât unheard of, what I have are some (apparently) real rarities all together.
That all said, their latest album almost 30 years of making music together, is⦠fantastic. Hereâs my opinion whyâ¦
U2 is a band that does not repeat themselves, despite having their sound regress with âAll You Canât Leave Behindâ, we were all relieved to hear a [now] classic U2 sound again. Instant classics aside (i.e. Beautiful Day, Walk On, Elevation, etc.), the album as a whole was âgoodâ. I can explain - but I wonât here. Here they didnât repeat themselves despite the fact that I really wanted to hear another âNo Line on the Horizonâ (their previous album).
What they did was keep to an unwritten tradition only a handful of us fans have noticed. Their albums go in â3âsâ. After the 3rd album they tend to shift tone/style. Whether itâs on purpose or progression, itâs true.
1. Boy
2. October
3. War
1. Unforgettable Fire
2. Joshua Tree
3. Rattle & Hum
1. Achtung Baby
2. Zooropa
3. Pop
1. All That You Canât Leave Behind (ATYCLB)
2. How to Dismantle an Atom Bomb (HTDAAB)
3. No Line on the Horizon (NLOTH)
It makes sense they switch gears up, and thatâs ok. In fact âSongsâ¦â is more or less something I wanted U2 to do for a while now, do an album without a real theme, do an album of singles. Something the Beatles did brilliantly. Stop with the marathon of massive emotions and political agendas and just do an album of singles. I really wanted this ever since I heard their song âWindow In the Skyâ, which is still one of the best written U2 songs EVER. Great song too. If you need audio proof Bono and company believe in Christ/God, there it is.
Here I think they finally did just that, a simple album of great music, if not âU2â music. Rather itâs U2 just playing music. And with only the experience a great band like U2 can do, they do it extremely well. I liken this album to the Beatles attempt to do this, which became eventually, âThe White Albumâ (i.e. their only self titled album: âThe Beatlesâ, we call it the White Album). The album is discombobulated, this creates IMO, an abrasive listening experience unheard of for a âU2 albumâ. I think that was my first gut reaction, and I was taken back. If you skip through the album without listening to it, it doesnât flow like a U2 album generally does. BUT you can pick any track and listen to it on its own and enjoy it. One other thing that is missing is that âclassic U2 soundâ. THIS is probably the biggest gap you hear, no U2 sound, but no annoying techno beats to fill the gap. Still you listen to it and enjoy the music. Think about that? Thatâs the hallmark of a good album! I think the *only* U2 sounding song is the song âIrisâ, of course I like this song. I also think Joseph Arthur is singing backup, which is freaking awesome, (I love Joseph Arthur). I really like the song âThis is Where You Can Reach Me Nowâ for really stupid âU2â reasons. I wonât go into it. But it is a new, raw yet polished, sound for them, personally I welcome that. While Iâm being honest, I do think their last album NLOTH was just short of brilliant, and they should have retired on that album, it was fitting for them. I donât see them putting out another album, maybe Iâm wrong. I kinda view this album as them screwing around, and I like it.
So yeah, itâs a great album. U2 has done it again. Itâs a deep U2 album, with deep cuts, deep lyrics, and just so much polish it deliberately sounds raw. But if you really listen to it, you can literally SEE how logical, calculating, and amazing the album is. Itâs raw, but itâs not, every note was done on purpose, with control, something U2 never had previously. Itâs a 50 year old trying to sing âBoyâ again. But a 50 year old canât sing like a teenager, it always comes out with experience. I respect that.
âSongs of Innocenceâ is like viewing an abstract painting that you really donât like, maybe, but you canât take your eyes off of it. You end up buying a print of it on the way out of the museum. In the art world weâd say thatâs because the artist though showing abstract, he/she has actually calculated every move.
This album will grow on you, and I think become one of the best U2 albums out there. Itâs fresh, and itâs just a band 30+ years in the making, and still putting out great music. I canât think of a single band that has done that. Musicians yeah, only a few, band, no.
Bonus thoughts:
âVolcanoâ, great song, itâs a rip off (or a tribute?) to âThe Black Keysâ sound made popular in two of their songs âLonely Boyâ and or âGold on the Ceilingâ, great songs BTW (check em out). Iâm sorry but U2 completely ripped off the concept of those songs. Itâs not a direct ârip offâ but itâs borrowing that sound. This reminds me of a little dirty secret of U2 Iâve not seen, heard, read, anywhere - which I will not expose here. Yeah, Iâm not wrong with this. If Iâd show you, youâd agree. If I did a video explaining and showing this, with the proper promotion it could go viral. :nod:
Thanks for reading the musings of this lifelong U2 fan.
U2 Songs of Innocence Album Release on iTunes - A Review - CRAZY-HORSE - 16-09-2014
yeh whatever.....
U2 ARE the most overrated band of the last 35yrs....followed closely by Muse,Radiohead,Mumford & Sons and Coldplay
and im surprised the rest of the guys can fit in the studio with Bono's ego!
now,
dont reply and say i dont understand them etc etc...
i own "war","boy","october","joshua tree","unforgettable fire" on cassette from back in the day, also own "rattle and hum" and "all that you cant leave behind" on cd...
i was a fan back in the day(80s,early 90s) but come on, theyre really not that songwriters...very average....!
lucky to become popular, thanks mainly to the whole "live aid" thing with the social consciousness 1980s, if it werent for that no-one would give a crap about U2.
the iTunes 'freebie' is a very good gimmick....but a gimmick nonetheless, but cudo's for coming up with that idea 10/10.
U2 Songs of Innocence Album Release on iTunes - A Review - Jerome - 16-09-2014
Heard a couple of tracks on the radio. Sorry, but they are just repeating themselves. And as for releasing the album for free??? They got paid 100million dollars. U2 are well past their prime (The Joshua Tree), the only album of theirs I like with the exception of a couple of tracks from 'Rattle and Hum'. The rest is just average pop. And as musicians, they are pretty average IMO. They still have not ventured beyond the three minute pop song.
U2 Songs of Innocence Album Release on iTunes - A Review - SteveO - 16-09-2014
They are a very good live band ...case closed IMHO !
U2 Songs of Innocence Album Release on iTunes - A Review - Kino - 18-09-2014
CRAZY-HORSE Wrote:yeh whatever.....
U2 ARE the most overrated band of the last 35yrs....followed closely by Muse,Radiohead,Mumford & Sons and Coldplay
and im surprised the rest of the guys can fit in the studio with Bono's ego!
I agree 110%.
Nice review. Really insightful as I haven't even listened to the new songs yet haha.
U2 Songs of Innocence Album Release on iTunes - A Review - CRAZY-HORSE - 18-09-2014
Jerome Wrote:Heard a couple of tracks on the radio. Sorry, but they are just repeating themselves. And as for releasing the album for free??? They got paid 100million dollars. U2 are well past their prime (The Joshua Tree), the only album of theirs I like with the exception of a couple of tracks from 'Rattle and Hum'. The rest is just average pop. And as musicians, they are pretty average IMO. They still have not ventured beyond the three minute pop song.
100 million dollars eh?....thats more than theyd make from sales of the album if it spent a year at #1 all over the world i'd guess?
average muso's...i agree totally with you there....
they had a unique sound when they first arrived on the scene but failed to develop or improve at all IMO also...
Joshua Tree, i like probably half that album,the other half i dont like which is the same as all the other ones i mentioned above...
i did think Rattle & Hum was pretty good though..."all i want is you","desire","angel of harlem","van demons land", even their cover of "helter skelter" wasnt too bad.
but yeh,overall, agree with you J-Man
U2 Songs of Innocence Album Release on iTunes - A Review - Jerome - 18-09-2014
Quite a backlash on the WWW from musicians all over condemning the 'free' release to Apple users. They feel it's undermining the value of music. Does not bug me either way but I see their point. BTW when are they going to spend some money on decent album artwork? The last few album covers have been appalling.
U2 Songs of Innocence Album Release on iTunes - A Review - CRAZY-HORSE - 18-09-2014
and when are they going to pay their taxes in Ireland instead of laundering it to off-shore islands?
so much for Bono's "holier-than-thou" attitude.
U2 Songs of Innocence Album Release on iTunes - A Review - muzicbox - 25-09-2014
They are a piece of history never the less, it's nice to kick back and listen to oldies once in a while. A free album never hurt anyone anyway so why care if they got paid $100m.
U2 Songs of Innocence Album Release on iTunes - A Review - CRAZY-HORSE - 25-09-2014
why care....?
because Bono makes out like "we did this for the fans"...wrong!
he wouldnt have given it to itunes if they didnt pay him for it!!!!!