REVIEW: Songs of Innocence by U2

Released 9/9/14 through Island Records
Classic Rock/Alternative Rock
Free on iTunes

September 9, 2014 was a day that will live in infamy for legendary alternative rock group U2. At Apple’s conference to unveil the newest iPhone, U2 announced that their newest album, entitled Songs of Innocence, was to be uploaded for free onto every iPhone in the world automatically. Needless to say, many consumers and critics worldwide were quite annoyed by this distribution method, seeing it as an excessive invasion of privacy. So much so, that most have seemingly dismissed the album completely. However, despite this notorious distribution, U2 created a culminating album that embodies their entire career with modern twists, exploring their previous genres of post-punk, ambient music, electronic music and straight-ahead rock.

Songs of Innocence discusses the early lives of the members of the band and how certain events, for better or worse, helped them become the people they are. For example, “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)” discusses the band members sneaking into a Ramones concert together, whereas “Raised by Wolves” discusses how Bono, U2’s lead singer, narrowly missed a devastating explosion in a record store he regularly visited. The album takes a very in-depth look and their past living in Ireland, and the highs and lows that came with it.

Bono’s voice is a massive step up from U2’s albums in the last decade or so, technically speaking. While Bono’s voice has always been touted as one of the best in rock history, his stylistic choices had been quite stagnant in recent albums, such as No Line on the Horizon and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. However, Bono’s singing on Songs of Innocence is reminiscent of his work on earlier albums that earned him his notoriety to begin with. His incredible range, use of falsetto layered with multiple octaves, and emotional strain of his voice all add so much to the lyrics and instrumentals. There is absolutely no denying that Bono poured his heart and soul into these vocals, and that’s exactly why his voice is so vital to the success of this album.

The many influences across a range of genres were apparent throughout this album. They have straight ahead rock songs influenced by The Ramones and The Clash, post-punk songs influenced by Joy Division and Siouxsee and the Banshees, and even electronic dance songs influenced by Kraftwerk and Stone Roses. In a way, U2 were influenced by themselves more than anyone else on this album. They take every genre that they have previously explored over their legendary discography, and reinvented them with modern twists so that these songs feel recognizable to fans, yet still new and fresh to an audience familiar with the band.

Songs of Innocence has many separate segments, each segment chronicling a different genre of music. One segment is modern pop and ambient music, reminiscent of their previous album Joshua Tree. The best song of this segment is Every Breaking Wave, in which U2 creates a beautiful soundscape that lies underneath Bono’s voice and lyrics about facing your fears and moving on, as seen here: Baby, every dog on the street, Knows that we’re in love with defeat, Are we ready to be swept off our feet, And stop chasing every breaking wave.” The song that is not as successful from this portion of the album is “California,” which works well musically, but is lyrically very generic. Another part of the album focuses on their earliest era of working within post-punk. The best song from this section is undoubtedly “Raised by Wolves,” a song that is raw and aggressive in both its lyrical and musical content. When the album touches on the post-punk genre, there are no missteps whatsoever; this is the portion of the album that is the most effective. Conversely, when they delve into basic rock music and electronic music, none of the songs are particularly poor, but they are also not particularly mind-blowing.

Overall, what works best lyrically in Songs of Innocence is when the scope is kept on a smaller, more personal level. When Bono releases all this emotion through his words, it leads to a much more organic and special connection to the audience. What works best for them musically is when, rather than putting intense focus on a particular instrument, they are all performing together as one, cohesive unit. Luckily, they managed to find a great sweet spot where they knew exactly what was working, and utilized it throughout the album.

This album was absolutely a step in the right direction towards U2’s former glory. Rather than simply becoming a legacy act and coasting their way through the rest of their career, they continue to reinvent themselves in ways that leave the audience, including myself, in awe of every reincarnation of the band. They somehow managed to create amazingly new and fresh songs while exploring genres that most would think were already finished. This album is an 8/10; despite how it was released, it easily goes down as one of U2’s best.