U2 - Songs Of Innocence - Review
 Songs Of Innocence - The official u2tour.de-Review Intro: Boom! With a bang, five and a half years of waiting
came to an end on 9 September 2014 when U2 released their unannounced and
unexpected new album Songs Of Innocence
as part of Apple’s launch of the iPhone 6. Many had been hoping for a new song
or an announcement for the new album – but that U2’s latest longplayer would
become available to millions of iTunes users was a surprise not just for their
fans. Suddenly U2 were the big talk in town again – even if the stunt generated
many positive as well as negative reactions along the way. But a successful
launch it was, with U2’s previous albums back in the global iTunes charts
within days of the release of Songs Of
Innocence. Within hours of the digital release, web and print media were flooded with
reviews of the album. Here at u2tour.de, in contrast, we decided to give the
album a bit of time, and publish our review four weeks later to mark the
release of the album in its physical formats. Would our opinion of the songs
change over time? Cover: Whereas the digital album featured the white vinyl cover and handwritten
title, the physical release was deemed to deserve its own, different
cover. And another surprise, if not
provocation, was the cover showing Larry embracing his teenage son, both
shirtless. Reactions were split, from "homoerotic" to "beautiful, protective".
But the band’s ambition was probably all the same – to be talked about again,
not just because of the album’s ingenious release stunt. But the cover fits the
album and its origins too, signifying the band’s embrace of its own youth. The
album’s spelling of the title shows the same intent – written as Son gs Of Innocence, not Songs Of Innocence, pointing to a double meaning of Sons / Songs Of
Innocence. Booklet: The digital release featured a PDF booklet
of 24 pages with lyrics and production details, as well as (a novelty for U2) a
very personal account by Bono, explaining the album’s and songs’ background. In
interviews following the album release, the band already emphasised that Songs Of Innocence is a personal,
intimate album, and both cover and booklet complement this, inviting the
listener to enter their world. Producers/Production: Too many cooks in the kitchen? The last
few years saw much criticism of U2 trying to produce a new hit single through
the use of many different producers for the album, including Ryan Tedder,
previously of OneRepublic. Other names involved were Danger Mouse, Paul
Epworth, Declan Gaffney and Flood. But even if one can probably hear one or the
other producer in the new songs, it hasn’t led to the feared messy style –
there’s no obvious weakness across the album overall. So let us look at the songs individually: 01 The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) - Dirk Ooooh
Ooooh Ooooh Ooooh. After the debacle of Get On Your Boots for the last album,
the band probably wanted to get everything right this time. Maybe the song’s
production became a bit too ambitious as a result? Well, while The Miracle isn’t an immediate classic
like Beautiful Day or Vertigo, it's still miles better than Get On Your Boots. Rightly placed at the
beginning of the album, I can imagine it being the opener for the new tour,
though with repeated listening the song can’t quite keep up with the rest of the
album. All those ooohs may be U2’s
signature sound, but in The Miracle
it becomes a bit too much! Otherwise the guitars are roaring, but Bono’s
singing is too high for my liking, sounding compressed. The chorus has a strong
melody – I woke up at the moment when the
miracle occurred – is a line I can’t get out of my head, even if the rest
is nothing special. Great to sing along to, even if not a great hit single. Yes, the song seems to have the same bass
as With or Without You, particularly
at the beginning. And yes, the song has developed and changed from when it was
first aired four years ago during the 360 Tour, even if the song already had
potential then. But, no, it would be unfair to be disappointed by the final version
of the song. Every Breaking Wave is probably the album’s most melodic song. When was
the last time that a U2 song was stuck in your head after the very first verse?
The melody drifts like a wave on the sea, while Bono uses nautical metaphors to
give the song a unified whole, from beginning to end. The sea’s infinity (Every
breaking wave on the shore / tells the next one there’ll be one more),
man’s struggle with it (Every sailor knows that the sea / is a friend made
enemy) or the voice of reason among the noise (I thought I heard the
captain’s voice). The imagery is the one we know from U2’s
big themes – the fight with the unknown, the wisdom of age, the infinity or
loneliness of being – and thus fits into the album’s overall concept. And Bono
carefully refined the lyrics, such as the small change from I thought I
heard the master’s voice (2010) to captain’s voice (2014). Captain
just fits the song and theme better. The chorus is completely changed from the
song’s 2010 version, but is the part that leaves me most disappointed, sounding
too forced and separate from the rest of the song. While it is meant to be
catchy, and features more of The Edge (rather than Adam) it’s the verses
themselves that make the song. It remains to hope then, that the deluxe version
of the album, which features an acoustic version of the song, will contain the
best parts of both the 2010 and 2014 version of the song. Update: It doesn’t.
An overly meaningful ringing of the bell
leads into a male choir with explicit Beach Boys references – Barbara, Santa Barbara being a clear
homage to their Barbara Ann. The song
next skips into a nearly artificial-sounding surfer sound, until Bono’s
ecstatic California breaks the
opening. Songs Of Innocence’s
journey is leading us to California, and talks about U2’s first trip across the
Atlantic in the early 1980s.
Still, with every repeat listening California is more fun, full of euphoria
about the discovery of a hitherto unknown, utopian world (geographically,
spiritually and musically). Complemented by Edge’s refreshing guitar solo, and
the obligatory ohohohs, Bono’s chorus
over and over insists "All I (need to)
know is there is no end to love." But what sounds light hearted turns out
to be the hard earned lecture of reality and its darker sides: "There is no end to grief. That's how I know
there is no end to love.” Best Lyric: There is no end to grief. That's how I know
there is no end to love.
Song For Someone initially reminds one of Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own:
the acoustic guitar, Larry’s drums... and still, it’s musical miles between the
two songs (one confession upfront, for me Sometimes is the better song).
The song starts calmly, with an, umm, charming opening "You've got a face not spoiled by beauty." Right. Let’s ignore that
one. The highlight comes last – the fading of the
instruments, while Bono intones "And
there is a light / don't let it go out". Maybe it’s not a compliment if the
song’s best part is its end, but let’s be honest, Bono started it with that
lyric in my face!
Any journey into U2’s past cannot get past
Iris Hewson. Iris (Hold me Close) is the fourth U2 song dealing with the
early death of Bono’s mother, and lyrically probably the most personal "Iris says that I will be the death of her /
It was not me"). The guitar is classic U2 sound, as is Adam’s bass. Put
together, however, the sound is unusual and at times has similarities with
Coldplay's Ghost Stories. Some fans say Chris Martin is audible in the
background (though he isn’t listed in the credits, it’s a possibility after he
was spotted visiting the band during sessions at the Electric Lady Studio in
New York).
"After grief comes rage ... the molten lava that turns
to rock if it can". Reading the liner notes, it quickly becomes clear why Volcano
follows Iris (Hold Me Close) on the album (and, I wouldn’t be surprised,
on the tour too). Things quickly heat up, Larry wakes the listener from their
slumbers, and Adam’s booming bass from Iris
continues in even more distorted fashion. We’ve reached track 6 on the album,
and somehow it’s the first (and in the end only) track that sounds like good,
old, dirty rock’n’ roll. A few alterations of Bono’s voice á la Zoo Station and Edge has fun with the
guitar. Lyrics like "Hold me close and
don't let me go” turn into "You can
hurt yourself tryin’ to hold on / to what you used to be / I'm so glad the past
is all gone.” Serious stuff …
The song is a perfect rock’n’roll package, and likely
to be a hit live – not least because of its sing along parts from 02:08, when
we near the song’s climax. Suddenly, this all sounds familiar. Wait, isn’t that
the Glastonbury riff? But before we
can figure it out, Edge enters the fray with a bang. Well placed in the album’s tracklist, and bringing
much needed variety, the song brings a smile to the face (and is better than Glastonbury). 07 Raised By Wolves - Caro Thematically, this, the most unusual song of the album,
is closest to Sunday Bloody Sunday, Please or also Bullet The Blue Sky. A U2 album without a protest song would be
hard to imagine, after all, and so the seventh song of innocence is Raised By Wolves. The song describes a Friday in Dublin. On the afternoon
of 17 May 1974, three car bombs detonated in Dublin’s city centre and in
Monaghan in the north of the country, killing 33 "good people".
So, so, any well informed U2tour.de reader would say, finally a song
about the street where Bono grew up. Shortly after his birth in 1960, Bob and
Iris Hewson bought the house at Number 10, in Ballymun, in northern Dublin.
Cedarwood Road, then as now, is a calm suburban road, with typical grey houses
and well kept front gardens. So much for the context. When the song turns to friendship ("And friendship once it's won; It's won... it's one"), it
probably looks at fellow boys Gucci (Number 5) and Gavin Friday (Number 140),
who grew up on the same street and, since their first meeting with Bono, have
been a constant part of his life and artistic development. The song describes growing up in Cedarwood Road. The "warzone in my teens" is probably
emotional rather than physical, as is the hidden pain ("The hurt you hide, the joy you hold")
of a teenage Bono, facing the death of his mother at the age of 14. The
relationship to his father difficult, he found support with friends, and the
Lipton Village. Still, Cedarwood Road isn’t a
sad or angry song. Indeed, it sounds powerful, as the point from which grew
strong friendships. This also finds expression in Edge’s guitar, kicking off
with a rough riff at the beginning, maybe the hardest of the whole album (and
reminiscent of Breathe from 2009).
But the song is melodic, too, and sticks in the head. Inevitably, Cedarwood Road live in Dublin will be an
emotional moment. Best Lyric: Paint
the world you need to see.
U2 regularly pick difficult themes, from
the conflict in Northern Ireland to the war in Bosnia or the military
dictatorship in Myanmar. With Sleep Like
A Baby Tonight, however, U2 approach an even more difficult, sensitive
topic – psychological and physical violence against children and teenagers in
church institutions. How difficult that can be shows the
controversy over Peter Mullan’s movie The
Magdalene Sisters from 2002, depicting violence in church homes for teenage
girls. Not until two inquiries in 2009 was the extent of violence and abuse
uncovered, and Ireland in shock. Many senior members of the church (including
five bishops) hat to resign over attempts at cover-ups or even their own
involvement. Some described the church institutions as "Houses of Horror". The song successfully captures this
sensitive topic, also because it only hints at particular events. The listener
isn’t reduced to being a voyeur but can decide if and how to approach the
topic, or just stick with the music. I doubt we’ll get to hear this song on the
radio much, but I consider this one of the most important songs U2 have
released in the last 20 years. Sadly, its topic is likely to remain current for
many more years to come. Best Lyric: Hope is where the door is. When the church is where the war
is. Where no one can feel no one else's pain.
U2 have always been a political band, both
in music and real life. This is where you
can reach me now approaches this topic, and is dedicated to Joe Strummer,
singer of The Clash, who died in 2002, and always has been a role model and
idol for Bono. In the booklet Bono describes the significance of The Clash for
U2’s own identity as a band and how the whole band was "revolutionised’ after
attending their first The Clash gig. It is interesting to note, too, that the
surprising and free release of Songs Of
Innocence has parallels with The Clash – who for their double and triple
albums London Calling (1979) and Sandinista! (1980), in spite of the
resistance of their record label CBS, insisted to sell the albums at the price
of a normal single album (i.e. Sandinista!
with only a 20 per cent price increase). Maybe U2’s stunt with iTunes is more
"punk" than we think?
On first listening, The Troubles was the track I was most taken by, maybe because I
listened to the album at night, on headphones. A threatening, dark mood, and the
intensive voice of Lykke Li, remind us of a psycho thriller. The vocal
interplay between Bono and Lykke of the pursuit of the victim by the attacker,
emotionally if not physically. The effect is all the more intense because of
the for U2 unusual instrumentation of the song, driven by guitar and, like in
an italo-western, strings. The song is typical, however, for Danger Mouse’s
previous work, and it’s a good thing no other producer got hands on this track
– it’s a great conclusion to the Danger Mouse trilogy of songs on the album,
and a true highlight. A shame, though, that Edge’s solo is being faded at the
end. But maybe that’s been done intentionally, fitting for the opening of its
successor album Songs of Experience. I don’t expect to hear the song much live,
but it’s a strong candidate for the outro, playing over the PA after the band
has left the stage. Best lyric: Somebody stepped inside your soul. (what else) |