Irish rock band U2 took modern music distribution to another level last week by teaming up with Apple and placing their newest album, Songs of Innocence, directly into the libraries of iTunes users and even performing at the iPhone 6 launch event in Cupertino. Despite the overstated marketing scheme, U2’s latest delivers instrumentally solid tracks and embraces a range of genres, from punk to stadium-rock to electro-dance to pop to modern alternative.
In recent years, we’ve seen artists take innovative angles when releasing new albums. Radiohead released In Rainbows as a name-your-price download, Jay-Z distributed Magna Carta Holy Grail as a pre-installed app on Samsung phones and Beyoncé dropped her self-titled album without warning via iTunes.
The concept seems a bit intrusive and annoying. Yeah, it’s nice that U2 would like to share their music with as many people as possible, but not everyone likes U2.
Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, touted the event as “the largest album release of all time,” which would be an impressive feat had everyone who received it actually asked for it.
All marketing tactics and politics aside, U2 steps up and provides listeners with a solid array of songs that cover a lot of sonic ground, using some the different styles and genres they have come to embrace throughout their career. Lyrically, it is the most personal album the band has written and touches on their early love for music and punk rock right from the beginning with “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone).”
The song references their musical roots and features gritty guitar in front of Coldplay-like chanting that provides an energetic start. “Every Breaking Wave” follows and slows things down a bit with muted strumming and inspirational lyrics, “Are we ready to be swept off our feet, and stop chasing, every breaking wave?”
The next highlight, “Iris (Hold Me Close),” is a more personal ballad about Bono’s mom and has a more conventional U2 sound. It prominently features guitarist The Edge’s rhythmic delay effect amongst a powerful chorus. Another track that stands out is “Volcano,” an explosive rocker that perfectly suits its title. But the most unique song on the album has to be “Sleep Like a Baby Tonight.” Its synth-bass line, steady drums and lullaby-like piano, characteristic of producer/engineer Danger Mouse, put U2’s trademark progressiveness on display.
Songs of Innocence has a consistent atmosphere that aligns with the band’s tradition of producing epic sounds. But none of these tracks hold much weight compared to their previous hits. It lacks any true standout material that would intrigue any of the new listeners that they hoped to reach through their automatic upload. Unfortunately, their PR scheme is the most interesting aspect of the album.
3 out of 5 stars
