No doubt the biggest music news this week had to be One Direction announcing their new single…no, wait… that’s not even close! Of course, the real big news centered around the new U2 album “Songs of Innocence” which was basically given away for free to everyone on earth.
I’m always surprised at the vitriol directed at U2. Look, I understand some people don’t like their music or the perceived arrogance of Bono or any number of other issues that are raised (“They avoid paying taxes,” “They’re in the pocket of Apple,”etc. Pick your issue.). With knives sharpened and at the ready, many discussed this new music in the context of whatever gripes the particular writer is harboring about the band. Personally I think the things U2 does outside of their music fall far more onto the positive side of the ledger than the negative, but your mileage may vary.
So can we just talk about the music? While I’m still fully absorbing this album and I doubt I’ll be championing it as among their best work (hello Rolling Stone magazine and your five-star review…really?), I will say I think it’s very good (much better than average) and a worthy and enjoyable addition to their catalogue.
The overall theme of the songs (as highlighted in the liner notes) centers on looking back – on where they started, their influences, and early life experiences. I would definitely say it’s one of their better recent albums; there’s more grit and energy evident. At times U2’s music can seem almost constructed for how it will sound during their stadium tours, but this one mostly has more of an edge (small “e”) and seems to let it fly. I like that.
A few tunes stand out after several listens. “Volcano” with its New Order-ish elements, the muscular “Cederwood Road,” and a track dedicated to Joe Strummer called “This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now.” That last track, intentionally or not, sounds like it’s written in the style of some of the later Strummer music. A few of the tracks don’t move me [including “Iris (Hold Me Close)” and “California (There Is No End To Love),” and not just because of all the parentheses], but ask me again in six months and that may change.
One other common criticism I heard this week, over and over, was annoyance that this album was just delivered (a/k/a force fed) automatically to everyone with an Itunes account. Hopefully that won’t become a common music distribution method. I can understand some minor displeasure for people who don’t have any interest in this, or any, U2 music; if you fall into that category I hope having to delete those files was the worst thing that happened to you all week.
As for me, I’ll just say thanks for the new music and add it to the rotation.