Review: U2 - Songs of Innocence
By Tony Cardwell, Contributor
[Island, 2014]
Rating: 4.5/10
Key Tracks: “Iris (Hold Me Close),” “The Troubles,” “Every Breaking Wave”
U2 has never truly followed the beaten path, usually strideing along the road less traveled, occasionally blazing completely new trails. With the release of its newest LP, Songs of Innocence, U2 finds itself trying to discover new territory once again. Not in musical style with another “rebirth,” but in the release of the album.
U2 placed its newest album into every iTunes user’s library, without warning and without any formal promotion. Whether you see the move as confident or cocky, right or wrong, U2 did release a new album and that within itself is a big deal.
As a fan U2’s earlier work I’ve always been interested in seeing which direction the band takes with each new release. There is one word I feel would justifiably describe this album, as well as the rest of the group’s recent works: safe.
Yes, U2’s newest effort is nothing worth soiling your trousers. The songwriting uses familiar tropes while the music holistically is not compelling, which is a shame considering the historical and emotional content U2 tries to cover with its lyrics.
An example is “Raised by Wolves,” in which Bono recounts three bombs detonating in downtown Dublin, killing 33 innocent people. The song has emotionally powerful subject matter but cannot properly communicate the message. Through common U2 humanitarian tropes and just archaic clichés in general, U2 dirties its point with uninteresting writing.
The same can be said for “Song for Someone.” In this track, Bono recalls meeting his wife. The song, beautiful in delivery, falls victim to lazy lyrics. How many times has an artist “stole a kiss from your mouth” or prayed “there is a light, don’t let it go out?” Even a chorus lyric (repeated four times throughout the song) takes liberty with the title of one of The Smiths most cherished songs.
Along with being sluggish, the writing also tends to be a bit ambiguous and generic. On the lead single, “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone),” Bono sends praise to--you guessed it--The Ramones. However, without the parenthetical exposing the meaning of the song, I would have guessed the track was intended for someone Bono once loved, someone who encouraged this little lyric: “I was aching to be somewhere near / Your voice was all I heard.”
Only three songs stuck out either in content, music or, in one case, a guest singer. “Iris (Hold Me Close)” recounts Bono’s loss of his mother, a track that carries out the weight of its message.
“Every Breaking Wave” is reminiscent of an older Coldplay ballad with some elements of early Edge guitar. “Every Breaking Wave” was my favorite song sonically and that’s not saying much.
“The Troubles” features Lykke Li singing the chorus. Li’s performance is stirring in a song that contemplates “the troubles” Northern Ireland faced during Bono’s youth.
It’s hard to enjoy Songs of Innocence simply because I know what U2 is hinting at, and I know how desperately the band wants to make that point known. The problem is the music simply just is not compelling. Every track fails to create entertaining music arrangements and spotty songwriting is everywhere. Consistently better than the music, the writing still takes on lackluster forms with ambiguity and laziness drenched over certain tracks.
U2 is a good band, or with this album in mind, was a good band. More than likely Songs of Innocence will be remembered as a low-ranking record in a massive discography, placed so high only because of the subjects the band attempts to tackle. If not for the subject matter, this record would be one of U2’s worst. U2 desperately wants to be cool again, and in trying so hard it effectively comes across as outdated.
