Music Review: Songs of Innocence

By which turn of cosmic fate did the two biggest bands in the world people love to hate release albums in the same year? Yes, U2 , with the Apple-aided drop of their new (and ridiculously titled) Songs of Innocence has joined Coldplay. In the past few years, it has almost become de rigeur to trash Coldplay and U2 because of their increasingly generic stadium-rock sound and the various trials and tribulations of their respective lead singers. However, whereas Chris Martin’s group fizzled with the limp Ghost Stories, Bono and the gang have something slightly better. While far from a perfect album, Songs of Innocence is the best U2 album since 1997’s Pop, and a solid, if mildly forgettable, addition to their canon.

When analyzing this album in the future, it will be impossible to think about Songs of Innocence without thinking of it as U2’s “free Apple album.” The Beyoncé-style surprise release of this album immediately stands out as another “Important” gesture from a band that has long postured at being “The Most Important Band in the World.” It is also difficult to extricate the two brands’ corporate relation, which has existed since “Vertigo” was used to soundtrack a 2004 iPod commercial. As befitting of its background, Songs of Innocence often feels a little focus-tested—but this is not necessarily a bad thing. U2 has often sounded like a studio-manufactured arena rock band designed to evoke maximum emotion and uplift in their listeners. What separates them from their leagues of imitators—the aforementioned Coldplay or Muse, for example—is true feeling and atmosphere. U2 understands what it is like to truly engage with a crowd, which often gives their songs more heft and grandeur than they really possess.

I have long thought that when U2 is good, they are very good, and when they are bad, they are horrid. Songs of Innocence defies this by aiming entirely for the middle of the road, save the exception of the actively risible “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone).” That song fails because its horrible lyrics—“We’ve got a language so we can communicate/religion so I can love and hate”—and by-the-books composition veer into self-parody. Electronic-influenced tracks like “California (There Is No End to Love)” and “Volcano” fare better, as their sound seems at least fresher than the standard Bono croon. By far the best track on Songs of Innocence is “Raised by Wolves,” which places solidly within the pantheon of great U2 songs. This is Bono like you’ve never heard him; aggressive and unfiltered and not afraid to let loose vocally. The rest of the songs are fine, but nothing really stays with you like some of their best music.

With all of the fanfare accompanying its release, Songs of Innocence is ostensibly a statement by a venerated band that, lest we forget, is the best-selling tour band of all time. As with all U2 songs, these new tracks will fill stadiums and get hordes of fans to chant along. Ultimately, there is no statement here that is really worth dissecting in great detail. Such is the diffuse and generic nature of this album. Songs of Innocence is best digested separated from its context. This is a decent album from a decent band—no more, no less.