New U2 Album

Octahedron

I haven't got the whole album, I've only picked up what they offered as downloads prior to the release of the whole album. Didn't mind the singles.

I also didn't mind Songs of Innocence soooo... Didn't bother me that Apple pushed it on me. Could've been worse. It's rare to get anything free from Apple these days, so, getting a U2 album (and a few years ago the Foo Fighters EP) was a pleasant surprise. Wife disagrees, she wasn't into it. lol 

But at the end of the day, sadly, this is no Joshua Tree #2. 

Cirrus

OK, I've listened to it a few more times. And I want to write a review, which obviously everyone's welcome to ignore or disagree with.

It's not *awful* awful, but I still think it's pretty weak. Bono's learned how to make the best of his voice and avoid going into the bombastic stuff that he used to be great at, but which got weaker and weaker and resulted in some quite strained, strange sounds on the more recent albums. As it stands, I can't remember a single specific thing Adam Clayton does on the entire album. Larry has some nice laid back parts, and some of his fills are vaguely beatles-esque which is a nice. I don't hear much by way of the Edge being inspired. And I still think the production's a bit strange.

1. Love is All We Have Left - this is nice enough, comfortably in Bono's late night, quiet low- to mid- range. It's kind of scene setting - an intro song that's pleasant, with no particular teeth, kind of puts me in mind of the recent Coldplay laid back synthy album, from the washy spacy pad sounds to the effected harmonised pitch corrected vocals. I wonder what the other three guys were doing while Bono and a producer made this.

2. Lights of Home. That loose, groovy verse guitar riff is cool. It's also not written by U2 - it's lifted from a HAIM song, gifted to them by that band. The chorus is nice. Bono is, to be fair, really good at choruses. The Edge does his trademark "slide solo that just faffs around for a bit" trick. It's just there, as a lead break it doesn't serve any purpose other than to emphasis the jarring transition into a singalong outro. This feels in composition and arrangement like U2 just got round to listening to Elbow's "Seldom Seen Kid", but I think it misses the mark if it's going for that quirky, awkward but beautiful sound.

3. You're the Best Thing About Me. I can't stand the key-change into the pre-chorus. Again, the chorus itself is nice because Bono's got an ear for a chorus. But that Key change. I can't help but wonder if it came about as an attempt to keep Bono in his more limited comfortable range? And again, the production's a little strange; Starts a bit radio-friendly rock, then chuggy pre-chorus, then sickly sweet chimey clean Edge and suddenly a stab of synth comes from nowhere. We're three songs in and so far I feel like the only thing the Edge has done is a dodgy, flat slide solo and ruined a single with a lack of focus.

4. Get Out of Your Own Way. Nice intro. As a song, performance, arrangement, production, mix, this is better. Bono's got this thing in the last 10 years or so of being somewhat cheesy in his verse lyrics, as he tried to dispense pearls of rich-man wisdom in clever little couplets, but I'll forgive him here, right up until Lincoln's Ghost says something. Again, there is a slight fly in the ointment which is that the drums on this album seem to have been deliberate mixed a bit subdued and flat and that gets noticeable in the choruses. And, again, a lead break from the Edge that took one bar to write and 8 bars to play. And, suddenly, Kendrick Lamar. Why's he here? Ah, he does a nice wee transition into...

5. American Soul. I like the attitude here. I can see why it's a single. And the guitar has a nice squelchy, almost velcro-like fuzz tone. Wow, I can really get on board with thi...

...OH MY GOD WHAT THE F*CK THEY'VE TAKEN A SHIT BRIDGE FROM A TRACK ON THE LAST ALBUM AND TURNED IT INTO THE ENTIRE CHORUS! AAARRRGGGGHH CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT U2? ARE YOU *TRYING* TO MESS THINGS UP?

Sigh. Still, the verses etc are great and again the production/arrangement are better than earlier in the album. Again, dodgy Bono lyric "Refujesus" makes me want to throttle someone.

6. Summer of Love. This has a nice vibe. I'd actually say this is probably the first track on the album I'd actually want to listen to again in the future. I feel like someone probably knows which artist/ track it's shamelessly ripped from, but I don't so until I'm told, I'll pretend it's a nice little spark of genuine creativity in the U2 camp.

7. Red Flag Day. This has a real late '70s/ early '80s vibe about it, and I like that. There's something decidedly not U2 about the intro and I like that. This would probably have sat nicely on an album with "Cedarwood Road", one of the few highlights from their last album. The chorus is great, it's real vintage U2 but because it's vintage U2 from their non-self assured bombastic period it's a breath of fresh air. One thing I really like is that Bono moves away from acting like he's got all the fucking answers in his verse lyrics. That's nice. He should do more of that.

8. The Showman. This is nice too, in a '50s/'60s kind of way. The production for this song is actually good - the band limited vocals, tremelo guitars, compressed drums, really gives it a vintage vibe. As with Summer of Love, I'm probably enjoying it more because I don't happen to know the exact place it's been borrowed from. I think it's interesting that the tracks I'm enjoying are the ones U2 don't seem to be trying very hard on.

9. The Little Things that Give You Away - This is nice. By the time it gets to the 1 minute mark, I'm getting nervous. It's going well, Edge. I can hear you checking your dotted-8th delay is set to the right tempo. Why don't you do something less obvious? Again, Bono's proving how much much better he is at choruses than verses. 2:57. Oh no, the Edge is back, and he's doing that thing he always does when he wants a slow song to be emotional! EDGE! NO! YOU'VE TRIED THIS BEFORE! And you're making Bono forget he's not god. "Sommeeettiiiiiimmeees". Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo STAHP! BONO! EDGE! STAHP! ARRRGRGRHRGRHGRHGR. Eh, it's over now. Never mind.

10. Landlady. Funny, for such obvious album filler this is among Bono's better verse work. And I actually quite like it. I'd make a four track album with Summer of Love, Red Flag Day, the SHowman and Landlady, and pretend it's a debut EP by a pleasant local band that have potential. But I'd start to fade this one out over about 30 seconds at about the three minute mark.

Cirrus

11. The Blackout. This is like someone took the reverb returns from one of the mixes on Achtung Baby and got the band to play along. Bono's in fine cringey verse lyric form. I actually think the live version they put out a few months ago has a lot more energy and is just plain better than this one. I also think, given the overall tone of the album, putting this song so late in play is a very strange choice - it'd make much more sense closer to American Soul and Red Flag Day. When Bono sings "The Black Out, Is this an Extinction event..." it makes me want to rip my nails out. Heavens. And, as with other tracks, the drums being deliberate subdued in the mix keeps this song grounded where it might have had a bit more bounce to it.

12. Love is Bigger than Anything in Its Way. Eh, I like the intro. I'm a sucker for synths and happy sounds. But then it goes into Bono being sentimental and edge being all pianoish. -sickly. The chorus is nice, but as we've already established by now, Bono is good at those. Slightly strange decision to make the first verse be about the piano, and the second verse have a dancy tremolo synth in its place. But I can't knock this song too much, Because I like the chorus a lot. See, I'm not being unfairly harsh here! That alternate-universe 4-track EP just got an extra track.

13. 13 (There is a Light). The title of this is indicative of U2's disease in recent years. "13" would have been a bold, if unoriginal, title. "13 (there is a light)" dilutes it, and pours the diluted name mix over your head. The song is mostly build around the chorus of "Song for Someone" from the last album, and that's fine but it feels like they only did that as a nod to the idea that these are companion albums. Pros: It's a nice melody, and I like the low-passed drum thing. U2 like their last tracks to have strangely effected drums, so they must have been delighted. "Do you know your heart has its own mind?" No Bono I didn't, thanks for the tip. Now, get back to the chorus quickly. You're good at choruses.

ICBM

Hmmm... reading your review makes me realise that I can't actually remember any good songs off the last album except Cedarwood Road.

Alterlifeson

Nice review! After a few listens I'd agree with most of it. I don't mind the verses though, some of the lyrics are a bit cringe but overall I think they are pretty good. Summer of Love is definitely a standout track for me.

I think the band are in a tough situation. They damned if they go back to sounding like classic U2 and damned if they change and move on.

ICBM

I think they would do much better to move on and do something completely different. The last few albums have been recycling more or less the same formula with ever-decreasing inspiration.

I still think ATYCLB is a masterpiece, up there with Achtung Baby, but they seem to have lost the spark after that.

SecretMachine

They desperately need to stop chasing relevance and start making music for themselves again. Why on earth are they trying to sell records when records no longer sell? Ditch the co-songwriters, get Lanois and Eno back in and write an experimental album again, and focus on making money from touring!