U2 – Songs of Innocence (ALBUM REVIEW)

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Boy, how the mighty have fallen. Once one of the world’s biggest and mightiest bands, U2 have stumbled upon hard times lately. Not financially nor commercially, of course, as their latest release will certainly attest, but definitely from a critical perspective. The first two decades of the band’s career saw them expertly walk the line amongst mainstream acceptance and edgy, underground experimentation. They were in the rare stratosphere of artists whose albums were Top-10 mainstays, but still possessed enough subtle nuance, esoteric homage, and blustery swagger to resonate with the unconvinced. Borrowing a culinary comparison, they were like Anthony Bourdain, holding onto their street cred, despite possessing a recognizable mass appeal that brought them enormous audiences and millions of dollars. The band’s third decade and now their ensuing fourth, however, have seen U2 largely drop their wandering spirit and instead largely lean completely towards the mainstream, to the point, where they’ve become less Bourdain and more…(gasp) Guy Fieri; once admirable trailblazers, now confined to turning out mass-produced schlock and plastering their images on Times Square billboards for major corporations.

All right, maybe that was a bit harsh, but it does seem as though Bono and Co. turn up every couple of years, like clockwork as cartoonish silhouettes on our TV commercials, as expanding pop-up ads on our web browsers, and as entertainment at our Super Bowls and awards shows. This year, they’ve taken it a step further as they have literally invaded our iTunes libraries with the free insertion of their latest album, <i>Songs Of Innocence</i>, a tidy eleven-track affair that has a few interesting moments but certainly won’t have anyone lining it up alongside the band’s classic body of work. A while in the making, with sessions starting, stopping, and then reconvening in locations around the globe, Songs Of Innocence drops to us with lots of fanfare and excitement, but little reason to demand repeated listens.

Five years ago with their last album, No Line On The Horizon,U2 took some risks and played around a bit with the bland modern rock stylings that populated the bulk of their 21^st Century output. That album was by no means spectacular, but it did offer some hints that maybe they were heading towards a more mysterious and adventurous direction. Thus it seems that hunch was all for naught, as this new collection sees the band mining that treacly, bland territory that has made so much of their recent work forgettable. And these new songs are just that: forgettable. There’s not a lot that will keep you coming back to the album, save for maybe a few cool moments of inspiration that pop up here and there. They swing heavily for the fences by paying tribute to punk inspirations Joey Ramone (the not subtly named “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone”) and The Clash (“This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now”) but rather than thunderously echo those bands’ ghosts, U2 simply clamor along with rousing choruses that serve to mask the weakly constructed lyrics and hollow musical accompaniments. Elsewhere, Bono mines deeply personal territory, both towards his Irish homeland (“Cedarwood Road”) and his family life, (“Iris (Hold Me Close)” and “Song For Someone”), but rather than laying his heart on the line like he is certainly capable of, his laments and assertions are sung with vague restraint, making what should be some of his most personal material to date ring hollow with unconvincing plea.

The production here also does Bono no favors. Surprisingly, for a man who seems to relish the spotlight as much as he does, Bono has never really gone rogue, and made a proper solo album without his longtime friends and bandmates. Songs Of Innocence comes about as close as he’s gotten, though. Sadly, Edge’s guitars are left on the fringe to color in the palette with meagerly constructed power chords. Adam Clayton’s usually pulsating and deeply rhythmic bass lines are traded out for run-of-the-mill time keeping blobs and saccharine synth and string arrangements. It appears that Larry Mullen, Jr. still holds down the backbeat, but all in all, U2’s sexy swagger and powerful group dynamics fall flat by the wayside. Quite the shame for a band that has stuck together and made such memorable music together.

Maybe U2 really is less a band these days and more a corporation. Perhaps, the four members meet up a couple of times a year, scrabble together song ideas, write lyrics, and lay down their respective parts. If so, big name hiitmakers-in this case, Danger Mouse and Top-40 impresarios Paul Epworth and Ryan Tedder-will still line up to produce them and cultural zeitgeists like Tim Cook will gladly enlist them to help coordinate product launches. Like a good brand, everyone involved will get their money and their time in the spotlight, while the fans and the consumers will get a couple halfway decent songs and the fleeting memories of better times and better songs. That’s a strong business model, but deep down, it’s less depressing to think of the four Irish gentlemen simmering on the inside for a more organically spirited, rock-and-roll infused sendoff to their glory years than the sanitized, half-baked one they’re currently spinning. Their heroes Joey Ramone and Joe Strummer would probably echo this sentiment.