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U2 is a machine. An industry all its own. An institution built up over 40+ years that has withstood critical and commercial bashings of awesome proportions. From 1997’s epically overcooked (or undercooked, depending who you ask) ‘Pop’ which was the album equivalent of a car rolling over because it came into a corner too fast, to a miscalculation of a(Conor's Reviews & Stuff - Facebook)
U2 is a machine. An industry all its own. An institution built up over 40+ years that has withstood critical and commercial bashings of awesome proportions. From 1997’s epically overcooked (or undercooked, depending who you ask) ‘Pop’ which was the album equivalent of a car rolling over because it came into a corner too fast, to a miscalculation of a different sort, 2014’s ‘Songs of Innocence’, which will sadly be remembered more for the method by which it was delivered than for its moments of brilliance (sparse though they were). Yet still they have endured, seemingly quite effortlessly. U2 don’t care if you hate them. However insufferable you think they are, they are more than happy to play to the stadiums that they regularly pack for strings of nights, and if you never get it, it’s no skin off their nose.
How peculiar then that a band who have become so adept at rumbling through outside opinion like an icebreaker have now released an album which could be considered their most self-conscious to date. In some moments, open examination of many of the traits that have so aggravated their nay-sayers (see ’The Showman [Little More Better]). But Bono has been a pariah to the ‘NME’ crowd for so long that he likely won’t even be given credit for agreeing with them.
‘Songs of Experience’ has been touted by some critics as U2’s best album this century. I remain of the extremely unpopular opinion that that honour rests with 2009’s ‘No Line On the Horizon’, the first of two consecutive albums which took five years to produce, the second being the aforementioned ‘Songs of Innocence’, which dealt, lyrically, with the band’s formative years and, for its faults, stuck faithfully and, in my opinion, effectively to its personal, introspective theme. ‘Experience’, on the other hand, can’t decide whether it wants to be personal or political. Much has been made of U2 writing politically over the years. Indeed, some reference to it can usually be found in the first few lines of any brief biography of the band. U2’s political peak came on November 8th, 1987 at McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado. During a performance of ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’, Bono passionately condemned an IRA bombing which had taken place that day in Northern Ireland. That performance was recorded for the band’s ill-fated documentary/album ‘Rattle and Hum’ and I defy you to watch it without getting chills. Since then, nothing they have done in that sphere has had quite the same bite, though altruism abounds. I remain staunchly convinced that U2 are at their best when they direct their lens inward rather than out, the results being their gloriously inventive 90s decadence, best represented by their masterpiece, 1991’s ‘Achtung Baby’, which remains one of the most important albums in alternative rock music.
The band’s decision to ‘rethink’ this latest album following Donald Trump’s election seems to have significantly muddied the thematic waters of ’Songs of Experience’.
Musically, this album is certainly an achievement for U2. At times, U2 flex their considerable muscle at turning out some of the best stadium pop rock commercially available, as well as some uncharacteristic textures that work out rather well, most notable on the moody opener 'Love Is All We Have Left'.
The heights that 'Songs of Experience' hits are as significant as any they’ve hit since ‘Beautiful Day’. Vibrant front half track ‘Get Out of Your Own Way’ may well be U2’s last great jewel, but the dips are too low for this album to be considered any great triumph.… Expand
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