by U2
Metascore
63

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 28
  2. Negative: 1 out of 28
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  1. Dec 1, 2017
    90
    If experience has taught U2 anything, it is that a great new song can still feel like the first day of the rest of your life. Songs of Experience is that innocence renewed.
  2. 83
    In an age of hot takes and cold snark, the band’s grand earnestness feels like the artifact of another time, an art lost to nearly everyone save a few fellow statesmen (Mr. Springsteen comes to mind). And it’s all over the group’s 14th studio album, aptly titled Songs of Experience, a record so defiantly full of hard-earned hope and fortitude it seems to blot out the bleaker realities of 2017 through sheer Irish willpower.
  3. Nov 30, 2017
    80
    Despite its flaws, Songs of Experience is an audibly better album than either of its predecessors. For one thing, not all its errors are overwhelming--if the Auto-Tune feels a bit jarring, the song it decorates is still pretty great. And for another, when U2 calm down and allow themselves to be themselves, the results are frequently fantastic.
  4. Nov 29, 2017
    80
    It’s not an album that courts new fans by radically changing U2’s style; instead, it reaffirms the sound that has been filling arenas and stadiums for decades.
  5. Nov 27, 2017
    80
    It showcases U2 at their most mature and assured, playing songs of passion and purpose, shot through and enlivened with a piercing bolt of desperation.
  6. Mojo
    Nov 22, 2017
    80
    U2's strongest album this century. [Jan 2018, p.86]
  7. Q Magazine
    Nov 22, 2017
    80
    Songs Of Experience will likely go down as a late-career classic. [Jan 2018, p.104]
  8. Dec 12, 2017
    70
    It may not even share the same ambition as ‘No Line On The Horizon’ however, it’s an undeniable improvement on their two misfiring predecessors, marking this collection as their most cohesive and heartfelt in almost 15 years.
  9. Dec 6, 2017
    70
    They embrace what they do best: creating music that balances this personal and political darkness with joy. In their strongest outing since All That You Can’t Leave Behind, the four-piece writes both sweeping anthems as well as some of the most effortless songs of their career.
  10. Nov 30, 2017
    70
    Singalong-ready and set to tempos determined not to leave anyone behind, the record marks an explicit return to the spirit of U2’s ultra-earnest mid-’80s work, and also to that era’s eager commercial ambition.
  11. Nov 29, 2017
    70
    They just seems to be writing the music they enjoy, about the things they care about, and it’s done them a world of good.
  12. Dec 5, 2017
    65
    Truth be told, underneath the gimmicks lurks an upbeat and catchy pop record. ... But on Songs of Experience U2 ignore their past and instead saunter ahead with hooking melodies and sing-along choruses.
User Score
7.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 191 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 40 out of 191
  1. Dec 1, 2017
    10
    U2 evolves from album to album, never settling to do quite the same thing twice.

    Songs of Experience is a slightly dark, but joyous and
    U2 evolves from album to album, never settling to do quite the same thing twice.

    Songs of Experience is a slightly dark, but joyous and thrilling experience. Qualities that endeared the masterpiece which is Achtung Baby to me. Songs of Experience has the same effect, achieved it in a new way.

    Another masterpiece!
    Full Review »
  2. Dec 1, 2017
    1
    What happened U2? This album sounds like something Maroon 5 would be ashamed of. They've been progressively getting worse with every albumWhat happened U2? This album sounds like something Maroon 5 would be ashamed of. They've been progressively getting worse with every album after Pop. Still love 'em live. Full Review »
  3. VDS
    Dec 1, 2017
    2
    I don’t know this band anymore. To say they’re not what they were is a gross understatement. The well ran dry a long time ago, and theyI don’t know this band anymore. To say they’re not what they were is a gross understatement. The well ran dry a long time ago, and they stopped trying after Pop failed. From there on it’s been a downward spiral, each new album marking the next embarrassing step on the path of talentless money.

    Dodgy lyrics have always plagued them, but here, blimey it’s all cringeworthy. The bass might be turned right up on most tracks, but it can’t hide the terror of Red Flag Day, Get Out Of Your Own Way, You’re The Best Thing…where’s the energy, the urgency and the balls to try something new? Their collective accountants and bank managers will quite like this record, first off because it’s bland bank manager music, and secondly because it’ll probably sell to completist fans and Cold Play devotees.

    Back in the day, I feel they would have laughed at songs like The Showman. Poor old MacPhisto must be turning in his grave if he’s unlucky enough to hear The Little Things That Give You Away. The whole album’s like a collection of very dodgy B-sides.

    It’s a shame to see how the once mighty have fallen. Stadiums everywhere prepare to be battered by this rubbish, and the usual back catalogue of hits that will mark another globe trotting money grab.

    Songs Of Experience, and the experience is bad.
    Full Review »