I owe this band an apology.
I was a naysayer. I'd heard the singles and, while I like Best Thing and GOOYOW and Blackout, I wasn't blown away. I figured that this album was going to be a safe pop record of uninspiring U2-by-numbers songs. I thought the gas was out of the tank.
I was so wrong.
They've finally done it. They've managed to meld that spiritual uplift and joy they've been producing with 90s-era experimentation and atmospherics. This album sounds *fresh*. It sounds *inspired*. It's emotional. It's incredible.
The funny thing is, even the songs I was lukewarm on sound better in the context of the album. The Best Thing, GOOYOW, and American Soul were a bit "light" for my tastes but they're so necessary in their spots because this album is heavy. It's sonically dense, but it's also emotionally weighty. This is an album from a man who's realized that he's in the 4th quarter of his life and he's taking stock. It sounds like dying - and I mean that in the best way possible. It's joyous, it's sad, it's so many things in between. An incredible album and, in my opinion, a late-period classic.
"Love Is All We Have Left" sets the tone perfectly. The string samples, the sped up vocal sample before the chorus, the vocal effects, it all sounds new. It's a quiet hymn, and Bono clearly singing to his younger self in the first half, and to his current self in the second verse. The vocal melody is haunting. Achtung Baby was dark because it mined themes of sex, love, and infidelity. This album, appropriately, is dark in a different way - mortality and time are the themes here and this song is the perfect introduction to that.
"Lights of Home" is actually one of my favorites. I was surprised that it got lukewarm reviews in the early listening session writeups. This one, again, is just a heavy tune. It almost sounds like something Noel Gallagher would write, but with that U2 otherness that makes it special. The chorus is gorgeous and bittersweet.
After that one-two punch, "YTBTAM", "GOOYOW", and American Soul are a welcome break. I'll also note that the mix on the album versions are slightly different and, in my opinion, better - the songs have more lift.
"Summer of Love" is a beautiful tune and the best thing about it is that I can see the song. I can see the dry, bombed out landscape and I can almost feel the heat and taste the dust when I hear it. The band really committed to the atmospherics for this album, and it's all the better for it. Edge does some beautiful work on this song - it's incredibly tasteful and, most importantly, doesn't overstay its welcome.
Speaking of not overstaying its welcome, I could listen to "Red Flag Day" for 8 hours straight. This song sounds simultaneously new and old. The song, again, sounds joyous but somehow sad at the same time. And goddamn, that chorus is incredible. The entire band brings it, Adam obviously being the star on this one. This chorus is the best on the album and, in my opinion, one of the best Bono's ever written. He sounds incredible on this entire album, but especially on this tune. The "no, no, no" section sounds like it came straight out of the 80s. And that is a great thing.
What else to say about The Showman? It's fun as shit and I love it. I could see The Killers taking on this one, and Bono delivers a superb vocal - "there's a level of shadow that you just can't fake" is delivered with so much playfulness and personality that it took me by surprise. I love this song. It drew Beach Boys comparisons, but for me that chorus is Beatles Twist and Shout-worthy. Also, "I lie for a living, I love to let on, but you make it true when you sing along" is a perfect example of a lyric that I cringed at when I read it on paper, but fits perfectly in the context of the song.
I listened to this album at 2:30 in the morning while driving through Baltimore. "The Little Things That Give You Away" came on and I experienced something that only a few U2 songs had done for me before: I actually teared up while listening to it. This new version, in my opinion, is the best version. It's incredible. The atmospherics, the steady build, everything is perfect for me.
I'm surprised to hear that Landlady got lukewarm early reviews as well. To me, it's one of the highlights of the album. It's also the first song I went back to listen to for a second time once the album was done. Maybe I'm a sap - some of the reviews found this song to be overly saccharine. Not to me - I think this is one of the most beautiful songs Bono's ever written and - again this word - the atmospherics are pitch perfect. This song hit me like a ton of bricks. Bono's falsetto leading into the epic ending is sublime.
I'm pleased to see that the callbacks to the SoI for the most part make sense. (I'm still not seeing the correlation between the Volcano lyric and American Soul, but whatever). Iris dealt with Bono's mother's death - and he resurrects her advice to "free yourself" in a song about dealing with his own mortality in Lights of Home. Similarly, Every Breaking Wave gets a few callbacks - one in Red Flag Day and another in Landlady - which seem to be songs about Ali. I know that this was billed as an album filled with letters to Bono's loved ones but really, to me, most of the album stands as a long love letter to Ali. And I think that's beautiful, because it ties the albums together for me as well.
3 years ago, I was in a relationship with someone I loved very much. Her name, coincidentally, was Ali. We broke up in September of 2014 and I was devastated. It was the hardest time of my life. We remained close through that autumn, but it was just too hard. Losing that relationship broke me - I haven't been the same since. Songs of Innocence was released the week after we broke up and songs like Every Breaking Wave and Song For Someone really helped me through that time. To this day, I love Song For Someone because it makes me think of (my) Ali and it takes me right back to that point in time. "If there is a light, don't let it go out" was like my motto to Ali - don't let this slip away.
That breakup sent me down a path of self examination and, for the first time, I've tried to deal with the clinical depression I've had for my entire life. To put it mildly, it's been a tough, *tough* 3 years. And it's been a tough 31 years. There have been times this week that I'd had a hard time getting out of bed. "Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way" sounds like getting up. It sounds silly, but hearing Bono sing "when you think you're done, you've just begun" is comforting to me. I know that's odd for an adult man to say, but it's true. It's the second time this album made me tear up. It's a "hold on" anthem that I needed.
Which of course leads me to "13 (There Is A Light)." "Song For Someone" started as my song for Ali. "13" bookends not only Songs of Innocence, but for me, it kind of caps off the last 3 years of my life. I guess in the last 3 years, I've just felt so sad and empty and alone and hopeless. And so to hear Bono sing "this is a song for someone...someone like me." I guess I'm someone like him too. When he asks a question "to the child in of you, before it leaves" I just broke down crying (that's a hat trick for this album). It's perfect. I don't mean to get to emotional on a fucking U2 message board, but this album brought it out in me.
Tl;dr: Beautiful album, boys. All I could have hoped for.