After giving it a couple of full listens, I very much enjoy...most of it. I think about 75% of it is fantastic. I think Edge is the star of this thing, and it feels like he's the most creatively engaged he's been in a long time. His performance on both guitar and piano/keyboards is stellar, and his vocals, when present, shine.
They did a really good job with the arrangements in terms of building them around Bono's current vocal ability. I don't mean to be overly critical, but I do believe his voice has had a significant decline starting with E+I in 2018(it was much stronger even during I+E in 2015 and JT30 in 2017), and I can't agree with those who don't hear it. That said, it's not a huge issue on this album because they've obviously arranged everything around what he can still do vocally, and he also had help from Edge in some places and, frankly, from some fairly noticeable autotune and whatnot in a few spots.
I've always wanted to see what an MTV Unplugged with U2 would sound like, and this is probably the closest we'll get, so I'm happy with it.
Peace On Earth is a revelation. Edge is given the opportunity to sing it and absolutely hits it out of the park. This is superior to the album version. The production on the original version was a bit saccharine, but this (basically) acoustic guitar only arrangement with Edge's soaring vocal - crystal clear and making much use of his vibratto - transforms a frequent skip into a gem for me. I know I'm in the minority here, and most of you aren't very excited by this one, but I love it. It's so good.
Two Hearts Beat As One is another Edge vocal. I mean, I'm like 90% sure it's Edge. It sounds like him. And he nails it. The production on the original is a bit dated, but this piano-based arrangement freshens it up in a big way. One of the highlights of the album.
Miracle Drug is a song that I always felt suffered for Lillywhite's production on the original. This is a far superior version. It just feels more alive. More Edge singing in the chorus, and again he nails it. The only issue here is that they gave Edge's verse at the end back to Bono...I guess to contrast with Edge singing the chorus.
Electrical Storm is a song I was excited to see on the tracklist, and it didn't disappoint. Especially the second half where...again, Edge takes the third verse and chorus and nails it(that is Edge, isn' it?). Missed the 'baby don't cry' outro, but that's a minor quibble. Very solid version.
Desire was one of the surprises of the album to me. It's like, 'what if Desire was a Prince song'. I was NOT expecting that, but it really really works very well, even if I feel like there was a lot of studio magic in that vocal of Bono's.
This version of Still Haven't Found is like if Johnny Cash covered it for his 'American' series. It really sounds like that to me, and it's a really interesting take. I like that delivery of the chorus melody via riff.
The Fly is fantastic. If the new version of Desire was a Prince song, this is The Fly as a Massive Attack song, and it is a fucking home run. It'd be tough to make an acoustic version of it, so the idea of stripping down to a trip-hop flavored thing was a great choice.
UTEOTW is pretty straightforward acoustic rendition, but it is absolutely GORGEOUS. Also, that coda - which is melodically a bit different to the original - has to be an homage to Lady With The Spinning Head, right? It's too similar to be an accident.
They didn't really do much new with Horses, but they didn't need to. It's a beautiful unplugged version of the song, and the real highlight and selling point is Edge's vocal harmonies; those harmonies have been a staple of live performances, but until now they've never been present in a studio recording(and the harmonies in the middle 8 are a brand new addition, as well). You always hear about how they were never satisfied with either the album or temple bar versions of the song; maybe this is finally the version they'll be satisfied with.
Vertigo is another highlight. I didn't really know what to expect with this one. That banjo version from 2004 always gets made fun of, and that's kind of what I was envisioning, but this isn't that. This is really, really good. It's mostly straight acoustic guitar, but the cellos in the second verse are striking. This is more exciting than it had any right to be. Also, good choice getting rid of 'uno dos tres cuatro'.
Pride was easily the best of the tracks that were released before the album. The first two minutes are a lovely straightforward acoustic take, and the last minute is the single most poignant moment on the album. I can't tell if it's Bono or Edge singing the final refrains, but whoever it is, making it a duet with Bono's original 1984 vocal is the most emotional moment of the album for me. Just a powerful illustration of the passage of time.
Red Hill Mining Town is essentially a studio rendering of the JT30 version. If you liked that version, you'll like this. I liked that version, so I like this.
Invisible and Ordinary Love were the best of the SOI material here, imo. Invisible has always been an underappreciated song, and it holds up so well without all the production around it. And I believe this is the best version of Ordinary Love now.
Stay is haunting. The first verses where Bono is in the low register and Edge is harmonizing are magic. I kind of wish it would've kept going like that for the verses after the first chorus, but I get they were trying to build up to the end. I appreciate how they incorporated the little melodic adjustments from the live versions into the second chorus. I do wish Bono would've gone for that last high note, but I get why he didn't.
If God Will Send His Angels is a beautiful piano arrangement that gives the song a different emotional pitch entirely. My only small complaint is the 'you're blowing a fuse/and the cartoon network turns into the news' line that is such a release on the original is a bit too subdued here. I just felt like that one little bit didn't quite hit. Otherwise, it's really good. I wish they would've touched more of Pop, and I'm glad we have this.
I think all three SOE tracks are home runs. They transformed Get Out Of Your Own Way from a tepid Beautiful Day 2.0 flavored track into something that sounds like it could've been on War, with that percussion and rhythmic strumming. I would give this the 'most improved' award for the album. I see little reason to ever listen to the original again. Lights Of Home and Little Things are also brilliantly done. Between these, Summer Of Love, 13, Landlady, and the existing acoustic versions of Best Thing and Love Is Bigger, we can put together a sort of fully stripped-down version of that album now.
Likewise, all four Boy tracks(inc. 11OTT) are also home runs. There's something really special in listening to them re-interpret some of their earliest songs 40+ years later and still manage to make them sound fresh. I love the guitar and improved lyrics in OOC, the sparseness of SFB, and strings in IWF, and all of 11OTT. The original studio version of 11OTT was never thought of too highly around here, and this is probably an improvement over that. My only minor quibble is that I wish they would've done the 'call out my name bit' at the end, but oh well.
40 is chilling. I feel like I'm at the band's funeral or something listening to this. It's so soulful, but sad. Alongside Pride, the most poignant moment of the album.
This rendition of Stuck In A Moment reminds me mostly of the way they played it during the latter legs of the Vertigo tour(and on Conan during that time period) in that it starts acoustic and builds to a more filled-out but still stripped-down version. This is fine by me because I've always considered that Conan version to be the best live performance of the song.
COBL is pretty straight-forward, but it's great to hear what it sounds like so naked. There's a real bittersweet quality here that I don't necessarily get from the original.
I love the original WOWY way too much to be objective with any other version - it's my single favorite U2 track and imo Bono's single greatest studio vocal performance. So this doesn't match that monumental track. But it still works well. They've somehow made it even more intimate than the original, and Bono's vocal is appropriately restrained rather than trying to match his 1987 take.
I feel like the band had a specific motive in mind with Walk On here - to dissociate it from Aung San Suu Kyi after her fall from grace. I think they succeed. The altered lyrics work, and the acoustic nature of the track is very warm, inviting, and comforting. Also, I'm glad they kept the 'home' bridge, since they've omitted it in more recent live versions.
I'll be concise about SBS - I loved the instrumentation(all the guitar parts - riff, chords, solo, etc - in acoustic form are soooooo good) and Edge's vocals in the chorus. I didn't love Bono's vocal here - I can't put my finger on it, it just doesn't quite work for me. But the rest of it is so good I can forgive it.
I guess I'm going to be a dissenting voice with regards to Bad. Edge does great on it, the instrumentation is perfect, but I don't love the new lyrics. I find the 'you could only have it all/if you give it all away' part to be particularly jarring(since it just doesn't exist on any other version of the song). It's a very solid rendition, but I'm seeing people say that it's better than the original studio version, and I certainly cannot agree with that.
Dirty Day - I love love love this song, but this arrangement is almost too sparse. I was expecting it to be a variation on the E+I version, and it's basically that minus the speechifying. The string section during the bridge is great, and the outro is good too, with that sort of psychedelic vibe, but there just isn't much to the rest of it imo.
AIWIY - Bono's vocal just holds it back a bit. Not quite top tier for me, despite good guitar work from Edge.
One - One of the biggest disappointments for me. The 'love is a temple' part is great, but the rest of it just seems like they're sleepwalking through it. The AB Kindergarten version is imo a much better unplugged version of the song(even if it is just a glorified demo). I was hoping this would be acoustic guitar based like that.
Streets - I was also initially disappointed in this, but I think it's also one of the ones with the most potential to grow on me. So much of this borders on Bono doing acappella. There's something compelling about it, but it needs more listens.
Miracle/EBW/Cedarwood/SFS - So these are all well done. My issue is that we already had acoustic/stripped down versions of all of them. These are slots that could've been given to other tracks. They just seem unnecessary. Miracle is the exception, they did something new and interesting with it, but even there, I agree with the people who think the original chorus is better.
SYCMIOYO - the general critique about this song has long been that it takes too long to build up to its climax, and I just feel like that issue is magnified on this stripped down version. Also, it contains the most glaring autotune glitch(when he sings 'you don't have to go it alone' leading into the first chorus).
Beautiful Day - I would've liked a little more instrumentation here. Some acoustic guitar or something. It's basically just bass and synths and simple piano chords for the most part. It's not bad, I just can't get as into it as most of the others.
I'm very much enjoying this, and I'm pleased to say that, because I was worried after One and BD were released.
