U2
Songs of Innocence

I have always considered U2 an excellent band. I tried to isolate their musical past (good and bad) from the new album and listened to it carefully.

Let's start with the single that introduced the album, The Miracle (of Joey Ramone): a song that says nothing, that doesn't evoke any strong feelings, you listen to it but it leaves nothing behind, it is an apathetic and literally "flat" song. Certainly a terrible choice (musically and commercially) to launch it as the opening single that should represent the entire album: it does not arouse the listener's curiosity, it is neither a commercial nor a "sophisticated" song, it leaves you unimpressed.

Every Breaking Wave and California almost faithfully follow the sterile path left by the debut single: the listener, confused, immediately moves on to the next track.

Song for Someone is certainly a somewhat cunning song, but definitely impactful: catchy and radio-friendly, with an overall good lyric. It certainly would have garnered more media interest if the band (or rather... the record company) had released it as the first single. With a chorus that becomes an earworm, simple chords, and maybe a nice romantic video (read: "cunning"), the result would have been excellent commercially and good musically. Let's move on.

Iris and Cedarwood Road inevitably follow the fate of the first single, the musical void is almost total.

Volcano is without a doubt the worst song on the album: from the title, it might seem beautiful, an energetic song: it's nothing more than a poor imitation of the old Vertigo, and this does it no honor.

To my surprise, the best pieces of the album are all concentrated at the end. Four songs that surprised me a lot. Two of these are very beautiful: This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now and Raised by Wolves. Particularly the second is rhythmic, the vocal effects make everything even more lively. The only flaw is the chorus: perhaps a bit clichéd and predictable, but overall the track is enjoyable.

The last two songs are the best pieces of the album: Sleep Like a Baby Tonight and The Troubles. The atmosphere becomes more intimate, distancing from the flatness of the songs that opened the album. They bring the listener back to U2 of the early '90s, the quality is evident. The guitar solo in Sleep Like a Baby Tonight is compelling, the track doesn’t seem written by U2, we were used to songs like Beautiful Day and City of Blinding Lights. Finally, to end on a high note, the most beautiful track of the album: The Troubles. Many have compared it to some Coldplay tracks, and indeed there is a certain similarity. But Bono's voice leaves no room for doubt: with the collaboration of Lykke Li, a Swedish singer known here in Italy for the remix of her I Follow Rivers, the result is perfect: the refrain where he sings "somebody stepped inside your soul, little by little they robbed and stole, till someone else was in control" almost sounds like a nursery rhyme, the listener feels enveloped by the warmth of his voice and that of Bono Vox. Here too, an excellent guitar solo concludes the track.

If there had been more songs like the last four I mentioned, the album would have deserved 4 or 5 stars. But the presence of so many underwhelming tracks (5 out of 11) and mediocre tracks like Volcano lead me to give the album "only" 3 stars out of 5. Truly a shame, U2 can do better, as they have clearly demonstrated in the songs that close the album.