U2
Songs Of Innocence

I really wanted to speak well of this album, but I just can't: in their recent releases, I've always tried to defend them and appreciate the (little) good that was there, but this time it was really impossible. I would like to start with a track, Sleep Like A Baby Tonight, track number 9 (out of 11): it is the only interesting thing in Songs Of Innocence, a wonderful electronic ballad that takes me back to the days of Zooropa, Bono's voice is soft and filtered, the result is spectacular.
Why not continue on this line? Dear U2, you certainly won't surprise us by gifting us the new album on iTunes.

The lyrics are commendable, tied to Bono's childhood, but musically speaking it feels like listening to B-Sides, almost all hover around the same average level of mediocrity, no dramatic flops thankfully, no big pseudo-rock hits like Vertigo, few classic U2 anthems, but only one memorable track. Music well sung and well played, but ignored by the ears in the same way that grandma's pasta is ignored by taste buds. 
Innocuous pop-rock that if it airs on the radio neither impresses nor annoys, and 5 years of waiting is really too long if this is the result: I sincerely hope (as their great admirer) that they have other material in the works, perhaps related to the sounds of the previous No Line On The Horizon, which excluding the horrendous singles was an album definitely worthy of their name.  And this one? Well, if they had written "Coldplay" on it, it wouldn't have made much difference.