The Daily Gamecock

U2 forces album upon you, too

Band, Apple team up to release "Songs of Innocence"

Despite your best efforts at halting any advances from creepy loners lurking amongst Five Points this past weekend, Bono might have still found his way into your front pocket. If you've updated any devices to iOS7, then "Songs of Innocence," U2's latest album release, is now nestled amongst your collection of albums.

The first half of the album follows the classic U2 formula with an arena-rock track followed by a whiny ballad. The verse-chorus-verse-chorus format is getting a little obsolete. The Edge  still has some nice guitar licks, but, in keeping consistent with the rest of the band, they are recycled, save for the fuzzy solo on “Sleep Like a Baby Tonight,” an isolated thrill in an otherwise bland song.

Deceptively, the band put the most bearable song first. The initial track, “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)” has a decent blend of vocal harmonies and power chords such that the datedness is almost nostalgia-inducing. But soon enough, it will find its way into the sonic niche of car commercials where it belongs.

Bono's ability to sound confessional in his love songs without really saying anything is utterly remarkable. The romance of the ballads might sound poetic to middle-aged divorcés, but it seems that iTunes might be confusing the populations of those that pay for the iPhone 6 with those that use the iPhone 6.

“Volcano” could have been a decent track because of a jammy bass-line, but again Bono is too basic of a songwriter to listen to for very long. Age may not show itself explicitly in drums, bass or guitar, but Bono's strained voice from years of singing and a generational gap in the quality of lyrics are impossible to mask. Acclaimed producer, Danger Mouse, is many things, but he is not a fountain of youth. The premier songwriter of “Songs of Innocence” might be just a little too experienced.

Releasing the album automatically to personal iTunes accounts is part of a “collaboration between Apple and U2 beginning 10 years ago.” According to the Apple website, “never before have so many people owned one album, let alone on the day of its release.”

Is there something altruistic about distributing your product for free? Maybe so. But in the same way that it can feel like a hassle between classes to discard a free coupon book from one of the aggressive distributors on Greene Street, it feels like Apple is saying “here, you throw this away for us.”

If you can push through the boredom of tracks 2-9, the album closes tolerably. “This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now” is quite engrossing on all instrumental fronts. The coolest parts of the entire record are the introduction and choruses to the last track, “The Troubles,” where someone sings besides Bono : Swedish singer Lykke Li repeats an ominous, spellbinding refrain. But enticing tracks to open and close does not a top-selling album make. Fortunately for U2, they didn't have to sell it to you.


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