Songs of
Innocence by U2
Free music
is always exciting, especially from an iconic band like U2, but I must say that
when I saw this image as the album cover, I was a little taken aback! I wasn’t
exactly sure what it was depicting and it made me a bit skittish about even
bothering to check the music out. Amid all the controversy it appeared in my
iTunes and I hadn’t even taken the time to listen to it until recently. I’m not
exactly sure what U2 had in mind when they decided to enter into this deal with
Apple and I had no idea what to expect as to the kind of sound it would have.
Now that I
have spent some time listening to it, I’ve found it is typical sounding U2 and
I’m not so frightened. Although the title of the first song “The Miracle (of
Joey Ramone)” had me wondering! I love the Ramones, but what miracle? As it
turns out, it’s not so much about Joey, but more about finding one self. The
story goes that Bono as a teen, after seeing the Ramones live, was inspired by
the way Joey Ramome sang, like a girl, because he also sings like a girl.
Interesting thought process there, I’ve noticed over the years that there are
many male lead singers out there in the music business that sound like girls when
they sing. Bono goes on to explain that the whole album is basically a revisiting
of their youth, first journeys geographically, spiritually and sexually.
After
listening to the complete album several times I do get the vibe of a tribute to
the 70’s and 80’s sounds mixed in with the current sounds in music. Especially the
song “California (There Is No End To Love)” which in the beginning has a little
teaser sounding almost like the Beach Boys “Barbara Ann”. The song “Iris Hold
Me Close” is a song that is written about Bono’s mother. The rest of the songs
follow the same kind of pattern centering around events or memories of the
past.
It’s
starting to grow on me a little more each time I listen to it, but I wouldn’t
really say it’s their best album. I don’t feel the impact yet from this one that
I felt with most of their early work. My favorite album so far would be “How to
Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” followed by “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” and “No
Line On The Horizon”.
The songs on
this one don’t leave me mesmerized like “Vertigo” and “All Because Of You” from
“How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” or “Beautiful Day”, “Stuck In A Moment You
Can’t Get Out Of”, “Elevation”, or “Grace” off the album “All That You Can’t
Leave Behind”, along with the songs “Magnificent” and “Moment of Surrender”
from “No Line On The Horizon”. Going even farther back to “Achtung Baby” with
“Even Better Than The Real Thing” and “Mysterious Ways”.
I never paid
them much attention when they showed up on the scene back in the early ‘80s. I’d
hear them playing on my local mainstream stations and one day I started paying
attention to the lyrics, I’m still very big on lyrics, then the music crept
into my brain and I realized I actually liked listening to them. Songs like “I
Will Follow”, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, “New Year’s Day” and “Pride (In The Name
Of Love)” were popular and played a lot on the radio. Soon they began to stick
in my head! Then came “With or Without You”, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m
Looking For” and I was hooked!
But getting
back to “Songs of Innocence”, so far I'd have to say I'm drawn to the songs "The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) and "Every Breaking Wave" the most, if you have received it on your iTunes then you
should really check it out! It’s free and you might just like it!
