IN REVIEW: U2 - "Songs of Experience"

As they close in on forty years as a unit, U2 are further and further away from their peak; to their credit, though, they remain one of the biggest bands in the world a quarter century after what the vast majority consider their most essential period. While many are quick to jump to the band's defense from statements such as that, maintaining that the band has kept their sound fresh and that their consistency and quality have kept them relevant all these years, I suspect most of those die hard fans are more in love with U2 as they were than U2 as they are.

To be clear, there was absolutely a time when U2 albums were major events, capable of turning all the heads and captivating the imaginations of fans and critics alike. During this time, when they could have easily replicated their past successes, they admirably and boldly tinkered with their sound; the pop and euro-dance elements that made their way into U2's songs in the mid 90s turned some fans off, but you can't deny the intrigue and buzz generated by such ballsy career moves.

The thing is, those moves cost U2 a good number of fans (read: paying customers), and so U2 have spent most of the last two decades torn between chasing inspiration and toeing the company line. Each album from All That You Can't Leave Behind on has dabbled in popular sounds of the day while using carefully placed nostalgia triggers to ensure they don't veer too far off the well-beaten path. Songs of Innocence, this new album's three year old companion piece, upheld the traditions with the tiny wrinkle of a poorly received forcing of the album on iPhones around the world. It didn't help matters that it was their most poorly conceived set of songs in decades, either. They were paid in advance for the stunt, but it ultimately cost them a healthy chunk of reputation.

Unsurprisingly, Songs of Experience finds U2 in somewhat of a damage control mode. A more traditional album release, a more explicitly classic U2-recalling lead single (You're the Best Thing About Me), and a more scaled back promotional gauntlet have ushered this record into the world, all moves that seem practically modest by U2 standards. The songs, too, seem to have a little more happening; as a result, this album feels like far less of a nostalgia trip or middle-of-the-road slog, and the record as a whole is as vibrant and varied as they've sounded in quite some time. When they rock out, it's not because they need a rock single to reassert themselves as a rock band (see: Elevation, Vertigo, Get On Your Boots, The Miracle); to wit, there are three or four songs that could have been this album's Big Rock Single. So as to say, rather than simply tick boxes and move along, U2 has made a conscious effort to get their hands a little dirtier this time out.

Still, this is a new record by U2 in 2017, which makes it responsible for keeping an increasingly irrelevant entity relevant. In an attempt to accomplish this, they return to the same well as they have for much of this millennium; drawing inspiration from whatever is popular now. That's why there's auto-tune on the album's opening track, it's why Kendrick Lamar and Haim are brought on as guests, and it's why Summer of Love sounds kind of like Lana Del Rey. Look, it's one thing to keep up to date on new music (hell, I don't get the motivation to review anything on this site if I stop exploring), but U2 has become so used to following the crowd it used to lead, I fully expect to hear at least a couple of trap beats on their next album.

I don't want to blow that out of proportion, so I'll pivot; this is not some kind of failed experiment, and I certainly won't sit here and pretend that U2 owes the world anything at this point. It almost bears pondering why they make new music at all, considering people are going to buy tickets to the show whether they play American Soul or not. I suppose this is simply the album you make when you're four decades removed from being young and hungry upstarts, having conquered the world several times over and ensured that you'll never go hungry again. Any evolution, even one that no one was really asking for, has to count for something.

December 1, 2017 • Island

Highlights Lights of Home • American Soul • The Little Things That Give You Away