Grade: A-
People can be really dumb sometimes.
Like this past week, when so many people were up in arms that Apple gave them a free new album.
People were upset that Apple had put the new U2 album, “Songs of Innocence,” directly into their music libraries and onto their iPhones.
It’s kind of like being angry that a good friend of yours baked you a delicious pie and then left it in your kitchen.
Release and distribution hiccups aside, this new U2 album is absolutely killer.
Everything about this album says it was expertly made. Nothing says it was just a gimmick to make the unveiling of the new iPhones and Apple Watch more grandiose.
Beginning with the lead single, “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone),” the album shows off U2 at its very best.
The song is just huge. It starts with an anthemic chant then cuts to an awesome-beyond-belief distorted guitar riff.
It’s fun, upbeat, energetic and completely catchy.
Even the slower songs don’t seem like filler the way so many bands’ songs do on their albums these days. The songs still echo with U2’s typical stadium-rock feel.
In all of the music on this album, save for maybe “Volcano,” you can feel that a band of veterans who have been around the block about a dozen times are the ones behind the creative process.
Choices are bold and intentional. Songs such as “Raised By Wolves” and “Sleep Like a Baby Tonight” show off the band’s ability to still make very original and carefully thought-out music.
The album flows nicely, no songs feel out of place, and the packing of the album — especially opening with a bang and closing with a gentler piece, makes the album feel cohesive.
More than 25 years after “The Joshua Tree” was released, “Songs of Innocence” still feels completely relevant. The album doesn’t feel like a bunch of old, out-of-touch men just putting together an album to squeeze out a few more dollars at the end of their careers.
U2 still knows how to make big, beautiful, virtuosic pop songs.
The album isn’t absolutely perfect — I would have loved to see more contrast from song to song, maybe a breakout from the U2 norm.
With strokes of musical brilliance abounding and an opening single that is truly a 10 out of 10, this is one album you won’t want to delete off your iPhone just yet.
Take a drive through autumn’s changing leaves and play “Songs of Innocence.” You’ll want to thank Apple wholeheartedly.
