U2 Songs of Experience Review: Experience the U2-Lite

I first heard U2 in their How to dismantle an Atomic Bomb album which was a turning point in my life cause that album and it's phenomenal guitar work opened the door for me to the entire genre of Electric Guitar music and many great musicians that I’ve heard since then. It’s not any way an understatement when I say that hearing HTDAAB was a huge turning point in my Life.

And after that, I had heard many other U2 albums, live concert DVDs, and eventually became a huge fan of the band. For me, their music represented aspects such as--hopeful and poetic lyrics, a distinct and fresh, wavy rock-n-roll sound and of course, the Edge’s slick-cut-anthemic guitar soundscape. These are what made me love U2’s sound in the first place and from HTDATB to their early albums, their guitar driven yet distinctly characteristic sound had always shined through.

In all those years, in my eyes, U2 has been that band that made consistently fresh music while also managing to cater to a large musical demographic. When No Line on the Horizon came out, although, I didn’t love the majority of the songs back then, in my eyes it was still an worthwhile album cause with all of it’s missteps, U2 was still trying to push boundaries (apparent in songs like Moment of Surrender, FEZ-Being Born, Ceders of Lebanon etc) and delivered some encouraging results. For me, that’s the real essence of rock-n-roll--fearlessness and a pure heart to explore new grounds while also being humble enough to acknowledge the roots. Even though the album couldn’t come close to some of their best works, it had that sense of honesty and sincerity in the songs. In my book, even though it missed the mark, it was bold and true to it’s spirit.

But when Songs of Innocence came out in 2014, that’s when I first got the feeling that something has changed, sure there were songs in the record that are genuinely enjoyable and melodic, there were some of those distinctly-Edge-esque sonic guitar-scape too, but yet, something felt very different. It was like something very deep within, is not there anymore. The form was there and so were the all the contents that make up the classic optimistic U2 vibe, but it felt like in essence, this was not the same band anymore. Make no mistake, the album was decent enough and there were songs that sounded great in the arena-setup, yet it felt like there was almost no artistic vision behind all that. It’s just like the group is desperately trying to deliver some radio hits and wanting to introduce themselves as musical heroes to the younger generation who never heard Achtung Baby.

I remember Bono saying that they want to reinvent their music once again like they did in the early 90’s but for me, Songs of Innocence was not a reinvention but a calculated effort to appeal to the younger generation. Yes the album felt different musically and more commercialized than anything they did but it showed signs of something that I didn’t expect to find in U2--a seemingly self imposed restraint to go beyond the mainstream. Compared to SOI, their previous album (No Line on the Horizon) felt like a masterpiece.

But back then, I thought that “well, SOI is fundamentally about U2’s reminiscence of their early years, so perhaps this is why the album sounded so stripped down, so bare bones--not in arrangement, but in terms of musical vision.” Say what you want about No Line...at least that album had an uniform artistic vision and execution behind it whereas SOI seemed just empty at the inside.

And when it was confirmed that their follow up album to SOI would be Songs of Experience, I hoped--maybe this is where we’ll see the more musically mature, grown up U2, the U2 that’s daring to venture out into new places and above all, not afraid to fail. As that’s what separates the young from the adult--the adult knows about his limitations and yet, is willing to go the distance. So that was the viewpoint for me when I first heard about SOE. And although the new songs didn’t make me feel entirely optimistic about the album, I still wanted to buy it, mostly cause I wanted to be surprised and above all, I still respect U2 for what they created in the past.

But after hearing SOE in it’s entirety, it feels like--they’re not even trying now. Is this really the same band that gave us anthemic rockers like Where the streets, The Fly and above all, is this the same band that gave us experimental gems like Zooropa and Pop? This album certainly makes the case that the musical act named U2 has long been replaced by a corporate music machine called U2.

Listening to this album over and over again, it feels so obvious that even though the songs are probably more accessible and upfront than SOI, most of them feel like they don’t have that crucial element that separates the great from the good--inspiration. These songs don’t sound as raw inspired works but just something that was manufactured to meet a purpose--sound relevant and to capture the ears of the new generation. Apart from ‘The Little Things that give you away’, ‘Summer of Love’ and some small pieces from very few other songs, there’s no sense of vision to the songs in this album.

Sure there are some genuine sparks here that almost leaves you feeling guilty of expecting something truly sincere and uplifting. The lyrics are definitely more dense and have that feeling of delivering heavy messages to them, the bass really shines here too and it’s definitely a glorious example on Adam Clayton’s part.

And the Edge is definitely a huge let down in this album--yes, he has given some beautiful sonic textures in some of the songs but it’s a shame to see him not going beyond that and staying in that same comfortable zone for years. For the longest time in U2’s catalogue, the Edge’s guitar driven lines comprised an integral part of the identities of the songs (like Mysterious Ways, Until The End of the World and so many more) but here, he seems strangely absent. There were several times when I expected to hear a lead cutting through the heavily produced layers of sounds in SOE but it never really happens. His presence in this album feels more like a sound engineer, stepping in only to liven up and add some shine to some of the chorus parts.

Even with all it’s faults and missteps, No Line... and even SOI had some really memorable guitar parts--like the surprisingly striking end part of The Trouble or Cederwood Road. But here, all of that’s heart-wrenchingly missing. Apart from Lights of Home, it feels like he doesn’t even care. Clearly the days of Bullet the Blue Sky are far gone, welcome to the age of post-Guitar leads and instead, stay content with ambient-only guitar snippets.

Overall and sadly, SOE sounds like a Lite version of the same band that gave us I still haven’t found or Electrical Storm. This is not the yearning sound of a band that’s full of hope and tirelessness, this is the complacent sound of a group that’s got a bit too comfortable with their success. It’s a shame to see U2 fell in here and for me, it’s genuinely sad. Even their worst hater knows that if any group has that kind of ‘ticket of assurance’ to go out and really delve into whole new creative musical ideas and themes, it’s U2. They might just be the biggest selling and most commercially successful rock band of all time and yet, here they are--playing it as safe as they possible can, with songs that feel like they were not borne out of sheer passion for music but of a blunt attempt to hold on to their ‘biggest band’ reputation and trying to capture the new generation. This is where success turns into shackles.

So to conclude--should you buy this album? This seems like a really conflicted question to answer for me cause, yes, there are some good melodies that are definitely worth listening to more than once. In terms of that, this is a decent album from a great band. But if you are a U2 fan, then you should lower your expectations quite a bit. Compared to their catalogue, this album surely sounds like a forgettable foot note.

Success can either encourage you to aim for higher grounds in future or it can destroy you by getting addicted to your own success. Even 10 years back, I felt that U2 belonged in the former tier but after listening to the last duology of albums, the truth seems all too obvious.