Although expected to be released this year, it came as quite a surprise that U2 released their latest album “Songs of Innocence” free of charge via ITunes. In fact there was no waiting - the announcement was made, then it appeared in all 500 Million Itunes users’ “Cloud”. There are arguments for and against the almost forcing of users to have an album by a band that separates many music fans and are possibly the most marmite of bands (fans worship them, others hate them for various reasons). But thats for another day. This is more about my love of the band (no I won’t try to sell you into the cult of U2 where we all worship at the feet of our God Bono)
I have been a fan for almost 20 years. They weren’t the band that got me into music. That was Queen and Status Quo (I can’t quote remember whose greatest hits my mum got me as a 10 year old in 1990 first). My first taste of the band was my mum having a rather childish strop when their song “Desire” knocked a song by her then favourite band “The Hollies” from the number one spot. Then in 1992 I watched as they played the Freddie Mercury Tribute concert (albeit live via satellite) but there was still no inkling to discover more about them. But in 1995 I was looking for new and different music to listen to. I’d missed grunge, although I loved my Pearl Jam and Nirvanna cassettes (showing my age somewhat!), and Britpop, although fun, never quite pushed me musically.
In that same summer that brought us the big Blur V Oasis debate, U2 quietly released “Hold me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me,” a song used for the “Batman Forever” soundtrack. I randomly purchased the single (again, hard copy CDs is showing my age!) and instantly fell in love with the cyber punk/rock n roll/techno fuse of 90s U2. It must be said that I learnt not long after that this isn’t a typical U2 sounding song - but what is? After that, I became an instant fan, obsessing over them like other big fans. Over the coming years I purchased their back catalogue and old concerts on VHS (there I go again!) and was lucky to see them at Wembley on the 1997 PopMart tour. I was even more lucky to see them in Dublin in 2005 (having seen them in Manchester 2 weeks before) and again in Cardiff in 2009. But then I seemed to have lost a little interest in them.
For long periods of my life, U2 were a constant companion. If I was feeling down, they were there musically for me. They represented the single me. Yes, I had relationships during this time, but hindsight being what it is, they were never going to last for one reason or another. And guess who were there to pick the pieces up like the musical mates they were? U2.
In 2009 I met the girl that I went on to marry and start a family with me. I took her to see them in Cardiff, making her a fan in the process - as she says, the haters need to see them live before giving a music opinion on them. And this is the thing. They were no longer needed emotionally. The married me didn’t need to lean on U2 musically. My musical tastes changed somewhat. I’d always been a Metal fan, but now I was actively seeking out Metal acts. Although earlier this year I rediscovered Bruce Spingsteen after a long absence and this should have given me the inkling of a return to the Dublin band I loved for so many years.
And this is a long(ish) way of saying, after a few listens, this album has made me re-fall in love with U2. It wasn’t that I no longer needed them musically because they represented the single me. It was that, like an old married couple we grew apart. But now we have rekindled that love.
The new album itself has also shown that U2 are still a innovative band. They could easily become a Rolling Stones style greatest act (Nothing wrong with that). But they still aim to be relevant both musically and commercially. I mentioned buying CD singles. Well this was back in the days when the usual cycle for a band was create the album, release a single and get plenty of air play on the radio, release the album and one or two more singles and finally go on a big year long tour. Then repeat. But with the onset of Itunes, Napster and Spotify (to name but a few), people get their music differently via downloads or streaming. The humble single and album is no more. Yes bands create albums, but now people decide the single themselves by downloading it (I know some bands still “release a single” digitally). Commercial radio hasn’t quite got the listeners it once had as people stream music from Spotify or Google Play. So bands have to sell their much differently to sell the tickets for tours and remain musically relevant. This is the genius behind U2 giving away the album free for a month via Itunes. Apple get exclusivity, U2 get the album out to people who wouldn’t even think of buying it and then they become fans. In theory of course. But to me its a great way for an established band to bring their music to new fans.
Musically it has hints of the classic U2 sound. If there truly is a classic U2 sound. It is 26 years since they last did a classic 80s U2 sounding album. And even in the 80’s their sound went from naive new wave punks to a more American sound. The 90’s brought them more to an electronic sound - dance fused with rock with more than a subtle hint of Madchester with clear Happy Mondays, Charalatans, Stones Roses and Primal Scream style music in there. The 2000’s brought a more commercially friendly U2. The big anthems were still there, but the flirtation with DJs was over. But even then, they showed hints with a return to that sound in 2005 and 2009. Now this new album seems a more updated version of the 90’s sound with one of the producers being Danger Mouse. Its Zoo TV/Actung Baby if they recorded that album now. And this is the thing, what is the U2 style of music, if not a look at what is current and putting their spin on it. At the most its the driving bass of Adam Clayton, the drumming of Larry Mullen Jr, the effects laden guitar work of The Edge, backing poetic emotion filled lyrics song with passion by Bono. All with the epic feel of a stadium friendly sound that could equally be intimate.
