by: Adam Glass

Today brought quite a surprise for fans of the band U2. The bands 13 studio album SONGS OF INNOCENCE” was released this morning on iTunes for free as a promotion for the new iPhone 6. The album will be available for free through October 13th.

I promptly downloaded this new masterpiece as soon as I found out about it and wow…….I can’t believe they gave this away. “Songs of Innocence” is probably the best U2 album since “All That You Can’t Leave Behind”. Starting off with the rocking stunner of “The  Miracle (of Joey Ramone)” and moving through instant classics such as “Every Breaking Wave” and “California (There Is No End To Love)” shows off that U2 can change with the times and still push the musical envelope after all these years. This is not your parents U2. Looking back I will gladly put up with another “How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb” and “No Line on the Horizon” if we can get another album of this caliber out of the band.

Songs such as “Song for Someone” and “Iris” are beautiful and could easily compete with “One” as one of their defining songs. Other highlights of the album include “Volcano” and “Raised by Wolves” sound like they could have been on “Boy” or “War”.  

Edge’s guitars have never sounded crisper then the do on “Cedarwood Road” and Bono’s voice seems to get better with age. I have to give props to Danger Mouse for his absolute incredible production on this album. It actually makes me want to check out more of his work.

In a time when most bands that have been around for close to 40 years churn out mediocre product I have to say it was well worth the wait for “Songs of Innocence”. It will be interesting to see if this marks a return to the singles charts and I’m even more curious for the tour which is slated to start in 2015.  

U2 – Songs of Innocence

1. “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)”   

2. “Every Breaking Wave”   

3. “California (There is No End to Love)”

4. “Song for Someone”   

5. “Iris (Hold Me Close)”   

6. “Volcano”   

7. “Raised by Wolves”   

8. “Cedarwood Road”    

9. “Sleep Like a Baby Tonight”   

10. “This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now”

11. “The Troubles”