Among all of the iPhone 6 and iOS8 hype, U2 snuck in small bonus with the release of their latest album Songs of Innocence which would be pushed to all iTunes users regardless of the user’s feedback. In most cases this would be a non-issue, but the news caused a great deal of backlash among users who felt this unsolicited album being forced upon them violated some sort of unspoken agreement. Apple took those concerns to heart and provided a one-click removal solution for those who wanted to clear U2’s latest from their purchased list.
There will be those who welcome this album with open ears and may look upon those detractors with a degree of distain (not unwarranted). If the album was pushed, deleted or enjoyed, this might be the end of the story, but unfortunately after leveraging their partnership with Apple to expose millions of users to their new recording, U2’s management team began to hammer network television with an outdated advertisement for this somewhat ill-received record. Let’s be honest folks, U2 is no stranger to overexposure, but why they must drag down the best track on the album (“The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)”) is beyond me. Personally, this will quickly burn me out on the track and by proxy the album.
U2 is a band who had earned my respect with its early work (“War”, “Boy”, “Joshua Tree” and “Achtung Baby”) and as they’ve gotten older and continued to make music, my interest has waned as I have found that the quality dips album over album. While the band and label attempt to make each subsequent album an event release (complete with excessive airplay and an out of control hype machine), this release is not that different. This release would be considered to be a somewhat subdued in terms of a U2 record, however the band/label still feel it necessary to cram Songs of Innocence down our throats with an excessive ad campaign for an album which snuck into our Apple based music libraries. All the good will and respect which was earned with those early releases is quickly beginning to dissipate with the overzealous push on this album and a recent article on The Huffington Post even went as far as to liken the band to the widely panned Nickelback.
All of that being said, the album isn’t terrible by any means, it’s a competent album but once you press play and the magic that lies behind the spirit of “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)” ebbs, the remainder of the album fails to live up to that lead single. The album never capitalizes on that goodwill and further fails to engage the listener and quickly becomes wholly forgettable aural wallpaper.
The one thing that the album achieves is that it begs the question of when should a legendary band stop trying to retain its place upon the top of the musical mountain and gracefully climbs down to transition into a career of highlighting their greatest hits? Rather than U2 forcing its new material down our throats, why not let the fans embrace and accept the album on their own, if the fan base is waning then it might be time for the band to rely on their vast catalogue of greatest hits. Bono and company have to understand that while the industry is undergoing vast changes, this is not the way to draw attention to your recent work.
