Well plenty of you won't give a damn, and maybe the rest of you know already.
But just in case you don't know, itunes have made the whole U2 album available for free to download right now. Physical release is in October I believe.

Songs of Innocence

review

On first listen it's not doing much for me.

Yeah, it's a pretty boring album. They haven't made anything good since Pop in my opinion :/

Jury's still out for me. It's not a bad album, it's rather solid and cohesive, but nothing really stands out and grabs you by the ears. The songs lack some character but are really well written. Production is really glossy too, well engineered but not honest enough... I don't know. I really want to like it, I've been looking forward to it for ages, but nothing about it aside from the unexpected way it was delivered makes me like it. But it doesn't suck at all either, no bad songs... Maybe it needs more listens, or maybe I'm just not in the mood for yet one more "typical U2" album. But even then, it's still not a typical U2 album - they sound like a lot more bands before they sound like U2 on this record. I still don't know. I'll keep giving it chances.

Also according to Bono a second album "Songs of Experience" is near done and will come out soon. "Songs of Ascent" was also announced around 2009 bit shelved, some people are speculating a trilogy will be released.

What a surprise it was to find this already in my music library, LOL!

The jury is still out on whether this is the album that is as good as... <insert old album here>. However we really aren't dealing with the same 4 strapping young lads from the 80's or early 90's. I love U2, always have and always will. But our paths parted quite a few years ago and every once in a while we will meet up for a good song or two or three. For me, their pinnacle was the period between Joshua Tree through Zoopropa. That's not to say their albums before don't make me feel something (of course they do) or the albums after Zooropa are total duds (there are gems to be found in all their albums). I am glad they are still at it, making music, and doing what they are doing. I don't expect to be floored with another Achtung Baby, but I do look forward to what their offerings are.

With that said, I get what they are trying to accomplish with this album and it's autobiographical approach. There are more songs that I like than ones I don't. I like the nods to their past (including the obvious one to Their appreciation of William Blake, haha) and the story that's told with each song. My favorite song is Iris, about Bono's mother. It is heart breaking yet reassuring - but more reflective in the sense that in their earliest songs about his mother, there is a sense of aching loss rather than one of reflection. I also like The Miracle of Joey Ramone, for as pop as it is, it's nice to see this insanely successful band reach back to their beginnings and reflect on how something musical they witnessed made them feel. Cedar wood Road is good, and I like Raised by Wolves. Every Breaking Wave is far too over produced which is my biggest disappointment given the earlier version of this song are so raw, more acoustic, with a more melancholy and haunting quality (can be found on YouTube)I I want very much to be fanatical about this album but there is a part of me that feels a bit thrown off. There is this duality going on. The album is reflective, a nod back to their beginnings. But some songs try to be played in that voice they had all those years ago and it seems like perhaps they are trying hard in that aspect.

I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing a show, and of course Songs Of Experience.