U2 ProfileA freebie via iTunes for U2’s album number 13 (or so) was quite the move for Apple – way to clear stormy (i)Cloud stolen nude pix press. The price tag guarantees initial interest, but thankfully there are decent tunes to back up the gimmick.
Thematically the album is a band looking back to the Ireland of their childhoods, evoking sounds and influences like opener, The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone), all the way through Cedarwood Road (frontman Bono’s boyhood haunt) to a quote from iconic Irish poet Seamus Heaney to end the album’s liner notes. Dedications to the grand B’s wife (Song For Someone) and mother (Iris [Hold Me Close]) also feature; however the former’s classic ballad form is the better of the two.
Things get a bit more interesting with Volcano (almost early ‘80s in its approach, albeit a bit slower), and Raised By Wolves also taps into an echoey narrative that old-school fans and their lost mullets will appreciate. Danger Mouse pops up for production for almost half the album but his boldness isn’t overt until latter tracks Sleep Like A Baby Tonight and This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now. This Is Where...’s pseudo-sci-fi mini bridge is proof the old dogs still try new tricks and definitely deserved a spot higher in the playlist, while closer, The Troubles, slow burns just enough.
Trainspotters will notice that single, Invisible, spectacularly debuted at the Superbowl and Jimmy Fallon’s first Tonight Show, hasn’t reappeared here for some reason.
