Released: March 17
U2 revisit their four-decade legacy with a collection of 40 of the band’s best-loved tracks re-recorded for an all-new compilation release.
Billed as a set of “reimagined and re-recorded” songs split across four albums – one named after each of U2’s four members – ‘Songs of Surrender’ is curated and produced by The Edge and “started out as an experiment [that] quickly developed into a personal obsession”.
“So many of our songs yielded to a new interpretation,” he says. “Intimacy replaced post punk urgency. New tempos, new keys, and in some cases new chords and new lyrics arrived.”
The concept itself is intriguing, but it’s in the execution where it falters and the exploration of new ideas most often treads stripped-back acoustic territory, adding little to songs that have proven themselves time and time again throughout the years.
Of course, the tracks themselves don’t come into question – they are and always will be hits – but whether it’s the unpolished take on opener One or the forced, Leonard Cohen-esque rendition of I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, it’s a collection that doesn’t quite click.
Speaking about the project, The Edge says the process “started with a series of demos” from which “all but the bare essential elements were taken away” from the songs – which in itself is an apt description of the material on the final collection.
Were these the original demos, it may prove intriguing, but for a celebration of a lifetime of work it feels undercooked and unfulfilling – everything this kind of release shouldn’t be – while the idea of a set for each member may have piqued interest had they been personally curated, but given that The Edge took control of the sequencing, it reads more as a gimmick than as a meaningful selling point.
Perhaps we’re being harsh; within ‘Songs of Surrender’ is undoubtedly a strong album of material that could, if edited down to a concise 12-15 songs, have breathed new life into the material without becoming overbearing. But sometimes less really is more and at 40 songs, the album is less a spark of inspiration and more of an indulgence that doesn’t quite live up to its hype.
‘Songs of Surrender’ is available now.
