Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been a U2 fan for basically my entire life. The Joshua Tree was probably the first album that I recognized as truly great and meaningful, beyond just songs I liked listening to. The transition to Achtung Baby was jarring, and incredible, and powerful, and that album, like the Joshua Tree, remains a landmark in popular music. In an era of great albums, it stands out for so many reasons (the songwriting, the production, the videos, the tour). For me, U2 could do no wrong until the missteps of Pop and The Million-Dollar Hotel. Conventional wisdom says they reverted to classicist rock and roll with All That You Can't Leave Behind and settled in with their stadium-ready sound. I mostly agree with that. The implication, though, is that they are no longer a vital creative force, and that is just plain not true. U2 is able to play an album from 1987 in concert 30 years later because it's a phenomenal album, but they are not a nostalgia act. Lost in the controversy of placing their last album into everyone's iTunes (a violation of people's privacy, but I think a well-meaning one) is the fact that it was their best work in a while. Songs of Innocence was an excellent album, and now we have its other half, Songs of Experience. It's not perfect, but I think it's another strong album in many ways. My only real problem with it is the autotune in the opening song. Autotune is such a blight on modern music, a trend that is well past its expiration date and wasn't very appealing to begin with. Bono's voice, though less powerful than it once was, is still a distinctive and beautiful instrument, and there's no need to digitize it into that generic sound. The Edge manipulates guitar effects to achieve his unique audio textures. Autotuning Bono's voice removes the uniqueness, so the album has a shaky start for me. Quickly, the album gains traction, though. There's a lot of crunching guitar, soaring vocals, grooving bass, and rockin' drums. The lyrics are generally strong, with Bono singing about issues both personal and political. Some lyrics and melodies pair up with Songs of Innocence, creating a link between the two albums beyond just the titles and general concepts. What comes across most to me is the care the band took in making this album. They still want to write hits and win new fans. They still want to be relevant. I don't expect them to make albums with the same impact of their 80s and 90s masterpieces. I still get goosebumps listing to "All I Want Is You," and songs like "Electric Co." and "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kille Me" (among so many others) still leap from the speakers. I don't ask U2 to come up with another "Where the Streets Have No Name" or to expand their sound like they did with "Numb." So what do I expect from them, and what do I appreciate so much at this point in their career and in my fandom? The thematic unity of the music, and the construction of a meaningful song cycle. That is what they've achieved with this pair of albums. I would describe most of the individual songs as good or very good, but the whole is more than the sum of its parts. The overall sound and the effect of hearing it all together is quite moving, and I think it's a good place for U2 to be right now.