U2 have released a compilation entitled Friday Songs of surrenderwhich includes 40 of his songs “reinvented and revived” to reflect on the transformation of the Irish band and its four members after nearly 50 years of successful music career.
The project, which sees the light on the day of Saint Patrick -patron saint of Ireland-, completes the book of memories Surrender. 40 songs, one storyreleased last year by Bono, and part of an initiative by the singer himself and the group’s guitarist, The Edge.
Both have taken advantage of the restrictions due to the pandemic to look back and undertake an in-depth review of some of its major themesmany of which were composed when they were just teenagers.
One section for each
The sixties now Link, The edge, Larry Mullen (battery) e Adam Clayton (bass) they chose to deconstruct those songs, real rock anthems, editing of music and lyrics to create a much easier and more acoustic work.
In fact, there is barely a trace of electric guitars and the voice with which Bono spells out religious or protest messages, his trademark, sounds even more intimate, very far, for example, from the original versions of Vertigo, Where the streets have no name OR One.
The new songs of Songs of surrender They are divided into four sections, one for each member of U2and does not follow a chronological order, since the first record, called The edgeto start with One (1991) and the last, Linkclose with 40 from the album Warwhat launched them to stardom in 1983.
In the middle, Larry bare topics like Who will ride your wild horses OR The Miracle (by Joey Ramone)While Adam delete from I haven’t found what I’m looking for yet his iconic guitar riff and The fly it loses its distortion and disco rhythm.
From Dublin to the world
Taken together, this new project not only addresses U2’s transformation, from its origins in Dublin to occupying a place among the greats of pop/rock historybut it also underscores the individuality of each of its artists, at a time when Bono confessed he doesn’t know how long U2 will last and the band faces a period without its drummer.
The quartet announced their return to the stage last February to commemorate more than 30 years since the release of Achtung Baby (1991), one of his most iconic albums, with a residency concert next fall in Las Vegas (USA) in which, for the first time, Larry Mullen won’t be there.
Following U2’s last live performance in December 2019, Mullen underwent medical checks to verify he will need surgery if he is to continue after the fanfare at 61: ‘I have many parts of my body falling off: the knees, elbows, neck…”, he acknowledged recently.
Perhaps it was these disturbances that led The Edge (Dave Howell Evans) to design Songs of surrenderin a process that began with him sending a letter to 40 fans suggesting the band was working on a new project.
In the letter, the musician recalled that many of U2’s most famous songs “were written and recorded when we were kids,” so they’ve changed over the years to “mean something very different to us now.”
“Some have grown up with us. Some have aged, but We haven’t forgotten what led us to write those songs First of all. The essence of those songs is still with us. But how do we reconnect to that essence when we’ve evolved and grown so much?” The Edge asked.
The guitarist has already warned that the band wanted to update some old songs to “reinvent them in the 21st century”, in line with the evolution of Bono and U2, whose last studio album was Songs of experience (2017).
Source: Clarin
