I bought albums, small wonders on cassette tape, before encountering Achtung Baby. But U2’s 1991 album became my first musical obsession—the first time major chords and rolling drums truly captivated me, confounded me, rearranged something in me.
Moving backward and forward with the band, U2 became an engine in my life and has remained one for more than 30 years, propelling me into faith, hope and rock and roll (the greatest of these, changing by the day).
Upon hearing the band would re-record 40 of its classic tracks for the “Songs of Surrender” album, I was both seriously intrigued and deeply anxious—neither of those words truly fulfilling these twinned sensations. Theoretically, I am all for artists diving back into their own work. As we repeat, revisit, reconfigure with the benefit of time and experience, art often gains fresh meaning, shows us what it really is.
But I also feared the band might simply slow and strip their arrangements. And, upon spending time within “Songs of Surrender,” my fears were largely justified. When the album, produced by The Edge, leans into the guitarist’s Zen, atmospheric instincts, the arrangements intrigue.
All too often, however, the band simply subtracts its rhythm section (there is shockingly little for Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen to do here) and trades acoustic guitars for their electric counterparts.
I’ll offer a few stray thoughts and conclusions, but first, let’s take it track-by-track, gut reactions times 40. This is “Songs of Surrender.”
1) “One” My favorite U2 song (maybe my favorite song ever). Somber opening piano introduces a low-key, atmospheric take. Bono’s voice has aged so beautifully, and the weathering in it (and the bends he takes) makes the track. The backing vocals on “Love is a temple ...” induce chills. I otherwise prefer the drama and motion of the original.
2) “Where the Streets Have No Name” A slow stirring to being, and once again the vocals carry the day. “Where each desert rose is a prayer for rain / Where the streets have no name” is a gorgeous lyrical update. Not a lot for the other fellows to do here.
3) “Stories for Boys” Beautiful, spiking piano and lush harmonies really shape the melodic motion. The Edge's atmospheric instincts on display here, but so far really hewing to one feeling. Can already tell multiple listens needed to hear small wonders in each song.
4) “11 O’Clock Tick-Tock” We’ve reached mid-tempo. Dig Adam’s bass here, and a groove missing early. Bono’s still got it in the falsetto dept. Otherwise a sort of unremarkable 4 minutes.
5) “Out of Control” Edge’s acoustic riff here flows well out of the last cut. Vocals sound demo-ish in quality. Fun to hear The Edge stripping down his own signature sound. A lyrical shift from 43 years of added wisdom: “I got spirit, I've got soul / I got some bigger deals, I'm out of control.”
6) “Beautiful Day” Bridge is almost all-new lyrically. Best new words so far: “East of Finglas, North of Eden / Laughter is the evidence of freedom / I saw Adam asking Eve for a pardon / It wasn't a woman who threw God out of the Garden.”
Musically, feels like we’re left to the underpainting, so to speak, of the original recordings. Nothing special about the arrangement; we’ve heard the band draw it down like this before. Some interesting effects on the vocals a true reboot do not make.
7) “Bad” Musically, nothing remarkable here. Lyrically, I’m torn: This feels like the first song to really be turned around from another perspective, an attempt to recover the voice of youth. It really works! But I also miss the original. This is rock and roll poetry though:
“'Cause all glory fades to blue and black / Blue silken sky and our burning flag / Colours crash, collide in teenage eyes”
8) “Every Breaking Wave” The original absolutely qualifies as a late-career classic, but I love this take. The rolling piano here creates a tone-poem effect. The chorus vocal might be Bono’s best so far—it feels vintage and that collision with the new arrangement staggers. And oh that last note ... wow.
9) “Walk On” Largely rewritten as an ode to Ukraine. The opening verse about crying/laughing brings goosebumps (hard not to tear up at that verse melody, no matter the words). The acoustic arrangement very much has the feel of Bono and Edge on the ground singing near some landmark. It would hold gravity live, not so much as a recording.
Does it work as a new piece of protest/political music? It's not as strong as the band's previous attempts, but a few moments assert themselves.
10) “Pride (In the Name of Love)” God bless them for not tinkering much with the lyrics here. Slight and lilting, but deftly turns a few major chords minor. The weirdly affected vocals don’t work at all for me, but they lead into a sawtoothed Edge riff that’s the best thing on the record so far.
11) “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” Guitar, strings and vocals the whole way. Feels strong, like a galloping horse, early, then the feel sort of loses its touch. Fun fact: I used to cover this one back in my coffeeshop days! (And this doesn’t feel that far off.)
12) “Get Out Of Your Own Way” Dig what Larry’s doing on the drums to give this some life. Don’t love the way the vocals are recorded, but this feels like a genuine effort at pulling the song apart and reassembling it.
13) “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” Stripped-down feel takes this one back to its gospel roots. Wrote a bit about a similar, previous TV performance here.
14) “Red Hill Mining Town” There’s an openness to the guitars here that contrasts the tension of the original—and not in an unpleasant way. I really want the horn figures to work, but ... not so much. Good example of a track in which Bono’s past and present vocals both possess their own gravity.
15) “Ordinary Love” Can one go all the way wrong loosing Bono’s vocals to glide over Edge’s quiet guitar? No. Are things starting feel same-sounding? Yes.
16) “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” Piano-led, this sounds ever more like a funeral song, and it will have you in its grip. Band comes in gently at the bridge and doesn’t break the spell."You're the reason why the opera is in me" still an all-time line.
17) “Invisible” Hard to distinguish much from the rest of what I’m hearing beyond the brightness of the guitar strings.
18) “Dirty Day” Has a grimy baritone feel, both in the vox and guitar, that I really like. Feels more dangerous than anything else here. Edge bending notes like a noir writer. Very Cave/Bad Seeds-esque.
19) “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)” Reggae-folk bounce works well in the verses, seems to strip some power from the hook.
20) “City of Blinding Lights” Retains much of the original’s momentum, but centers in the piano to draw out some quiet soul
21) “Vertigo” Quality dynamic interplay between fevered acoustic guitar and strings. Melodic bends make the song feel as if it were 25 years older than it is (in a good way). One of the better examples of being stripped-down but still interesting.
22) “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” The “Rattle and Hum” take will always be the best redux. But damn, Bono’s voice sounds deep and dark and mystic here.
23) “Electrical Storm” One of my very favorite “lesser-known” U2 songs. The feel here neither detracts from or really improves on the original. (Though the chorus quaver of Bono’s voice is about as elemental as they come.)
24) “The Fly” This one has such a cool, strange soul feel and then the chorus just sorta sits there. The piano turnaround is pretty sweet though.
25) “If God Will Send His Angels” Soft piano, whispered vocals makes it feel even more like a prayer. The glide of the piano as the track progresses just sucks you into the middle of this particular (and universal) plea.
“What's that you say to me / Does love light up your Christmas tree?” remains one of my favorite Bono lyrics. Yes, I think love does.
26) “Desire” The guitar bounce and the insistence on falsetto leaves me real cold (shivering, in fact) on one of my favorites
27) “Until the End of the World” Relatively straightforward arrangement of a song I could never be mad at
28) “Song for Someone” A sort of muted appeal. This one is easy to get lost in, but no one part of the arrangement pops.
29) “All I Want is You” A lovely ambience that differs from the lovely ambience of the original, more underlying acoustic guitar, more frequently builds and recedes but still leaves space
30) “Peace on Earth” Gentle in its approach, and a more present vocal recording than even the first offers; a kind, hymn-like quality, if somewhat unremarkable
31) “With or Without You” By shaving about 2 minutes from the original, all the slow burn leaves the build with little runway. But the wonderful bones of this song are still there.
32) “Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” Double-tracked vocals distract throughout the verses; chorus feels like cathedral whispers
33) “Sunday Bloody Sunday” The lack of rhythm section converts this one from an anthem to a dirge; the center is not lost but the punch lands much softer. A new coda is freshly poignant:
“Here at the murder scene / The beginning of a fiction / The facts will not come clean / Religion is the enemy of the Holy Spirit guide / And the battle just begun / Where is the victory Jesus won?”
34) “Lights of Home” Arrangement more fully-formed than most of the tracks here; feels like this could be an original vision and version
35) “Cedarwood Road” Rendered like this, it feels very much like a lost Irish folk tune
36) “I Will Follow” Perfect example of how hard it is to respond to this record. The melody and chords remain impeccable. Just flawless. But the arrangement just seems too simplistic.
37) “Two Hearts Beat As One” Persistent, pulsing piano and acoustic instead of electric guitar give this one a weird-ass dance feel that I’m clearly not quite sure how to describe
38) “Miracle Drug”A drum intro! There you are, Larry. I don’t ... love the mix. Vocals very present, instruments receding all the way into another room.
39) “The Little Things That Give You Away” It’s the little things indeed. Room for some lovely bends in the melody, every note seems to count on this one.
40) “40” (of course) Buzzy undercurrents carry a timeless lament expressed in a Sunday-morning vocal arrangement. Fades into something like hope.
Favorite tracks: “If God Will Send His Angels,” “Bad,” “Every Breaking Wave,” “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own,” “Dirty Day,” “Lights of Home”
Most disappointing: “Desire,” “Red Hill Mining Town,” “Miracle Drug,” “Two Hearts Beat As One,” “I Will Follow”
Sitting with my first impressions, a few questions rise to surface level. Questions of purpose, passion and execution. Does “Songs of Surrender” offer a blueprint for new ways of playing these songs live? Absolutely. You can close your eyes and envision the band reworking these tracks to rapt audiences hanging on each note.
Does that sensibility make for a cohesive recorded statement? Not in my estimation. Too often these songs feel too closely cut, too deprived of the kinetic energy passed between all four members that made the original versions stand out.
But I think “Songs of Surrender” might still be worth the effort, and ultimately that judgment is up to U2 itself. If the band aimed to find the true essence, the fleshy and beating heart, of each song—and, in some cases, aimed to see how that true essence only reveals itself years, even decades later—then only the band can judge the album a success or failure. This might be one of the rare occurrences in which a work of art really is primarily for the artists themselves. And that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
That makes “Songs of Surrender” an occasionally magical, often perplexing record that can only receive an “incomplete” from its hearers.