U2 -- Songs of Experience

5/10

Track 1, Bono is singing with a vocoder like a late 00's rapper or a late 90's Cher. U2, you're not supposed to try to sound like Coldplay. Coldplay is supposed to try to sound like you!
Track 2, this is okay. Sounds like the follow-up to the Joey Ramone song on the last album.
Track 3, this is pretty good. I like how the drums come to play in the chorus. I remember they played this near the end of the 30th anniversary Joshua Tree show at the Superdome and looked like they were concentrating very hard.
Track 4, these opening keyboard sounds make me think they've finally discovered Sigur Rós. This is alright as far as melody and energy, but why is there what sounds like a drum machine, instead of Larry Mullen, Jr.? Where is Larry Mullen, Jr.? Wait, now why is Kendrick Lamar here? This sounds like a really sudden, desperate cry to the kids. "We're cool, kids! See, Kendrick likes us!"
Track 5, this rocking feels forced, though nice callback to "Volcano." Not much of a song, otherwise.
Track 6, where is Larry Mullen, Jr.? Are they forcing him at gunpoint to play the maracas and snap his fingers? For some reason, they got Lady Gaga to sing backup vocals on this song, and it's so damn over-produced, you can barely even hear her.
Track 7, okay, nice, this is a mature and serious, but upbeat rock song, in the direction it seems like they should have naturally headed after Songs of Innocence, which this is supposed to thematically bookend.
Track 8, but wait, what is this "little more better" bullshit? And why are they forcing all these trendy, late 10's production touches over the sounds these old Irish men are playing?
Track 9, I feel like there is a great song here, but where is Larry Mullen, Jr., and why is the percussion programmed? If this song had Achtung Baby-style production, this could be a classic U2 song. Instead, it's just kind of okay. This album has NINE credited producers, and boy does it sound like it. There's no distinctive, cohesive vision. As a whole, this feels flat because it's been stretched and polished to death.
Track 10, now this is nice, like track 7, the logical direction they should have taken...though again, I think Achtung Baby-style production would turn this into a killer.
Track 11, feels like a half-hearted attempt at a late 10's dance banger. Where is Larry Mullen, Jr.? What is with the bland, stomp, stomp percussion? Is this a Mumford and Sons' song? And why is Bono doing that name-rhyming thing?
Track 12, these weird electronic production touches were dated the moment they were put to ProTools. All of the moments where Larry Mullen, Jr. actually plays drums, it feels like the multitude of "hip" people who produced this album said beforehand, "Maybe we can let Larry have a little drum moment here." Again, Achtung Baby-style production would turn this song into an absolute murderer.
Track 13, I really love the callback to "Song for Someone" here, but it just reinforces that this album should have been a more natural continuation of Songs Of Innocence, with lyrical themes exploring the realities of adulthood. It sounds like Bono's near brush with death actually put him in a position where he felt he needed to force optimism here, when a more measured outlook would have felt more real. On top of that, all of the late 10's production fads the album utilizes completely rob U2 of their timelessness, and make Songs of Experience feel somehow immature and ephemeral. I don't understand why they did this. 

In many ways, this album feels like a goodbye. I still maintain that U2 should get in the studio with me, and release a new album every 10 months, full of songs with which they don't have time to over-tinker. It really feels at this point like the band have lost faith in themselves, their instincts and abilities, and are second-guessing everything they do. You are one of the best bands in history. Just do it, guys!

P.S.: Tomorrow, 3/31/21, I'll release an overarching look and retrospective at and of U2 as a whole. Stay tuned.

2017 Interscope/Island
1. Love Is All We Have Left 2:41
2. Lights of Home 4:16
3. You're the Best Thing About Me 3:45
4. Get Out of Your Own Way 3:58
5. American Soul 4:21
6. Summer of Love 3:24
7. Red Flag Day 3:19
8. The Showman (Little More Better) 3:23
9. The Little Things That Give You Away 4:55
10. Landlady 4:01
11. The Blackout 4:45
12. Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way 4:00
13. 13 (There Is a Light) 4:19