Maps of Music

Songs of Innocence (2014)

Where the lyrics of Songs of Innocence take you, and where it was really made.

The album was given away free to more than 500 million iTunes users, and the backlash that followed became the record's most lasting legacy.

Key places

Work at The Church Studios, London (2014)

Recording site The Church Studios — Reports said the band was believed to be working at The Church Studios in London with Paul Epworth, one of the producers finishing the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Final month of sessions in Malibu (2014)

Recording site Shangri-La — The final month of the album's sessions was spent working with Declan Gaffney in Malibu, California, before the album was completed on 2 September 2014. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording location in Los Angeles (2014)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — The Woodshed is listed among the album's recording locations in Los Angeles, and the exact building position is not confirmed. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording location in Killiney (2014)

Recording site Strathmore House — Strathmore House is listed among the album's recording locations in Killiney, Ireland, and the exact building position is not confirmed. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Songs of Innocence: 13th studio album by the Irish rock band U2
• Released 9 September 2014; produced by Danger Mouse, with additional production from Paul Epworth, Ryan Tedder, Declan Gaffney, and Flood
• Announced at an Apple product launch event and released digitally the same day to all iTunes Store customers at no cost
• Exclusive to iTunes, iTunes Radio, and Beats Music until 13 October 2014, when Island and Interscope Records released it to retailers
• The digital release reached more than 500 million iTunes customers in 119 countries

Background

• Predecessor No Line on the Horizon (2009) sold comparatively few units, and Bono expressed doubt about the band's relevance
• The five-and-a-half-year gap was the longest between U2 albums at that point
• Songs of Ascent, planned as a companion to No Line on the Horizon, was aborted
• After two years with Danger Mouse, the band turned to Flood, Epworth, and Tedder to finish the record
• The album revisits the members' youth in Ireland in the 1970s, touching on childhood memories, loves, and losses
• It pays tribute to musical inspirations such as the Ramones and the Clash; Bono described it as U2's most personal album
• The lead single, 'The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)', was featured in an Apple television advertisement; Apple reportedly spent US$100 million on the campaign

Recording

• Work was split among Danger Mouse, Tedder, Epworth, Gaffney, and Flood, with the group working with each producer separately
• Gaffney served as recording engineer for the entire album sessions
• Work was suspended in mid-2013 to focus on 'Ordinary Love', written in honour of Nelson Mandela
• The final month was spent working with Gaffney in Malibu, California
• The album was completed on 2 September 2014, one week before release
• 'Volcano' was excluded from the 10-track version delivered to Apple, then included after the band convinced Apple to give them a couple more days

Cover

• Physical copies show drummer Larry Mullen Jr. protectively embracing his then-18-year-old son, both shirtless
• The photograph was taken by Glen Luchford, initially as an experiment
• The iTunes artwork by MAD Agency London was an 'anti-cover design' resembling white label promotional LP packaging

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• U2 are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1976 by teenage pupils of Mount Temple Comprehensive School.
• Members: Bono (lead vocals), the Edge (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Adam Clayton (bass), Larry Mullen Jr. (drums).
• The band was first named Feedback, then The Hype, and in March 1978 took the name U2.
• They won the Pop Group '78 talent contest in Limerick and signed with Island Records in 1980.

Career

• Debut album Boy (1980); War (1983) was their first UK number-one album.
• The Joshua Tree (1987) made them international stars and was their greatest critical and commercial success, selling about 25 million copies.
• The band reinvented their sound in the 1990s with Achtung Baby (1991) and the Zoo TV Tour.
• Their 2009–2011 360° Tour held records for the highest-grossing concert tour until 2019.
• In 2023 they released Songs of Surrender and began the U2:UV Achtung Baby Live residency at Sphere in Las Vegas.
• Estimated record sales: about 170 million worldwide; 22 Grammy Awards; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees (2005).

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: 64 out of 100, based on 32 reviews, generally mixed
• AnyDecentMusic?: 6.0 out of 10, based on 28 reviews
• Pitchfork's Rob Mitchum criticised a one-size-fits-all, vaguely inspirational tone with a lean approach to details
• Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot said U2 sounded impersonal as ever and the album was flat and strangely complacent
• The Guardian's Caspar Llewellyn Smith wrote that U2 was treading old ground
• NME's Ben Patashnik named only 'Iris', 'Song for Someone', and 'Every Breaking Wave' as standouts
• The Daily Telegraph's Neil McCormick called it fresh and cohesive, an album of big, colourful, attacking rock
• Rolling Stone's David Fricke called it a triumph of dynamic, focused renaissance
• Mojo's Tom Doyle called it the most startlingly fresh, energetic and cohesive U2 album in years
• Los Angeles Times' Randall Roberts named it the worst release of 2014

Reappraisal

• Uproxx's Steven Hyden said in 2019 that he had overreacted in his original review and believed it was the band's best work since Zooropa
• The A.V. Club's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote in 2024 that the narrative was clouded by too many producers and Tedder's glib sentimentality
• Stereogum's Chris DeVille, on the 10th anniversary, called it an extremely generic album, polished but insubstantial

Records

• UK Albums Chart: debut at number six, 15,998 copies in the first week, U2's lowest UK debut in 33 years, nine weeks on the chart
• Billboard 200: debut at number nine, 28,000 copies in the first week, eight weeks on the chart
• Ireland: number two; Canada: number five
• 101,000 copies sold in North America (Nielsen Soundscan)
• Number one in Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain
• Nominated for Best Rock Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards
• Rolling Stone ranked it the best album of 2014

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title is taken from William Blake's poetry collection Songs of Innocence and of Experience, which also gave the name to the 2017 follow-up
• Apple CEO Tim Cook called it 'the largest album release of all time'
• Bono apologized for the digital release in his 2022 memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, after publicly refusing to apologize in 2014
• The Films of Innocence visual companion, unveiled on 8 December 2014, was made by 11 urban artists, each interpreting a different song
• A Grammy spokesperson first said the album was ineligible, but the ruling was reversed after UMG released a limited-edition vinyl pressing to retailers on the cutoff date

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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