Maps of Music

Songs of Surrender (2023)

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

U2 re-recorded 40 of their own songs and the album debuted at number one in the UK, yet it stayed on the UK chart for only three weeks.

Key places

Los Angeles recording studio (2023)

Recording site Shangri-La — One of the Los Angeles studios where the album was recorded. Bob Ezrin worked with the Edge and Bono in Los Angeles. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Los Angeles recording studio (2023)

Recording site Village Recorders — A Los Angeles studio linked to the album's recording sessions. Daniel Lanois and Abe Laboriel Jr. recorded backing vocals during the Los Angeles work. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

London recording studio (2023)

Recording site Metropolis Group, London — A London studio used for the album's formal recording sessions. Producer Brian Eno recorded vocals and Clayton laid down bass tracks there. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Songs of Surrender is an album of re-recorded songs by the Irish rock band U2
• Comprises re-recorded and reinterpreted versions of 40 songs from the group's back catalogue
• Many arrangements are stripped down and acoustic
• Largely the effort of guitarist the Edge and lead vocalist Bono; the Edge also served as curator and producer
• Released 17 March 2023 on Island Records and Interscope Records
• Issued in 16-track, 20-track and 40-track editions; the double-LP vinyl came in a dozen coloured variants
• Companion to Bono's memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story (2022), whose 40 chapters are titled after U2 songs

Background

• The idea to re-record U2 songs had been circulating within the band for a while
• The Edge wanted to see whether the songs could be reimagined in a more intimate style
• Pandemic lockdowns gave the Edge more free time, which he viewed as a creative opportunity
• The label was not expecting a new album, so the band agreed to release the project only if satisfied with the results
• Work began in earnest in early 2021

Recording

• Recorded over a two-year period during COVID-19 lockdowns
• The Edge and Bono worked informally at the Edge's house and in France, and at recording studios in London and Los Angeles
• Collaborators included Bob Ezrin, Duncan Stewart, Declan Gaffney and Stjepan Hauser

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Disc 3

Disc 4

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 gives the album an average of 66 out of 100 from 15 reviews, 10 of them mixed, so the critical reception was mixed overall
• AnyDecentMusic? collates more than 50 media sources and scored the album 5.6 out of 10 from 14 reviews
• Mojo's Tom Doyle felt the album represented a kind of liberation for U2, as the band cut loose from their earlier pursuit of modern pop and stadium-sized sound
• Rolling Stone's Joe Gross said the stripped-down arrangements freed the Edge from accusations of over-reliance on guitar effects
• Hot Press's John Walshe said the re-recordings mostly worked beautifully and occasionally surprisingly
• The New York Times's Jon Pareles said the reimagined tracks removed too many of the group's strengths, and that the band was better served looking forward than reminiscing
• Pitchfork's Caryn Rose judged the arrangements formulaic and found Bono's lyrical changes distracting
• PopMatters' John Garratt questioned the need for such a long release with minimal alterations and criticised the band for becoming predictable
• The Guardian's Alexis Petridis found the album unwieldy in one sitting but noted great moments in smaller doses
• The Independent's Helen Brown called it an album of shadow versions that leave listeners yearning for the originals

Records

• US Billboard 200 debut at number five with 46,500 album-equivalent units
• Debuted at number one on six Billboard charts, including Top Album Sales and Vinyl Albums
• UK Albums Chart debut at number one with first-week sales of 20,569 units, the band's 11th UK number one
• Irish Albums Chart number one, the group's 10th in Ireland
• Dropped off the Billboard 200 the week after debut and charted for only three weeks in the UK

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The Edge said he wanted to hear whether the songs could be reimagined in a more intimate style, as if Bono were singing in the listener's ear
• Larry Mullen Jr. had not been ready to play a full drum kit during the sessions, so drum loops he had recorded earlier were used; one of them became the origin of the new version of Get Out of Your Own Way
• Bono and the Edge halted album work after an invitation from Zelenskyy's chief of staff; they boarded a train into Kyiv and performed the new version of Walk On in a subway station
• Walk On was first written for Aung San Suu Kyi, and Bono later rewrote its lyrics to pay tribute to Volodymyr Zelenskyy instead
• Mullen said in November 2022 that he needed surgery to continue performing

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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