U2 - Songs of Surrender

"Reimagining and re-recording" 40 tracks sounded like an arduous task for U2 and their fans — thankfully, there are some gems to be found.

Altered lyrics to the ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’ single ‘Walk On’ reference war-torn Ukraine, with Bono defiantly singing: “And if the dancer on the street wears a veil of tears / It’s a dance no army can defeat.” Early single ‘11 O’Clock Tick Tock’, which was produced by the late Factory Records legend Martin Hannett, has been modified with jaunty acoustic licks and twinkling keys for an alternative take that is both moving and uplifting. Sure, some of the Irish four-piece’s biggest songs (‘Pride’, ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, ‘The Fly’) have been stripped of their epic brilliance, but a number of U2’s early tracks and deep cuts have been thoughtfully reworked here through older and wiser eyes. Further uninspiring takes on ‘With Or Without You’ and ‘One’ followed, as did the increasingly unshakable belief that maybe these songs shouldn’t have been messed with in the first place. Backed by just a cellist, a harpist and musical director Jacknife Lee, the frontman breathed new life into his band’s stadium classics by breaking them down into stirring, heartfelt stories of his own. The youthful post-punk urgency of ‘Stories For Boys’, for instance, has been transformed into a poignant, plinking piano ballad which gives off an air that life has become complicated with age.