U2 have announced the details of their new album, Songs of Surrender, which is also the title of Bono's recently published memoir. The songs they re-recorded are the titles of the book's 40 chapters.
Curated and produced by The Edge, they re-recorded -- or as they like to say, "re-imagined" -- 40 of their songs with new arrangements and, in some cases, new lyrics.
The Edge says, "Music allows you to time travel, and we became curious to find out what it would be like to bring our early songs back with us to the present day and give them the benefit, or otherwise, of a 21st century re-imagining.
"What started out as an experiment quickly developed into a personal obsession as so many of our songs yielded to a new interpretation. Intimacy replaced post punk urgency. New tempos, new keys, and in some cases new chords and new lyrics arrived. A great song, it turns out is kind of indestructible.
"The process of selecting which songs to revisit started with a series of demos. I looked at how a song would hang together if all but the bare essential elements were taken away. The other main aim was to find ways to bring intimacy into the songs, as most of them were originally written with live concert performance in mind.
"Reviewing these sketch recordings with producer Bob Ezrin, it was very easy to see the ones that worked straight off the bat and those that needed more work. We all got into the sensibility of less is more...
"Hearing the songs interact, and finding the running orders for the four albums was really thrilling; finding the surprising segues, getting a chance to DJ. Once we had four distinct albums it was easy to see who would be the figurehead for each one."
The 40 tracks are collected together under each of the four band member's names across four separate "albums."
Side 1 – The Edge
- One
- Where the Streets Have No Name
- Stories for Boys
- 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
- Out of Control
- Beautiful Day
- Bad
- Every Breaking Wave
- Walk On (Ukraine)
- Pride (In the Name of Love)
Side 2 - Larry Mullen
- Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
- Get Out of Your Own Way
- Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
- Red Hill Mining Town
- Ordinary Love
- Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own
- Invisible
- Dirty Day
- The Miracle of Joey Ramone
- City of Blinding Lights
Side 3 - Adam Clayton
- Vertigo
- I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
- Electrical Storm
- The Fly
- If God Will Send His Angels
- Desire
- Until the End of the World
- Song for Someone
- All I Want Is You
- Peace on Earth
Side 4 - Bono
- With or Without You
- Stay
- Sunday Bloody Sunday
- Lights of Home
- Cedarwood Road
- I Will Follow
- Two Hearts Beat as One
- Miracle Drug
- The Little Things That Give You Away
- 40
Songs of Surrender will be released on March 17th in multiple configurations -- CD, vinyl, digital and cassette -- as well as in a Super Deluxe Hardback Collector’s Box Set.
In making today's announcement they have released their new version of "Pride (In the Name of Love)."