Songs Of Experience [VINYL]

2014's Songs of Innocence was for me a very strong album particularly because it harked back somewhat to - especially during its second half - U2's earlier rock sound and even some of the sonic experimentation of their 1990s records. Admittedly, its free download to all users iTunes accounts is infamous now and a pompous misstep by the band but although it was certainly a mistake it at least introduced U2 to a new generation of music lovers. This new album Songs of Experience is a companion album to that 2014 record and fortunately the briefest time between U2 records since the early 90s with it similarly being recorded during successful tour dates like 1993's Zooropa. I must admit after hearing the first two singles I did approach this album with a bit of a sense of trepidation as it was clear it was going to be more of a pop record than Songs of Innocence was, and I had been one of the fans that was alienated by U2's 2000s output that had shared this style. But after a couple of listens I started to feel although there is more of an emphasis on pop than rock this time it does not matter too much because the actual songs are much stronger than most of the ones during that lost U2 decade for me. Although they are poppy, the melodies are much catchier and more memorable. Additionally, what makes Songs of Experience also superior to the noughties' records is the fact that there are a number of modern production touches which make the sound much more interesting and even some of the old, vintage U2 sound is returned to on occasions albeit in this generally poppier form. In terms of the record's production, you cannot help but feel that newcomers to the team like Andy Barlow, Jolyon Thomas and Brent Kutzle are responsible for widening U2's sonic palette a bit again while Ryan Tedder continues his role from Songs of Innocence and although he is primarily a pop producer you sense that he has an ability to get great tunes out of the band. I was concerned when I heard that old hands were returning like Steve Lillywhite and Jacknife Lee but unlike their stale production on 2004's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, they contribute a more anthemic, captivating and intriguing sound this time. Most of these songs concern Bono's recent brush with mortality and are consequently more personal about himself and his family - these tend to be the quieter, more ballad-like poppier tracks and there are plenty of them. Opener Love is All We Have Left is very electronic and serene but has a pretty melody and a contemporary treatment of Bono's vocals with the lyrics concerning his younger self and current, older person talking to each other. It is a strong first track while the first couple of singles - You're the Best Thing About Me and Get Out of Your Own Way - sound so much more powerful when you hear them from good record playing equipment compared to the internet. They grow on you and are decent songs with the former being like a poppier Even Better Than the Real Thing and the latter having some of the radio-friendly style of the Joshua Tree about it. As they are the biggest sounding and most commercial songs on the record they definitely deserved to be the first single releases from Songs of Experience. The high-quality Summer of Love is mainly acoustic with a shimmering synth and backing vocal climax from Lady Gaga. The self-deprecating of Bono in the role of the rock star, The Showman, is a catchy tune with a bit of rock about it amongst its obvious pop sound. Landlady - again about Bono's wife Ali like the first single - took about three listens to get into my consciousness but when it did it becomes like a poppy version of U2's Unforgettable Fire-era songs and very pleasant and dream-like. Meanwhile, the mesmerising Love is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way features yet more iconic lyrics and is quite anthemic. Although the closer 13 (There Is a Light) is like one other song a re-write of a Songs of Innocence track (namely Song for Someone), it is actually superior and more moving and after all as this album is a companion piece it does not matter that there are these couple of links between the two records. However, the absolute greatest of these quieter tracks has to be The Little Things That Give You Away and Lights of Home. The former is again very much in a pop style but there are some new production tricks used to keep it an interesting listen. I know it has been compared to Coldplay's Up and Up and while it is like that song a bit structurally really it is a great in its own right with some gorgeous atmospheres during the first half and an excellent guitar line by The Edge during the second half that gives it a bit of a rock balance too. The lyrics - like on all the other tracks throughout the album - are well written, thoughtful and emotional from Bono and the latter song contains the finest lines on the album including "I shouldn't be here cause I should be dead" and "Oh Jesus if I'm still your friend." Lights of Home for me differs from the other more poppy, ballad songs as it is more of a classic U2 rock anthem that could have been on many of their peak albums from the eighties and nineties and has a vintage Edge guitar solo to boot. Although its main blues riff is based on a bass line from a Haim song - who feature as backing vocalists - it is simply vintage U2 and could be the top track. In fact, while most of Songs of Experience is composed of quieter, more introspective pop songs there are still a few occasions where the band rock out and these are nearly all the more political tracks (Summer of Love excepted). Clearly these songs are motivated by the rise of the contemporary right wing like Brexit/Trump and so they are going to be louder to convey perhaps the bands' anger. But anyway, despite the fact that you are going to expect more ballads from them due to them being a bit older, it is really refreshing to have some rock anthems on this record to balance it out slightly. Although American Soul is the other song that is a connection back to Songs of Innocence and a blatant re-write of Volcano in parts, it is simply a great, fun rock song with some superb, heavy riffing from the Edge and booming vocals from Bono. Red Flag Day is similarly about refugees and is one of the very best songs with it in fact resurrecting the sound of the first three, very earliest U2 albums - particularly War - with their first producer Steve Lillywhite contributing to this revived sound. The Blackout on the other hand is clearly political and it is between this and Lights of Home for the title of finest track. I must admit when I heard it when released in its live form a few months ago I was disappointed as it sounded too much to me like a 2004 song. However, this is one of the not too often times when a U2 song actually sounds superior on record as opposed to live, as this studio version both rocks out with some imperious guitar riffing from The Edge but also has some delightful electronic flourishes at times. They complement the rock sound and provide it with an Achtung Baby-style electro-rock feel that the live version lacked. Like the songs on Depeche Mode's Spirit, it is a masterwork inspired by the current political state of the world. Overall, Songs of Experience is very much as mind-blowing as any of their 20th century output and is the pop record that the noughties albums could have been if they had better songs throughout. There are no weak links and all the tracks are up there with their best material with The Edge pulling off his trademark scintillating guitar work yet again. I understand too that sales of Songs of Experience have been generally lower but saying that all that matters is if I like it ultimately and I really do. Anyway, it has still gone to number one in America and top three or five in most of the other charts around the world and that is quite good really for a band in their late career while album sales have fallen generally somewhat for a lot of their contemporaries. Although Songs of Innocence was in its second half more in the vein of their classic rock sound, Songs of Experience is a superior companion piece with more consistently excellent tracks and realises the full potential of their pop side that their 00s albums failed to reach.

Having been to 9 shows—and with a joshua tree tattood on my arm—I can feign no objectivity when it comes to U2. Yet as fan, I take the U2 canon too seriously to fawn over every album uncritically. Yes, I would contend that in 13 previous studio albums, they have yet to have a real embarrassment. But I would also concede that U2’s albums in the 2000’s (post-All That You Can’t Leave Behind) have fallen just short of greatness. Granted, the standards set by the back catalogue are impossibly high: the towering genius of consecutive rock classics in Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, were followed by the apocalyptic Zooropa and the horrifically underrated Pop, both of which pulsed with brilliance in their own way. When U2 stopped trying to chop down The Joshua Tree and came to the new construction on the other side of the deconstruction, All That You Can’t Leave Behind was the sound of a band that had mastered the art of fully being themselves. Since then, vultures gather upon every release for signs of the band’s descent into irrelevance. But the restlessness at the center of U2 has remained in tact, and the albums that followed have still had the ache of a band straining for great songs, not infrequently finding them. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, No Line on the Horizon, and Songs of Innocence in fact contain some of their finest work—tracks like “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own,” “City of Blinding Lights,” “Moment of Surrender,” and “Iris.” But then comes Songs of Experience. This album did the one thing I wasn’t sure if the veteran band could still do, especially after already hearing 4 pre-released tracks—it surprised me. The first full-listen was a little dizzying, because I felt the same sense of heights I did listening to Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby and All That You Can’t Leave Behind for the first time. That seemed a bit too lofty, so I listened again—and thought it might actually bump ATYCLB. Lyrically, Songs of Experience is Bono at his fragile best (and his bravest). It is an album soaked in mortality, music that faces death straight on—but with fearlessness. “Love is All We Have Left” is a disarming left hook of an opener, lush and gorgeous, a little bit into outer space. “Lights of Home” is more earth-bound, grittier and groovier, a track that reminds you this is not a band that has not yet given up on rock and roll. The lighter “You’re the Best Thing About Me,” captures the zest, vitality, and boyish energy of their early work. “Get Out of Your Own Way” is audaciously sincere and pastoral in the way only U2 can be, a summons to the foolishness of love in a time where pragmatism or cynicism make much more sense. Kendrick Lamar’s inverse beatitudes bridging into “American Soul” brings a prophetic edge into the center of the album, and “American Soul” itself, a protest song, is the world’s most mainstream rock act tapping into the authentic rage of the punk rock that first grabbed a hold of them, for love’s sake. The trinity of “Summer of Love,” “Red Flag Day,” and “The Showman” incorporates the sonic sense of mischief, slyness, and the lighter touch U2 honed in the 90’s, even while “Summer of Love” invokes images of Aleppo. “The Little Things That Give You Away,” my current favorite track of the album, is U2 at their most unabashedly U2—like “Beautiful Day,” a return to the sonic landscape they mastered, dragging me helplessly to euphoria (Bono’s vocal delivery on “Sometimes, the end is not coming…the end is already here” is the most devastating single moment on the album). Indeed, it is in the thick of these tracks that Songs of Experience proves that it belongs in the top-tier of U2’s canon—it is the first time since Achtung Baby that the second half of an album has been better than the first. Whereas, “The Little Things That Give You Away” takes us to the heights we partly always want U2 to take us, “The Landlady,” an exquisite love song to Bono’s wife Ali, embodies a beautiful restraint. “The Blackout” is a straight rocker with pop sensibilities, like many U2 songs, destined to be defined live. “Love is Stronger than Anything in It’s Way” takes a record swaddled in mortality into a defiant sendoff, the triumph of the human spirit in the face of the unknown. In experiencing the death of my most significant mentor last week, it has been the hymn that has carried me along. Finally, “13 (There is a Light)” both completes the album thematically and brings it full circle to where it began—to a place of meditation. It also bookends Songs of Experience perfectly with Songs of Innocence, both calling back to it’s predecessor, and transcending it. U2 has always swung for the high places, and yet existed as a high wire act—walking a tightrope of vulnerability and swagger, artistic soul music aspirations with stadium rock ambition. Theirs is a big an open sound, but a very delicate business that thrives off of contradiction. U2’s heart has always been on the sleeve, even when it was buried in irony. The irrepressible earnestness of spirit that underwrites the entire project walks a thin line between being too cool, and too awkward. And yet there are moments when they walk this thin line into a thin place, where the glory touches the ground. The singer becomes a shaman, Adam Clayton’s groove takes hold of your body, Larry Mullen kicks open the door to your soul, and The Edge takes us all the way through the portal. In that place, we are exposed, vulnerable, human…and somehow, something more. This is the magic U2 has always aspired to. When it works, there is nothing else like it.

Better than I was expecting after the lead singles once again from U2 failed to connect - they’ve never recovered from releasing “Boots” as lead track from no line - some real belters on this -and the singles work within the album context . Lovely opening track ; takes you right back to achtung era and kinda some some up the mess of a world we’re living in currently without being too overt. Lights of home is a stormer - and the strings version is even better - then the singles of which get out of your own way is growing on me - superb big production - both the vinyl and cd are mastered really well ( lovely blue vinyl is a treat ) and then we start to get the more meaty songs - American soul not quite doing a bullet the blue sky or until the end of the world - but I love summer of love next - u2 do these quieter songs so well at times and this up there for me as one of their best - red flag day is like a war era outtake - nice surprise to here the edge voice ringing out - and the next few tracks are passable before we hit another peak with the little things that give you away - hitting the home run with blackout and love is bigger etc that was even better on the live at bbc special - and 13 brings it full circle with echoes of the previous albums song for someone . I waited to review until listened through several times and I’m getting more each time - long term fan and veteran of several tours - and still feel that the live 80’s U2 gigs were the best I’ve ever attended - and I feel that the undoubted sweat they’ve put into this has paid off - best album since achtung baby - now if they could just get that first single right next time -

In a late career rebirth, U2 appear to have become keenly aware of the passing of time. Three years between albums is a long time – but also – it’s the shortest gap between U2 records since 1988-1991, and the band have also toured most of the world twice since then ; not, this time round, four year gaps of absolute silence. Maybe they’ve been listening. Maybe they can stop navel-gazing endless mixes and variations, and just feel, not overthink. After 2014’s “Songs of Innocence” which was parachuted into your iTunes library, and therefore avoided the need to count chart positions, they now have to work – and are risking meeting the same low sales that everyone else has to live with. U2 are now back at working hard for this. And “Songs Of Experience” was always described as the older brother of that preceding album – and it is all in here. Cleverly, the band take existing motifs from a small number of songs from that album (lyrical themes, brief moments), and expand on them ; the closing lines of “Iris” are reprised here in a “Lights Of Home”, and one that will clearly pull a link between both albums. A throwaway line in “Volcano” becomes the chorus of “American Soul.” The chorus of “Song For Someone” becomes the closing reprise of “13”. And the end of “Walk On” is practically reprised with new lyrics for “The Landlady”. It’s a clever move that ensures this album is not just connected to, but an integral part of a wider whole. In effect, they are designed to work well together ; you could also argue that Bono has run out of lyrics. Whereas 2014’s “Songs of Innocence” was the best album U2 had made in a long time, this may just better it. “Innocence” was all around the context of then, and now, tracing where we came from to where we are now. Looking back, in your fities asking… Well, How Did I Get Here? This seems a different beast, focused on Now and not Then. It’s easy to be lost if you don’t know where you came from. Songs like “Get Out Of Your Own Way”, “American Soul” and the brooding “Blackout” are subtle evolutions of the U2 template ; and lyrically seem far less insular, more outward facing, connected to the wider world and the divisive politics in it. Well, Now We’re Here… Where Next? “Experience” also draws on mortality : the march of time drips through every moment, including Bono’s 2014 hospitalisation following a cycle accident and another, unspecified 2016 health incident. The shadow of what is coming sits heavy here. From the opening line of the second song - I shouldn’t be here, I should be dead – to the last, “Songs Of Experience” is a tougher, more mortal, beaten up band. It’s less abstract, and sees the band writing fearlessly rather than with an eye on legacy as such. A straightforward love song like “You’re The Best Thing” would always have been hidden in bluster and irony years ago, and its refreshing to see the band being sincere but not being tediously preachy about it ; as well as having some of the best riffs I’ve heard from Edge in years. On the downside, there’s a lot of mid-paced, airy rock with lots of backing vocals ( some of it that sounds a lot like Coldplay, to be honest), and a couple of songs that could, in years to come, be seen as lightweight filler. Time will tell. Certainly “Book Of The Heart” is b-side level, and “Summer Of Love” is somewhat forgettable ; but considering the inessential choices they have made for some of their albums, this is a better strikerate than they have achieved consistently since 1993. Deluxe Edition fans get an extra four songs, including an unexpected reappearance for “Ordinary Love” (making it the biggest gap between first release in 2013 and first studio album appearance four years and six weeks later), and a handful of alternate mixes and versions. Overall, “Songs Of Experience” is certainly the best and most consistent album U2 have made – with the possible exception of “Songs Of Innocence”- in the past twenty years, and no band at this late stage, really tries as hard as U2 to be really good. U2 have been guilty of complacency and irrelevance on record in the past ; not here. The end is coming – and it may even be here. But this is clearly the result of a hard battle to stay in touch with their artistic vision. The future is now. Where next?

Ok... I really wasn't expecting this after Songs of Innocence which when all said and done was average by U2 standards. Having seen the Joshua Tree tour in the summer I was reminded of just how good U2 were when I started to listen to them, see them live and buy their music well over 30 years ago. They have hit the dizzy heights intermittently since then, most notably with Achtung Baby, but to produce something of this quality at this stage of their musical careers is frankly quite astonishing. Ignore those reviewers who run this album down and claim it is average... It is anything BUT average. Time will tell for sure, but I am generally a very good judge of the longevity of a U2 album - I have bought them all and will listen to everything they produce but I know which tracks and which albums I always go to first after a spell away from them. I sincerely think that this collection (and especially the deluxe version of the album) will sit very comfortably in the top echelon of U2 offerings. Frankly I am staggered by the beauty of some of these tracks and struggle to find any weak submissions. The more I listen to it, the more I seem to like it. Different tracks spring up at you after the 3/4th listening and then others after the 8/9th run through. Frankly, at this point in time I am blown away by this album. Perhaps it is because I wasn't expecting too much? I don't know but sincerely I don't think so... I think we have a genuine classic on our hands. It feels different. It feels somehow more honest... personal...it could be something truly special and in time talked about in the same breath as Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. You have to judge it for yourself, but it is interesting that some of the extremely positive comments here come from reviewers who have clearly been listening to U2 for a very, very, long time.

Great

A return to form.

Being a idealistic U2 fan, in my teens, and growing up with their music, I can say that for me U2 have lost their songwriting sparkle long ago, probably ending around “No line on the Horizon” album 2007, and even then, I still felt that “going back to basics of being a rock band” attempts with “All you can’t leave behind” or “Hot to dismantle atomic bomb” albums, the whole U2 conceptual artistry, began to slightly waver. Perhaps, last U2 album of carrying a concept, idea, or sound, which were still relevant, probably stopped with hugely underrated but brilliant “Pop” album. “Song of experience” album, is slightly better than the last “Songs of innocence” which was totally messed up and confused. “Songs of experience” is an album that has been crafted with a massive production team of producers who managed to gloss up average songs. Bono attempts to sing in his glory days style with some success, and with lyrics that remind me of how way better Bono used to be as lyricist, Edge is his usual competent guitar player but without glory days of “Achtung baby” or “Joshua Tree” or “The unforgettable fire” and Adam&Larry are Adam&Larry confident drum’n’base machine. Sadly, U2 have become too big, even for their own good, as well as fans own good, and resemble more to a sort of conglomerate, a company, rather than a rock band. One band that sticks on my mind of being still super relevant musically, without “selling” their music soul, are Depeche Mode. Do not forget U2 prices for their concert tickets, which are ridiculously expensive....

Disco muy digno de U2. Aunque me gustó mucho más el anterior (Songs of Innocence, 2014) valoro el mérito de sacar un disco como este después de tantos años de carrera. Quizá hubiese preferido un disco más arriesgado y no tan acomodado que roza el autoplágio. Pero tampoco nos vamos a poner exquisitos estando como está el patio. No lo pondría entre sus mejores discos, pero tampoco entre los peores. Más cerca del pop rock maduro pero comercial del All that you Cant Leave Behind que de la creatividad y la búsqueda de la innovación de Achtung Baby o Zooropa. Tiene buena ideas y muy buenas canciones pero creo que fallan cuando intentan buscar el próximo hit para la radio, una nueva Vértigo o Beautiful Day y en la radio de hoy en día no hay sitio para eso. Espero que para el próximo disco inteten hacer buena música y punto. No tienen nada q demostrar y buscar el éxito y ser relevantes en la musica mainstream de hoy creo que no es el camino. Sobre la edición, muy contento con el doble vinilo azul y la lámina con las letras de las canciones.

一週間聴き込んでみた。 さて、これは名盤のひとつと言っていいのではないだろうか。 前作では少々辛口のレビューを書いたが、今作は好印象である。何しろ美メロ揃いだ。この一週間いつも頭の中でリフレインしている始末である。 いつになく軽いノリの曲が多いが、メンバーが楽しんで演奏している姿が目に浮かんでよい。往年のファンとしては微笑ましい限りだ。どの曲も花道ステージでのパフォーマンスで観てみたいものばかり。 前作では少し物足りなく感じていたエッジのギターも、今作では彼らしくさりげなく存在感を示しており、ひと安心した。9などはライブで感涙必至だろう。 なお、4曲のボートラであるが、その内の3曲はリミックスなので特筆すべきものはないかれど、残りの15は聴きごたえのあるメロディなのでこれも是非聴いてみてほしい。 日本に来てくれないかなあ。

I have been a U2 fan since 1980, when I bought U2 Boy on cassette at the tender age of 10. I was a hardcore new wave U2 fan up until The Joshua Tree, which turned me off initially, due its massive success, which at the time seemed like a "sellout". I did eventually appreciate it, but never fully embraced it. I was totally turned off by Rattle and Hum, thought I lost them for good until the stunning turnaround of Achtung. Wow, what an incredible transformation! I am still in awe of the transformation and that album. Zooropa through Pop was absolutely fantastic. To me, ATYCLB was the beginning of a "packaged U2 sound", where they seemed to finally have come to a type of “U2 sound” and they really haven’t changed that much since. Having said that, this album, IMO, is the best of their post Pop albums by quite a stretch. The songs hang together much better and are MUCH stronger across the board than any other post Pop album. The album also avoids most of the more cheesy production values that have tended to plague some of their post 2000 output - they always seem to thread a cheesy keyboard line/tinkling type thing or something into too many songs - this album avoids that for most part (except for Love is Bigger), helping create a more authentic sound. I’m OK with the Love theme, this album pulls it off by starting off with an Eno-esque ode to Love and committing to the ideal throughout - i prefer the purity of it, if that is where they are at in their lives as artists, than try to pretend they are the dark mystery horse of Achtung or something - it’s not like U2 need to try to “go dark” like Taylor Swift or something as part of a “pose” of some sort, they are just a wee bit beyond that type of pretense and deservedly so. Making sincere music about humanity and connection seems about as radical as anything these days. I definitely don’t need Pitchfork trying to tell me how uncool U2 is, I can smell their hipster tripe a mile away. I can say for certain that Red Flag Day is my favorite song from U2 since maybe the War album, certainly since Achtung Baby. That song is worth the price of admission alone. Real chills from that one, it embodies the best of how U2 can make you feel. There are a couple missteps that hold it back from potentially being a full on stone cold classic. American Soul has an excellent verse structure but I’m having a hard time fully embracing the chorus, “you and I are rock n’ roll”, — just feels a little, yes again, cheesy....also doesn’t really fit the verse. I am also not totally digging Love is Bigger - slightly forgettable and has that instrumentation part that sounds like Muzak or something. Other than that, it’s the most enjoyable and consistent album from U2 in the Post Pop era and may very well may rank in their top 5 when it’s all said and done, which I hope isn’t for a long time to come!

Excelente disco

Kann man ein U2 Album aus dem Jahr 2017 mit den Meisterwerken der 80er und 90er Jahre vergleichen? Was erwarte ich von einem neuen U2 Album im 41. Jahr des Bestehens dieser Band? Als langjähriger Fan sind meine Erwartungen an ein neues U2 Album zugegebenermaßen jedes Mal riesig. Als ich Songs of Experience zum ersten Mal gehört habe war ich ehrlich gesagt zunächst ein bisschen enttäuscht. Zu seicht, zu eingängig, zu poppig war mein erster Eindruck. Doch die vorab ausgekoppelten Songs „You‘re the Best Thing About Me“ und „Get Out of Your Own Way“ täuschen über die Qualität der meisten anderen Songs auf diesem Album im Weg. Ich habe Songs of Experience noch eine beziehungsweise mehrere Chancen gegeben, mich darauf eingelassen und es nicht mit The Joshua Tree oder Achtung Baby verglichen. Und siehe da, mit jedem Mal hören gefällt es mir besser. Die tollen Melodien und tiefgründigen Botschaften in den Texten bohren sich immer mehr in meine Gehörgänge und mitten in mein Herz. Der tolle, melancholische und sehr ungewöhnliche Opener „Love Is All We Have Left“ klingt zunächst gar nicht nach U2 und bildet mit dem gefühlvollen „13 (There Is a Light)“ einen wundervollen Rahmen für Songs, die Geschichten über Wut, Hoffnung und vor allem ganz viel Liebe erzählen. Vordergründig mögen die Texte manch einem seicht erscheinen. Beschäftigt man sich aber erst einmal damit, sind „Summer of Love“, „Red Flag Day“, „The Little Things That Give You Away“ und „Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way“ echte Perlen. Auch der Bonustrack „Book of You Heart“ ist mit seinen sphärischen Klängen und Bonos ruhigem tiefen Gesang ein Highlight. Überhaupt Bono – in meinen Ohren klingt er auf diesem Album so gut wie schon sehr, sehr lange nicht mehr. Natürlich machen U2 im Jahr 2017 nicht mehr die gleiche Musik wie 1987 oder 1991 und das ist auch gut so! Schließlich würden Ihnen dann alle vorwerfen, sie würden sich ständig selbst kopieren und nicht mehr weiterentwickeln. Ich kann Songs of Experience allen empfehlen, die in Bezug auf U2 nicht total voreingenommen sind und sich auf dieses Album einlassen. An den Meisterwerken gemessen würde ich hier nur vier von fünf Sternen geben, als einzelnes Album betrachtet – vor allem aufgrund der musikalischen Qualität und der tollen Weise, auf die dieses Album produziert wurde – vergebe ich fünf Sterne.