2-in-1! The Blackout/Go Out Of Your Own Way- U2 Review(s)

Ah, more song by an aging band trying to revive and reinvent itself. Earlier this year, U2 released You're the Best Thing About Me, which got a lot of fanfare but amounted to nothing. They previewed The Blackout not long after, but it was unavailable until recently. I know it's not new, but I'll review it with this week's Go Out of Your Own Way just because I want to talk about it.


The Blackout is an excellent dark, bass driven and slickly produced tune that is destined for alternative radio. It makes very efficient use of everything but The Edge's guitar, and is as far from the verging on wailing that U2 sometimes sinks to. The song makes heavy use of electronics, which enhance it but drives it towards the level of worse The Killers' music. The real star of this is the bassist who gives this a tremendous swaggering cool that The Edge and his guitar aren't physically capable of doing(Bass is unparalleled in cool).

Get out Of Your Own Way is similar to You're The Best Thing, with its gentleness, but has electronic drums, less of The Edge's guitar, and more of their standard universal message. I feel that this song comes together really, really well, and is likely to be the alternative radio hit, but kind of sinks a bit with its choir choruses that really could be left behind. Best is the instrumental bridge, with The Edge finally taking the forefront and delivering a perfect transition in to the somewhat puzzling short monologue delivered at the end by Kendrick Lamar. If you're like me, you would've said "wait, what? Kendrick Lamar?", which is what I said when I heard it, as it doesn't fit with the song and isn't credited on the song itself.

Based on these singles, I think that Songs Of Experience will probably be a good album, worth at least one listen. Both singles are really good, Blackout edging ahead because of its excellent bass work, but not by much. U2 is finally reviving themselves, with songs that their fans like and songs that are pretty good, and hopefully they'll continue to get better from here.