“Happiness” album cover.
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The rock band U2 unveiled a decent collection of three previously unreleased songs in a so-called “ghost album” titled “Happiness” on Oct. 24 — a sample of sorts for its upcoming full-length album on Nov. 29.
The Irish rock quartet first garnered attention in 1980 with “Boy” and emerged to worldwide prominence in ’87 with its magnum opus “The Joshua Tree,” headlined by hits such as “With or Without You” and “Where the Streets Have No Name.” They managed another impressive album in the aftermath with “Achtung Baby,” from which came the song “One.”
After an attempt to re-invent themselves in the mid-’90s, the musicians reclaimed their spot as the world’s premier rock-and-rollers in 2000 with the terrific album “All That You Can’t Leave Behind,” and punctuated the new millennium’s success with “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” in 2004.
The back-to-back hits launched them into what became the highest-earning tour in music history. In the decade since, U2 released two disappointing albums and held a series of live performances at The Sphere Las Vegas.
Their most recent release,“Happiness,” gives U2 fans an idea of what to expect on Black Friday when the band releases “How to Re-assemble an Atomic Bomb” — a lineup of reworked songs that didn’t make the cut for the album “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.” While none of the three songs are nearly that caliber, the album as a whole encapsulates the band’s journey from 1987 to 2004, a journey down from the summit and then back up again.
The titular song “Happiness” pay homage to the band’s exploration into alternate genres post-1990. U2 attempted to blend their rock ‘n’ roll with alternative rock and electronic dance music in albums “Zooropa” in 1993 and “Pop” in 1997.
The title track is distinctly funky: minor, rumbling, sporadic — nothing is quite right. The whole song sounds like a callback to the odd techno-style that U2 mastered as lead-ins to clean, organic rock hits like “Elevation” and “City of Blinding Lights.” So appropriately, “Happiness” leads into the most U2-sounding song on the album.
“Country Mile” is the second song of the new releases, and it plays like an ode to the music of U2’s 2000 album “All That You Can’t Leave Behind,” which recaptured the ’80s magic for a new era. “County Mile” is a pleasant-sounding and hopeful tune that replays all the bandmembers’ classic imprints — Bono’s poetic songwriting, Adam Clayton’s beautifully simple bass lines, The Edge’s captivating electric guitar, and a whole lot of Larry Mullen’s crash cymbals. This song presents the muted, mild side of U2 that makes them unique among rock bands.
“Picture of You (X+W)” is the final song, bearing an obvious resemblance to songs from “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.” It’s the same blend of U2’s early-1980s pure rock and mid-1990s experimental rock that characterized the 2004 album.
While it’s no “Vertigo” and certainly not as enjoyable as “Country Mile,” it is impressive, because it’s honest about the fact that it isn’t classic U2. The music, mirroring the lyrics, sounds messy and disorienting as a testament to the rapidly changing world of the early 2000s, as well as the change U2 itself underwent in two decades of fame.
Overall, U2 managed a respectable release as a fitting honor to one of its iconic albums. “Happiness” tells the story of the group’s adaptation and re-ascent after their first journey to the pinnacle of the music world. If nothing else, they’ve piqued fans’ interest for the upcoming conclusion of their atomic era.