U2 lose their Edge

Back in 1979, four teetotal teenagers from Dublin would hang out in Covent Garden pubs with me and fellow rock writer Dave McCullough.

We reviewed their earliest London gigs – at the Moonlight, the Bridgehouse, their first Marquee headliner. Even then, U2 had that indefinable something.

But, although we enthused, I’d be lying if I said either of us predicted just how big they would become. Not just multiplatinum, stadium-filling big but praised by presidents, mocked by satirists and loved-the-world-over big.

U2’s music was expansive, emotional and sweepingly ambitious. Powered by Bono’s passion, The Edge’s inventive guitar and the flexibly effective rhythm section of drummer Larry Mullen and bassist Adam Clayton, it was massive.

This unexpected retrospective album is the opposite.

The band haven’t lost their edge but The Edge takes a backseat as they radically reinterpret 40 of their finest songs and remove the rock backbone of his brilliant guitar play. Familiar numbers are stripped right back.

Opening track One, once lush and heartfelt, loses Bono’s original piquancy as well as The Edge’s electrifying artistry.

Keyboards replace his defining riff on I Will Follow. There’s even an unplugged take on Vertigo.

Walk On, now Walk On Ukraine, touches a nerve with its raw emotion as Bono adds a poignant “Stand up for freedom”.

The songs still work but most are diminished.

Where The Streets Have No Name has an orchestral feel yet, like the subdued Pride (In The Name Of Love), it lacks potency.

I’m not saying Songs Of Surrender is bad, just that it feels more like an indulgence than an invigorating reboot of old glories.

How many fans want to hear U2 classics deprived of the clout of the 1980s’ most original guitarist?

At least their next studio album will be guitar driven – the kind of cutting Edge fans will heartily approve of.