U2 heading for first No. 1 album in a decade with Songs of Surrender

U2’s Songs of Surrender is on its way to becoming the band’s first No. 1 album in over a decade – a feat that would also mark their 11th LP to reach the No. 1 spot on the UK albums chart. Since its release on Friday, the newest song collection from the Irish rockers has already garnered much success and is currently outselling the rest of the Top 5 combined, according to the Official Charts Company.

Songs of Surrender is a collection of 40 re-recorded and re-interpreted tracks spanning U2’s 40-year career, which features largely acoustic arrangements. The new album also shares the same name as frontman Bono’s 2022 memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, in which the rock legend uses 40 U2 songs as chapter headings.

Since U2’s formation in 1976, Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. have continued making music and selling out arenas instead of resting on their extensive catalogue. With time, the Irish rockers have come to view their older songs through a different lens.

“Most of our work was written and recorded when we were a bunch of very young men,” Hot Press cover star The Edge explained in an open letter to fans. “Those songs mean something quite different to us now.”

In a review of Songs of Surrender, Hot Press’ John Walshe wrote that many of the LP's re-imagined tracks work beautifully and occasionally surprisingly, giving new life to almost-forgotten songs.

“Stripping these songs back to their core gives both band and listener a chance to re-connect with them, to hear them with fresh ears,” Walshe wrote. “For the most part, that also serves to remind us just how bloody magnificent they were in the first place.”

U2’s last No. 1 album was their 2009 LP No Line on the Horizon. Since then, the band have earned consecutive Top 10 entries on the UK albums chart over the last decade, with 2014's Songs of Innocence reaching No. 6 and 2017's Songs of Experience reaching No. 5.

In addition to the success of their latest LP, their greatest hits album U218 Singles is also on its way to reaching the Top 40 for the second time, following its release in 2006.

Coinciding with the new LP's release, the documentary Bono & the Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, With Dave Letterman was released on Disney+ on the same day.

Listen to Songs of Surrender below.