U2 Reveal Final ‘Songs of Innocence’ Album Cover

2014-09-30

Story by Anne Erickson

U2’s artwork for the band’s ‘Songs of Innocence’ album has a stunning relationship to the band’s early albums

U2, much to the surprise of the public, unleashed their latest album, “Songs of Innocence,” in early September as a free download on iTunes, and although all the finished tunes were included, the band was just using a placeholder image for the album’s cover. Now, U2 have unveiled the true album cover for the collection, which will be used when the physical CD and vinyl copies of “Songs of Innocence” arrive on Oct. 13.

The stunning album cover shows a touching black-and-white image of U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr., shirtless and hugging the waist of his shirtless 18-year-old son, Aaron, in an act of protection.

According to a message on U2’s official website, the theme of “Songs of Innocence” is a throwback to the group’s 1980 debut album “Boy” and 1983’s “War.” Those albums’ covers included the younger brother of one of lead singer Bono’s best childhood friends without his shirt and making the same pose.

“If you know (“Songs of Innocence”), you’ll see the themes in the visual language, how ‘holding on to your own innocence is a lot harder than holding on to someone else’s.’” Bono said in a statement.

He added, “We’ve always been about community in U2, about family and friends. ‘Songs of Innocence’ is the most intimate album we’ve ever made. With this record we were looking for the raw, naked and personal, to strip everything back.”




Anne Erickson

Related Posts