U2’s new album, Songs of Innocence, the album iPhone users were surprised to find in their music libraries when they woke up, contains many new sounds for the punk-rock band. Whether you hated or loved the unexpected music on your phone, U2 has never experienced more popularity than now because of it.

The album contains many new punk tributes that the band has never really shown a flare for before, such as the opening track, The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone), a song all about the influences of the Ramones, a punk-rock band that had a great impact on U2’s sound.

U2’s lead singer Bono in particular sings of how he “Woke up at the moment when the miracle occurred,” speaking of the first time he heard the Ramones on stage.

What's your favorite U2 song?

• I don't know/don't care about U2 (75%, 3 Votes)
• With Or Without You (25%, 1 Votes)
• Beautiful Day (0%, 0 Votes)
• The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) (0%, 0 Votes)
• Vertigo (0%, 0 Votes)
• Elevation (0%, 0 Votes)
• Where The Streets Have No Name (0%, 0 Votes)
• I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (0%, 0 Votes)
• Other (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 4

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And that’s not the only song in the album that speaks of the band’s origins. Raised by Wolves, Troubles, Iris (Hold Me Close), and This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now, all feature Bono singing a high-pitched melody to strong guitar riffs from The Edge which differ from their previously styled hits, such as Beautiful Day.

Similarly to The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone), the song This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now is dedicated to Joe Strummer of The Clash, another band credited to inspiring not only Bono but the rest of the band members’ perspectives on how they see music, and why they make it. “Soldier soldier, We signed our lives away,” is Bono speaking to Joe Strummer of how he changed Bono’s previously set mindset on punk music.

In contrast to the gospel-sounds and slow melodies of previous songs that you may or may not remember from before U2 was even called U2, such as I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, the new album contains a much more hard punk sound to it. The Edge’s guitar isn’t as pronounced as it was in their older songs, but has a different rock feel to it, which goes along well with Larry Mullen Jr.’s faster drum beats.

As a whole, the album was a success. Despite some critics’ outraged reactions to what seemed like U2 giving away their album just for the money to Apple, it has received positive reviews and gained U2 a new type of fame. Everyone who hadn’t heard of them before suddenly found them in their music libraries. U2’s music video views on Youtube have had a sudden spike upward due to people who liked what they heard on Songs of Innocence and wanted to check out more. The move is looking to have been a smart one on U2’s part.