After four decades of filling stadiums all over the world, U2 have decided to release an intimate revisit of their discography. This decision was borne from the pandemic, as the album took shape during the 2021 lockdowns and each member of the group had to record their parts remotely. The album is divided into four CDs—one for each member. Each CD features 10 songs, totalling 40 tracks which were curated by The Edge, the band's guitarist, who explains, “Once we surrendered our reverence for the original version, each song started to open up to a new authentic voice”. This new release has taken material from all but two of their albums (October and No Line on the Horizon), and although a few hits have been left off the track list, there's still plenty of opportunity for a nostalgic sing-along.There's a piano/guitar version of One, an almost ambient remake of Where the Streets Have No Name and a very dry Sunday Bloody Sunday. Bono’s CD opens with a hushed With or Without You, as if the band were under strict instructions not to wake the neighbours as they recorded. There are some great hits but also some forgotten tracks, such as Stories for Boys from their first album, Boy. There’s something for everyone, hardcore fans and casual listeners alike. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

Dan and Pat have been writing the handbook for rock’n’roll for almost 20 years. A decade after leaving their hometown Akron in Ohio for Nashville, the Black Keys have produced Let’s Rock, a sort of return to the roots of original classic rock that pays homage to the electric guitar from the very first minute to the very last. In other words, the title of the album says it all. After both having worked with various other musicians, the pair have accepted one another’s infidelities and are back together. Dan Auerbach founded the Easy Eye Sound label named after his studio in Nashville, released his second solo album, Waiting on a Song, and produced a fine selection of albums for Yola, Shannon & The Clams, Dee White, Sonny Smith, Robert Finley and Gibson Brothers. Meanwhile, Pat Carney produced and recorded music with Calvin Johnson Michelle Branch, Tobias Jesso, Jr., Jessy Wilson, Tennis, Repeat Repeat, Wild Belle, Sad Planets Turbo Fruits and many more, and last but not least, he wrote the theme-song for BoJack Horseman on Netflix. After this success, Auerbach admits that it felt like the perfect time for their reunion, “That period really cleared my mind, and it made it so much more enjoyable when I got back together with Pat, because we’d had all that time off. I feel like the record is a testament to that feeling”.Let’s Rock revisits all the great big seventies guitar sounds that the duo admire. A vast array ranges from Glenn Schwartz and Joe Walsh from James Gang to Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top and Stealers Wheel (Sit Around and Miss You is very similar to Stuck in the Middle With You), T. Rex, Link Wray (Polydor period), Blue Öyster Cult and many more. “I didn’t want to overthink it” adds Auerbach. “I wanted it to feel spontaneous. I wanted to be able to record something not dissimilar to ‘Louie Louie’ and be perfectly happy with it. I was looking for the Troggs!”. “Funny, I was looking for the Stooges ‘Down on the Street’”, laughs Carney, who insists on his love for “big and dumb songs. They’re my favourite. I think on this record Dan and I came to a similar place in terms of what we wanted.  I was sitting in my studio for the last year just playing electric guitar, and for the first time in a while, Dan was playing a lot of electric guitar. The record is like a homage to electric guitar [..] We took a simple approach and trimmed all the fat like we used to”. All that now remains is the meat, the best bit! © Marc Zisman/Qobuz