Jason is correct that Unforgettable Fire is U2's best album. Also, Joe is correct that The Joshua Tree is U2's best album. Furthernore, Kramz is correct that Achtung Baby is their best album. Fantastic job by all three of you. Everybody nailed it.
Those are three great albums building on a few good ones before. It’s easy to forget that they were once really good and leading edge. Bands like that should quit on top.
The run from 83-91, War, Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum, and Achtung is one of greatest runs in rock history, Joshua Tree stands on top for me the rest of that group close behind. All that You Can't Leave Behind to me was closest they ever came to that peak era since early 90's.
It was a bit sad that when Leave Behind came out it felt like for rock music that was somehow about the best that could be done. It was not very good in the grand scheme of things. I kind of gave up on rock. I think Take Off Your Pants And Jacket was the last rock album I bought.....20 years ago?
When buying War as a kid in 1983, it was so exciting buying the earlier ones.Similar to other bands finding their momentum i.e Echo And The Bunnymen.Seeing them live etc...and THEN U2 release Unforgettable Fire and Bunnymen do Ocean Rain. Phenomenal time. U2 have been crap since after Achtung Baby, one of their peaks.
I REALLY enjoyed this episode guys. I was an enormous U2 fan thru the 80's and 90's. I've always understood the things that people don't like about them, but man they made some great albums back in the day. All 3 of you did a great job expressing what you liked and didn't like. I'm so glad Jason got to 4 stars on The Unforgettable Fire. Great job guys. Each of your top 3 albums are my top 3. 1. Achtung Baby 2. The Joshua Tree 3. The Unforgettable Fire. You kept me up until 3AM watching. Lol
My Ranking: 1. Achtung Baby (10/10) 2. The Joshua Tree (10/10) 3. The Unforgettable Fire (10/10) 4. War (9'5/10) 5. Boy (9/10) 6. Zooropa (8'5/10) 7. Rattle And Hum (8/10) 8. Pop (8/10) 9. October (8/10) 10. No Line On The Horizon (7'5/10) 11. All That You Can't Leave Behind (7'5/10) 12. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (7/10) 13. Songs of Innocence (5/10) 14. Songs of Experience (4/10) Greetings from Canary Islands
The thing I like about your channel is how much it makes me go back and listen to this stuff too. And even when I disagree or think one of you is wrong, I can usually still kind of see where you're coming from (well-argued points) and it feels genuine.
So glad to see the boys cover U2, my top band. My sister introduced me to them in the Band-Aid days, and subsequently Joshua Tree was the first album I owned at age 12 in ‘87. Was a huge fan in my high school years, which lessened a bit after Pop; though I did enjoy that live show. Their Sirius XM Station is one of the major reasons I keep that service (Along with Beatles, Pearl Jam, Spectrum, New Wave and Sports stations). I am in Kramzer’s camp here. It is nice to see the other opinions. U2 Albums: 1. War, 5 Stars. This is a complete album, top to bottom. 10 songs, 40 minute run time. Uniting theme. Rugged and emotional. ‘Drowning Man’ is my favorite U2 song of all time which is why I put it at #1. Strange the song hasn’t seen live performance, perhaps to difficult to pull off, unlike “40’ which is seemingly a perfect concert-ending song. Coupled with such great singles and deep tunes like ‘Seconds’ and ‘Like a Song’, this is a remarkable listen for so many rock fans. Even the weird ‘Red Light’ makes a statement here. This was my Album of the Year for 1983. 2. Actung Baby, 5 Stars. This is their magnum opus. I use this album as the ‘best’ U2 album-I just find War as more of a favorite listen. Great songs from top to bottom, I really don’t have any issue with this one. There are also great B-sides that came out during this time. This was my album of the year in the very loaded, and legendary, 1991. 3. The Joshua Tree, 5 Stars. If you ask me what I think is the most quintessential U2 album: Joshua Tree is how I’d answer. I have no problem with Joe putting this at #1. This is a grand album that launched them into super stardom. Plenty of great songs here that have passed into ‘Classic Rock’-realm now that it has been out for over 30 years. ‘Where the Streets’, ‘I Still Haven’t Found’ and ‘With or Without You’ are still very viable for radio play, while deep cuts like ‘One Tree Hill’ ‘Exit’ and ‘Running to Stand Still’ still pass the test of time. An all-timer. My Album of the Year for 1987. 4. October, 5 Stars. What this album lacks in lyrics and polished form, I think it more than makes up for with emotion and nostalgia. ‘Tomorrow’ is one of my all time favorite songs (not just by U2 but any artist). This is not critically acclaimed, and there is still quite a bit of rawness here, but I find it an authentic struggle and hots home for me. This is why I give it 5 stars and while I rank it ahead of more polished, sharper musicianship, records. People won’t like the allegories here, but I like them. My Album of the year for 1981. 5. The Unforgettable Fire, 5 Stars. There are great and legendary tracks on here. It doesn’t quite hold up to my favorite spots above, as I don’t find it quite applies as personally to me as the above albums, or I find that it lacks some of the diversity that the above have in the song listings. But it is still easily 5 stars for me, and as such I have no problem with Jason putting it as #1. Glad he found something he liked-I hope he comes back to it while also adding ‘Wide Awake in America’. I do agree with Jason that the back half suffers a bit, but ‘Bad’ and the first half of the album are enough to get it to 5 stars. TUF was my Album of the Year candidate in 1984. 6. Boy, 4.5 Stars. What an awesome debut. It plays like a ‘best of our first 3 years’ album with some solid, relatively raw, tracks. The musicianship is not up to par with later stuff, keeping this from being 5 stars, but the energy is palpable. A great listen and was in my top-5 for 1980. 7. All That You Can’t Leave Behind, 4.5 Stars. Perhaps I overrate this one a bit. It was in my top-5 for 2000, behind Coldplay and Radiohead. But after a string of disappointments, I felt U2 brought some fan service with this one. ‘Beautiful Day’ is a great lead single and ‘Kite’, ‘In a Little While’ and ‘Wild Honey’ are fantastic deep cuts for ‘later’ U2. This has dropped a bit for me, but I still hold that the halftime SuperBowl of 2001 was well done. This is an uplifting album, and I can appreciate that. I stop well short of this album being 5 stars because there’s still quite a bit of pretentiousness there, but it’s less than their previous 2 albums. 8. Rattle & Hum, 4.5 Stars. If you would have asked me in 1990, I would have said R&H was my favorite U2 album. So it has dipped over the years. I do realize, this is not their niche. However, unlike Jason I don’t see it as much as ‘pretentious inauthenticity’ as much as an experimental homage. Excluding the live songs and covers, you still have some pretty interesting and often times rocking tracks. ‘Desire’, ‘All I Want is You’ and ‘Hawkmoon’ are awesome songs. This was in my Top 5 for 1988. This falls a bit due to not being a true studio album, and there is a bit of incompleteness here. 9. Zooropa, 4 Stars. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this album. On the one hand, I appreciate its experimental nature. On the other, it feels incomplete. ‘Zooropa’, ‘The First Time’ and ‘Lemon’ are all great. ‘Babyface’, however, is awful. ‘The Wanderer’ feels like it should have been on one of Johnny Cash’s America albums. There are B-sides from Actung Baby (Alex Decends into Hell for a Bottle of Milk/Korova 1, for example) that they could have held onto and put on Zooropa, replacing a few aforementioned songs. Bottom line: this album is a fun listen, but with skippable tracks. It still made my Top-5 for 1993, but that’s probably my ‘U2 Rose colored glasses’ speaking as much as anything else. Still holds lots of nostalgia. 10. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, 4 Stars. This is a good rocking album, with a lot of nice song writing here. I think ‘Vertigo’ is a solid rocker-even with the weird numbering scheme. ‘All Because of You’, ‘Man and a Woman’ and ‘Sometimes You Can’t Make it On Your Own’ are nice tunes. In my top-5 for 2004. 11. No Line on the Horizon, 3.5 Stars. Aside from ‘Boots’, I think this is a pretty good album. My wife got me the CD for my birthday and I had it playing pretty non-stop in my car as I drove cross-country for some work training over the course of a month. I found ‘Magnificent’ to be one of their best songs since Actung Baby, and I think ‘White as Snow’ is a nice deep cut. I wish they’d explore more of the folksy stuff like that. However, it does suffer from ‘sameness’ of their previous two recordings. Had they included “Every Breaking Wave” and “Winter” and excluded ‘Stand Up’ and ‘Boots’, this would have been in my top-8. Alas, Honorable mention for 2009. 12. Pop, 3 Stars. I was massively disappointed with this album when it came out. While I was a little let down by Zooropa, I saw that albums as offshoots from their ambitious ZooTV tour and an experimental album. I expected more from Pop, and it did not deliver. That said, I still went and saw their opening PopMart show in Vegas, and although flawed, I really enjoyed the concert. This album has grown on me a little since 1997 and I can now appreciate a few songs like ‘Velvet Dress’ and ‘Please’, but I have no idea what Woody Harrelson is thinking lauding this album so much. 13. Songs of Innocence, 3 Stars. The musicianship here I think is quite solid, some great instrument playing. And the lyrics are more personal here. I think Joe made a lot of great points on this one, probably gets more hate from U2 fans than it deserves. But ultimately many of the songs are just not hitting for me, and there’s no nostalgia to reel me in. ‘Every Breaking Wave’ and ‘California’ are quite decent, and I dont mind that the album was free (but my wife hated that they ‘intruded’ on her iTunes. Lastly, and this drops the record down a half-star for me, it has the WORST ALBUM COVERS of all time. 14. Songs of Experience, 2 Stars. The only U2 album I’ve never owned, and the only one I dont consider at least ‘good’. It’s a poor album. But while I don’t find myself ever really wanting to listen to this one, I do think ‘Summer of Love’ is actually a fun song with a nice guitar riff. Members: Bono: Great lead man. Decent lyricist, but I think is better at creating melodies. His live energy was a draw in his youth, but lately has made him into a bit of a pariah with many fans. The Edge: An All-time great guitarist. Can craft soundscapes like an artistic engineer. While he doesn’t shred, his solos always seem appropriate and he has created many memorable riffs. Adam Clayton: The early glue the band needed. He is a true professional. I enjoy his interviews, seems like a nice dude. Larry Mullen Jr: The founder. I think he does a great job, and his work on their early albums was a major factor in their driving sound. Bottom Line: U2 has provided us with an extensive discography to enjoy. I appreciate their longevity and in staying together. Rock and Roll is a young man’s sport and U2 are now too old and rich for any real consequence. I don’t expect anything ‘new’ coming out to blow me away. But they had as good of a run as just about anybody, save the Beatles, and I for one am grateful for the music they provided.
1 War 2 Achtung Baby 3 Joshua Tree 4 Unforgettable Fire 5 Rattle and Hum 6 Zooropa 7 All You Can't Leave Behind 8 Boy 9 October 10 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb 11 Pop 12 No Line On The Horizon 13 Songs Of Innocence 14 Songs Of Experience
Looking forward to this tomorrow after 5 long 12-hour night shifts! 😎 Anyway, U2 was the first band I seriously got into. In 1985 at age 11 it started with the singles The Unforgettable Fire and Sunday Bloody Sunday and Under A Blood Red Sky on a tape I completely wore out and soon after The Unforgettable Fire was the first album I bought by myself and I went back into the catalogue and snapped up every new release afterwards. Not every album is top-to-bottom stellar, but they always have something to recommend them. The critical pasting they always seem to get for some reason is totally undeserved. As for rating the albums most of them are on an equal footing for me, but Rattle And Hum is the clear standout. It has everything everyone loves about them and everything everyone hates about them. The ultimate U2 album and an awesome listen from back to back.
No pitchfork Jason just a shake of the head and a sigh of sadness. "One " to me is just so fantastic, still loved 30 years after first hearing it. Hairs on the back of the neck time.
"One" is to U2 as "Everybody Hurts" is to R.E.M. Both use worn out and overly simple chord progressions, yet both have strong vocal performances. But for me, the vocals don't outweigh the lack of musical energy I usually like.
Yeah. I had to step away from it for a while. But it's grown on me now to the point that it's one of my all-time favs. ONE's lyrics are standout & Bono knocks it out the park vocally.
@@shoogerkane I see the comparison but I think One is a much better song. It may be kind of standard progressions but the way U2 handle it is simply masterful. The way it builds is amazing, I don’t see how it could be called boring or bad with an arrangement and performance like that. Everybody Hurts on the other hand is by far my least favorite song on Automatic, I just don’t care for “heart on my sleeve” R.E.M. as much but it’s still an okay song.
A surprisingly fun week. 1. Boy (5 stars) 2. Achtung Baby (4.5 stars) 3. The Unforgettable Fire (4.5 stars) 4. The Joshua Tree (4.5 stars) 5. October (4 stars) 6. War (4 stars) 7. Rattle and Hum (4 stars) 8. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb ("Love") (4 stars) 9. No Line on the Horizon (3.5 stars) 10. "Zooropa" (??) (3.5 stars) 11. Songs of Innocence (3 stars) 12. All That You Can't Leave Behind (3 stars) 13. Pop(p) (3 stars) 14. Songs of Experience (2 stars)
1. Achtung Baby 2. Joshua Tree 3. Unforgettable Fire 4. Zooropa 5. Pop 6. ATYCLB 7. No Line on the Horizon 8. Rattle and Hum 9. War 10. Boy 11. Songs of Experience 12. How to Dismantle… 13. Songs of Innocence 14. October I started with Achtung Baby so Igravitate to the 90s U2. They were at their best when they took chances. Individually, U2’s member may not have gone as far, but together they are amazing. One of the greatest bands ever. Give their live Zoo TV DVD a watch. Awesome. I like hearing opinions of those who are not as fanatical as myself, though. Keep up the good work.
Having spent nearly 15 years heavily involved in U2 message boards, I've read every possible opinion about their discography. Still, as a faithful Listography/Tastes Likes Music viewer, I was really intrigued to see you guys discussing it. I'm not shocked that Jason and Joe have Achtung Baby that low in their rankings, but I found funny Joe's reasoning because for me it's almost the opposite for every argument he made. For me, Lanois work (main producer of the album) is impeccable, especially with the rhythm section, and the overall album sound has aged great. Regarding Bono's lyrics (which, in general, I'm not that fond of), Achtung + Zooropa its his peak. Speaking of Zooropa, kinda disappointed in Kramzer's ranking of it. I had the feeling he would have loved it. For me has been the constant grower, climbing a couple spots in my rankings every five years or so. On the other hand, loved Kramzer's take on Boy and A Sort Of Homecoming. Also Jason's take on The Unforgettable Fire's side B, great stuff. My U2 ranking nowadays would be something like this. 14 Songs Of Experience (2 Stars) 13 No Line On The Horizon (2.5) 12 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (2.5) 11 Pop (2.5) 10 Songs Of Innocence (3) 09 War (3) 08 October (3) 07 All That You Can't Leave Behind (3) 06 The Unforgettable Fire (4) 05 Rattle And Hum (4) 04 Boy (4) 03 Zooropa (4.5) 02 Achtung Baby (5) 01 The Joshua Tree (5) I consider Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree absolute classics, masterpieces, as good as any other albums out there. If anyone is curious, for the hardcore fans Achtung Baby is the best, by a wide margin. Great video guys!. I appreciate the effort (specially Jason's, well documented about the recordings of the albums)
@@rickjensen74 I don't think he is a bad lyricist per se, but there's something about his interests and POV that I don't connect with very often. Most of his interviews I find disappointing, being the long time fan that I am. I couldn't even finish "Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas", it was quite boring. But again, I don't think he's stupid, of course. He's brilliant, in fact. But I prefer his musical sensibilities than the lyrical ones.
War is my fav U2 album. Excellent, punky, guitar heavy rock'n roll. Still sounds fresh and exciting. I love all their albums from Boy to Pop which is an incredible run. I even liked The Passengers project that no one seems to remember. A frew brilliant tracks on that too. Could not care less for anything post Pop despite the band still pruducing some great individual tunes. No longer in love with U2 but I have nothing but respect. One of the greatest bands of all time.
All three of your choices have been my favorite U2 album at one point or another, along with War. At this point I'm gonna go with Kramzer - Achtung Baby's the one that I find myself returning to the most often, the one that still holds surprises for me and that resonates with me the most.
zooropa was magnificent...although achtung baby is my favorite u2 album so zooropa taking it a step further will of course be to my liking...its my favorite era of the band..91 -93
Top ten for me, in order: The Joshua Tree, The Unforgettable Fire, War, Boy, Achtung Baby, Rattle & Hum, October, Pop, Zooropa, All That You Can't Leave Behind. There are pockets of decent songs on their other albums, but not enough to even think about for me. If I could only listen to these 10 albums for the rest of my life, though, I'd be happy with it.
My favorite part about music appreciation is how subjective it is. Not only is it subjective for each different person, but the same person can love or hate a band or album depending upon the time in their life that they listen to them. U2 is BY FAR my favorite band now and I used to DISLIKE them when I was younger. I personally disagreed with so much of what was said here, but it was really interesting to hear all different points of view, regardless. My list probably changes from week to week, but for what it’s worth, here it is (and I love all these albums, even my least favorites): 14.) POP 13.) October 12.) Rattle and Hum 11.) Songs of Innocence 10.) Boy 9.) Zooropa 8.) Songs of Experience 7.) No Line on the Horizon 6.) The Unforgettable Fire 5.) WAR 4.) All That You Can’t Leave Behind 3.) How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 2.) The Joshua Tree 1.) Achtung Baby
My list : 1. The Joshua Tree 2. The Unforgettable Fire 3. Achtung Baby 4. War 5. All That You Cant Leave Behind 6. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 7. Boy 8. Rattle and Hum 9. October 10. No line on the Horizon 11. Pop 12. Zooropa 13. Songs of Innocence 14. Songs of Experience
1. Achtung Baby 2. Joshua Tree 3. Unforgettable Fire 4. Zooropa 5. War 6. Boy 7. All That You Can’t Leave Behind 8. Rattle & Hum 9. No Line On the Horizon 10. October 11. Pop 12. Atomic Bomb 13. Last two, no order
I grew up loving U2’s hits. Through further exploration in college I found their 80s stuff to be essential, but they do have a drop off in quality after Achtung Baby, but I still enjoy every album they’ve ever done. Overall, a great and unique artist. ALBUM RANKING: 1. War (1983) - 5/5 2. The Joshua Tree (1987) - 5/5 3. Achtung Baby (1991) - 5/5 4. The Unforgettable Fire (1984) - 5/5 5. Boy (1980) - 5/5 6. October (1981) - 4.5/5 7. All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000) - 4/5 8. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004) - 4/5 9. Zooropa (1993) - 4/5 10. Rattle & Hum (1988) - 4/5 11. No Line on the Horizon (2009) - 4/5 12. Pop (1997) - 3.5/5 13. Songs of Innocence (2013) - 3.5/5 14. Songs of Experience (2017) - 3.5/5 RATING SCALE: 5.0 - Excellent (Really Love It) 4.5 - Great (Love It) 4.0 - Very Good (Really Like It) 3.5 - Good (Like It) 3.0 - Decent (Slightly Like It) 2.5 - Mediocre (Indifferent) 2.0 - Subpar (Slightly Dislike It) 1.5 - Bad (Dislike It) 1.0 - Very Bad (Really Dislike It) 0.5 - Awful (Hate It) 0.0 - Terrible (Really Hate It)
I've never been a huge fan of U2. I own Joshua Tree, War, Achtung Baby and the 1980-1990 hits compilation and have been pretty happy with that. I've never really considered myself a fan but I don't know that I've ever hated them. This week I gave all of their albums a listen and I would say overall my opinion of them improved. Some albums were better than I thought but I would say I've had enough U2 now for awhile. I didn't end up ranking them because I do like to listen more than once to do that and I just never got to. For one thing, there was no way I could bring myself to ever listen to Rattle and Hum again in full. If only the studio tracks had been an EP like Joe said, that would have scored really high for me. So yeah, my favourite 2 are still Joshua Tree and War which I what I thought going into this. I'm glad I gave the discography a listen though.
honestly I agree with Jason my favourite is The Unforgettable Fire. Just a beautiful sounding album with Eno bringing in his ambient music obsession and fusing it with U2’s songwriting style. Bad is my favourite U2 song too.
Their big moment - saw it as it happened - was the Live Aid gig. You knew right there they had one more big step up to take (Joshua Tree) and they did take it. Then they did the big about face with AB which even if you didn't like it, you had to respect it. Totally set fire to their former selves. But those moments when you see the band on the upswing and knowing they're on the cusp of world domination.... that's the coolest moment. It isn't when they actually get to the top (the Black Album, Thriller, etc.).
Spot on comment. I saw it as it happened, too. Their legendary Live Aid performance. People who didn’t live it in real-time can’t really appreciate now how they were just the right band coming in at the right time with the right sound. That undefinable “it” factor mixing with some invisible hand of destiny. You just *knew* they were about to somehow take over world. And they did.
My personal ranking: 14. Zooropa -Best song: Stay (Faraway so close) 13. Songs of Experience-Best song: The Blackout 12. Songs of Innocence- Best song: Cedarwood Road 11. No line on the Horizon- Best song: Breathe 10. Rattle and Hum- Best song: All I want is You 9. Pop- Best song: Last Night on Earth 8. War- Best song: New Years Day 7. October- Best song: Gloria 6. All that you can't leave behind- Best song: Elevation 5. Boy- Best song: I will Follow 4. The Unforgettable Fire- Best song: Pride (In the name of love) 3. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb- Best song: Crumbs from your Table 2. Achtung Baby- Best song: Until the End of the World 1. The Joshua Tree-Best song: Where the Streets have no Name
1. The Joshua Tree (one of the greatest albums ever) 2. War - definitely a 5 star album 3. Achtung Baby - 4.5 star album - I love a lot of the B-sides. They really shot their wad here. Not much else after this does much for me. 4. The Unforgettable Fire - 4.5 5. Boy - 4.5 6. Rattle And Hum - 4 star 7. October - 3.5 star 8 thru 14 - everything pretty much else is tied. I like some songs, but most of the rest of it is all the same to my ears. I don't necessarily need to hear any of it. There are some decent songs like "Kite" and "Every Breaking Wave," but the last great song they ever released to my ears is "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me."
I really appreciate the way all the guys but especially Jason dives into the history of the band and the circumstances surrounding the making of these albums. Kudos!
I honestly gave up after No Line on the Horizon, but I still really like them. I feel like they are a band which are very easy to split into tiers for their albums. So from what I’ve heard from best to worst: 1. Achtung Baby 2. The Joshua Tree 3. War 4. Boy 5. Unforgettable Fire 6. All That You Can’t Leave Behind 7. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 8. Rattle and Hum 9. October 10. Zooropa 11. Pop 12. No Line on the Horizon I actually think Achtung is better than I initially thought. The deep cuts like So Cruel and Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World are great. Acrobat and Love is Blindess are fantastic- the latter being even better in the live version from the ZOO TV tour. I honestly don’t think there’s a bad song on the album. Also I can’t lie, I absolutely love Even Better Than the Real Thing.
The Unforgettable Fire is an album I didn’t listen to a lot. But . . . There was a time . . . When I was feeling out of sorts it was a great album to meet me in the mood. I just buried myself in the mood . . . And loved it.
@@sbdowling Good picks. Those would probably be my top 3 as well, maybe the slight edge to Achtung depending on my mood. Love what they did on that album, I can imagine many fans at the time disliking the change in style but it’s really inventive for them I think.
1. The Unforgettable Fire 2. The Joshua Tree 3. Achtung Baby 4. Boy 5. War 6. October 7. All that you can’t leave Behind 8. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 9. Rattle and Hum 10. Songs of Experience 11. Songs of Innocence 12. No Line on the Horizon 13. Pop 14. Zooropa
Another thing I failed to mention about why I love The Unforgettable Fire is that it is boldly experimental. Jason mentioned how 4th of July was improvised by Clayton and The Edge, but Bono's vocals on Elvis Presley and America were also improvised and the song was built around that. Yes, it meanders a bit but I think it's great and it builds up to a great climax. I certainly couldn't come up with anything like that on the fly.
Maybe the best thing about this episode is Jason picking The Unforgettable Fire as his favorite album, precisely because I think it's pretty experimental and I don't typically peg Jason for a fan of experimental music.
@@TastesLikeMusic I don't think you're anti-experimental. Clearly that is Joe, but it doesn't seem often that an experimental album will be at the top of your list. I don't expect to see that very frequently.
Love U2. Listen to so many differences kinds of music…but I *always* come back to U2. They are the soundtrack of my life. They have written a number of songs that I seemingly cannot grow tired of-even after hundreds (thousands?) of listens. If I had the talent to give voice to the music I “hear” the world speaking in its silences, beauty, savagery, and in the mystery between its molecules…to me it would sound like U2. Really fun to listen to your differences of opinion. Thanks. The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, and Achtung Baby albums are bonafide works of art.
Wow...you guys really did indeed knock it out of the park with your reviews on this one. Plenty of depth, detail, and passion in the right places. Especially love how it wraps up with Jason willing to squeeze over the line in giving a four star review for "The Unforgettable Fire". I agree as well that as much as I have always really loved this album, it does indeed to seem to run out of steam over the final three tracks. The first seven are fantastic.
U2 Albums Ranked Worst to Best 14. Songs of Innocence 2 stars 13. Songs of Experience 2 stars 12. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 2 stars 11. No Line on the Horizon 2.5 stars 10. All that you Can't Leave Behind 2.5 stars 9. Pop 2.5 stars 8. Rattle and Hum 3 stars 7. War 3.5 stars 6. Boy 3.5 stars 5. Unforgettable Fire 3.5 stars 4. The Joshua Tree - 4 stars 3. October - 4 stars 2. Zooropa - 4 stars 1. Achtung Baby - 5 stars
@@johnnyterrific5702 i agree. i recall it getting a lukewarm critical reception at the time and it was viewed as the "lesser , rushed, Achtung Baby" , but i love that sound and the experimental approach to their music in the 90s.. "Pop" failed to continue that progression successfully cause it just lacked decent songs, and they reverted to the safety of "All that You can't leave behind" 80s sound updated... "Zooropa' has some killer tracks( some will appear on my songs list) , one or 2 "meh" tracks but overall a great record imo. If anything , some of their so called classic 80s albums have started to sound more dated as the years go by for me.
@@deathfromabove77 That’s one of the biggest problems with POP. It doesn’t continue the experimental ideas that Zooropa put out there. I think those of us who loved Zooropa have been mostly disappointed with their career ever since because they did not build off of it. I also find it interesting how Joe, Jason, and Kramzer each had criticisms of the vocals in Numb and Lemon. I actually find those moments very charming and fun. Lemon is maybe my favorite vocals that he’s ever done. Also, The Wanderer is amazing! Maybe U2’s best album closer. It belongs on this record and I defend it!
@@johnnyterrific5702 I think you meant to say All That You Can’t Leave Behind instead of Pop as the album where they decided to dial down and play it safe. Pop was widely seen, by the band and by the public, as the straw that broke the camel’s back. Which, in my opinion, was quite unfortunate.
Great video guys! Keep up the good work! There's a few things in the U2 discourse that always kind of bothers me. I'll try to be as concise as possible (but a lot to digest here): 1. The Achtung Baby assessment from Jason and Joe is puzzling to say the least. I certainly don't understand criticism of the production - it sounds incredible to this day. But to fully appreciate it, you have to understand the context. Kramzer mentions this, but U2 was the biggest band in the world after the Joshua Tree. To even attempt to make this drastic of a shift is remarkable...and to not only pull it off, but to have the result be one of the greatest albums of the 90's is another thing all together. How big of a shift was it? The best way I can describe it was to say that I was a MASSIVE U2 fan in 1991. I wore out their previous albums, saw them live etc. In the summer of 91 I was driving and heard a song on the radio that I immediately loved...but had no idea who it was. None. It was "The Fly." My favorite band, and I had no clue on first listen. A few months later I was waiting in line at midnight at a record store with probably a thousand other fans to purchase Achtung Baby. U2, the biggest band in the world, had reinvented themselves and (as far as I know) everyone loved it. The funny thing is Mysterious Ways is probably my least favorite song, and it's great. This is an epic achievement in so many ways. It wasn't derivative in the least...it was groundbreaking in many ways. If you haven't heard it also check out B-side to One - Lady With The Spinning Head! 2. I get frustrated when people criticize Rattle and Hum, and to a lesser degree, Zooropa - for a couple of reasons. First, Rattle and Hum has 10 original songs and they are all very strong - mostly great. Some are very much equal to The Joshua Tree (Hawkmoon 269, Desire, Angel of Harlem, Love Rescue Me, Heartland, All I Want Is You...). It is basically a soundtrack to the film. It was done as they were embarking on the biggest tour in the world in support of The Joshua Tree. The extras - the live tracks, covers etc... - are just that extra. But certainly not bad in any way. I think the gospel choir version of "I Still Haven't Found.." is even better than the original. If they just released it as a 10 song album of new songs, it would rival their very best. At the time, most fans saw it as a compliment to the film and appreciated it that way. Zooropa was even more of a stop-gap type album that was basically something for the fans while the Zoo TV tour was still moving along. It is not the follow up to Achtung and wasn't intended to be that. It was experimental and fun. It showed their willingness to keep pushing the envelope. The whole thing doesn't work but, again, most fans see this as evidence that the band wanted to keep moving forward. Pop is the true follow up to Achtung and for me it was very hit or miss. That led to All That You Can't Leave Behind...a return to the old U2. But U2's 90's period should be commended and celebrated. U2 could have just as easily released a live album in place of Zooropa, but they had some new songs and wanted to put them out. Again, context is important. 3. U2's work the past 20 years has been mostly strong to very strong. All That You Can't Leave Behind and How to Dismantle are really returns to form. That doesn't mean they reach the level of The Joshua Tree, but they were welcomes albums for U2 fans and showed they can't still write great songs. Not everything works for sure...and I would say that U2's 80's and 90's time period was peak, but this is true of almost every band. And how many bands can remain popular, relevant and putting out quality music for 40 years? Not many. It's easy to hate U2 because they're THAT big. And Bono is earnest - which makes him an easy target. I think it's lazy. 4. Smaller nitpick. There was some criticism of the sequencing of The Josha Tree. U2 didn't front load the album. Those happen to be the singles, but when the entire album is one great song after another it can't be front loaded. I would argue that One Tree Hill and Running to Stand Still and Where the Streets...are the best 3 songs. Also, side one ends - if I remember my cassette tape with Running to Stand Still - a great side 1 closer and picks back up with Red Hill Mining Town...before closing with the very underrated Mothers of the Disappeared. The sequencing is perfect- as is the album. 5. Regarding the early stuff...Any criticism needs to be balanced with the fact that they weren't even 20 when Boy was released. It's remarkable debut for a band that young. But what's most impressive is the growth in 4 years from Boy to The Unforgettable Fire. And you can see the progression with each album. U2's progression over their first decade - from Boy to Achtung Baby rivals the greatest artists of all time (Dylan, The Beatles, The Stones etc...). 6. When all else fails - just watch this....ua-cam.com/video/F3e2f4bzumY/v-deo.html
Myself and a co-worker were talking about The Edge the other day, he is not a fan, I really love the stuff he has done. I remember hearing BB King say that the best Guitarists get more sound from touching the instrument less. To me this sums up what I like about The Edge. He gets a great soundscape that convey emotion and drama from the use of effect pedals. My co worker does not like him because "It sounds harder then what it actually is to play and he hides behind pedals" to quote him. Taste is taste and no one and no thing get universal love or hate. For my taste from Unforgettable Fire to Achtung Baby U2 was pure magic, rank those albums what ever order you want.
The Edge "hides behind pedals" like Jimi Hendrix hid behind distortion. Technically, there are thousands of guitarists better than The Edge. Musically, he has a legacy which few will attain.
Totally with Kram on Achtung Baby . That was/is a phenomenal album and is clearly their most musically adventurous and best record. Don't know about "guitar tones" or there being " too much Bono"(?) ( he's the friggin singer ..what do you want him to do?.. disappear off the mix? lol)...all I know is that album has always sounded magnificent to my ears. always will.
@@TastesLikeMusic , my sister (who is 4 years older than me) is the one who got me into U2 in the mid 80s. And her feelings on Actung Baby are the same as you and Jason…..
Hi, I'm back for the ranking, it's not so easy, i bought my first U2 album when i was 19, it was "The Unforgettable Fire", almost nobody in Genoa Italy had "War" or previous albums, we all discovered them with "Pride in the name of love", i then bought War, October and Boy. I stopped buying U2 albums after "Pop" My ranking right now would be as follows.... 1) Joshua Tree 2) The Unforgettable Fire ( A sort of homecoming is worth the album price) 3) War 4) Boy 5) October 6) Achtung Baby ( it was higher in the past) 7) All that you can't leave behind ( as a matter of fact it's the only one i bought after Pop) 8) Rattle and Hum 9) Pop 10) Zooropa
U2 - The Good , The Bad & The Ugly - # 1 October # 2 Boy # 3 The Joshua Tree # 4 The Unforgettable Fire # 5 Achtung Baby # 6 War # 7 All That You Can Leave Behind # 8 Zooropa # 9 Rattle & Hum # 10 Pop # 11 No Line On The Horizon # 12 How To Dismantle.. # 13 Innocence # 14 Experience - U2 had a great start with their youthful energy & definitely excellent Production By Martin Hannet & especially Steve Lillywhite. Things started to unravel with War & they have had moments of brilliance but much pretense from 83 on.
Glad you guys finally got to U2. Uncool to say, but they have always been one of my favorite bands. I first got into them in the early 80s, around War. It is hard to explain if you weren't there, but in the 80s and if you were a U2 fan, they really, really mattered. Mattered in a way that music just doesn't resonate with people these days. I sound old, but it's the truth. I saw them in 1987 on the Joshua Tree tour, and that concert just felt so huge and different. It wasn't just a show, it was an experience. A life event. (Springsteen at a massive stadium show on the Born in the USA tour in 1985...same). That being said, I don't love it all. U2's discography is fun to do because it runs the gamut from 1 star turds to 5 star masterpieces, and all points in between. Their b-sides. They have so many brilliant b-sides. The Deluxe editions of their albums they've put out (they've released all through Achtung Baby in Deluxe editions) are masterfully done, each with a second disc of b-sides and remixes that are essential for fans. Be interested to see tomorrow if any b-sides show up on your song lists. Hell, Joshua Tree Era had so many quality b-sides, that could have been a double album. I've sequenced a double for fun, it sounds awesome. Fun fact: "Elvis Presley in America" is the drum track of "Sort of Homecoming" slowed down and backwards. Eno did that and then told Bono to improvise some lyrics on the spot. Also, on the bonus disc of that album is a version of "Sort of Homecoming" with Peter Gabriel on backing vocals. My ratings: 14. Songs of Innocence (1 star). Garbage. 13. Songs of Experience (2 stars). 12. No Line on the Horizon (3 stars). Could have been great, but they chickened out and hedged their bets. 11. All That You Can't Leave Behind (3 stars). Half great. 10. ...Atomic Bomb. (3 stars). 9. Rattle and Hum. (3 stars). Left some better tracks in the film that should have been on the album. 8. Pop. (3.5 stars). Underrated. Unfinished. "Gone" is awesome. The last time they were actually trying to do something different. Listen to the remixes, they are better. 7. October (4 stars). Underrated. 6. Boy. (4 stars) 5. Achtung Baby (5 stars) About as successful a reinvention as anyone in rock history 4. Zooropa (5 stars) I enjoy this more than Achtung for some reason 3. War (5 stars). The culmination of that first period. Perfect. 2. The Unforgettable Fire (5 stars). Atmospheric like no other album I've heard, although the live version of "Bad" on the Wide Awake in America EP is much better. 1. The Joshua Tree (5 stars). Perfect record. Never heard a better produced record. Side One is the most perfect side of vinyl I've ever heard.
A teen of the 80's here and U2 was definitely a huge part of that. Was aware of War thru MTV's playing of Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Year's Day videos, became a bigger fan with Unforgettable Fire, but it was really the spring of my senior year in HS when Joshua Tree was released that I was all in. Have been a fan ever since, even though I feel like they stopped growing as a band with ATYCLB (which I still really like). And yes, Bono can be insufferable at times, but it's never really bothered me. But I do wish the lyrics had been better on a few songs that deserved it - Miracle Drug, Unknown Caller, etc. Anyways, they no longer have the impact on me they once did, but here's my album ranking: 14. No Line On The Horizon (2.5 Stars) - Just feels a bit too long and tedious. Not interesting enough to hold my attention for too long. 13. Songs of Innocence (2.5 Stars) - A few nice poppy tunes, but maybe too much of a sheen on it. The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) is just bad. 12. Songs of Experience (3 Stars) - To me, this one is a little looser than SOI and maybe closer to the mark on what they were going for. I actually like Red Flag Day, sounds like War era U2. 11. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (3 Stars) - Some good singles here, but lyrics are weird, it all feels very calculated and almost an inferior version of ATYCLB. 10. All That You Can't Leave Behind (3.5 Stars) - U2's "return to form" after the supposed lost 90's experimentation. Front-loaded for sure. Safe, but man did it go down so easy when it came out. 9. Zooropa (3.5 Stars) - Not for everyone. It's as if they said, you think Achtung Baby is weird, wait til you hear this! The production is very dry, it sounds dated in many ways. But I still really like it. 8. Rattle & Hum (3.5 Stars) - Most of the studio tracks are great. Some of the live stuff is terrific. Does it work as a cohesive album? Kinda? 7. Pop (3.5 Stars) - The last time they really tried to make a statement with their sound. It flopped. By their standards. 25 years later it's actually one of my favorites. 6. Boy (4 Stars) - When I was finally all-in w/ Joshua Tree, I had to hit the back catalogue! And what a gem this was to "discover"! They would never sound less youthful or self-aware again. 5. October (4 Stars) - I'm aware that Boy is probably the superior album, but for some reason have always liked this one better. Maybe because it's messier? The piano? The 2nd half of Tomorrow? 4. War (4.5 Stars) - This album is great. The military drive of the drums. The defiance. The concert from Red Rocks. It's all of a time and it's damn near perfect. 3. The Unforgettable Fire (4.5 Stars) - The first 4 tracks are unassailable. Bad is so great. So much mood on this album. It does tail off towards the end which is why it's 4.5 for me. 2. Achtung Baby (5 Stars) - From the opening wails of Edge's guitar to Larry's distorted drum bursts on Zoo Station, it was obvious that 80's U2 was dead. And they were dancing on their own graves. 1. The Joshua Tree (5 Stars) - This was the album that put me all in on U2. It's perfect. And sometimes you just can't argue with your 17 year old self about such matters.
Achtung Baby - 5 stars The Joshua Tree - 5 stars How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - 4.5 stars All That You Can’t Leave Behind - 4.5 stars Rattle and Hum - 4 stars Pop - 4 stars Zooropa - 4 stars No Line on the Horizon - 4 stars Unforgettable Fire - 4 stars Songs of Innocence - 3.5 stars War - 3.5 stars Boy - 3 stars Songs of Experience - 3 stars October - 2 stars
I am familiar with most of their Discography but for the purposes of this exercise I am going to rank just the 10 albums that I own. 1. The Joshua Tree 2. Achtung Baby ( These top 2 are in my All Time Top 100 Albums) 3. War 4. All that you can't leave behind 5. Pop 6. Songs of Innocence 7. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 8. Zooropa 9. No Line on the Horizon 10. Songs of Experience U2 have certainly impressed me over the last 40 plus years. Impressive both for their music and their staying power.
Excellent job as always my dudes! As a U2 freak, I did hear som things that disappointed me a bit more than usual but it's all good cuz you guys knocked it out of the park and Jason made my night rating The Unforgettable Fire 4 stars. Peace!
I was really struck by Kram’s comment that “If we had been 20 when ‘Boy’ came out, we would have lost our minds!” That was me! I was 20 when ‘Boy’ came out, and I was super impressed. A friend recommended I check out this new “English” band, and wrote down the name: You Too. Loved it, loved ‘I Will Follow’. Much less impressed with ‘October’, super excited again with ‘War’, loved ‘The Unforgettable Fire’, and then the whole world turned on to ‘The Joshua Tree’. For several years there, U2 was everywhere, and I liked them for their post-Talking Heads, pre-Smiths vibe. Enjoyed ‘Achtung’ and ‘Zooropa’ (especially the tour), but ‘Pop’ and (especially) the Pop Mart tour, which I saw at the SkyDome in Toronto, was a disappointment. ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’ had some great songs, but a lot of filler. And that was that. To me, they’ve been coasting ever since, bloated, uninteresting, and they lost my interest…and carry a lot of self-important baggage. A once great band whose day is done. Great work on the video gentlemen, very impressive detail, analysis and consideration. Nothing left behind. Cheers, JPE
Totally concur with your comments. I think these days they are largely happy to be a great band. I think they have tended to over cook their albums in the last 15 years, trying too hard to write the perfect lyric, perfect chord progression and it ends up being a dreadful pastiche. They should just get in the studio for 2 weeks and jam write some stuff which is just raw, creative and in the moment.
This was an interesting exercise. After years of listening to these albums, I've found I've grown tired of some, some have grown on me, and some are just as as great as they ever were. 1. The Joshua Tree 2. War 3. The Unforgettable Fire 4. Boy 5. Achtung Baby 6. All That You Can't Leave Behind 7. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 8. No Line on the Horizon 9. October 10. Pop 11. Zooropa 12. Rattle and Hum 13. Songs of Innocence 14. Songs of Experience
1) The Joshua Tree - 5* 2) Achtung Baby - 5* 3) War - 4.5* 4) October - 4* 5) All That You Can't Leave Behind - 4* 6) Boy - 4* 7) The Unforgettable Fire - 4* 8) Zooropa - 4* 9) Rattle and Hum - 3.5* 10) No Line on the Horizon - 3.5* 11) Pop - 3.5* 12) Songs of Experience - 3* 13) How do Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - 3* 14) Songs of Innocence - 3*
my ranking: 1. Achtung Baby! 2. The Joshua Tree . . . . . 3. War 4. Zooropa 5. Rattle & Hum 6. The Unforgettable Fire 7. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 8. Songs of Innocence 9. All That You Can't Leave Behind 10. Boy 11. Pop! 12. No Line on the Horizon 13. Songs of Experience 14. October
Three great choices as No. 1 gentlemen! My personal top three albums. I think the newer material has a little more merit than you gave it credit for but I prefer the 1980-1990 era as well.
Only 2/3 through but…Man I fkg LOVE this listography. You guys are awesome. You each provide such a great balance of views. Love how Jason appears to have done his research even though he didn’t really like U2. And Kramz so honest, and Joe just being Joe, fkg love it. More comments coming later boys… Nice nice work guys 👌
I have been a big fan of the band U2 for 25 years. I still am. Let's be honest. Everyone has their own ranking and there is absolutely no point in discussing it because it is a matter of taste and flavour. An example of this is my ranking, which hasn't changed for years: 1. Songs Of Innocence 2. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb 3. Achtung Baby 4. Joshua Tree 5. Pop 6. Song Of Experience 7. Rattle And Hum 8. No Line On The Horizon 9. All That You Can't Leave Behind 10. Boy 11. Zooropa 12. Unforgettable Fire 13. War 14. October 15. (Songs of surrender) Here I ranked albums as a whole and not individual songs because, for example, I think that songs such as "Pride" or "New year's day" from the albums "Unforgettable fire" and "The war" are mega-brilliant, but the albums on which they are, are actually good but not among U2's best albums for me. Is there any point in discussing this? Of course not! Because this is just my individual Taste. And everyone has their own individual taste. That's why, in my opinion, rankings of all kinds make no sense at all and only make me smile when I see "experts" making statements about their own individual taste. Often they are not even well prepared and people then have to watch it. But I am not referring to this review but in general! This Review is even ok and they seem to be prepared (sufficiently), still expressing their own taste. When I see 70.000 people at a concert, for me this is a more reliable Review (but also not quite and not always because a band can be original and not create music for the masses). But of course, anyone can record their own review on UA-cam and share it. There is nothing wrong with that. Quite the contrary. Just remember that everyone has their own review and ranking.
U2 have realised wonderful albums bar a couple in the 2000’s.. Still a GREAT band and will never forget when Joshua Tree was released.. Super sound & as with Unforgettable fire - brilliant music full of emotion..
Great video. I love hearing other fans' and non-fans' thoughtful opinions on U2's discography... I obviously tended to agree with Kramzer's take on most of it but I also found myself agreeing with some of the other guy's thoughts as well. It's interesting to me how much U2's first two albums have really grown in recognition the further away from them we get. I think Boy was always thought of as a good album, but it's thought of even more highly these days than it used to be, I feel. Deservedly so. Also have to add that I have what evidently appears to be a somewhat unique opinion in that I think No Line on the Horizon is better than what most people think. Aside from about 3 clunkers in the middle, I think the album is fantastic. No Line, Magnificent, Moment of Surrender - wow, talk about a almost perfect 3 song album opening.
Agreed. The first three songs of NLOTH are underrated---not due to their own merit but because of the album they arrived on & the older age of the band.
The Joshua Tree (1987) All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000) Achtung Baby (1991) War (1983) How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (2004) The Unforgettable Fire (1984) Songs of Experience (2017) Songs of Innocence (2014) Rattle and Hum (1988) Pop (1997) No Line On The Horizon (2009) Boy (1980) Zooropa (1993) October (1981) i like a lot of the new stuff!
My favorite U2 songs were both on the 45 between October & War - Celebration was the A-Side & Trash Trampoline & The Party Girl was the B-Side. The B-Side remains a live staple today & The A-Side only finally appeared on a Deluxe version of October in 2008 in the 🇺🇸.
I consider myself a pretty serious U2 fan. I've been listening to them since the age of fourteen and, they're still one of my favorite bands. I stopped listening to and buying their albums after No Line On The Horizon. I'll rank all their others up to that point. The two of you who didn't put Achtung Baby in your top five, you're down right nuts! And All You Can't Leave Behind, sucks! Having said that, here's my list from best to worst: 1. Achtung Baby 2. Joshua Tree 3. Unforgettable Fire 4. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb 5. Zooropa 6. War 7. Pop 8. Rattle and Hum 9. Boy 10. October 11. All You Can't Leave Behind 12. No Line On The Horizon
Good discussion guys, as always. Thanks for taking U2 on. I'm more with Kramzer on this video, but l give you credit for always generating some nods, "amen brothers", and some expletives. ;) I think Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, War and Unforgettable Fire are 5-star masterpieces (Boy and All That You Can't Leave Behind are near-great 4.5's IMHO), but I bought all the music and remember loving songs from nearly every release (including the last one). Don't disagree with the collective analysis on those lesser releases. But what I've never understood with U2 critics are the terms like "overly ambitious", "too grandiose", "trying to save the world", etc... Like those are bad things. You know, the "Bono thing". I experienced their career in real time and from my first listen to Boy in high school to the college years of War, Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree to my "minivan" years (actually, it was a station wagon), when I listened, I got the "ambition", but in the sense they were striving to push themselves and their music as well as reflect on those times. I witnessed four kids from the streets of Ireland who spent a few decades of their lives trying to make a difference with their music. When videos like New Year's Day came on MTV in the early 80s, you knew they were a different animal. A little more grown up, mature and intelligent. Serious about what they did. I have always liked that about them and rather than deride their tendencies to be spokesmen, I applaud their "give a crap" factor. If Bono can speak to world leaders to get them to act on injustices, more power to him. From the beginning to the recent Bono/Edge video of "Walk On Ukraine", I think they've wanted to be heard and affect change, or at least call attention to some of what is allowed to go on in this world. What better given the chance they had? If it creates eye rolls, then whatever. They've helped create awareness too. And resources for good causes and people in need. And some pretty affecting music along the way. Job well done, I say. And Jason, remember, minivan drivers have angst too. BTW: I'm happy to see some more people are getting the clue bird and subscribing to you. You guys deserve about ten times the viewers you have based on what I see getting followed on UA-cam.
Great comment. Really enjoyed reading that. I agree that (in chrono order) War, Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree, & Achtung Baby are 5-star masterpieces. I love U2 best when *live* (seen them many times), so I'd add Under a Blood Red Sky live album to that. All these nearly back-to-back is one the best stretches of consecutive albums by a band in music history. Cheers.
Strange vibes on War; it's amazing. Initially the main hits grab you but the remainder songs are incredible;Surrender, Like a Song, Drowning man, "40". Mindblowingly awesome.
My ranking (not that anyone cares): 1) Achtung Baby - great listen from beginning to end, from joy to melancholy and everything in between. The band really tried to take a quantum leap forward. Their absolute peak. 2) Joshua Tree - Epic tunes, although the albums slows down a bit on side two. Side one, though, is better than most bands' entire catalog. Speed round, 'cause I'm at work and I'm busy and no one cares, lol: 3) Unforgettable Fire 4) All that you can leave behind (great return to form, albeit rather safe) 5) War 6) Pop/zooropa (both underrated, but not ranked higher cause they take on too much water) 7) October/Boy (rather similar) 8) Atomic Bomb (not bad, but a bit directionless) 9) Songs of innocence/Experience (a few good tunes on each, but nothing groundbreaking or meaningful, compared to earlier works; running on vapors) 10) No Line on the Horizon (terrible record, aside from a song here or there).
Good show! I wouldn't call myself a huge U2 fan at all, but when I hear you mention the various standout tracks of the albums, I am amazed how many good songs they have actually written.
Geez Jason i never noticed the glockenspiel THAT much on I Will Follow, until now ........ also I've noticed you guys say Glockenspiel more on this channel than I've ever heard in my life hahahaha - always pointing that instrument out
Kramzer.... bro I am shocked with your ATYCLB review.... I will agree there are maybe 3 duds on the album, but not HALF! "In A Little While" is AMAZING, classic songwriting and Bono's voice is amazing on it. 4.5 star album :)
I seem to remember hearing U2 and Echo & the Bunnymen around the same time, hated U2 but loved the Bunnymen... 'Joshua Tree' did turn my head, it is from start to finish a very classy album, I honestly thought U2 would become a favourite band but just three albums later 'Zooropa' would see me drop them from list of must listen to bands... I do casually like selected tracks from various points of their career but they do very little to my mind and soul... In 1980 I thought the Bunnymen would be the be the biggest of the two, I was wrong but I still vastly prefer their entire discography...
U2's album, Boy is their best album then, Unforgettable Fire. Next, All You Can't Leave Behind. Achtung Baby, Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum. The one song I like but never hear live is Three Sunrises.
1. The Joshua Tree (4.5 - AOTY 1987) 2. War (4 - close to 4.5) 3. Boy (4) 4. The Unforgettable Fire (4) 5. Achtung Baby (3.5 - close to 4) 6. All That You Can’t Leave Behind (3.5) 7. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (3.5) 8. October (3.5) 9. Rattle and Hum (3 - close to 3.5) 10. No Line On the Horizon (3) 11. Pop (3) 12. Songs of Innocence (3) 13. Zooropa (2.5) 14. Songs of Experience (2)
Sorry for breaking the rules but this is how i group and rank the albums. 1. The Unforgettable Fire / Wide Awake in America 2. War/Under a Blood Red Sky 3. The Joshua Tree/Rattle and Hum 4. Boy / all the live bootlegs people gave me during this tour. 5. Achtung Baby/Zooropa 6. October ( I threw a brick !) 7. All That You can't leave behind (Dont know why but i thought this was a retirement album) / All the other albums that follow that i barely listened to. Having said that, I'm going to listen to the newer ones after watching this video.
Diehard fan since 1989 here. My ranking (I include the Passengers album): 1. Zooropa 2. Achtung Baby 3. Original Soundtracks 1 4. No Line on the Horizon 5.The Unforgettable Fire 6. The Joshua Tree 7. WAR 8. POP 9. October 10. Songs of Innocence 11. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 12. Rattle and Hum 13. All That You Can't Leave Behind 14. Boy 15. Songs of Experience
Wondering when you guys would get round to U2.... have to say fair play to Jason for listening to all their albums, and I found his opinion the most interesting to listen to. No offense to the other 2....He's spot on with bands who are in the process of changing their musical direction and the album they make before they hit fully onto the new direction is normally there best and most interesting work... For what it's worth My ranking 1. Unforgettable fire 2.. Achtung 3 Joshua 4. War 5.. Boy 6.. Zooropa 7. Rattle and Hum 8. Pop 9. October 10. Song of innocence
Really enjoyed this video.brilliant insights and comments. I got into U2 in the summer of 85 after the live aid performance and bought the unforgettable fire cassette and became a big fan I think for me the "90s period was the most interesting to me. Though I sort of lost interest as I was getting into band's like blur, Stone Roses and the britpop scene(Oxford. Uk born) in the 90s I really didn't enjoy the last 3 albums. for me a band that ran out of steam 15 years ago. My top 10 1. Achtung Baby 2. The Unforgettable Fire 3. The Joshua Tree 4. October 5. War 6. Boy 7. Zooropa 8. Pop 9. ATYCLB 10. Rattle and Hum
U2 is not one of my favorite bands, but U2 At the End of the World is one of the greatest music biographies I've ever read. It is such a great window into the band and the era it takes place in. Bill Flanagan deserves a lifetime pass for writing that 600-page book.
Loved this one guys. Like you the highs are awesome and lows filled with pretension and boredom. With Kramzer on this one. Greät episode. Love revisiting these albums as I listen to these. I hated Pop at first but it grows on you after a few listens. Probably #7 for me.👍👍👍
14. All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000) 13. Pop (1997) 12. Songs Of Innocence (2014) 11. Songs Of Experience (2017) 10. Zooropa (1993) 9. No Line On The Horizon (2009) 8. Ruttle And Hum (1988) 7. Boy (1980) 6. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (2004) 5. October (1981) 4. Achtung Baby (1991) 3. The Unforgettable Fire (1984) 2. War (1983) 1. The Joshua Tree (1987)
“Achtung Baby” is the greatest U2 record and my favorite record of the 90’s. I’ve listened to it hundreds of times. Jason and Joe are nuts. Edge plays his ass off on the album. The bass and drums are insane. C’mon Joe. “Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World” has the loudest bass ever. But I was 17 when this record came out, and you guys were babies, so I get it.
"If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all" So with that in mind. Really looking forward to The Jam Discography. That's it for U2 week.
I do remember where I was when I first heard U2. Winter of 1983, senior year in high school, heard "New Years Day" on radio station WAAL amid some songs of other new bands I had never heard of before, Zebra, Planet P and The Call. I was a fan almost immediately. Listened to Unforgettable Fire over and over in my room. Joshua Tree is a masterpiece, to this day, I try to listen to those songs only when I listen to the album as a whole. 👍 to Kramzer for his "Achtung Baby" description, to me, that is the U2 album that flows best from song to song. I stopped following U2 in the late '90s, came back for "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and then fell away again. I suppose that's typical for a U2 fan from the '80s. (Tied for 13th): Songs Of Forgiveness/Songs Of Experience 12. Pop 11. No Line On The Horizon 10. How To Build An Atomic Bomb 9. Zooropa 8. Rattle & Hum 7. October 6. All That You Can't Leave Behind 5. Boy 4. War 3. The Unforgettable Fire 2. Achtung Baby 1. The Joshua Tree
I also try to avoid radio and only listen to U2 songs in the context of their albums. After this week, I probably won't listen to them again for years... partly to preserve the magic of their first-decade albums, but also because there's no good reason for overplaying any artist when the world is filled with an endless amount of great music.
Your Ranking is very Interesting. Im a Long Time U2 Follower from the Album War, till now on. Here is my Ranking: 1. Achtung Baby 2. The Joshua Tree 3. The Unforgetable Fire 4. All THat You Cant`t Leave Behind 5. No Line On THe Horizon 6. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb 7. Zooropa 8.Rattle and Hum 9. Pop 10. War. 11 Boy 12.October 13 Songs Of Innocence 14. Songs Of Expierience
Hello - nice video. I bought "boy" in 1981 after seeing a pub band perform "I will follow". "October" and "war" followed, and they were one of my favourite bands. Loved "Gloria" and also the non album single after that "A celebration". They had a sort of melodic optimism coupled with punk angst. Narrowly missed seeing them live in 84 (Where they previewed the upcoming "pride"). "Two hearts beat as one" was a huge single in my native New Zealand. I wasnt so impressed with "the unforgettable fire"; although there was a nice video doco to go with it. - but loved the title track. "The three sunrises" was a good single in 1986, but I fell off them a bit after that. Liked "God part II" from Rattle and Hum. But then, 1991 was all about "the fly" and "Actung Baby" - what a fantastic deep album. Loved "zoo station" and "until the end of the world". Also loved the ZOO TV tour video produced by Godley and Creme - so original. Zooropa was OK, then later POP OK but not so good (Great tour video though). Loved "All that you can't leave behind" especially "Kite". Tried really hard to like the next 2 albums but just want the same - but unlike you all, loved "Get on your boots". Tried really hard to like the next 2 also, one of which I got for Christmas, but after a few plays, never played again. Saw them live in Brussels in 17, "Joshua tree tour" - was a good video show, "Exit" being the highlight. My ranking bottom to top: 14 Songs of innocence (hate "California") 13 songs of experience (Like "your the best thing") 12 No line on horizon 11 Atomic bomb (like "crumbs from table) 10 Rattle and hum 9 Pop (like "mofo") 8 Zooropa (like "crashed car") 7 Unforgettable fire 6 Joshua tree ("exit" "one tree hill" - about NZ) 5 All that you can't leave behind ("elevation", "Kite", "New York") 4 October ("tomorrow", "October") 3 War ("like a song", "drowning man") 2 Boy 1 Actung Baby
I can’t help but listen to Joshua Tree fortnightly. It’s a perfect moment in their repertoire. So, I much rate it #1 on my list. Followed by War. Then it’s The Unforgettable Fire, Achtung Baby and Boy. So many amazing songs just in these five albums. What amazing artists.
1. The Unforgettable Fire 2. The Joshua Tree 3. Achtung Baby 4. Boy 5. War 6. October 7. Rattle And Hum 8. Zooropa 9. Pop 10. How To Dismantle….. 11. All that you can’t…. 12. No Line….. …..then they lose me…..
I always liked the U2 songs I knew, but not that much that I felt the need to dig deeper into their catalogue. Now that I’ve done that, I’d say they’re way better than I thought. Not So Good Albums (2 Stars): 14. Songs of Experience 13. Songs of Innocence 12. Rattle and Hum Good Albums (3 Stars): 11. Zooropa 10. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 9. Boy Really Good Albums (4 Stars): 8. October 7. Pop 6. All That You Can’t Leave Behind 5. War 4. No Line on the Horizon 3. The Unforgettable Fire Amazing Albums (5 Stars): 2. The Joshua Tree 1. Achtung Baby For me, their best album is ‘Achtung Baby’ followed by ‘The Joshua Tree’. Both albums are very good, ‘Achtung Baby’ is stronger as a unit, while ‘The Joshua Tree’ contains their best songs.
Glad you liked them. I think they made some pretty special music, for their era at least. Trust me when I say Boy will grow on you with repeated listens. I came very close to giving it 5 stars, but I couldn't quite pull the trigger.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 I will definitely keep listening to them so it could happen that 'Boy' grows on me. It was really surprising to me how good their material is, even after their prime (1987-1991).
Like Jason there are definitely bands I've written off and it would take special circumstances for me to listen to them unbiasedly. Some examples: Counting Crows, RHCP, Janes Addiction, KISS and Paul McCartney post 1990
1. Unforgettable Fire 4.5 2. War 4.5 3. Boy 4.0 4. Joshua Tree 4.0 5. Achtung Baby 4.0 6. No Line on the Horizon 3.5 7. Zooropa 3.5 8. Pop 3.25 9. Songs of Innocence 3.25 10. October 3.25 11. How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb 3.0 12. All That You Can't Leave Behind 3.0 13. Songs of Experience 3.0 14. Rattle and Hum 3.0 I have a somewhat complicated relationship with U2. I first discovered them in 1983 with War. I immediately loved them. Besides the songwriting, the affinity I felt for them was due in large part because they are the same age is me. I was 22 when War came out, and I thought it was perfect at the time. I marveled that four guys my age could produce something so resonant with my political views, and the sound was so fresh and urgent. By the nineties, however, I was already out on them. Their 90s material just didn't mean anything to me at all. When did the fallout occur? I think it started with The Unforgettable Fire. That's right, my favorite album of theirs was when I started to break from them. Why? I think it was the change in direction. The better production, better playing, and better sound overall somehow felt like less of a moment of growth and more of an abandonment of what I loved about them. But unlike other bands that fell out of favor with me in one fell swoop, my distancing from U2 was so gradual that I did not even notice it happening until the process was complete. That being said, I was surprised this week to find that I did not hate their 2000s stuff. It was not unlistenable. Nothing stands out, but nothing is all that bad, either. Still, 80s U2 is my sweet spot.
There is a lot of similarity between your relationship with that band and my own. Including that being of same age as the band and that slow fading out of interest. Rod Stewart called it Atlantic Crossing back then when he became the international super star.
![MANTRA - CELESTIAL - FALL I, II & III [OFFICIAL AUDIO]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_4XmJsJHAjI/mqdefault.jpg)
Jason is correct that Unforgettable Fire is U2's best album. Also, Joe is correct that The Joshua Tree is U2's best album. Furthernore, Kramz is correct that Achtung Baby is their best album. Fantastic job by all three of you. Everybody nailed it.
Yup.
Agree with Jason. It's a masterpiece.
Oh no, your video spoiler is definitely the best... 🙄
Agree.
Those are three great albums building on a few good ones before. It’s easy to forget that they were once really good and leading edge. Bands like that should quit on top.
"Sounds like Coldplay." a band who have based their entire career on U2s foundations.
The run from 83-91, War, Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum, and Achtung is one of greatest runs in rock history, Joshua Tree stands on top for me the rest of that group close behind. All that You Can't Leave Behind to me was closest they ever came to that peak era since early 90's.
It was a bit sad that when Leave Behind came out it felt like for rock music that was somehow about the best that could be done. It was not very good in the grand scheme of things. I kind of gave up on rock. I think Take Off Your Pants And Jacket was the last rock album I bought.....20 years ago?
When buying War as a kid in 1983, it was so exciting buying the earlier ones.Similar to other bands finding their momentum i.e Echo And The Bunnymen.Seeing them live etc...and THEN U2 release Unforgettable Fire and Bunnymen do Ocean Rain.
Phenomenal time.
U2 have been crap since after Achtung Baby, one of their peaks.
I REALLY enjoyed this episode guys. I was an enormous U2 fan thru the 80's and 90's. I've always understood the things that people don't like about them, but man they made some great albums back in the day. All 3 of you did a great job expressing what you liked and didn't like. I'm so glad Jason got to 4 stars on The Unforgettable Fire. Great job guys. Each of your top 3 albums are my top 3. 1. Achtung Baby 2. The Joshua Tree 3. The Unforgettable Fire. You kept me up until 3AM watching. Lol
numb and lemon are really good cuts. Always had a soft spot for this album
the fly is an amazing track with an amazing falsetto and an amazing guitar solo
My Ranking:
1. Achtung Baby (10/10)
2. The Joshua Tree (10/10)
3. The Unforgettable Fire (10/10)
4. War (9'5/10)
5. Boy (9/10)
6. Zooropa (8'5/10)
7. Rattle And Hum (8/10)
8. Pop (8/10)
9. October (8/10)
10. No Line On The Horizon (7'5/10)
11. All That You Can't Leave Behind (7'5/10)
12. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (7/10)
13. Songs of Innocence (5/10)
14. Songs of Experience (4/10)
Greetings from Canary Islands
The thing I like about your channel is how much it makes me go back and listen to this stuff too. And even when I disagree or think one of you is wrong, I can usually still kind of see where you're coming from (well-argued points) and it feels genuine.
So glad to see the boys cover U2, my top band. My sister introduced me to them in the Band-Aid days, and subsequently Joshua Tree was the first album I owned at age 12 in ‘87. Was a huge fan in my high school years, which lessened a bit after Pop; though I did enjoy that live show. Their Sirius XM Station is one of the major reasons I keep that service
(Along with Beatles, Pearl Jam, Spectrum, New Wave and Sports stations).
I am in Kramzer’s camp here.
It is nice to see the other opinions.
U2 Albums:
1. War, 5 Stars. This is a complete album, top to bottom. 10 songs, 40 minute run time. Uniting theme. Rugged and emotional. ‘Drowning Man’ is my favorite U2 song of all time which is why I put it at #1. Strange the song hasn’t seen live performance, perhaps to difficult to pull off, unlike “40’ which is seemingly a perfect concert-ending song. Coupled with such great singles and deep tunes like ‘Seconds’ and ‘Like a Song’, this is a remarkable listen for so many rock fans. Even the weird ‘Red Light’ makes a statement here. This was my Album of the Year for 1983.
2. Actung Baby, 5 Stars. This is their magnum opus. I use this album as the ‘best’ U2 album-I just find War as more of a favorite listen. Great songs from top to bottom, I really don’t have any issue with this one. There are also great B-sides that came out during this time. This was my album of the year in the very loaded, and legendary, 1991.
3. The Joshua Tree, 5 Stars. If you ask me what I think is the most quintessential U2 album: Joshua Tree is how I’d answer. I have no problem with Joe putting this at #1. This is a grand album that launched them into super stardom. Plenty of great songs here that have passed into ‘Classic Rock’-realm now that it has been out for over 30 years. ‘Where the Streets’, ‘I Still Haven’t Found’ and ‘With or Without You’ are still very viable for radio play, while deep cuts like ‘One Tree Hill’ ‘Exit’ and ‘Running to Stand Still’ still pass the test of time. An all-timer. My Album of the Year for 1987.
4. October, 5 Stars. What this album lacks in lyrics and polished form, I think it more than makes up for with emotion and nostalgia. ‘Tomorrow’ is one of my all time favorite songs (not just by U2 but any artist). This is not critically acclaimed, and there is still quite a bit of rawness here, but I find it an authentic struggle and hots home for me. This is why I give it 5 stars and while I rank it ahead of more polished, sharper musicianship, records. People won’t like the allegories here, but I like them. My Album of the year for 1981.
5. The Unforgettable Fire, 5 Stars. There are great and legendary tracks on here. It doesn’t quite hold up to my favorite spots above, as I don’t find it quite applies as personally to me as the above albums, or I find that it lacks some of the diversity that the above have in the song listings. But it is still easily 5 stars for me, and as such I have no problem with Jason putting it as #1. Glad he found something he liked-I hope he comes back to it while also adding ‘Wide Awake in America’. I do agree with Jason that the back half suffers a bit, but ‘Bad’ and the first half of the album are enough to get it to 5 stars. TUF was my Album of the Year candidate in 1984.
6. Boy, 4.5 Stars. What an awesome debut. It plays like a ‘best of our first 3 years’ album with some solid, relatively raw, tracks. The musicianship is not up to par with later stuff, keeping this from being 5 stars, but the energy is palpable. A great listen and was in my top-5 for 1980.
7. All That You Can’t Leave Behind, 4.5 Stars. Perhaps I overrate this one a bit. It was in my top-5 for 2000, behind Coldplay and Radiohead. But after a string of disappointments, I felt U2 brought some fan service with this one. ‘Beautiful Day’ is a great lead single and ‘Kite’, ‘In a Little While’ and ‘Wild Honey’ are fantastic deep cuts for ‘later’ U2. This has dropped a bit for me, but I still hold that the halftime SuperBowl of 2001 was well done. This is an uplifting album, and I can appreciate that. I stop well short of this album being 5 stars because there’s still quite a bit of pretentiousness there, but it’s less than their previous 2 albums.
8. Rattle & Hum, 4.5 Stars. If you would have asked me in 1990, I would have said R&H was my favorite U2 album. So it has dipped over the years. I do realize, this is not their niche. However, unlike Jason I don’t see it as much as ‘pretentious inauthenticity’ as much as an experimental homage. Excluding the live songs and covers, you still have some pretty interesting and often times rocking tracks. ‘Desire’, ‘All I Want is You’ and ‘Hawkmoon’ are awesome songs. This was in my Top 5 for 1988. This falls a bit due to not being a true studio album, and there is a bit of incompleteness here.
9. Zooropa, 4 Stars. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this album. On the one hand, I appreciate its experimental nature. On the other, it feels incomplete. ‘Zooropa’, ‘The First Time’ and ‘Lemon’ are all great. ‘Babyface’, however, is awful. ‘The Wanderer’ feels like it should have been on one of Johnny Cash’s America albums. There are B-sides from Actung Baby (Alex Decends into Hell for a Bottle of Milk/Korova 1, for example) that they could have held onto and put on Zooropa, replacing a few aforementioned songs. Bottom line: this album is a fun listen, but with skippable tracks. It still made my Top-5 for 1993, but that’s probably my ‘U2 Rose colored glasses’ speaking as much as anything else. Still holds lots of nostalgia.
10. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, 4 Stars. This is a good rocking album, with a lot of nice song writing here. I think ‘Vertigo’ is a solid rocker-even with the weird numbering scheme. ‘All Because of You’, ‘Man and a Woman’ and ‘Sometimes You Can’t Make it On Your Own’ are nice tunes. In my top-5 for 2004.
11. No Line on the Horizon, 3.5 Stars. Aside from ‘Boots’, I think this is a pretty good album. My wife got me the CD for my birthday and I had it playing pretty non-stop in my car as I drove cross-country for some work training over the course of a month. I found ‘Magnificent’ to be one of their best songs since Actung Baby, and I think ‘White as Snow’ is a nice deep cut. I wish they’d explore more of the folksy stuff like that. However, it does suffer from ‘sameness’ of their previous two recordings. Had they included “Every Breaking Wave” and “Winter” and excluded ‘Stand Up’ and ‘Boots’, this would have been in my top-8. Alas, Honorable mention for 2009.
12. Pop, 3 Stars. I was massively disappointed with this album when it came out. While I was a little let down by Zooropa, I saw that albums as offshoots from their ambitious ZooTV tour and an experimental album. I expected more from Pop, and it did not deliver. That said, I still went and saw their opening PopMart show in Vegas, and although flawed, I really enjoyed the concert. This album has grown on me a little since 1997 and I can now appreciate a few songs like ‘Velvet Dress’ and ‘Please’, but I have no idea what Woody Harrelson is thinking lauding this album so much.
13. Songs of Innocence, 3 Stars. The musicianship here I think is quite solid, some great instrument playing. And the lyrics are more personal here. I think Joe made a lot of great points on this one, probably gets more hate from U2 fans than it deserves. But ultimately many of the songs are just not hitting for me, and there’s no nostalgia to reel me in. ‘Every Breaking Wave’ and ‘California’ are quite decent, and I dont mind that the album was free (but my wife hated that they ‘intruded’ on her iTunes. Lastly, and this drops the record down a half-star for me, it has the WORST ALBUM COVERS of all time.
14. Songs of Experience, 2 Stars. The only U2 album I’ve never owned, and the only one I dont consider at least ‘good’. It’s a poor album. But while I don’t find myself ever really wanting to listen to this one, I do think ‘Summer of Love’ is actually a fun song with a nice guitar riff.
Members:
Bono: Great lead man. Decent lyricist, but I think is better at creating melodies. His live energy was a draw in his youth, but lately has made him into a bit of a pariah with many fans.
The Edge: An All-time great guitarist. Can craft soundscapes like an artistic engineer. While he doesn’t shred, his solos always seem appropriate and he has created many memorable riffs.
Adam Clayton: The early glue the band needed. He is a true professional. I enjoy his interviews, seems like a nice dude.
Larry Mullen Jr: The founder. I think he does a great job, and his work on their early albums was a major factor in their driving sound.
Bottom Line: U2 has provided us with an extensive discography to enjoy. I appreciate their longevity and in staying together. Rock and Roll is a young man’s sport and U2 are now too old and rich for any real consequence. I don’t expect anything ‘new’ coming out to blow me away. But they had as good of a run as just about anybody, save the Beatles, and I for one am grateful for the music they provided.
1 War
2 Achtung Baby
3 Joshua Tree
4 Unforgettable Fire
5 Rattle and Hum
6 Zooropa
7 All You Can't Leave Behind
8 Boy
9 October
10 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
11 Pop
12 No Line On The Horizon
13 Songs Of Innocence
14 Songs Of Experience
Looking forward to this tomorrow after 5 long 12-hour night shifts! 😎
Anyway, U2 was the first band I seriously got into. In 1985 at age 11 it started with the singles The Unforgettable Fire and Sunday Bloody Sunday and Under A Blood Red Sky on a tape I completely wore out and soon after The Unforgettable Fire was the first album I bought by myself and I went back into the catalogue and snapped up every new release afterwards.
Not every album is top-to-bottom stellar, but they always have something to recommend them. The critical pasting they always seem to get for some reason is totally undeserved.
As for rating the albums most of them are on an equal footing for me, but Rattle And Hum is the clear standout.
It has everything everyone loves about them and everything everyone hates about them.
The ultimate U2 album and an awesome listen from back to back.
No pitchfork Jason just a shake of the head and a sigh of sadness. "One " to me is just so fantastic, still loved 30 years after first hearing it. Hairs on the back of the neck time.
I don’t think any of them like it that much. Even Kram said it was his least favorite on the album before
It’s okay
"One" is to U2 as "Everybody Hurts" is to R.E.M. Both use worn out and overly simple chord progressions, yet both have strong vocal performances. But for me, the vocals don't outweigh the lack of musical energy I usually like.
Yeah. I had to step away from it for a while. But it's grown on me now to the point that it's one of my all-time favs. ONE's lyrics are standout & Bono knocks it out the park vocally.
@@shoogerkane I see the comparison but I think One is a much better song. It may be kind of standard progressions but the way U2 handle it is simply masterful. The way it builds is amazing, I don’t see how it could be called boring or bad with an arrangement and performance like that. Everybody Hurts on the other hand is by far my least favorite song on Automatic, I just don’t care for “heart on my sleeve” R.E.M. as much but it’s still an okay song.
A surprisingly fun week.
1. Boy (5 stars)
2. Achtung Baby (4.5 stars)
3. The Unforgettable Fire (4.5 stars)
4. The Joshua Tree (4.5 stars)
5. October (4 stars)
6. War (4 stars)
7. Rattle and Hum (4 stars)
8. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb ("Love") (4 stars)
9. No Line on the Horizon (3.5 stars)
10. "Zooropa" (??) (3.5 stars)
11. Songs of Innocence (3 stars)
12. All That You Can't Leave Behind (3 stars)
13. Pop(p) (3 stars)
14. Songs of Experience (2 stars)
Pop is a great album
I’d probably have Boy as my favorite
Boy was a trash album. Stop it!
1. Achtung Baby
2. Joshua Tree
3. Unforgettable Fire
4. Zooropa
5. Pop
6. ATYCLB
7. No Line on the Horizon
8. Rattle and Hum
9. War
10. Boy
11. Songs of Experience
12. How to Dismantle…
13. Songs of Innocence
14. October
I started with Achtung Baby so Igravitate to the 90s U2. They were at their best when they took chances. Individually, U2’s member may not have gone as far, but together they are amazing. One of the greatest bands ever. Give their live Zoo TV DVD a watch. Awesome. I like hearing opinions of those who are not as fanatical as myself, though. Keep up the good work.
Having spent nearly 15 years heavily involved in U2 message boards, I've read every possible opinion about their discography. Still, as a faithful Listography/Tastes Likes Music viewer, I was really intrigued to see you guys discussing it.
I'm not shocked that Jason and Joe have Achtung Baby that low in their rankings, but I found funny Joe's reasoning because for me it's almost the opposite for every argument he made. For me, Lanois work (main producer of the album) is impeccable, especially with the rhythm section, and the overall album sound has aged great. Regarding Bono's lyrics (which, in general, I'm not that fond of), Achtung + Zooropa its his peak.
Speaking of Zooropa, kinda disappointed in Kramzer's ranking of it. I had the feeling he would have loved it. For me has been the constant grower, climbing a couple spots in my rankings every five years or so.
On the other hand, loved Kramzer's take on Boy and A Sort Of Homecoming. Also Jason's take on The Unforgettable Fire's side B, great stuff.
My U2 ranking nowadays would be something like this.
14 Songs Of Experience (2 Stars)
13 No Line On The Horizon (2.5)
12 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (2.5)
11 Pop (2.5)
10 Songs Of Innocence (3)
09 War (3)
08 October (3)
07 All That You Can't Leave Behind (3)
06 The Unforgettable Fire (4)
05 Rattle And Hum (4)
04 Boy (4)
03 Zooropa (4.5)
02 Achtung Baby (5)
01 The Joshua Tree (5)
I consider Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree absolute classics, masterpieces, as good as any other albums out there.
If anyone is curious, for the hardcore fans Achtung Baby is the best, by a wide margin.
Great video guys!. I appreciate the effort (specially Jason's, well documented about the recordings of the albums)
I am surprised at the number of people who are critical of Bono's lyric writing. I'm not one of them.
@@rickjensen74 I don't think he is a bad lyricist per se, but there's something about his interests and POV that I don't connect with very often.
Most of his interviews I find disappointing, being the long time fan that I am. I couldn't even finish "Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas", it was quite boring.
But again, I don't think he's stupid, of course. He's brilliant, in fact. But I prefer his musical sensibilities than the lyrical ones.
Dude can you please explain the whole u2 thing for me and how should I start listening to them
@@stephensullivan1879Easy… Top 10 albums listed above in that order!
War is my fav U2 album. Excellent, punky, guitar heavy rock'n roll. Still sounds fresh and exciting. I love all their albums from Boy to Pop which is an incredible run. I even liked The Passengers project that no one seems to remember. A frew brilliant tracks on that too. Could not care less for anything post Pop despite the band still pruducing some great individual tunes. No longer in love with U2 but I have nothing but respect. One of the greatest bands of all time.
War also has two hidden gems songs such as Like A Song and Drowning Man. Both outstanding and full of emotion, passion and energy.
All three of your choices have been my favorite U2 album at one point or another, along with War. At this point I'm gonna go with Kramzer - Achtung Baby's the one that I find myself returning to the most often, the one that still holds surprises for me and that resonates with me the most.
Zooropa was a masterpiece! Numb wasn’t Bono on lead vocal, it was Edge.
Totally agree and has aged wonderfully as has POP
zooropa was magnificent...although achtung baby is my favorite u2 album so zooropa taking it a step further will of course be to my liking...its my favorite era of the band..91 -93
But the music video for Numb is cringey as hell, please don’t subject yourselves to it!
Zooropa was an underrated album
Agree half. Zooropa is great.😌
The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby are my 5 star albums from U2. Really different, but both really epic and such huge artistic moments on their career.
Agree. I not a high U2 fan. The three albums in a row The Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum, and Achtung Baby are so varied and excellent.
Top ten for me, in order: The Joshua Tree, The Unforgettable Fire, War, Boy, Achtung Baby, Rattle & Hum, October, Pop, Zooropa, All That You Can't Leave Behind. There are pockets of decent songs on their other albums, but not enough to even think about for me. If I could only listen to these 10 albums for the rest of my life, though, I'd be happy with it.
My favorite part about music appreciation is how subjective it is. Not only is it subjective for each different person, but the same person can love or hate a band or album depending upon the time in their life that they listen to them. U2 is BY FAR my favorite band now and I used to DISLIKE them when I was younger. I personally disagreed with so much of what was said here, but it was really interesting to hear all different points of view, regardless.
My list probably changes from week to week, but for what it’s worth, here it is (and I love all these albums, even my least favorites):
14.) POP
13.) October
12.) Rattle and Hum
11.) Songs of Innocence
10.) Boy
9.) Zooropa
8.) Songs of Experience
7.) No Line on the Horizon
6.) The Unforgettable Fire
5.) WAR
4.) All That You Can’t Leave Behind
3.) How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
2.) The Joshua Tree
1.) Achtung Baby
My list :
1. The Joshua Tree
2. The Unforgettable Fire
3. Achtung Baby
4. War
5. All That You Cant Leave Behind
6. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
7. Boy
8. Rattle and Hum
9. October
10. No line on the Horizon
11. Pop
12. Zooropa
13. Songs of Innocence
14. Songs of Experience
1. Achtung Baby
2. Joshua Tree
3. Unforgettable Fire
4. Zooropa
5. War
6. Boy
7. All That You Can’t Leave Behind
8. Rattle & Hum
9. No Line On the Horizon
10. October
11. Pop
12. Atomic Bomb
13. Last two, no order
I grew up loving U2’s hits. Through further exploration in college I found their 80s stuff to be essential, but they do have a drop off in quality after Achtung Baby, but I still enjoy every album they’ve ever done. Overall, a great and unique artist.
ALBUM RANKING:
1. War (1983) - 5/5
2. The Joshua Tree (1987) - 5/5
3. Achtung Baby (1991) - 5/5
4. The Unforgettable Fire (1984) - 5/5
5. Boy (1980) - 5/5
6. October (1981) - 4.5/5
7. All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000) - 4/5
8. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004) - 4/5
9. Zooropa (1993) - 4/5
10. Rattle & Hum (1988) - 4/5
11. No Line on the Horizon (2009) - 4/5
12. Pop (1997) - 3.5/5
13. Songs of Innocence (2013) - 3.5/5
14. Songs of Experience (2017) - 3.5/5
RATING SCALE:
5.0 - Excellent (Really Love It)
4.5 - Great (Love It)
4.0 - Very Good (Really Like It)
3.5 - Good (Like It)
3.0 - Decent (Slightly Like It)
2.5 - Mediocre (Indifferent)
2.0 - Subpar (Slightly Dislike It)
1.5 - Bad (Dislike It)
1.0 - Very Bad (Really Dislike It)
0.5 - Awful (Hate It)
0.0 - Terrible (Really Hate It)
Very similar to my picks.
I've never been a huge fan of U2. I own Joshua Tree, War, Achtung Baby and the 1980-1990 hits compilation and have been pretty happy with that. I've never really considered myself a fan but I don't know that I've ever hated them. This week I gave all of their albums a listen and I would say overall my opinion of them improved. Some albums were better than I thought but I would say I've had enough U2 now for awhile. I didn't end up ranking them because I do like to listen more than once to do that and I just never got to. For one thing, there was no way I could bring myself to ever listen to Rattle and Hum again in full. If only the studio tracks had been an EP like Joe said, that would have scored really high for me.
So yeah, my favourite 2 are still Joshua Tree and War which I what I thought going into this. I'm glad I gave the discography a listen though.
honestly I agree with Jason my favourite is The Unforgettable Fire. Just a beautiful sounding album with Eno bringing in his ambient music obsession and fusing it with U2’s songwriting style. Bad is my favourite U2 song too.
Their big moment - saw it as it happened - was the Live Aid gig. You knew right there they had one more big step up to take (Joshua Tree) and they did take it. Then they did the big about face with AB which even if you didn't like it, you had to respect it. Totally set fire to their former selves. But those moments when you see the band on the upswing and knowing they're on the cusp of world domination.... that's the coolest moment. It isn't when they actually get to the top (the Black Album, Thriller, etc.).
big moment was the tour just b4 Live Aid - theater tour was outstanding
Spot on comment. I saw it as it happened, too. Their legendary Live Aid performance. People who didn’t live it in real-time can’t really appreciate now how they were just the right band coming in at the right time with the right sound. That undefinable “it” factor mixing with some invisible hand of destiny. You just *knew* they were about to somehow take over world. And they did.
My personal ranking:
14. Zooropa -Best song: Stay (Faraway so close)
13. Songs of Experience-Best song: The Blackout
12. Songs of Innocence- Best song: Cedarwood Road
11. No line on the Horizon- Best song: Breathe
10. Rattle and Hum- Best song: All I want is You
9. Pop- Best song: Last Night on Earth
8. War- Best song: New Years Day
7. October- Best song: Gloria
6. All that you can't leave behind- Best song: Elevation
5. Boy- Best song: I will Follow
4. The Unforgettable Fire- Best song: Pride (In the name of love)
3. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb- Best song: Crumbs from your Table
2. Achtung Baby- Best song: Until the End of the World
1. The Joshua Tree-Best song: Where the Streets have no Name
1. The Joshua Tree (one of the greatest albums ever)
2. War - definitely a 5 star album
3. Achtung Baby - 4.5 star album - I love a lot of the B-sides. They really shot their wad here. Not much else after this does much for me.
4. The Unforgettable Fire - 4.5
5. Boy - 4.5
6. Rattle And Hum - 4 star
7. October - 3.5 star
8 thru 14 - everything pretty much else is tied. I like some songs, but most of the rest of it is all the same to my ears. I don't necessarily need to hear any of it. There are some decent songs like "Kite" and "Every Breaking Wave," but the last great song they ever released to my ears is "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me."
I really appreciate the way all the guys but especially Jason dives into the history of the band and the circumstances surrounding the making of these albums. Kudos!
I honestly gave up after No Line on the Horizon, but I still really like them. I feel like they are a band which are very easy to split into tiers for their albums. So from what I’ve heard from best to worst:
1. Achtung Baby
2. The Joshua Tree
3. War
4. Boy
5. Unforgettable Fire
6. All That You Can’t Leave Behind
7. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
8. Rattle and Hum
9. October
10. Zooropa
11. Pop
12. No Line on the Horizon
I actually think Achtung is better than I initially thought. The deep cuts like So Cruel and Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World are great. Acrobat and Love is Blindess are fantastic- the latter being even better in the live version from the ZOO TV tour. I honestly don’t think there’s a bad song on the album. Also I can’t lie, I absolutely love Even Better Than the Real Thing.
I forgot about Love is Blindness - a superb song
I think everyone gave up after No Line on the Horizon lol. And I really like the band.
You guys are keeping me sane talking about these bands...thank you
The Unforgettable Fire is an album I didn’t listen to a lot. But . . . There was a time . . . When I was feeling out of sorts it was a great album to meet me in the mood. I just buried myself in the mood . . . And loved it.
My favorite band of all time. Their songs are, basically, the soundtrack to my life. Been to many many shows. thx for the interesting conversation ☘️
Which album is your favorite?
@@AndI0td763 it changes all the time..I’d say The Unforgettable Fire, Achtung Baby, & The Joshua Tree rotate through the top spot..
@@sbdowling Good picks. Those would probably be my top 3 as well, maybe the slight edge to Achtung depending on my mood. Love what they did on that album, I can imagine many fans at the time disliking the change in style but it’s really inventive for them I think.
1. The Unforgettable Fire
2. The Joshua Tree
3. Achtung Baby
4. Boy
5. War
6. October
7. All that you can’t leave Behind
8. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
9. Rattle and Hum
10. Songs of Experience
11. Songs of Innocence
12. No Line on the Horizon
13. Pop
14. Zooropa
Another thing I failed to mention about why I love The Unforgettable Fire is that it is boldly experimental. Jason mentioned how 4th of July was improvised by Clayton and The Edge, but Bono's vocals on Elvis Presley and America were also improvised and the song was built around that. Yes, it meanders a bit but I think it's great and it builds up to a great climax. I certainly couldn't come up with anything like that on the fly.
Maybe the best thing about this episode is Jason picking The Unforgettable Fire as his favorite album, precisely because I think it's pretty experimental and I don't typically peg Jason for a fan of experimental music.
Everyone thinks I’m so anti-experimental. Not the case. But they have to be successful experiments. -Jason
@@TastesLikeMusic I don't think you're anti-experimental. Clearly that is Joe, but it doesn't seem often that an experimental album will be at the top of your list. I don't expect to see that very frequently.
Love U2. Listen to so many differences kinds of music…but I *always* come back to U2. They are the soundtrack of my life. They have written a number of songs that I seemingly cannot grow tired of-even after hundreds (thousands?) of listens. If I had the talent to give voice to the music I “hear” the world speaking in its silences, beauty, savagery, and in the mystery between its molecules…to me it would sound like U2.
Really fun to listen to your differences of opinion. Thanks. The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, and Achtung Baby albums are bonafide works of art.
Wow...you guys really did indeed knock it out of the park with your reviews on this one. Plenty of depth, detail, and passion in the right places. Especially love how it wraps up with Jason willing to squeeze over the line in giving a four star review for "The Unforgettable Fire". I agree as well that as much as I have always really loved this album, it does indeed to seem to run out of steam over the final three tracks. The first seven are fantastic.
U2 Albums Ranked Worst to Best
14. Songs of Innocence 2 stars
13. Songs of Experience 2 stars
12. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 2 stars
11. No Line on the Horizon 2.5 stars
10. All that you Can't Leave Behind 2.5 stars
9. Pop 2.5 stars
8. Rattle and Hum 3 stars
7. War 3.5 stars
6. Boy 3.5 stars
5. Unforgettable Fire 3.5 stars
4. The Joshua Tree - 4 stars
3. October - 4 stars
2. Zooropa - 4 stars
1. Achtung Baby - 5 stars
Nice to see someone else with Zooropa in the right place.
Zooropa is amazing. I don’t get the confusion about this record.
@@johnnyterrific5702 i agree. i recall it getting a lukewarm critical reception at the time and it
was viewed as the "lesser , rushed, Achtung Baby" , but i love that sound and the experimental approach to their music in the 90s.. "Pop" failed to continue that progression successfully cause it just lacked decent songs, and they reverted to the safety of "All that You can't leave behind" 80s sound updated... "Zooropa' has some killer tracks( some will appear on my songs list) , one or 2 "meh" tracks but overall a great record imo. If anything , some of their so called classic 80s albums have started to sound more dated as the years go by for me.
@@deathfromabove77 That’s one of the biggest problems with POP. It doesn’t continue the experimental ideas that Zooropa put out there. I think those of us who loved Zooropa have been mostly disappointed with their career ever since because they did not build off of it.
I also find it interesting how Joe, Jason, and Kramzer each had criticisms of the vocals in Numb and Lemon. I actually find those moments very charming and fun. Lemon is maybe my favorite vocals that he’s ever done. Also, The Wanderer is amazing! Maybe U2’s best album closer. It belongs on this record and I defend it!
@@johnnyterrific5702 I think you meant to say All That You Can’t Leave Behind instead of Pop as the album where they decided to dial down and play it safe.
Pop was widely seen, by the band and by the public, as the straw that broke the camel’s back. Which, in my opinion, was quite unfortunate.
Great video guys! Keep up the good work! There's a few things in the U2 discourse that always kind of bothers me. I'll try to be as concise as possible (but a lot to digest here):
1. The Achtung Baby assessment from Jason and Joe is puzzling to say the least. I certainly don't understand criticism of the production - it sounds incredible to this day. But to fully appreciate it, you have to understand the context. Kramzer mentions this, but U2 was the biggest band in the world after the Joshua Tree. To even attempt to make this drastic of a shift is remarkable...and to not only pull it off, but to have the result be one of the greatest albums of the 90's is another thing all together. How big of a shift was it? The best way I can describe it was to say that I was a MASSIVE U2 fan in 1991. I wore out their previous albums, saw them live etc. In the summer of 91 I was driving and heard a song on the radio that I immediately loved...but had no idea who it was. None. It was "The Fly." My favorite band, and I had no clue on first listen. A few months later I was waiting in line at midnight at a record store with probably a thousand other fans to purchase Achtung Baby. U2, the biggest band in the world, had reinvented themselves and (as far as I know) everyone loved it. The funny thing is Mysterious Ways is probably my least favorite song, and it's great. This is an epic achievement in so many ways. It wasn't derivative in the least...it was groundbreaking in many ways. If you haven't heard it also check out B-side to One - Lady With The Spinning Head!
2. I get frustrated when people criticize Rattle and Hum, and to a lesser degree, Zooropa - for a couple of reasons. First, Rattle and Hum has 10 original songs and they are all very strong - mostly great. Some are very much equal to The Joshua Tree (Hawkmoon 269, Desire, Angel of Harlem, Love Rescue Me, Heartland, All I Want Is You...). It is basically a soundtrack to the film. It was done as they were embarking on the biggest tour in the world in support of The Joshua Tree. The extras - the live tracks, covers etc... - are just that extra. But certainly not bad in any way. I think the gospel choir version of "I Still Haven't Found.." is even better than the original. If they just released it as a 10 song album of new songs, it would rival their very best. At the time, most fans saw it as a compliment to the film and appreciated it that way. Zooropa was even more of a stop-gap type album that was basically something for the fans while the Zoo TV tour was still moving along. It is not the follow up to Achtung and wasn't intended to be that. It was experimental and fun. It showed their willingness to keep pushing the envelope. The whole thing doesn't work but, again, most fans see this as evidence that the band wanted to keep moving forward. Pop is the true follow up to Achtung and for me it was very hit or miss. That led to All That You Can't Leave Behind...a return to the old U2. But U2's 90's period should be commended and celebrated. U2 could have just as easily released a live album in place of Zooropa, but they had some new songs and wanted to put them out. Again, context is important.
3. U2's work the past 20 years has been mostly strong to very strong. All That You Can't Leave Behind and How to Dismantle are really returns to form. That doesn't mean they reach the level of The Joshua Tree, but they were welcomes albums for U2 fans and showed they can't still write great songs. Not everything works for sure...and I would say that U2's 80's and 90's time period was peak, but this is true of almost every band. And how many bands can remain popular, relevant and putting out quality music for 40 years? Not many. It's easy to hate U2 because they're THAT big. And Bono is earnest - which makes him an easy target. I think it's lazy.
4. Smaller nitpick. There was some criticism of the sequencing of The Josha Tree. U2 didn't front load the album. Those happen to be the singles, but when the entire album is one great song after another it can't be front loaded. I would argue that One Tree Hill and Running to Stand Still and Where the Streets...are the best 3 songs. Also, side one ends - if I remember my cassette tape with Running to Stand Still - a great side 1 closer and picks back up with Red Hill Mining Town...before closing with the very underrated Mothers of the Disappeared. The sequencing is perfect- as is the album.
5. Regarding the early stuff...Any criticism needs to be balanced with the fact that they weren't even 20 when Boy was released. It's remarkable debut for a band that young. But what's most impressive is the growth in 4 years from Boy to The Unforgettable Fire. And you can see the progression with each album. U2's progression over their first decade - from Boy to Achtung Baby rivals the greatest artists of all time (Dylan, The Beatles, The Stones etc...).
6. When all else fails - just watch this....ua-cam.com/video/F3e2f4bzumY/v-deo.html
Myself and a co-worker were talking about The Edge the other day, he is not a fan, I really love the stuff he has done. I remember hearing BB King say that the best Guitarists get more sound from touching the instrument less. To me this sums up what I like about The Edge. He gets a great soundscape that convey emotion and drama from the use of effect pedals. My co worker does not like him because "It sounds harder then what it actually is to play and he hides behind pedals" to quote him. Taste is taste and no one and no thing get universal love or hate. For my taste from Unforgettable Fire to Achtung Baby U2 was pure magic, rank those albums what ever order you want.
The Edge "hides behind pedals" like Jimi Hendrix hid behind distortion. Technically, there are thousands of guitarists better than The Edge. Musically, he has a legacy which few will attain.
Totally with Kram on Achtung Baby . That was/is a phenomenal album and is clearly their most musically adventurous and best record. Don't know about "guitar tones" or there being " too much Bono"(?) ( he's the friggin singer ..what do you want him to do?.. disappear off the mix? lol)...all I know is that album has always sounded magnificent to my ears. always will.
It’s a classic. Those two guys lost some credibility
Get out of here with that nonsense. If my credibility is tied to a mid album like Achtung Baby, I’ll just quit the internet now. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic it was nice seeing you. :(
@@TastesLikeMusic , my sister (who is 4 years older than me) is the one who got me into U2 in the mid 80s. And her feelings on Actung Baby are the same as you and Jason…..
@@TastesLikeMusic I’m with you Joe, Achtung Baby ain’t it!
Hi,
I'm back for the ranking, it's not so easy, i bought my first U2 album when i was 19, it was "The Unforgettable Fire", almost nobody in Genoa Italy had "War" or previous albums, we all discovered them with "Pride in the name of love", i then bought War, October and Boy. I stopped buying U2 albums after "Pop" My ranking right now would be as follows....
1) Joshua Tree
2) The Unforgettable Fire ( A sort of homecoming is worth the album price)
3) War
4) Boy
5) October
6) Achtung Baby ( it was higher in the past)
7) All that you can't leave behind ( as a matter of fact it's the only one i bought after Pop)
8) Rattle and Hum
9) Pop
10) Zooropa
Thanks for finally getting around to this one! :) My top 5:
1) War
2) The Unforgettable Fire
3) The Joshua Tree
4) Boy
5) October
U2 - The Good , The Bad & The Ugly - # 1 October # 2 Boy # 3 The Joshua Tree # 4 The Unforgettable Fire # 5 Achtung Baby # 6 War # 7 All That You Can Leave Behind # 8 Zooropa # 9 Rattle & Hum # 10 Pop # 11 No Line On The Horizon # 12 How To Dismantle.. # 13 Innocence # 14 Experience - U2 had a great start with their youthful energy & definitely excellent Production By Martin Hannet & especially Steve Lillywhite. Things started to unravel with War & they have had moments of brilliance but much pretense from 83 on.
Some October love!
Glad you guys finally got to U2. Uncool to say, but they have always been one of my favorite bands. I first got into them in the early 80s, around War. It is hard to explain if you weren't there, but in the 80s and if you were a U2 fan, they really, really mattered. Mattered in a way that music just doesn't resonate with people these days. I sound old, but it's the truth. I saw them in 1987 on the Joshua Tree tour, and that concert just felt so huge and different. It wasn't just a show, it was an experience. A life event. (Springsteen at a massive stadium show on the Born in the USA tour in 1985...same).
That being said, I don't love it all. U2's discography is fun to do because it runs the gamut from 1 star turds to 5 star masterpieces, and all points in between.
Their b-sides. They have so many brilliant b-sides. The Deluxe editions of their albums they've put out (they've released all through Achtung Baby in Deluxe editions) are masterfully done, each with a second disc of b-sides and remixes that are essential for fans. Be interested to see tomorrow if any b-sides show up on your song lists. Hell, Joshua Tree Era had so many quality b-sides, that could have been a double album. I've sequenced a double for fun, it sounds awesome.
Fun fact: "Elvis Presley in America" is the drum track of "Sort of Homecoming" slowed down and backwards. Eno did that and then told Bono to improvise some lyrics on the spot. Also, on the bonus disc of that album is a version of "Sort of Homecoming" with Peter Gabriel on backing vocals.
My ratings:
14. Songs of Innocence (1 star). Garbage.
13. Songs of Experience (2 stars).
12. No Line on the Horizon (3 stars). Could have been great, but they chickened out and hedged their bets.
11. All That You Can't Leave Behind (3 stars). Half great.
10. ...Atomic Bomb. (3 stars).
9. Rattle and Hum. (3 stars). Left some better tracks in the film that should have been on the album.
8. Pop. (3.5 stars). Underrated. Unfinished. "Gone" is awesome. The last time they were actually trying to do something different. Listen to the remixes, they are better.
7. October (4 stars). Underrated.
6. Boy. (4 stars)
5. Achtung Baby (5 stars) About as successful a reinvention as anyone in rock history
4. Zooropa (5 stars) I enjoy this more than Achtung for some reason
3. War (5 stars). The culmination of that first period. Perfect.
2. The Unforgettable Fire (5 stars). Atmospheric like no other album I've heard, although the live version of "Bad" on the Wide Awake in America EP is much better.
1. The Joshua Tree (5 stars). Perfect record. Never heard a better produced record. Side One is the most perfect side of vinyl I've ever heard.
A teen of the 80's here and U2 was definitely a huge part of that. Was aware of War thru MTV's playing of Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Year's Day videos, became a bigger fan with Unforgettable Fire, but it was really the spring of my senior year in HS when Joshua Tree was released that I was all in. Have been a fan ever since, even though I feel like they stopped growing as a band with ATYCLB (which I still really like). And yes, Bono can be insufferable at times, but it's never really bothered me. But I do wish the lyrics had been better on a few songs that deserved it - Miracle Drug, Unknown Caller, etc. Anyways, they no longer have the impact on me they once did, but here's my album ranking:
14. No Line On The Horizon (2.5 Stars) - Just feels a bit too long and tedious. Not interesting enough to hold my attention for too long.
13. Songs of Innocence (2.5 Stars) - A few nice poppy tunes, but maybe too much of a sheen on it. The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) is just bad.
12. Songs of Experience (3 Stars) - To me, this one is a little looser than SOI and maybe closer to the mark on what they were going for. I actually like Red Flag Day, sounds like War era U2.
11. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (3 Stars) - Some good singles here, but lyrics are weird, it all feels very calculated and almost an inferior version of ATYCLB.
10. All That You Can't Leave Behind (3.5 Stars) - U2's "return to form" after the supposed lost 90's experimentation. Front-loaded for sure. Safe, but man did it go down so easy when it came out.
9. Zooropa (3.5 Stars) - Not for everyone. It's as if they said, you think Achtung Baby is weird, wait til you hear this! The production is very dry, it sounds dated in many ways. But I still really like it.
8. Rattle & Hum (3.5 Stars) - Most of the studio tracks are great. Some of the live stuff is terrific. Does it work as a cohesive album? Kinda?
7. Pop (3.5 Stars) - The last time they really tried to make a statement with their sound. It flopped. By their standards. 25 years later it's actually one of my favorites.
6. Boy (4 Stars) - When I was finally all-in w/ Joshua Tree, I had to hit the back catalogue! And what a gem this was to "discover"! They would never sound less youthful or self-aware again.
5. October (4 Stars) - I'm aware that Boy is probably the superior album, but for some reason have always liked this one better. Maybe because it's messier? The piano? The 2nd half of Tomorrow?
4. War (4.5 Stars) - This album is great. The military drive of the drums. The defiance. The concert from Red Rocks. It's all of a time and it's damn near perfect.
3. The Unforgettable Fire (4.5 Stars) - The first 4 tracks are unassailable. Bad is so great. So much mood on this album. It does tail off towards the end which is why it's 4.5 for me.
2. Achtung Baby (5 Stars) - From the opening wails of Edge's guitar to Larry's distorted drum bursts on Zoo Station, it was obvious that 80's U2 was dead. And they were dancing on their own graves.
1. The Joshua Tree (5 Stars) - This was the album that put me all in on U2. It's perfect. And sometimes you just can't argue with your 17 year old self about such matters.
HI Guys, great to see a video on U2, i'll enjoy it and then draw up a list of my top 10
Achtung Baby - 5 stars
The Joshua Tree - 5 stars
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - 4.5 stars
All That You Can’t Leave Behind - 4.5 stars
Rattle and Hum - 4 stars
Pop - 4 stars
Zooropa - 4 stars
No Line on the Horizon - 4 stars
Unforgettable Fire - 4 stars
Songs of Innocence - 3.5 stars
War - 3.5 stars
Boy - 3 stars
Songs of Experience - 3 stars
October - 2 stars
I am familiar with most of their Discography but for the purposes of this exercise I am going to rank just the 10 albums that I own.
1. The Joshua Tree
2. Achtung Baby
( These top 2 are in my All Time Top 100 Albums)
3. War
4. All that you can't leave behind
5. Pop
6. Songs of Innocence
7. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
8. Zooropa
9. No Line on the Horizon
10. Songs of Experience
U2 have certainly impressed me over the last 40 plus years. Impressive both for their music and their staying power.
Unforgettable, Achtung and Joshua all outstanding 5⭐. Early and later records never really hit me.
Bingo!
War is better than Achtung.
Excellent job as always my dudes! As a U2 freak, I did hear som things that disappointed me a bit more than usual but it's all good cuz you guys knocked it out of the park and Jason made my night rating The Unforgettable Fire 4 stars. Peace!
I was really struck by Kram’s comment that “If we had been 20 when ‘Boy’ came out, we would have lost our minds!” That was me! I was 20 when ‘Boy’ came out, and I was super impressed. A friend recommended I check out this new “English” band, and wrote down the name: You Too. Loved it, loved ‘I Will Follow’. Much less impressed with ‘October’, super excited again with ‘War’, loved ‘The Unforgettable Fire’, and then the whole world turned on to ‘The Joshua Tree’. For several years there, U2 was everywhere, and I liked them for their post-Talking Heads, pre-Smiths vibe. Enjoyed ‘Achtung’ and ‘Zooropa’ (especially the tour), but ‘Pop’ and (especially) the Pop Mart tour, which I saw at the SkyDome in Toronto, was a disappointment. ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’ had some great songs, but a lot of filler. And that was that. To me, they’ve been coasting ever since, bloated, uninteresting, and they lost my interest…and carry a lot of self-important baggage. A once great band whose day is done.
Great work on the video gentlemen, very impressive detail, analysis and consideration. Nothing left behind. Cheers, JPE
Totally concur with your comments. I think these days they are largely happy to be a great band. I think they have tended to over cook their albums in the last 15 years, trying too hard to write the perfect lyric, perfect chord progression and it ends up being a dreadful pastiche. They should just get in the studio for 2 weeks and jam write some stuff which is just raw, creative and in the moment.
This was an interesting exercise. After years of listening to these albums, I've found I've grown tired of some, some have grown on me, and some are just as as great as they ever were.
1. The Joshua Tree
2. War
3. The Unforgettable Fire
4. Boy
5. Achtung Baby
6. All That You Can't Leave Behind
7. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
8. No Line on the Horizon
9. October
10. Pop
11. Zooropa
12. Rattle and Hum
13. Songs of Innocence
14. Songs of Experience
1) The Joshua Tree - 5*
2) Achtung Baby - 5*
3) War - 4.5*
4) October - 4*
5) All That You Can't Leave Behind - 4*
6) Boy - 4*
7) The Unforgettable Fire - 4*
8) Zooropa - 4*
9) Rattle and Hum - 3.5*
10) No Line on the Horizon - 3.5*
11) Pop - 3.5*
12) Songs of Experience - 3*
13) How do Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - 3*
14) Songs of Innocence - 3*
my ranking:
1. Achtung Baby!
2. The Joshua Tree
.
.
.
.
.
3. War
4. Zooropa
5. Rattle & Hum
6. The Unforgettable Fire
7. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
8. Songs of Innocence
9. All That You Can't Leave Behind
10. Boy
11. Pop!
12. No Line on the Horizon
13. Songs of Experience
14. October
Three great choices as No. 1 gentlemen! My personal top three albums. I think the newer material has a little more merit than you gave it credit for but I prefer the 1980-1990 era as well.
Only 2/3 through but…Man I fkg LOVE this listography. You guys are awesome. You each provide such a great balance of views. Love how Jason appears to have done his research even though he didn’t really like U2. And Kramz so honest, and Joe just being Joe, fkg love it. More comments coming later boys…
Nice nice work guys 👌
Actung baby is number 1 favorite album 💿 for me. Number 2 is Joshua tree 3 is the unforgettable fire.
I have been a big fan of the band U2 for 25 years. I still am.
Let's be honest. Everyone has their own ranking and there is absolutely no point in discussing it because it is a matter of taste and flavour.
An example of this is my ranking, which hasn't changed for years:
1. Songs Of Innocence
2. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
3. Achtung Baby
4. Joshua Tree
5. Pop
6. Song Of Experience
7. Rattle And Hum
8. No Line On The Horizon
9. All That You Can't Leave Behind
10. Boy
11. Zooropa
12. Unforgettable Fire
13. War
14. October
15. (Songs of surrender)
Here I ranked albums as a whole and not individual songs because, for example, I think that songs such as "Pride" or "New year's day" from the albums "Unforgettable fire" and "The war" are mega-brilliant, but the albums on which they are, are actually good but not among U2's best albums for me.
Is there any point in discussing this?
Of course not! Because this is just my individual Taste. And everyone has their own individual taste.
That's why, in my opinion, rankings of all kinds make no sense at all and only make me smile when I see "experts" making statements about their own individual taste.
Often they are not even well prepared and people then have to watch it.
But I am not referring to this review but in general! This Review is even ok and they seem to be prepared (sufficiently), still expressing their own taste.
When I see 70.000 people at a concert, for me this is a more reliable Review (but also not quite and not always because a band can be original and not create music for the masses).
But of course, anyone can record their own review on UA-cam and share it. There is nothing wrong with that. Quite the contrary. Just remember that everyone has their own review and ranking.
U2 have realised wonderful albums bar a couple in the 2000’s.. Still a GREAT band and will never forget when Joshua Tree was released.. Super sound & as with Unforgettable fire - brilliant music full of emotion..
Interesting choices. U2 was the first band I got into, so it was interesting to hear you talk about all their work
Great video. I love hearing other fans' and non-fans' thoughtful opinions on U2's discography... I obviously tended to agree with Kramzer's take on most of it but I also found myself agreeing with some of the other guy's thoughts as well. It's interesting to me how much U2's first two albums have really grown in recognition the further away from them we get. I think Boy was always thought of as a good album, but it's thought of even more highly these days than it used to be, I feel. Deservedly so. Also have to add that I have what evidently appears to be a somewhat unique opinion in that I think No Line on the Horizon is better than what most people think. Aside from about 3 clunkers in the middle, I think the album is fantastic. No Line, Magnificent, Moment of Surrender - wow, talk about a almost perfect 3 song album opening.
Agreed. The first three songs of NLOTH are underrated---not due to their own merit but because of the album they arrived on & the older age of the band.
october is 5 out of 5, raw,emotinal,edgy and with a shout,i threw a brick thru a window and fire are just plain amazing
1-2-3-14 (in Spanish) comes from Jack Tripper (John Ritter) on Three's Company.
The Joshua Tree (1987)
All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000)
Achtung Baby (1991)
War (1983)
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (2004)
The Unforgettable Fire (1984)
Songs of Experience (2017)
Songs of Innocence (2014)
Rattle and Hum (1988)
Pop (1997)
No Line On The Horizon (2009)
Boy (1980)
Zooropa (1993)
October (1981)
i like a lot of the new stuff!
My favorite U2 songs were both on the 45 between October & War - Celebration was the A-Side & Trash Trampoline & The Party Girl was the B-Side. The B-Side remains a live staple today & The A-Side only finally appeared on a Deluxe version of October in 2008 in the 🇺🇸.
I consider myself a pretty serious U2 fan. I've been listening to them since the age of fourteen and, they're still one of my favorite bands. I stopped listening to and buying their albums after No Line On The Horizon. I'll rank all their others up to that point. The two of you who didn't put Achtung Baby in your top five, you're down right nuts! And All You Can't Leave Behind, sucks! Having said that, here's my list from best to worst:
1. Achtung Baby
2. Joshua Tree
3. Unforgettable Fire
4. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
5. Zooropa
6. War
7. Pop
8. Rattle and Hum
9. Boy
10. October
11. All You Can't Leave Behind
12. No Line On The Horizon
Good discussion guys, as always. Thanks for taking U2 on. I'm more with Kramzer on this video, but l give you credit for always generating some nods, "amen brothers", and some expletives. ;)
I think Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, War and Unforgettable Fire are 5-star masterpieces (Boy and All That You Can't Leave Behind are near-great 4.5's IMHO), but I bought all the music and remember loving songs from nearly every release (including the last one). Don't disagree with the collective analysis on those lesser releases. But what I've never understood with U2 critics are the terms like "overly ambitious", "too grandiose", "trying to save the world", etc... Like those are bad things. You know, the "Bono thing". I experienced their career in real time and from my first listen to Boy in high school to the college years of War, Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree to my "minivan" years (actually, it was a station wagon), when I listened, I got the "ambition", but in the sense they were striving to push themselves and their music as well as reflect on those times. I witnessed four kids from the streets of Ireland who spent a few decades of their lives trying to make a difference with their music. When videos like New Year's Day came on MTV in the early 80s, you knew they were a different animal. A little more grown up, mature and intelligent. Serious about what they did. I have always liked that about them and rather than deride their tendencies to be spokesmen, I applaud their "give a crap" factor. If Bono can speak to world leaders to get them to act on injustices, more power to him. From the beginning to the recent Bono/Edge video of "Walk On Ukraine", I think they've wanted to be heard and affect change, or at least call attention to some of what is allowed to go on in this world. What better given the chance they had? If it creates eye rolls, then whatever. They've helped create awareness too. And resources for good causes and people in need. And some pretty affecting music along the way. Job well done, I say. And Jason, remember, minivan drivers have angst too.
BTW: I'm happy to see some more people are getting the clue bird and subscribing to you. You guys deserve about ten times the viewers you have based on what I see getting followed on UA-cam.
Well said. Pretty much how I feel about Bono and the band and their admirable non-music interests.
Great comment. Really enjoyed reading that.
I agree that (in chrono order) War, Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree, & Achtung Baby are 5-star masterpieces. I love U2 best when *live* (seen them many times), so I'd add Under a Blood Red Sky live album to that. All these nearly back-to-back is one the best stretches of consecutive albums by a band in music history. Cheers.
Strange vibes on War; it's amazing. Initially the main hits grab you but the remainder songs are incredible;Surrender, Like a Song, Drowning man, "40". Mindblowingly awesome.
Great video. For me no 1. The Unforgettable Fire. 2. The Joshua Tree. 5. stars.
My ranking (not that anyone cares):
1) Achtung Baby - great listen from beginning to end, from joy to melancholy and everything in between. The band really tried to take a quantum leap forward. Their absolute peak.
2) Joshua Tree - Epic tunes, although the albums slows down a bit on side two. Side one, though, is better than most bands' entire catalog.
Speed round, 'cause I'm at work and I'm busy and no one cares, lol:
3) Unforgettable Fire
4) All that you can leave behind (great return to form, albeit rather safe)
5) War
6) Pop/zooropa (both underrated, but not ranked higher cause they take on too much water)
7) October/Boy (rather similar)
8) Atomic Bomb (not bad, but a bit directionless)
9) Songs of innocence/Experience (a few good tunes on each, but nothing groundbreaking or meaningful, compared to earlier works; running on vapors)
10) No Line on the Horizon (terrible record, aside from a song here or there).
Good show! I wouldn't call myself a huge U2 fan at all, but when I hear you mention the various standout tracks of the albums, I am amazed how many good songs they have actually written.
Geez Jason i never noticed the glockenspiel THAT much on I Will Follow, until now ........ also I've noticed you guys say Glockenspiel more on this channel than I've ever heard in my life hahahaha - always pointing that instrument out
Kramzer.... bro I am shocked with your ATYCLB review.... I will agree there are maybe 3 duds on the album, but not HALF! "In A Little While" is AMAZING, classic songwriting and Bono's voice is amazing on it. 4.5 star album :)
I seem to remember hearing U2 and Echo & the Bunnymen around the same time, hated U2 but loved the Bunnymen... 'Joshua Tree' did turn my head, it is from start to finish a very classy album, I honestly thought U2 would become a favourite band but just three albums later 'Zooropa' would see me drop them from list of must listen to bands... I do casually like selected tracks from various points of their career but they do very little to my mind and soul... In 1980 I thought the Bunnymen would be the be the biggest of the two, I was wrong but I still vastly prefer their entire discography...
Heaven Up Here is one of my all time favorite albums.
I’m pretty sure Ian McCulloch hated them too. I still prefer the Bunnymen personally.
Bunnymen get my vote
Not much can beat those early Bunnymen shows. Ian could have worn a bin bag and still oozed charisma.
U2's album, Boy is their best album then, Unforgettable Fire. Next, All You Can't Leave Behind. Achtung Baby, Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum. The one song I like but never hear live is Three Sunrises.
1. The Joshua Tree (4.5 - AOTY 1987)
2. War (4 - close to 4.5)
3. Boy (4)
4. The Unforgettable Fire (4)
5. Achtung Baby (3.5 - close to 4)
6. All That You Can’t Leave Behind (3.5)
7. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (3.5)
8. October (3.5)
9. Rattle and Hum (3 - close to 3.5)
10. No Line On the Horizon (3)
11. Pop (3)
12. Songs of Innocence (3)
13. Zooropa (2.5)
14. Songs of Experience (2)
You need quarter-star ratings ;-)
Sorry for breaking the rules but this is how i group and rank the albums.
1. The Unforgettable Fire / Wide Awake in America
2. War/Under a Blood Red Sky
3. The Joshua Tree/Rattle and Hum
4. Boy / all the live bootlegs people gave me during this tour.
5. Achtung Baby/Zooropa
6. October ( I threw a brick !)
7. All That You can't leave behind (Dont know why but i thought this was a retirement album) / All the other albums that follow that i barely listened to.
Having said that, I'm going to listen to the newer ones after watching this video.
5. War
4. All That You Can’t Leave Behind
3. The Joshua Tree
2. The Unforgettable Fire
1. Achtung Baby
Diehard fan since 1989 here. My ranking (I include the Passengers album):
1. Zooropa
2. Achtung Baby
3. Original Soundtracks 1
4. No Line on the Horizon
5.The Unforgettable Fire
6. The Joshua Tree
7. WAR
8. POP
9. October
10. Songs of Innocence
11. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
12. Rattle and Hum
13. All That You Can't Leave Behind
14. Boy
15. Songs of Experience
Wondering when you guys would get round to U2.... have to say fair play to Jason for listening to all their albums, and I found his opinion the most interesting to listen to. No offense to the other 2....He's spot on with bands who are in the process of changing their musical direction and the album they make before they hit fully onto the new direction is normally there best and most interesting work...
For what it's worth
My ranking
1. Unforgettable fire
2.. Achtung
3 Joshua
4. War
5.. Boy
6.. Zooropa
7. Rattle and Hum
8. Pop
9. October
10. Song of innocence
Really enjoyed this video.brilliant insights and comments.
I got into U2 in the summer of 85 after the live aid performance and bought the unforgettable fire cassette and became a big fan
I think for me the "90s period was the most interesting to me. Though I sort of lost interest as I was getting into band's like blur, Stone Roses and the britpop scene(Oxford. Uk born) in the 90s I really didn't enjoy the last 3 albums. for me a band that ran out of steam 15 years ago.
My top 10
1. Achtung Baby
2. The Unforgettable Fire
3. The Joshua Tree
4. October
5. War
6. Boy
7. Zooropa
8. Pop
9. ATYCLB
10. Rattle and Hum
U2 is not one of my favorite bands, but U2 At the End of the World is one of the greatest music biographies I've ever read. It is such a great window into the band and the era it takes place in. Bill Flanagan deserves a lifetime pass for writing that 600-page book.
Loved this one guys. Like you the highs are awesome and lows filled with pretension and boredom. With Kramzer on this one. Greät episode. Love revisiting these albums as I listen to these. I hated Pop at first but it grows on you after a few listens. Probably #7 for me.👍👍👍
14. All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000)
13. Pop (1997)
12. Songs Of Innocence (2014)
11. Songs Of Experience (2017)
10. Zooropa (1993)
9. No Line On The Horizon (2009)
8. Ruttle And Hum (1988)
7. Boy (1980)
6. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (2004)
5. October (1981)
4. Achtung Baby (1991)
3. The Unforgettable Fire (1984)
2. War (1983)
1. The Joshua Tree (1987)
“Achtung Baby” is the greatest U2 record and my favorite record of the 90’s. I’ve listened to it hundreds of times. Jason and Joe are nuts.
Edge plays his ass off on the album. The bass and drums are insane. C’mon Joe. “Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World” has the loudest bass ever.
But I was 17 when this record came out, and you guys were babies, so I get it.
Maybe I need new headphones. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic play “Trying” in your car…it’ll make the speakers rattle
You are right Darth. I was 16 when it came out. That base on ‘Trying’ can boom.
"If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all"
So with that in mind. Really looking forward to The Jam Discography. That's it for U2 week.
You know the TLM guys can't stick to that...
#1 The Unforgettable Fire
#2 The Joshua Tree
#3 Auchtung Baby
#4 War
All are 4 Albums and interchangeable.
#5 Boy
I do remember where I was when I first heard U2. Winter of 1983, senior year in high school, heard "New Years Day" on radio station WAAL amid some songs of other new bands I had never heard of before, Zebra, Planet P and The Call. I was a fan almost immediately. Listened to Unforgettable Fire over and over in my room. Joshua Tree is a masterpiece, to this day, I try to listen to those songs only when I listen to the album as a whole. 👍 to Kramzer for his "Achtung Baby" description, to me, that is the U2 album that flows best from song to song. I stopped following U2 in the late '90s, came back for "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and then fell away again. I suppose that's typical for a U2 fan from the '80s.
(Tied for 13th): Songs Of Forgiveness/Songs Of Experience
12. Pop
11. No Line On The Horizon
10. How To Build An Atomic Bomb
9. Zooropa
8. Rattle & Hum
7. October
6. All That You Can't Leave Behind
5. Boy
4. War
3. The Unforgettable Fire
2. Achtung Baby
1. The Joshua Tree
I also try to avoid radio and only listen to U2 songs in the context of their albums. After this week, I probably won't listen to them again for years... partly to preserve the magic of their first-decade albums, but also because there's no good reason for overplaying any artist when the world is filled with an endless amount of great music.
Your Ranking is very Interesting. Im a Long Time U2 Follower from the Album War, till now on. Here is my Ranking:
1. Achtung Baby 2. The Joshua Tree 3. The Unforgetable Fire 4. All THat You Cant`t Leave Behind 5. No Line On THe Horizon 6. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb 7. Zooropa 8.Rattle and Hum 9. Pop 10. War. 11 Boy 12.October 13 Songs Of Innocence 14. Songs Of Expierience
Hello - nice video. I bought "boy" in 1981 after seeing a pub band perform "I will follow". "October" and "war" followed, and they were one of my favourite bands. Loved "Gloria" and also the non album single after that "A celebration". They had a sort of melodic optimism coupled with punk angst. Narrowly missed seeing them live in 84 (Where they previewed the upcoming "pride"). "Two hearts beat as one" was a huge single in my native New Zealand. I wasnt so impressed with "the unforgettable fire"; although there was a nice video doco to go with it. - but loved the title track. "The three sunrises" was a good single in 1986, but I fell off them a bit after that. Liked "God part II" from Rattle and Hum. But then, 1991 was all about "the fly" and "Actung Baby" - what a fantastic deep album. Loved "zoo station" and "until the end of the world". Also loved the ZOO TV tour video produced by Godley and Creme - so original. Zooropa was OK, then later POP OK but not so good (Great tour video though). Loved "All that you can't leave behind" especially "Kite". Tried really hard to like the next 2 albums but just want the same - but unlike you all, loved "Get on your boots". Tried really hard to like the next 2 also, one of which I got for Christmas, but after a few plays, never played again. Saw them live in Brussels in 17, "Joshua tree tour" - was a good video show, "Exit" being the highlight. My ranking bottom to top:
14 Songs of innocence (hate "California")
13 songs of experience (Like "your the best thing")
12 No line on horizon
11 Atomic bomb (like "crumbs from table)
10 Rattle and hum
9 Pop (like "mofo")
8 Zooropa (like "crashed car")
7 Unforgettable fire
6 Joshua tree ("exit" "one tree hill" - about NZ)
5 All that you can't leave behind ("elevation", "Kite", "New York")
4 October ("tomorrow", "October")
3 War ("like a song", "drowning man")
2 Boy
1 Actung Baby
well done
I can’t help but listen to Joshua Tree fortnightly. It’s a perfect moment in their repertoire. So, I much rate it #1 on my list. Followed by War. Then it’s The Unforgettable Fire, Achtung Baby and Boy. So many amazing songs just in these five albums. What amazing artists.
1. The Unforgettable Fire
2. The Joshua Tree
3. Achtung Baby
4. Boy
5. War
6. October
7. Rattle And Hum
8. Zooropa
9. Pop
10. How To Dismantle…..
11. All that you can’t….
12. No Line…..
…..then they lose me…..
zooropa, pop and achtung is soo refreshing...fans will know
I squealed with delight when I saw this in my UA-cam feed.
I always liked the U2 songs I knew, but not that much that I felt the need to dig deeper into their catalogue. Now that I’ve done that, I’d say they’re way better than I thought.
Not So Good Albums (2 Stars):
14. Songs of Experience
13. Songs of Innocence
12. Rattle and Hum
Good Albums (3 Stars):
11. Zooropa
10. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
9. Boy
Really Good Albums (4 Stars):
8. October
7. Pop
6. All That You Can’t Leave Behind
5. War
4. No Line on the Horizon
3. The Unforgettable Fire
Amazing Albums (5 Stars):
2. The Joshua Tree
1. Achtung Baby
For me, their best album is ‘Achtung Baby’ followed by ‘The Joshua Tree’. Both albums are very good, ‘Achtung Baby’ is stronger as a unit, while ‘The Joshua Tree’ contains their best songs.
Glad you liked them. I think they made some pretty special music, for their era at least. Trust me when I say Boy will grow on you with repeated listens. I came very close to giving it 5 stars, but I couldn't quite pull the trigger.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 Boy was made by teenagers . Pretty good writing ✍ going on & certainly Steve Lillywhite clicked with them.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 I will definitely keep listening to them so it could happen that 'Boy' grows on me. It was really surprising to me how good their material is, even after their prime (1987-1991).
@@Sir_Eyeball I think U2's secret to long term success is the same as Depeche Mode's: they simply work their butts off.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 I will not disagree.
Unforgettable Fire - 5 stars (10)
The Joshua Tree - 5 stars (9.8)
Achtung Baby- 5 stars (9.6)
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - 4.5 stars (9)
War- 4 stars (8.3)
Boy- 4 stars (8)
Pop- 3.5 stars (7.7)
Zooropa- 3.5 stars (7.3)
Rattle & Hum - 3 stars (6.5)
Songs of Innocence - 2.5 stars (5.5)
October - 2.5 stars (5.4)
ATYCLB - 2 stars (4.8)
No Line - 1.5 stars (2.6)
Songs of Experience - 1 star (1.8)
Well done Clay!
Like Jason there are definitely bands I've written off and it would take special circumstances for me to listen to them unbiasedly. Some examples: Counting Crows, RHCP, Janes Addiction, KISS and Paul McCartney post 1990
1. Unforgettable Fire 4.5
2. War 4.5
3. Boy 4.0
4. Joshua Tree 4.0
5. Achtung Baby 4.0
6. No Line on the Horizon 3.5
7. Zooropa 3.5
8. Pop 3.25
9. Songs of Innocence 3.25
10. October 3.25
11. How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb 3.0
12. All That You Can't Leave Behind 3.0
13. Songs of Experience 3.0
14. Rattle and Hum 3.0
I have a somewhat complicated relationship with U2. I first discovered them in 1983 with War. I immediately loved them. Besides the songwriting, the affinity I felt for them was due in large part because they are the same age is me. I was 22 when War came out, and I thought it was perfect at the time. I marveled that four guys my age could produce something so resonant with my political views, and the sound was so fresh and urgent. By the nineties, however, I was already out on them. Their 90s material just didn't mean anything to me at all. When did the fallout occur? I think it started with The Unforgettable Fire. That's right, my favorite album of theirs was when I started to break from them. Why? I think it was the change in direction. The better production, better playing, and better sound overall somehow felt like less of a moment of growth and more of an abandonment of what I loved about them. But unlike other bands that fell out of favor with me in one fell swoop, my distancing from U2 was so gradual that I did not even notice it happening until the process was complete. That being said, I was surprised this week to find that I did not hate their 2000s stuff. It was not unlistenable. Nothing stands out, but nothing is all that bad, either. Still, 80s U2 is my sweet spot.
There is a lot of similarity between your relationship with that band and my own. Including that being of same age as the band and that slow fading out of interest.
Rod Stewart called it Atlantic Crossing back then when he became the international super star.