Best U2 album??

[NORTHCOAST]

Curious to know which U2 album you think is their BEST!  I just read the Nov 2004 Blender Magazine article about U2 and Bono is quoted as saying "Achtung [Baby]" and "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" are close to being their best ever.   If you haven't read this article, I would recommend it if you can find it.  Very well done and insightful into the personalities of the band.  It talks a lot about how Bono was basically AWOL on the pre-recording sessions of "All That You Can't Leave Behind" due to his charitable and political activities. 

The article also goes into how the band had to cut Atomic Bomb down because it was too long.  The quote by Bono was "too much of a good thing is a bad thing".  So they cut two songs called "Mercy" and "Fast Cars" to get the album "lean and lithe" at 11 tracks.  That's interesting since a lot of artists routinely go up to 13 tracks.  The song "One Step Closer to Knowing" was written after Bono had a conversation with Noel Gallagher of Oasis.  They were discussing his father's serious illness and Noel asked "Does he believe in God?"  When Bono said he "I don't think he knows" Noel responded with "Well, he's one step closer to knowing now." 

The pictures are really interesting too along with Blenders funny little captions.  I love the one of Bono and The Pope that has the caption "I'll Pray for You."  "Thanks, Bono"  under the pic.   :)

[halo19]

I think that Achtung Baby is the best one. I could go on about how amazing it is. It shows the band at their sonic and lyrical heights.

War and The Joshua Tree aren't that far behind.

My rankings from fav. to least fav.:
1. Achtung Baby
2. War
3. The Joshua Tree (somewhat overrated)
4. Zooropa
5. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
6. Pop
7. All That You Can't Leave Behind

I haven't heard any other U2 albums.

[Night Senses]

halo20 said:

I think that Achtung Baby is the best one. I could go on about how amazing it is. It shows the band at their sonic and lyrical heights.

War and The Joshua Tree aren't that far behind.

WORD.

[JCMF3]

Joshua Tree is the best. Hands down.

[jimmy74747]

JCMF3 said:

Joshua Tree is the best.  Hands down.

[singingsparrow]

JCMF3 said:

Joshua Tree is the best.  Hands down.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[Ragin]

Joshua Tree was by far the best in my opinion.

My order would be

1. Joshua Tree (1987)
2. War (1983)
3. All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000)
4. Achtung Baby (1991)
5. Rattle and Hum (1988)
6. How To Dismantle and Atomic Bomb (2004)
7. Zooropa (1993)
8. Under a Blood Red Sky (1983)
9. Boy (1980)
10. Unforgettable Fire (1984)
11. October (1981)
12. Pop (1997)

Yes, I cheated, just a little though.

[NORTHCOAST]

Ragin said:

Joshua Tree was by far the best in my opinion.

My order would be

1. Joshua Tree
2. War
3. All That You Can't Leave Behind
4. Achtung Baby
5. Rattle and Hum
6. How To Dismantle and Atomic Bomb
7. Zooropa
8. Under a Blood Red Sky
9. Boy
10. Unforgettable Fire
11. October
12. Pop

Yes, I cheated, just a little though.

Thanks for the list.  I took Unforgettable Fire out from the library this weekend.  I recognize three songs.  This was recorded right before The Joshua Tree, right?  It's pretty appropos with the Martin Luther King Jr. tie-in in Pride.   I've only listened to Joshua Tree, All That You Can't...,  and Atomic Bomb.  I'm going to go through them all eventually.  I put in an order for Achtung Baby at the library.  I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that they come to Cleveland on tour this year.  My radio DJs were talking about the tour and said that they hadn't decided between Detroit and Cleveland.   :o   Do both!

[Night Senses]

Pop is the only U2 album I've bought that I didn't like. Every time I play it, I dislike it even more. I don't have a reason why, either. I just don't like it.

[Miguelín]

1. Rattle and Hum
2. All That You Can't Leave Behind
3. War
4. Joshua Tree
5. Achtung Baby
6. Unforgettable Fire
7. Under a Blood Red Sky
8. Pop
9. How To Dismantle and Atomic Bomb
10. Zooropa

Something like these... but I don't really like any album at all, but every album has great songs

[NORTHCOAST]

Does anyone have the year that each was put out?  I'm trying to figure out where Achtung Baby fits in.  I picked it up at the library tonight. 

And Blender Mag had a story on them that I read today.  They gave Atomic Bomb 4 out of 5 stars.  They had a little sidebar that listed U2's best albums as:
Achtung Baby, Joshua Tree, All That You Can't..., and Best of 1980-90.

[Ragin]

I modified my post up above for the dates

[SyrupBoy]

Probably Joshua Tree. Side A of The Joshua Tree may be the best one side of any album ever. It loses focus a bit on Side B, but the album is still U2's most consistent.

That said, I enjoy listening to albums like Achtung Baby and Pop more, simply because they have more of my favorite U2 songs than any other album. They're just not as consistent as Joshua Tree, especially Pop, which is a real mess in spots.

Here's how I would rank them:

1) The Joshua Tree
2) Achtung Baby!
3) Boy
4) The Unforgettable Fire
5) War
6) Atomic Bomb
7) Pop
8) All That You Can't Leave Behind
9) Zooropa
10) October

Not sure what to think about Rattle & Hum, since it's only half-studio.

[NORTHCOAST]

I just finished listening to Achtung Baby while reading the lyrics. I've listened to it about five times at work, but never sat down with the lyrics. They are exceptional, IMO. Great album! I absolutely love "One". I think it is one of my favorite U2 songs. So powerful and tender at the same time. I could listen to it over and over. I'll move on to War and Boy now.

[Keith3000]

Awesome band.

I've only been listening to the tracks on Atomic Bomb for a few weeks, so I guess i can't really give that album a ranking, but from all the songs I've heard, I agree it's an amazing CD. I have five of their other albums, so I'll rank those.

1. Achtung Baby
2. The Joshua Tree
3. War
4. All That You Can't Leave Behind
5. Pop

[NORTHCOAST]

Has anyone been a huge fan of U2 since the beginning?  Bought every album upon its release? How do you keep track of all the albums? What are your favorite songs? 

I'm curious about the singles that were released from the albums and in what order.  Anyone know?  If you would be so kind, could you please post them next the the album name?  Much appreciated!

Boy  (1980)
October (1981)
Under a Blood Red Sky (1983)
War (1983)
Unforgettable Fire (1984)
Joshua Tree (1987)
Rattle and Hum (1988)
Achtung Baby (1991)
Zooropa (1993)
Pop (1997)
All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000)
How To Dismantle and Atomic Bomb (2004)

[SyrupBoy]

NORTHCOAST said:

Has anyone been a huge fan of U2 since the beginning? Bought every album upon its release? How do you keep track of all the albums? What are your favorite songs?

I'm curious about the singles that were released from the albums and in what order. Anyone know? If you would be so kind, could you please post them next the the album name? Much appreciated!

Boy (1980) Out Of Control, A Day Without Me, I Will Follow
October (1981) Fire, Gloria
Under a Blood Red Sky (1983) this was a live album
War (1983) New Year's Day, Two Hearts Beat As One
Unforgettable Fire (1984) Pride, The Unforgettable Fire
Joshua Tree (1987) With Or Without You, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Where The Streets Have No Name, In God's Country
Rattle and Hum (1988) Desire, Angel Of Harlem, When Loves Comes To Town, All I Want Is You
Achtung Baby (1991) The Fly, One, Mysterious Ways, Even Better Than The Real Thing, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, Until The End Of The World
Zooropa (1993) Numb, Lemon, Stay
Pop (1997) Discotheque, Staring At The Sun, Last Night On Earth, Please, If God Will Send His Angels
All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000) Beautiful Day, Walk On, Elevation, Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
How To Dismantle and Atomic Bomb (2004) Vertigo, All Because Of You, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own

A handful of those are airplay only singles.

It's hard to narrow down a list of my favorite U2 songs, but I can probably do my favorite from each album:

Boy - Out Of Control
October - October
War - New Years Day
Unforgettable Fire - Bad
Joshua Tree - Running To Stand Still
Rattle & Hum - Angel Of Harlem
Achtung Baby - One
Zooropa - The First Time
Pop - Staring At The Sun
ATYCLB - Peace On Earth
Atomic Bomb - City Of Blinding Lights

[kellydicted]

1. The Joshua Tree
2. All That You Can't Leave Behind
3. War
4. Pop
5. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
6. Achtung Baby

[Night Senses]

My Dad was a U2 fan since the beginning, and some time in the mid-90's I stumbled upon his record collection and found War, and then it all started from there. I think the first U2 CD I bought, on the day of its release was All That You Can't Leave Behind, though. The rest, I had just bought from used CD stores beforehand.

[Miguelín]

my favorite from each album:

Boy - I Will Follow
October - Gloria
War - Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Unforgettable Fire - Pride
Joshua Tree - With Or Without You
Rattle & Hum - Angel Of Harlem
Achtung Baby - One
Zooropa - ...
Pop - Staring At The Sun
ATYCLB - Walk On
Atomic Bomb - Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your own

[NORTHCOAST]

Thanks SyrupBoy for listing all the singles.  Much appreciated!  :)

And though I really love the first three singles from Joshua Tree, I think Running to Stand Still is my favorite song from that album too.   I started a thread a couple months back for people to list the Best Album for songs 1, 2, 3.  I suggested Joshua Tree cuz it starts with such a whallop. 

And I am so into "One" right now.  I've been playing it over and over on my 20 minute commute to and from work.  Just can't seem to listen to the whole album cuz I start from #1 each time I get in the car. 

I especially love these lyrics:

"Did I disappoint you
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
Well it's...

Too late
Tonight
To drag the past out into the light"

What a great song melodically and lyricly.   I especially like the little set-up for this verse  by the previous verse.  The previous verse is all about ONE love, ONE life.  And then this verse comes and kind of plays on the TOO and TOnight as the "two" that follows the "one" in the previous verse.  Very clever. 

[Ragin]

I know it doesn't really count, but I've been a fan since War. So that's fairly early in their career. "I Will Follow" from Boy was still playing when I first got into them and I loved that song, yet it took me until the late 80's to actually get the cassette of Boy. U2 is the first and only band that I had all the cassettes of their work up until Achtung Baby (when I switched over to CDs) and actually went out and bought every album again on the CD format.

I remember not embracing Achtung Baby right away because it seemed like such a departure from their sound to me. Joshua Tree was (and still is) my absolute favorite back then, but I liked some of their earlier work too, and always thought War was a great album too. When Achtung Baby started growing on me, I ended up really liking it though and completely wore out my cassette version of it. I never did like Zooropa or Pop though. Zooropa was the album that caused me to stop listening to U2 much.

All That You Can't Leave Behind was such a breath of fresh air to me and so I got into them again. Beautiful Day is a song I'll put up against basically any single they've ever released. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb was a disappointment to me at first, but I'm starting to like it more and more. It's starting to remind me of Achtung Baby in that regard.

My favorite U2 songs in no particular order are:

I Will Follow
Pride
Where The Streets Have No Name
When Love Comes To Town
Helter Skelter
With or Without You
Out of Control
Stranger In a Strange Land
Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year's Day
In God's Country
Red Hill Mining Town
Silver and Gold
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Beautiful Day
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
Mysterious Ways
Until the End of the World
Lemon
Numb
Staring At the Sun
Elevation
Walk On
In a Little While
Vertigo
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
Yahweh

I know that's a lot of songs, but that's a lot of songs they have to choose from too.