Do you know the story on how "Elvis Presley and America" was produced"? Brian Eno took the drum track of "A Sort of Homecoming", slowed it down and played it backwards. He did that and told Bono to just sing. So Bono made up the lyrics on the spot as the drum track played. This is why it's one of my favorite U2 songs.
Finally (just in chronological order), what your favorite U2 album says about you! Boy: You hate U2 and you're here for this cool post-punk band called Boy. October: Either you're a charismatic Christian or an ambient hipster. War: Whitest liberal who heard this at a college protest and *maybe* gave the others a perfunctory listen before writing a review about "their ACTUAL best album". The Unforgettable Fire: You hate U2 except for Edge or you're a fan who really likes their appropriation side (...weeb). The Joshua Tree: You either know them very well or hardly at all (Americana Flavor). Rattle and Hum: All your media is purchased used. Achtung Baby: You either know them very well or hardly at all (Euro-Trash Flavor). Zooropa: You're an industrial, club, or electronica fan who got lost and may currently be tripping balls. Pop: You have a great sense of humor/irony (on one level or another). All That You Can't Leave Behind: 9/11 and comeback stories hit you in the feels. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb: You're guilty of voluntourism so you got mad at *that* South Park episode and switched to Oprah YEAH YEAH! No Line on the Horizon: You're more contrarian than artsy who also calls Metallica's Lulu "underrated" (same era, same "it'll grow, just wait" defense). Songs of Innocence: You reached the Acceptance Stage of Grief after failing to delete this from iTunes. Songs of Experience: You're still between Anger and Depression.
Excellent picks. Mercy and Acrobat are roughly in my Top 5; Little Things and Please are pretty close, too. And Until the End of the World is a classic.
Thankyou for the review. As i long time u2 fan you hit the nail on the head. Just about every song you singled out, i would have as well. There is absolutely something spirtitual and resonating about there music, it is more than sounds and words, it really does lift you out of the mire and set your feet apon a rock. It still get goosebumps after 35 years as a fan and thousands of listens and i am still finding something new in their music. U2 live in concet takes their studio albums to a stratospheric level that not many other bands can. Thanks again.
Seriously well put. I have been listening to U2 since 1987, why am I not sick of them? Why can I seek out and find a new live cut of Bullet every other day and just drink it in? Is it their live shows? To me they are like a religious experience. Seeing U2 live is seriously spiritual. There is nothing in the world like singing along with 27k other people.
Thank you for this review!! I'm a (relatively) younger fan and none of my friends are into U2, so I wish I had someone to confide in with some of their deep cuts. So many of the songs you singled out had me crying "YES! If only others knew!" I'm also one of those weird POP fans--yes, even Miami (love that fat bass) and the Playboy Mansion (smooth groove). I'm very much looking forward to a future anniversary edition of Atomic Bomb to see if they will finally release Mercy on a quality recording--and hopefully in all its forms, too! Thanks again and Godspeed
awesome to see a younger U2 fan. POP is my fifth fave album, Achtung being the clear number 1. Also don’t listen to his Songs of Innocence nonsense. Amazing album. Best since POP and better than Songs of experience. If you like POP, you will love Sleep Like a Baby Tonight, also Every Breaking Wave, The Troubles, Raised By Wolves (very early U2 sound) and definitely listen to Crystal Ballroom.
I'm amazed that you have reviewed U2's albums and not mentioned Brian Eno or Steve Lillywhite at all and Daniel Lanois just once. These producers had such an influence in the development of their sound.
That is an oversight. I was trying to focus on songs and to a lesser degree the band, but agreed that Lanois and Eno were important parts of many albums and Lillywhite's production is a distinctive added factor, especially on the early albums.
POP did it for me. Masterpiece. Please, Gone, Wake up dead man,Do you feel loved? Jesus. What a record. Ok, the playboy mason is shit and so is miami. but just those two. I love velvet dress and I love Discotheque. Showing how un-seriously they truly take themselves.
Thanks for your Review. Every U2 fan has their own feeling to each album and each song. My very first U2 album that I heard was October I got it in 82 I loved Gloria. I played that song over and over I loved that album. I bought Boy the next week and had the same Reaction to that album. WAR came out in 1983 and I LOVED that album to me it is the best version of Boy & October. Drowning man is one of the best songs ever. My first live concert was the War tour in Tulsa just before the played Red Rocks. I have seen them live 10 times also. I was at the opening show in Tulsa when they first played Acrobat live. I love that song as well. My top 5 U2 albums would be 1. The Joshua Tree. I also love Streets live. 2. War. 3. Achtung Baby 4.The Unforgettable Fire . 5. Songs of Experience. Boy and All that you can't leave behind. would be next in line. My top 10 songs would Be ...... 1. Streets. 2. Invisible. 3.Gloria. 4. 40. 5. Pride. 6. Drowning Man. 7. Acrobat. 8.I still haven't found what I'm looking for. 9.One..The Live version. 10.Magnificent. Be Well and thank you for your list.
Thank you so much for sharing! Very cool that you got to see them back then. I also love your picks. Gloria is definitely an all-time favorite, along with Invisible and Acrobat.
@PatrickAshe Wow, I’m blown away by how many of my personal favs of U2’s catalog match up with your favorite songs on their albums. It started to get almost creepy as your video went on. LOL. U2 is my favorite band as well, and they have so many damn good songs that everyone has their own unique list of what’re the best-making it rare to find someone who’s U2 tastes line up closely with one’s own. Loved how high you ranked the often less-appreciated The Unforgettable Fire. (I’d go one higher & put it into the top 3, dropping Boy down one spot, since I love atmospheric, sonic-feast, open-ended U2. Otherwise, I agree with your top three.) It was a joy to watch your video & hear your reasoning. Cheers from another U2 fan. FWIW, would be interesting to hear in a future video your reactions to the band’s live performances/concert tours at some point-since U2 are ultimately a *live band* more than a studio band. For ex., I dislike Elevation on the ATYCLB album...but there’s no denying the power of that song live during a U2 stadium concert; it’s simply a banger. And the studio track of Streets is a great song, but U2’s live performances transform it into something epic. And then there’s all their live interpretations of songs that are often better & more vibrant than the studio versions. Really, I could make a whole separate top 10 or top 20 list of live versions-or for the live tours that went with each album (the tour as if it were its own animal). Food for thought.
Thank you so much! I love your feedback and how much we relate. There have been times in the past where Unforgettable Fire was #3 :) It's a close one for me. Indian Summer Sky is an underappreciated one. But yes, they are truly a live band. I think I've seen them... 9 times? More than any other band. I really hope they'll come back out when concerts open back up. And yes, as much as I love Streets on the album (especially that intro), the live performances are just pure gold and then some. The R&H version took my love of the band (and music in general) to heights I didn't know existed.
Although I rank the albums differently(I just can't get into Boy and have Zooropa toward the bottom of my ranking), I really enjoyed your analysis and found that we love many of the same songs. (Little Things, Mercy, Acrobat, 13) I'm also an enneagram 4 and U2 are the most mainstream group I'm into..and my favorite.
Thank you! That is awesome to hear, especially that last sentence :) I have to admit, after doing this, I have an itch to put Songs of Experience higher than Zooropa and maybe Pop. Those particular songs are among their best.
I was like what? A metal guy likes 'Gloria'?? I agree in your number one album, but to me 1 - Joshua Tree 2 - The Unforgettable Fire 3 - War Fave song "Luminous Times"✌🏻 great video.
Love U2, but I tuned out after the Pop album. For some reason, I just stopped caring about U2 when they started making videos with 🏈 imagery, pandering to the American market. But even so, they still blew me away with rockers like Elevation and Vertigo. War is my favourite album and Two Hearts Beat As One is still my favourite U2 song. The punk energy goes a long way. Old school is the best school. Those albums from War to Pop has to be one of the greatest album runs in rock history.
Update: If I included Passengers, it would be at the bottom (although it's still good overall), but if we included Songs of Surrender, wheeeew... that would be dead last, easily. I tried listening to it a few times and it's just awful. If it counts as one of their albums (which can be debated), it really is their only bad album. I sincerely hope they do the "heavy guitar" album along with Songs of Ascent (or whatever they title the songs they've had on the backburner for like 15 years).
Considering their age at the time their 1st 2 albums were strong. Seemed to go 'wrong' when War came out, the dangers of large labels, expectations, money and fame. But still managed the occasional lovely tune since then.
Really enjoyed your review and your personal view approach. I don't agree with all your choices, but won't argue with your top four, good calls in there.
Im a Lifer U2 fan, 30+ years. U got a lot right on this review, great job and thanks for doing this. Nailed "Little things" as a great song. Its hidden but fabulous. Won't point out all the things I agree with but will point out some things you didn't mention and my disagreements. My list: 14) October: if I never hear this album again, id be ok. Some songs are unlistenable now. and "Fire"? Yikes! 13) Songs OF Innocents: "Cedarwood Road" is good and really good live. 12) Songs of Experience: Agreed with most of what you said. 11) No Line on Horizon: "Breathe" and "Magnificent" are excellent too. 10) Zooropa: "Stay" , "Dirty Day" and "Zooropa" are some of my personal favorites from this not mentioned. 9) Boy: Agreed with your assessment but not the ranking. 8) How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb: Got right, but my fave not mentioned is "Crumbs from your Table" (very underrated song). 7) POP: Agreed. 6) Rattle n Hum: Nailed it. 5) WAR: Not sure how an album with "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Years Day" gets such a low rating. And you you don't like "Two Hearts" and "Seconds"? 4) Unforgettable Fire: No mention of "Wire"? That song is awesome! 3) All That You Can't Leave Behind: Got the review mostly right but ranked way too low. A lot of top U2 songs on this album. And you didn't mention one of my other beloved underrated songs "New York" 2) Achtung Baby 1) Joshua Tree.
Great feedback (pardon the pun on their earlier name)! I like seeing the similar and different takes. And you’re right; Crumbs From Your Table, Seconds, and Wire are all worthy of mention. Two Hearts does have a kickass bassline. Good stuff; thank you!
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 that's a fair point, and certainly part of why we covered Like a Song, but argh. Most of the songs are good (not Refugee or Red Light), but even the best don't crack my Top 20. It's a songwriting thing, I guess. A very punchy album (which served them well), but not as much staying power for me.
Very interesting comments... I agree that The Little Things is amazing... might be the best late stage U2 song. I think Drowning Man is one of their best as well, and it's on WAR, which you rated a bit low. NLOTH would be so amazing if you switched out a few songs with b-sides, like get rid of Stand Up Comedy, Crazy Tonight and Boots, would be a much better album, because I love the rest of the songs. Also, you are so right about their single choices... I can't imagine why they chose Boots as a single! What were they thinking?!?! And Discoteque too!
So true. my No Line revamp is leading off with the song Soon, and then leaving off Boots and Stand Up Comedy and Crazy Tonight. With that you have a very solid, if not outstanding album.
Pop was the best last truly great thing they ever did, take out 'if God will send his Angels' and that awful 'playboy mansion' and insert 'Holy Joe' and 'I'm not your baby' after that its all middle of the road, Mofo is one of their greatest most aggressive tunes, ferocious song, they over think it sometimes 'Xanax and Wine' is class but the song it morphed into 'Fast Cars' is that song after getting its nuts chopped off, last time they had ball was up to 99, of course they've had a few decent ones like 'Ground beneath her feet' 'Electrical Storm' 'Stateless' etc but nothing ever got up to Pop.
Props for a hot take! I think I mentioned a good friend who loves Pop and would appreciate this. I also think North and South of the River was a great tune from the Pop era (especially that live version with the strings etc.).
Wow bravo really enjoyed the synopsis! U2s catalog is so massive it’s nearly mathematically impossible for someone to not like at least a few of their songs.. whether they admit or not 😉. Btw have you listened to “disappearing act” re-done from the Unforgettable Fire era?
I LOVE Disappearing Act! One of my favorite B-Sides. I wish I talked more about them, haha :) I also love A Celebration from the October era (such a simple riff on a power chord, but so effective), Angels Too Tied to the Ground from War, She's Gonna Blow Your House Down from Achtung, North and South of the River from Pop (especially that live orchestral version; amazing), Always from ATYCLB, Fast Cars from Atomic Bomb, etc. So many great ones.
Watching this I came to the realization that I've been listening to U2 for 39 years and hit me really hard. I think that from '83 to '88 this was my favorite band, and after 1990 they became really irrelevant to me. I won't argue with your choices here, but I will point out something that jumped out at me. You ignored lived recordings with the exception of Rattle and Hum. Even though they have written many a great song, U2 don't really make great sounding albums. It takes live performances to tease out the greatness out of those songs and I think the band knew that. They released two very good live EPs in the first five years of their recording existence and they were crucial in making this band the monster that it became. The versions of "I Will Follow", "40", "Bloody Sunday", "Tick Tock" and others in Under a Blood Red Sky are superior to their studio counterparts. The version of "Bad" in Wide Awake in America is vastly superior to the one in Unforgettable Fire. "Exit" in Rattle and Hum is way cooler and harder than in Joshua Tree. And I can go on like this forever. Live U2 is always best. I said I wouldn't argue with your choices here, but I can't help myself. I'm the farthest thing from a white liberal, and War (see your comment below) came out when I was in high school. It was still way better than Men Without Hats, Journey or freaking Scorpions and Quiet Riot. And I like it much better than any post-1990 U2 record. :
The live exclusion was intentional; most album rankings are explicitly for studio albums, focusing on the original songs. I don't disagree with your overall point on their strength live (I have, like... six bootlegs along with UBRS, WAIA, R&H, ZooTV, PopMart, Slane, Vertigo Chicago, seen them nine times, a curated live setlist, etc.). There are so many songs that I do prefer live; I could even do rankings of individual performances, versions on tour (e.g. the Fly intro in Elevation). It's just that going down that rabbit hole would double the already long video and newcomers would tap out pretty fast. Per War, eh, just a generalization for kicks based on personal anecdotes. Nothing serious. Atmosphere's still great on that one, along with some heavy riffs.
@@PatrickAshe41 Thanks for the response. To be fair, many of the lines on that post were really funny, and some (October) were actually close to the mark. You seem to be a U2 completist with a TH-cam channel, so maybe this would be a worthwhile request or suggestion. Have you thought of doing a video on the best U2 singes or B-sides that should have made it into proper album releases? I know that I love "Spanish Eyes" and "A Celebration" way more than most tracks on Joshua Tree and October respectively. I fell off the U2 bandwagon after '91 or so, but I'm sure there are songs post Achtung that merited better release status. Regards.
I honestly think Pop was their best album, it was a vehicle for their song writing and talents as musicians to produce an album of the best pop rock songs and it was very good. I find their early albums to stripped back and backdated, sort of basic rock absent of original or interesting arrangement or good song writing
Would be interesting to see you rate b-sides and other projects. Like the songs they did with Robbie Robertson, or with Leonard Cohen, the In The Name Of The Father soundtrack. Falling At Your Feet is a favorite, along with North And South Of The River.
I do love those latter two songs! Oddly enough, even though both U2 and Leonard Cohen are two of my all-time favorites (and being primary influences on my poetry book and mentioned in my novel), I wasn’t crazy about Tower of Song. It’s decent, but not among the best of either. Anyways, thank you!
man. you nailed it! tbh, i've had an inner conflict for years. PF and U2 being my top two. i came to the conclusion after a while that U2 was #1. PF is still #2. you have to check out the videos for october/bullet the blue sky live in paris 2015 as well as love is blindness live from the sydney zoo tv tour if you haven't already. they are epic. thanks, my friend....
That is awesome to know another person shares these top two :) So many love one but aren't as into the other. I do love ZooTV (wore out my VHS in the 90's) and like the songs I've seen for the Paris show. Thank you so much!
Also, one of the funny things about the criticism over "Rattle and Hum" is that it's one of the few albums where people can actually pick up a guitar and play the songs without knowing the minute details of Edge's setup. I think it's funny that something that was full of tracks that can be played live on an acoustic guitar caught that much flack. I mean, Heartland would be tough to play live, but "Love Rescue Me", "Angel of Harlem", "Van Diemen's Land", "All I Want Is You" and "Desire" are all perfect for an acoustic setup. They proved that during the Zoo TV tour.
Oh, definitely! Funny personal thing: I was once asked to play solo acoustic for a friends' wedding, had maybe 15 minutes of stuff prepared as people got settled, but it turned into half an hour or so before the ceremony started so I had to wing it. I basically started playing songs from R&H; Van Dieman's Land, Desire, Angel and got to All I Want is You when they showed up. Seemed fitting ;) And two years after that, my spouse and I included When Love Comes to Town on our reception playlist!
@@PatrickAshe41 they talked to Bob Dylan a lot before and during the recording of the new R & H songs, and one thing that he said (I am paraphrasing here): "You guys have written a bunch of pretty good songs that no one can play live". They did a good job of making great songs that aren't hard to play live on R & H. It took way too much flack considering some of the gems on that album.
Thank you. Great to see fans rank their faves. Here are my albums ranked: Achtung Baby The Joshua Tree Boy Zooropa POP The Unforgettable Fire Songs of Innocence WAR Songs of Experience Rattle and Hum October All That You Can’t Leave Behind No Line OnThe Horizon How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb And yes. even songs ranked. No easy task: Too 25 + 1 LOL Until The End of The World With or Without You Love is Blindness I Will Follow Ultraviolet Kite Where The Streets Have No Name The Fly Bad Running to Stand Still Magnificent Electric Co New Year’s Day Every Breaking Wave Gone Two Hearts Beat as One All I Want is You Your Blue Room Even Better Than The Real Thing Slow Dancin Lemon Out of Control Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me Red Flag Day Gloria Vertigo
Very cool ranking! I like how the different placements makes me think of the albums in new ways. Also, lots of great tracks there. Love that solo in Until the End of the World. Thank you so much!
Here's my list (ascending order, as in the video). After doing this, the only itch I have is maybe Songs of Experience should be a little higher :) 14. Songs of Innocence 13. No Line on the Horizon 12. War 11. Songs of Experience 10. Zooropa 9. Pop 8. Rattle and Hum 7. All That You Can't Leave Behind 6. October 5. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 4. The Unforgettable Fire 3. Boy 2. Achtung Baby 1. The Joshua Tree
Same here! ;) There really is a razor-thin margin between AB and JT for me. Something about JT's songs (all but Trip, anyway) just barely edge it out (... pardon the pun, ha). I do love War's sound, but don't find the songwriting as strong as the other two of course.
I've been a fan since I was 13 ('87 so Joshua Tree time). It seems to me that just about everything that they have released after "How To Dismantle..." is pretty pedestrian. There a 1-3 songs on each of those subsequent albums that I like, but I can't just sit down and listen to the albums like I could with "Boy" or "Achtung Baby". They were better when they weren't trying so hard to be "good song writers". They just sound more and more like Coldplay trying to sound like U2, if that makes sense. And I liked Coldplay's first 2 albums too, but Coldplay was ripping off U2. For U2 to turn around and rip off Coldplay is just odd lol.
It does make sense. I'd generally agree with that, although half of Experience really grew on me. I think it's more of Bono's mysterious brush with death and subsequent "write from the heart" that I really like on that one. I hope it continues to the next (which I'm guessing will be their last; they've floated calling it a day for a long time).
U2 best albuns are : 1 - War, 2 - Unforgettable Fire, 3 - Joshua Tree , 4 - Zooropa and 5 -October. Medium: 6 -Boy, 7 - All that we can´t leave, 8 - Atomic Bomb, 9 - No line in Horizon, 10 - Achtung Baby ( yes, I dont care for this album) Not good; all the rest ( Rattle and Hum, POP, Songs from ..., )
Maybe by a few, but most complaints are things like "they put an album on my phone" or "Bono is so annoying", i.e. the most first world problems of first world problems. He did twist W's arm into PEPFAR, which is about the only good thing to come out of that administration
@@PatrickAshe41 that's more to do with popular culture and its cool to hate U2 Which in turn is what U2 is very much part of the pop culture so they created there own karma from supporting war criminals.
I know it was a thing in the early 90's because I bought into it; I only know about the W connection specifically on PEPFAR. It does disappoint me that Bono could have just left it at that but plays nice with neocons and neolibs
To give more reason, it both lyrically and musically builds from a simply love ditty built on various metaphors acknowledging one's flaws to literal proclamations of universal love. It feels like breaking from a long spell of doldrums into renewal. It's like an auditory version of Dr. King's "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” The part after the interlude when the band comes back together for the chorus is one of those moments of "This is why I consider them the greatest band."
![[Friday On The Turntable] Ranking U2: From 'Boy' to 'No Line On The Horizon'](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Md_CzZ9GM50/mqdefault.jpg)
![[Live] : ONE 168 วันนี้!! "โจนาธาน vs ซุปเปอร์เล็ก"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0jIN65KgJsI/mqdefault.jpg)
You love " The Little Things That Give You Away " ...... That's enough for me to understand that you have great musical taste ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Thank you so much, and likewise
Do you know the story on how "Elvis Presley and America" was produced"? Brian Eno took the drum track of "A Sort of Homecoming", slowed it down and played it backwards. He did that and told Bono to just sing. So Bono made up the lyrics on the spot as the drum track played. This is why it's one of my favorite U2 songs.
Amen I love this whole album!!!!!! I listen this song a lot!!!!
Finally (just in chronological order), what your favorite U2 album says about you!
Boy: You hate U2 and you're here for this cool post-punk band called Boy.
October: Either you're a charismatic Christian or an ambient hipster.
War: Whitest liberal who heard this at a college protest and *maybe* gave the others a perfunctory listen before writing a review about "their ACTUAL best album".
The Unforgettable Fire: You hate U2 except for Edge or you're a fan who really likes their appropriation side (...weeb).
The Joshua Tree: You either know them very well or hardly at all (Americana Flavor).
Rattle and Hum: All your media is purchased used.
Achtung Baby: You either know them very well or hardly at all (Euro-Trash Flavor).
Zooropa: You're an industrial, club, or electronica fan who got lost and may currently be tripping balls.
Pop: You have a great sense of humor/irony (on one level or another).
All That You Can't Leave Behind: 9/11 and comeback stories hit you in the feels.
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb: You're guilty of voluntourism so you got mad at *that* South Park episode and switched to Oprah YEAH YEAH!
No Line on the Horizon: You're more contrarian than artsy who also calls Metallica's Lulu "underrated" (same era, same "it'll grow, just wait" defense).
Songs of Innocence: You reached the Acceptance Stage of Grief after failing to delete this from iTunes.
Songs of Experience: You're still between Anger and Depression.
Mercy
Acrobat
The Little Things That Give You Away
Please
Until the End of the World
...... My top 5 favourite songs
Excellent picks. Mercy and Acrobat are roughly in my Top 5; Little Things and Please are pretty close, too. And Until the End of the World is a classic.
I love Acrobat!!!!!!
Thankyou for the review. As i long time u2 fan you hit the nail on the head. Just about every song you singled out, i would have as well. There is absolutely something spirtitual and resonating about there music, it is more than sounds and words, it really does lift you out of the mire and set your feet apon a rock. It still get goosebumps after 35 years as a fan and thousands of listens and i am still finding something new in their music. U2 live in concet takes their studio albums to a stratospheric level that not many other bands can.
Thanks again.
And thank you! Your 40 reference is quite fitting :)
Seriously well put. I have been listening to U2 since 1987, why am I not sick of them? Why can I seek out and find a new live cut of Bullet every other day and just drink it in? Is it their live shows? To me they are like a religious experience. Seeing U2 live is seriously spiritual. There is nothing in the world like singing along with 27k other people.
Hey, thanks for your video! I've been hearing U2 for some time and some of the lesser known musics you recommended that i didnt know are brilliant!
Thank you for this review!! I'm a (relatively) younger fan and none of my friends are into U2, so I wish I had someone to confide in with some of their deep cuts. So many of the songs you singled out had me crying "YES! If only others knew!" I'm also one of those weird POP fans--yes, even Miami (love that fat bass) and the Playboy Mansion (smooth groove). I'm very much looking forward to a future anniversary edition of Atomic Bomb to see if they will finally release Mercy on a quality recording--and hopefully in all its forms, too!
Thanks again and Godspeed
Thank you! Great to hear about your (songs of) experience ;)
awesome to see a younger U2 fan. POP is my fifth fave album, Achtung being the clear number 1. Also don’t listen to his Songs of Innocence nonsense. Amazing album. Best since POP and better than Songs of experience. If you like POP, you will love Sleep Like a Baby Tonight, also Every Breaking Wave, The Troubles, Raised By Wolves (very early U2 sound) and definitely listen to Crystal Ballroom.
I'm amazed that you have reviewed U2's albums and not mentioned Brian Eno or Steve Lillywhite at all and Daniel Lanois just once. These producers had such an influence in the development of their sound.
That is an oversight. I was trying to focus on songs and to a lesser degree the band, but agreed that Lanois and Eno were important parts of many albums and Lillywhite's production is a distinctive added factor, especially on the early albums.
@@PatrickAshe41 Hi Patrick. Thanks for the reply. It was interesting to watch your ranking and reviews anyway. Keep up the interesting contents.
POP did it for me. Masterpiece. Please, Gone, Wake up dead man,Do you feel loved? Jesus. What a record. Ok, the playboy mason is shit and so is miami. but just those two. I love velvet dress and I love Discotheque. Showing how un-seriously they truly take themselves.
Thanks for your Review. Every U2 fan has their own feeling to each album and each song. My very first U2 album that I heard was October I got it in 82 I loved Gloria. I played that song over and over I loved that album. I bought Boy the next week and had the same Reaction to that album. WAR came out in 1983 and I LOVED that album to me it is the best version of Boy & October. Drowning man is one of the best songs ever. My first live concert was the War tour in Tulsa just before the played Red Rocks. I have seen them live 10 times also. I was at the opening show in Tulsa when they first played Acrobat live. I love that song as well.
My top 5 U2 albums would be 1. The Joshua Tree. I also love Streets live. 2. War. 3. Achtung Baby 4.The Unforgettable Fire . 5. Songs of Experience. Boy and All that you can't leave behind. would be next in line. My top 10 songs would Be ...... 1. Streets. 2. Invisible. 3.Gloria. 4. 40. 5. Pride. 6. Drowning Man. 7. Acrobat. 8.I still haven't found what I'm looking for. 9.One..The Live version. 10.Magnificent. Be Well and thank you for your list.
Thank you so much for sharing! Very cool that you got to see them back then. I also love your picks. Gloria is definitely an all-time favorite, along with Invisible and Acrobat.
@PatrickAshe Wow, I’m blown away by how many of my personal favs of U2’s catalog match up with your favorite songs on their albums. It started to get almost creepy as your video went on. LOL. U2 is my favorite band as well, and they have so many damn good songs that everyone has their own unique list of what’re the best-making it rare to find someone who’s U2 tastes line up closely with one’s own. Loved how high you ranked the often less-appreciated The Unforgettable Fire. (I’d go one higher & put it into the top 3, dropping Boy down one spot, since I love atmospheric, sonic-feast, open-ended U2. Otherwise, I agree with your top three.)
It was a joy to watch your video & hear your reasoning. Cheers from another U2 fan.
FWIW, would be interesting to hear in a future video your reactions to the band’s live performances/concert tours at some point-since U2 are ultimately a *live band* more than a studio band. For ex., I dislike Elevation on the ATYCLB album...but there’s no denying the power of that song live during a U2 stadium concert; it’s simply a banger. And the studio track of Streets is a great song, but U2’s live performances transform it into something epic. And then there’s all their live interpretations of songs that are often better & more vibrant than the studio versions. Really, I could make a whole separate top 10 or top 20 list of live versions-or for the live tours that went with each album (the tour as if it were its own animal). Food for thought.
Thank you so much! I love your feedback and how much we relate. There have been times in the past where Unforgettable Fire was #3 :) It's a close one for me. Indian Summer Sky is an underappreciated one.
But yes, they are truly a live band. I think I've seen them... 9 times? More than any other band. I really hope they'll come back out when concerts open back up. And yes, as much as I love Streets on the album (especially that intro), the live performances are just pure gold and then some. The R&H version took my love of the band (and music in general) to heights I didn't know existed.
Although I rank the albums differently(I just can't get into Boy and have Zooropa toward the bottom of my ranking), I really enjoyed your analysis and found that we love many of the same songs. (Little Things, Mercy, Acrobat, 13) I'm also an enneagram 4 and U2 are the most mainstream group I'm into..and my favorite.
Thank you! That is awesome to hear, especially that last sentence :) I have to admit, after doing this, I have an itch to put Songs of Experience higher than Zooropa and maybe Pop. Those particular songs are among their best.
I was like what? A metal guy likes 'Gloria'??
I agree in your number one album, but to me
1 - Joshua Tree
2 - The Unforgettable Fire
3 - War
Fave song "Luminous Times"✌🏻 great video.
Thank you so much! And nice pick of Luminous Times. One of my favorite lines: "I love you 'cause I need to / Not because I need you"
@@PatrickAshe41 Yesss wow not so much people knows this song 🥰
...I love you 'cause I understand
That God has given me your hand
awesome!!!
Love U2, but I tuned out after the Pop album. For some reason, I just stopped caring about U2 when they started making videos with 🏈 imagery, pandering to the American market. But even so, they still blew me away with rockers like Elevation and Vertigo.
War is my favourite album and Two Hearts Beat As One is still my favourite U2 song. The punk energy goes a long way. Old school is the best school.
Those albums from War to Pop has to be one of the greatest album runs in rock history.
Update: If I included Passengers, it would be at the bottom (although it's still good overall), but if we included Songs of Surrender, wheeeew... that would be dead last, easily. I tried listening to it a few times and it's just awful. If it counts as one of their albums (which can be debated), it really is their only bad album. I sincerely hope they do the "heavy guitar" album along with Songs of Ascent (or whatever they title the songs they've had on the backburner for like 15 years).
Sooooo wrong about War
Considering their age at the time their 1st 2 albums were strong. Seemed to go 'wrong' when War came out, the dangers of large labels, expectations, money and fame. But still managed the occasional lovely tune since then.
Really enjoyed your review and your personal view approach. I don't agree with all your choices, but won't argue with your top four, good calls in there.
Thank you kindly!
Enjoyed that mate very good reviews and content Cheers!
Im a Lifer U2 fan, 30+ years. U got a lot right on this review, great job and thanks for doing this. Nailed "Little things" as a great song. Its hidden but fabulous. Won't point out all the things I agree with but will point out some things you didn't mention and my disagreements. My list: 14) October: if I never hear this album again, id be ok. Some songs are unlistenable now. and "Fire"? Yikes! 13) Songs OF Innocents: "Cedarwood Road" is good and really good live. 12) Songs of Experience: Agreed with most of what you said. 11) No Line on Horizon: "Breathe" and "Magnificent" are excellent too. 10) Zooropa: "Stay" , "Dirty Day" and "Zooropa" are some of my personal favorites from this not mentioned. 9) Boy: Agreed with your assessment but not the ranking. 8) How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb: Got right, but my fave not mentioned is "Crumbs from your Table" (very underrated song). 7) POP: Agreed. 6) Rattle n Hum: Nailed it. 5) WAR: Not sure how an album with "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Years Day" gets such a low rating. And you you don't like "Two Hearts" and "Seconds"? 4) Unforgettable Fire: No mention of "Wire"? That song is awesome! 3) All That You Can't Leave Behind: Got the review mostly right but ranked way too low. A lot of top U2 songs on this album. And you didn't mention one of my other beloved underrated songs "New York" 2) Achtung Baby 1) Joshua Tree.
Great feedback (pardon the pun on their earlier name)! I like seeing the similar and different takes. And you’re right; Crumbs From Your Table, Seconds, and Wire are all worthy of mention. Two Hearts does have a kickass bassline. Good stuff; thank you!
Good list, although I think you are wrong on War. LOL. War is the culmination of that first period. Top 3.
For a metal fan to dislike War is really weird. It's U2's most rockin' album.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 that's a fair point, and certainly part of why we covered Like a Song, but argh. Most of the songs are good (not Refugee or Red Light), but even the best don't crack my Top 20. It's a songwriting thing, I guess. A very punchy album (which served them well), but not as much staying power for me.
Very interesting comments... I agree that The Little Things is amazing... might be the best late stage U2 song. I think Drowning Man is one of their best as well, and it's on WAR, which you rated a bit low. NLOTH would be so amazing if you switched out a few songs with b-sides, like get rid of Stand Up Comedy, Crazy Tonight and Boots, would be a much better album, because I love the rest of the songs. Also, you are so right about their single choices... I can't imagine why they chose Boots as a single! What were they thinking?!?! And Discoteque too!
Drowning Man is a very good one, along with Seconds. And yeah, those single choices were silly!
So true. my No Line revamp is leading off with the song Soon, and then leaving off Boots and Stand Up Comedy and Crazy Tonight. With that you have a very solid, if not outstanding album.
Pop was the best last truly great thing they ever did, take out 'if God will send his Angels' and that awful 'playboy mansion' and insert 'Holy Joe' and 'I'm not your baby' after that its all middle of the road, Mofo is one of their greatest most aggressive tunes, ferocious song, they over think it sometimes 'Xanax and Wine' is class but the song it morphed into 'Fast Cars' is that song after getting its nuts chopped off, last time they had ball was up to 99, of course they've had a few decent ones like 'Ground beneath her feet' 'Electrical Storm' 'Stateless' etc but nothing ever got up to Pop.
Props for a hot take! I think I mentioned a good friend who loves Pop and would appreciate this. I also think North and South of the River was a great tune from the Pop era (especially that live version with the strings etc.).
U2 rules !!!!!
Wow bravo really enjoyed the synopsis! U2s catalog is so massive it’s nearly mathematically impossible for someone to not like at least a few of their songs.. whether they admit or not 😉. Btw have you listened to “disappearing act” re-done from the Unforgettable Fire era?
I LOVE Disappearing Act! One of my favorite B-Sides. I wish I talked more about them, haha :) I also love A Celebration from the October era (such a simple riff on a power chord, but so effective), Angels Too Tied to the Ground from War, She's Gonna Blow Your House Down from Achtung, North and South of the River from Pop (especially that live orchestral version; amazing), Always from ATYCLB, Fast Cars from Atomic Bomb, etc. So many great ones.
@@PatrickAshe41 Right on, so many great ones!
i have liked them since 1983
Watching this I came to the realization that I've been listening to U2 for 39 years and hit me really hard. I think that from '83 to '88 this was my favorite band, and after 1990 they became really irrelevant to me. I won't argue with your choices here, but I will point out something that jumped out at me. You ignored lived recordings with the exception of Rattle and Hum.
Even though they have written many a great song, U2 don't really make great sounding albums. It takes live performances to tease out the greatness out of those songs and I think the band knew that. They released two very good live EPs in the first five years of their recording existence and they were crucial in making this band the monster that it became.
The versions of "I Will Follow", "40", "Bloody Sunday", "Tick Tock" and others in Under a Blood Red Sky are superior to their studio counterparts. The version of "Bad" in Wide Awake in America is vastly superior to the one in Unforgettable Fire. "Exit" in Rattle and Hum is way cooler and harder than in Joshua Tree. And I can go on like this forever. Live U2 is always best.
I said I wouldn't argue with your choices here, but I can't help myself. I'm the farthest thing from a white liberal, and War (see your comment below) came out when I was in high school. It was still way better than Men Without Hats, Journey or freaking Scorpions and Quiet Riot. And I like it much better than any post-1990 U2 record.
:
The live exclusion was intentional; most album rankings are explicitly for studio albums, focusing on the original songs. I don't disagree with your overall point on their strength live (I have, like... six bootlegs along with UBRS, WAIA, R&H, ZooTV, PopMart, Slane, Vertigo Chicago, seen them nine times, a curated live setlist, etc.). There are so many songs that I do prefer live; I could even do rankings of individual performances, versions on tour (e.g. the Fly intro in Elevation). It's just that going down that rabbit hole would double the already long video and newcomers would tap out pretty fast.
Per War, eh, just a generalization for kicks based on personal anecdotes. Nothing serious. Atmosphere's still great on that one, along with some heavy riffs.
@@PatrickAshe41 Thanks for the response. To be fair, many of the lines on that post were really funny, and some (October) were actually close to the mark.
You seem to be a U2 completist with a TH-cam channel, so maybe this would be a worthwhile request or suggestion. Have you thought of doing a video on the best U2 singes or B-sides that should have made it into proper album releases? I know that I love "Spanish Eyes" and "A Celebration" way more than most tracks on Joshua Tree and October respectively. I fell off the U2 bandwagon after '91 or so, but I'm sure there are songs post Achtung that merited better release status.
Regards.
Songs of Innocence gets a lot of unfair criticism.
I honestly think Pop was their best album, it was a vehicle for their song writing and talents as musicians to produce an album of the best pop rock songs and it was very good. I find their early albums to stripped back and backdated, sort of basic rock absent of original or interesting arrangement or good song writing
The experience album was written as letters fantastic album and of course as usual with U2 it was phenomenal live.
Would be interesting to see you rate b-sides and other projects. Like the songs they did with Robbie Robertson, or with Leonard Cohen, the In The Name Of The Father soundtrack. Falling At Your Feet is a favorite, along with North And South Of The River.
I do love those latter two songs! Oddly enough, even though both U2 and Leonard Cohen are two of my all-time favorites (and being primary influences on my poetry book and mentioned in my novel), I wasn’t crazy about Tower of Song. It’s decent, but not among the best of either. Anyways, thank you!
War is the only U2 album I really like. Also, I don’t hate Rattle and Hum.
man. you nailed it! tbh, i've had an inner conflict for years. PF and U2 being my top two. i came to the conclusion after a while that U2 was #1. PF is still #2. you have to check out the videos for october/bullet the blue sky live in paris 2015 as well as love is blindness live from the sydney zoo tv tour if you haven't already. they are epic. thanks, my friend....
That is awesome to know another person shares these top two :) So many love one but aren't as into the other. I do love ZooTV (wore out my VHS in the 90's) and like the songs I've seen for the Paris show. Thank you so much!
Enjoyed your video would love you to do a review on u2 singles, projects and do kne on Passengers thank you. My pics are Joshua, Achtung, Pop NLOTH
Love pop think it's one of their best albums !! Some brilliant Songs on it!! Underrated big time
The only song in this album I like is 'If God will send his Angels' done!
Also, one of the funny things about the criticism over "Rattle and Hum" is that it's one of the few albums where people can actually pick up a guitar and play the songs without knowing the minute details of Edge's setup. I think it's funny that something that was full of tracks that can be played live on an acoustic guitar caught that much flack. I mean, Heartland would be tough to play live, but "Love Rescue Me", "Angel of Harlem", "Van Diemen's Land", "All I Want Is You" and "Desire" are all perfect for an acoustic setup. They proved that during the Zoo TV tour.
Oh, definitely! Funny personal thing: I was once asked to play solo acoustic for a friends' wedding, had maybe 15 minutes of stuff prepared as people got settled, but it turned into half an hour or so before the ceremony started so I had to wing it. I basically started playing songs from R&H; Van Dieman's Land, Desire, Angel and got to All I Want is You when they showed up. Seemed fitting ;) And two years after that, my spouse and I included When Love Comes to Town on our reception playlist!
@@PatrickAshe41 they talked to Bob Dylan a lot before and during the recording of the new R & H songs, and one thing that he said (I am paraphrasing here): "You guys have written a bunch of pretty good songs that no one can play live". They did a good job of making great songs that aren't hard to play live on R & H. It took way too much flack considering some of the gems on that album.
without even watching you start ranking I am sure that ( All that you can't leave behind ) and ( Jashua Tree ) should be among your top two.
Thank you. Great to see fans rank their faves. Here are my albums ranked:
Achtung Baby
The Joshua Tree
Boy
Zooropa
POP
The Unforgettable Fire
Songs of Innocence
WAR
Songs of Experience
Rattle and Hum
October
All That You Can’t Leave Behind
No Line OnThe Horizon
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
And yes. even songs ranked. No easy task:
Too 25 + 1 LOL
Until The End of The World
With or Without You
Love is Blindness
I Will Follow
Ultraviolet
Kite
Where The Streets Have No Name
The Fly
Bad
Running to Stand Still
Magnificent
Electric Co
New Year’s Day
Every Breaking Wave
Gone
Two Hearts Beat as One
All I Want is You
Your Blue Room
Even Better Than The Real Thing
Slow Dancin
Lemon
Out of Control
Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me
Red Flag Day
Gloria
Vertigo
Very cool ranking! I like how the different placements makes me think of the albums in new ways. Also, lots of great tracks there. Love that solo in Until the End of the World. Thank you so much!
Here's my list (ascending order, as in the video). After doing this, the only itch I have is maybe Songs of Experience should be a little higher :)
14. Songs of Innocence
13. No Line on the Horizon
12. War
11. Songs of Experience
10. Zooropa
9. Pop
8. Rattle and Hum
7. All That You Can't Leave Behind
6. October
5. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
4. The Unforgettable Fire
3. Boy
2. Achtung Baby
1. The Joshua Tree
WHAT i never would of guessed youd have it so low
Oh yeah I forgot to recommend you a good b side of U2..." Xanax and wine" probably you already heard it but just in case! ...
It's a good one! Native Son, Always, She's Gonna Blow Your House Down, Salome, so many awesome ones :)
I wonder why you as a "Metal Fan" put "The Joshua Tree" on the No. 1? I would have expected "Achtung Baby" or "War" there.
Same here! ;) There really is a razor-thin margin between AB and JT for me. Something about JT's songs (all but Trip, anyway) just barely edge it out (... pardon the pun, ha). I do love War's sound, but don't find the songwriting as strong as the other two of course.
I've been a fan since I was 13 ('87 so Joshua Tree time). It seems to me that just about everything that they have released after "How To Dismantle..." is pretty pedestrian. There a 1-3 songs on each of those subsequent albums that I like, but I can't just sit down and listen to the albums like I could with "Boy" or "Achtung Baby". They were better when they weren't trying so hard to be "good song writers". They just sound more and more like Coldplay trying to sound like U2, if that makes sense. And I liked Coldplay's first 2 albums too, but Coldplay was ripping off U2. For U2 to turn around and rip off Coldplay is just odd lol.
It does make sense. I'd generally agree with that, although half of Experience really grew on me. I think it's more of Bono's mysterious brush with death and subsequent "write from the heart" that I really like on that one. I hope it continues to the next (which I'm guessing will be their last; they've floated calling it a day for a long time).
oh yeah...Mercy is an amazing song...
U2 best albuns are : 1 - War, 2 - Unforgettable Fire, 3 - Joshua Tree , 4 - Zooropa and 5 -October.
Medium: 6 -Boy, 7 - All that we can´t leave, 8 - Atomic Bomb, 9 - No line in Horizon, 10 - Achtung Baby ( yes, I dont care for this album)
Not good; all the rest ( Rattle and Hum, POP, Songs from ..., )
You're on glue
Nah, but I did listen to Zooropa
The reason Bono and U2 get hate is because they were effectively supporting war criminals.
Maybe by a few, but most complaints are things like "they put an album on my phone" or "Bono is so annoying", i.e. the most first world problems of first world problems. He did twist W's arm into PEPFAR, which is about the only good thing to come out of that administration
@@PatrickAshe41 that's more to do with popular culture and its cool to hate U2 Which in turn is what U2 is very much part of the pop culture so they created there own karma from supporting war criminals.
I know it was a thing in the early 90's because I bought into it; I only know about the W connection specifically on PEPFAR. It does disappoint me that Bono could have just left it at that but plays nice with neocons and neolibs
@@PatrickAshe41 A lot of original fans they lost after supporting those war hungery world leaders would of been Gen X Fans like myself.
I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever understand why people are so enamored with Mercy.
It's a perfect U2 song. The studio bootleg, that is, not the live one on Wide Awake in Europe; the lyrics fall apart hard in that version.
To give more reason, it both lyrically and musically builds from a simply love ditty built on various metaphors acknowledging one's flaws to literal proclamations of universal love. It feels like breaking from a long spell of doldrums into renewal. It's like an auditory version of Dr. King's "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” The part after the interlude when the band comes back together for the chorus is one of those moments of "This is why I consider them the greatest band."