How Interference Ranks The U2 Discography

[AnCatKatie]

9. Boy, October, War (They're all the same, anyway)

*runs away*

If by the same you mean awesome XD

and—they're definitely not the same. War is a lot heavier and (to me, at least) less original than Boy since in a way War was a regression back to sounding more like Boy, but at the same time, it has a totally different sound and meaning. October of course is drastically different than both of those. I keep wondering how they came up with the sound in October, it was so different. Kind of amazing, really. People think TUF and Joshua Tree started what's classified as 'U2 sound' out of the blue but I think it started there...

 

[mikal]

Zooropa is not a U2 album because Johnny Cash sang on it.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Zooropa is not a U2 album because Johnny Cash sang on it.

Rattle & Hum has nothing to do with U2.

 

[Saracene]

I think that when a band releases an album under a different name there's a clear intent that the album stands apart from the rest of their catalogue, but at the same time I can't see a reason why a side project can't be a part of the artist/band's full discography. So Passengers IMO is both a part of U2's back catalogue and yet does not really belong with the conventional U2 albums.

 

[LemonMelon]

Rattle & Hum has nothing to do with U2.

It's not an album, it's a musical journey.

 

[coolian2]

rattle and hum is one of their best albums....if you remove the live drivel* and make it a 7 track ep.


*incl love rescue me.

 

[Rachel D.]

uhm...

14th? runs

I've still never listened to all of this. I really like what I have heard, though.

If by the same you mean awesome XD

and—they're definitely not the same. War is a lot heavier and (to me, at least) less original than Boy since in a way War was a regression back to sounding more like Boy, but at the same time, it has a totally different sound and meaning. October of course is drastically different than both of those. I keep wondering how they came up with the sound in October, it was so different. Kind of amazing, really. People think TUF and Joshua Tree started what's classified as 'U2 sound' out of the blue but I think it started there...

I'm mostly kidding around. But, I hardly ever listen to any of those three albums, so I don't think I could rank them very well. Maybe I should listen to all of them again.

 

[LemonMelon]

I would probably rank it 10th, to be honest. Amazing atmosphere, and the jazzy parts really work for me because I love the genre. It's a very sexy, chill record that works great in some situations but not in others for the most part. Regardless, I adore it for the U2 tracks, which are far above the majority of ATYCLB.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

rattle and hum is one of their best albums....if you remove the live drivel* and make it a 7 track ep.


*incl love rescue me.

While I don't think it's one of their best albums, I think it would be a much better album without all of the fluff.

 

[Streets613]

1) Achtung Baby
2) Joshua Tree
3) Pop
4) No Line On The Horizon
5) The Unforgettable Fire
6) All That You Can't Leave Behind
7) War
8) Zooropa
9) Rattle And Hum
10) Boy
11) How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
12) October

HTDAAB is actually one of my favorites. I just coundn't bring myself to say it's better than anything other than October.

 

[U2girl]

I'm not going to argue with you, because beating myself senseless with a 2x4 is typically more fulfilling than most of these arguments and I'm not in the mood for that today either, but your definition of a U2 album makes TUF a Passengers project, in essence. What's the threshold for instrumentals before it crosses over into Passengers territory? 3? 4? And is Eno only allowed to contribute a maximum 35% of the material?

But, moreover, I don't see how its classification has any relevance whatsoever to its quality, and years and years of repetitious arguments about its place in the U2 catalogue haven't changed anything or made the topic any more relevant.

Well...

Well, they're both sold as such, and Passengers sounds more organic and cohesive than R&H does, by far.

People seem to forget that there are albums without the U2 name stamped on them

Passengers was never sold as a U2 album and yes, there are albums without the U2 name. Which is the lesser part of the point the "Passengers is not a U2 album" argument...

UF was a U2 album, with one instrumental and audibly more U2 input than Passengers. There is no U2 album where Eno had been so much in control as Passengers. Which is the main argument why it's not a U2 album. The band - and several other musicians on that record - essentially became Eno's backing band. And Bono's lyrics for U2 albums are more developed than most of what he wrote for that record. But let's look at what the band said about it:

"Eno's the captain of this ship". Bono, 1995

"Well, it's on Passengers and it is credited as Passengers, but I suppose of the pieces it's the one that Bono and myself probably put the most time into. And at the time both of us realised that it would be really important to have at least a couple of fully fledged songs on the record." Edge, talking about Your blue room, 2002

So despite the claims made every time this debate is up, the "it's not a U2 album" argument goes beyond mere "I don't like it so I don't consider it a U2 album". And as for YBR being a single...and on Best of: yes. Never credited under the name U2 though.

 

[AnCatKatie]

But, I hardly ever listen to any of those three albums, so I don't think I could rank them very well. Maybe I should listen to all of them again.

Yep