I have finally finished rank-ordering every single original U2 song.
Just some notes though:
- I have excluded songs not written by U2, so basically cover versions
- I have also excluded alternate versions of pre-existing U2 songs, so no single versions, just the main album versions. And no live versions (unless they're the only version that exists). 1 Version per song
- I didn't include that Ballad of Ronnie Drew thing as it's a massive collab
Hope you enjoy my order. The number next to the song is the mark out of 10 I have given it. Please don't be offended by some of my choices/scores. We like what we like, and if we all liked/hated the same things, the world would be a boring place!
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses 10
The Unforgettable Fire 10
New Year's Day 9.5
Walk On 9.5
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me 9.5
Kite 9.5
With Or Without You 9.5
One 9.5
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own 9
Acrobat 9
Red Hill Mining Town 8.5
When I Look At The World 8.5
Miracle Drug 8.5
A Sort Of Homecoming 8
In God's Country 8
Lucifer's Hands 8
City Of Blinding Lights 8
If God Will Send His Angels 8
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of 8
Always 8
Disappearing Act 8
The Ground Beneath Her Feet 8
Rise Up 8
Electrical Storm 8
Beautiful Day 8
Song For Someone 8
The Troubles 8
Two Hearts Beat As One 8
Surrender 8
Mercy 8
Into The Heart 8
The Crystal Ballroom 8
Heartland 8
Wire 7.5
Cedarwood Road 7.5
Invisible 7.5
Ultra Violet (Light My Way) 7.5
Original Of The Species 7.5
Until The End Of The World 7.5
So Cruel 7.5
Mysterious Ways 7.5
"40" 7.5
One Tree Hill 7.5
Where The Streets Have No Name 7.5
Angel Of Harlem 7.5
Staring At The Sun 7.5
Love Is Blindness 7.5
October 7.5
A Man And A Woman 7.5
Raised By Wolves 7.5
Sleep Like A Baby Tonight 7.5
Boomerang I 7
Sunday Bloody Sunday 7
Bass Trap 7
Wild Honey 7
Do You Feel Loved 7
Fez - Being Born 7
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight 7
Running To Stand Still 7
Volcano 7
Breathe 7
Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World 7
Elevation 7
11 O'clock Tick Tock 7
Crumbs From Your Table 7
Trip Through Your Wires 7
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For 7
Moment Of Surrender 7
Summer Rain 7
Magnificent 7
This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now 7
Yahweh 7
All I Want Is You 7
The Electric Co. 7
With A Shout (Jerusalem) 7
Love You Like Mad 7
The Hands That Built America 7
Sweetest Thing 7
Window In The Skies 7
Pride (In The Name Of Love) 7
Speed Of Life 6.5
Shadows And Tall Trees 6.5
Soon 6.5
I Will Follow 6.5
In A Little While 6.5
Lemon 6.5
Levitate 6.5
Ordinary Love 6.5
Things To Make And Do 6.5
Slow Dancing 6.5
Winter 6.5
Peace On Earth 6.5
Bullet The Blue Sky 6.5
Some Days Are Better Than Others 6.5
Stay (Far Away, So Close!) 6.5
Gone 6.5
Mofo 6.5
Iris (Hold Me Close) 6.5
Please 6.5
Another Time, Another Place 6.5
Babyface 6.5
Native Son 6.5
Vertigo 6.5
The First Time 6.5
Your Blue Room 6.5
Wave Of Sorrow (Birdland) 6.5
Seconds 6.5
Exit 6.5
Scarlet 6.5
Angels Too Tied To The Ground 6.5
Oh Berlin 6.5
A Celebration 6.5
Twilight 6.5
Every Breaking Wave 6
Flower Child 6
All Because Of You 6
The Three Sunrises 6
Indian Summer Sky 6
Desire 6
A Day Without Me 6
Bad 6
Gloria 6
An Cat Dubh 6
Mothers Of The Disappeared 5.5
Drowning Man 5.5
Like A Song... 5.5
White As Snow 5.5
I Fall Down 5.5
Where Did It All Go Wrong 5.5
Stateless 5.5
Miss Sarajevo 5.5
Cedars Of Lebanon 5.5
Love Comes Tumbling 5.5
Even Better Than The Real Thing 5.5
Walk To The Water 5.5
Endless Deep 5.5
Another Day 5.5
Xanax And Wine 5.5
Yoshino Blossom 5.5
Silver And Gold 5.5
Tomorrow 5.5
Stranger In A Strange Land 5.5
The Fly 5
Fast Cars 5
No Line On The Horizon 5
Zoo Station 5
Are You Gonna Wait Forever? 5
Fire 5
Saturday Night 5
Luminous Times (Hold On To Love) 5
Spanish Eyes 5
Van Diemen's Land 5
Stand Up Comedy 5
The Ocean 5
4th Of July 5
Promenade 5
California (There Is No End To Love) 5
Get On Your Boots 5
The Playboy Mansion 5
One Step Closer 5
God Part II 5
Last Night On Earth 5
New York 5
Wake Up Dead Man 5
Dirty Day 5
The Wanderer 5
Rejoice 5
Is That All? 5
Zooropa 4.5
I'm Not Your Baby 4.5
I Threw A Brick Through A Window 4.5
Trash, Trampoline And The Party Girl 4.5
Race Against Time 4.5
J.Swallo 4.5
Lady With The Spinning Head 4.5
Plot 180 4.5
Smile 4.5
Salome 4.5
Unknown Caller 4.5
Stories For Boys 4.5
The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) 4.5
Discotheque 4.5
Beach Sequence 4.5
Numb 4.5
Red Light 4.5
Heaven And Hell 4.5
Big Girls Are Best 4.5
If You Wear That Velvet Dress 4.5
Hawkmoon 269 4.5
Out Of Control 4
Elvis Presley And America 4
Treasure (Whatever Happened To Pete The Chop) 4
North Star 4
When Love Comes To Town 4
Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car 4
Down All The Days 4
Slug 4
The Fool 4
One Minute Warning 4
Sixty Seconds In Kingdome Come 4
Grace 4
Near The Island 4
Touch 3.5
North And South Of The River 3.5
Hallelujha Here She Comes 3.5
Love Rescue Me 3.5
Love And Peace Or Else 3.5
Street Mission 3.5
Theme From Let's Go Native 3
The Refugee 3
Boy/Girl 2.5
Two Shots Of Happy, One Shot Of Sad 2.5
Desert Of Our Love 2.5
Cartoon World 2.5
Deep In The Heart 2.5
Holy Joe 2.5
MLK 2
Blow Your House Down 2
Alex Descends Into Hell For A Bottle Of Milk / Korova 1 2
A Different Kind Of Blue 2
Always Forever Now 2
A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel 1.5
Miami 1.5
Elvis Ate America 1
United Colours 1
Drunk Chicken / America 1
Viva Davidoff 0.5
Ito Okashi 0.5
Corpse (These Chains Are Way Too Long) 0.5
Theme From The Swan 0.5
Beautiful Ghost / Introduction To Songs Of Experience 0.5
And from all this, it enabled me to calculate my album order. So here it is, with each album's score out of 10.
1 Achtung Baby 7.37
2 The Joshua Tree 7.31
3 All That You Can't Leave Behind 7.22
4 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb 6.86
5 Songs Of Innocence 6.77
6 War 6.5
7 The Unforgettable Fire 6.05
8 Boy 6.04
9 No Line On The Horizon 5.95
10 October 5.72
11 Pop 5.62
12 Rattle And Hum 5.6
13 Zooropa 5.55
I left out Passengers as it's not official, but tbh it was the bottom anway, it had about 2.8 or something!
Excluded compilations, best ofs etc. And for Rattle And Hum, I excluded live versions of pre-existing songs (except Silver and Gold because it doesn't appear on another U2 album). Also excluded the live covers.
Would love to see some more lists, but I know it takes a lot of time. Interested to hear any comments, and if anyone wants to know my reasoning behind any song's position/score, I would be happy to explain my reasons.
Just some notes though:
- I have excluded songs not written by U2, so basically cover versions
- I have also excluded alternate versions of pre-existing U2 songs, so no single versions, just the main album versions. And no live versions (unless they're the only version that exists). 1 Version per song
- I didn't include that Ballad of Ronnie Drew thing as it's a massive collab
Hope you enjoy my order. The number next to the song is the mark out of 10 I have given it. Please don't be offended by some of my choices/scores. We like what we like, and if we all liked/hated the same things, the world would be a boring place!
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses 10
The Unforgettable Fire 10
New Year's Day 9.5
Walk On 9.5
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me 9.5
Kite 9.5
With Or Without You 9.5
One 9.5
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own 9
Acrobat 9
Red Hill Mining Town 8.5
When I Look At The World 8.5
Miracle Drug 8.5
A Sort Of Homecoming 8
In God's Country 8
Lucifer's Hands 8
City Of Blinding Lights 8
If God Will Send His Angels 8
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of 8
Always 8
Disappearing Act 8
The Ground Beneath Her Feet 8
Rise Up 8
Electrical Storm 8
Beautiful Day 8
Song For Someone 8
The Troubles 8
Two Hearts Beat As One 8
Surrender 8
Mercy 8
Into The Heart 8
The Crystal Ballroom 8
Heartland 8
Wire 7.5
Cedarwood Road 7.5
Invisible 7.5
Ultra Violet (Light My Way) 7.5
Original Of The Species 7.5
Until The End Of The World 7.5
So Cruel 7.5
Mysterious Ways 7.5
"40" 7.5
One Tree Hill 7.5
Where The Streets Have No Name 7.5
Angel Of Harlem 7.5
Staring At The Sun 7.5
Love Is Blindness 7.5
October 7.5
A Man And A Woman 7.5
Raised By Wolves 7.5
Sleep Like A Baby Tonight 7.5
Boomerang I 7
Sunday Bloody Sunday 7
Bass Trap 7
Wild Honey 7
Do You Feel Loved 7
Fez - Being Born 7
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight 7
Running To Stand Still 7
Volcano 7
Breathe 7
Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World 7
Elevation 7
11 O'clock Tick Tock 7
Crumbs From Your Table 7
Trip Through Your Wires 7
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For 7
Moment Of Surrender 7
Summer Rain 7
Magnificent 7
This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now 7
Yahweh 7
All I Want Is You 7
The Electric Co. 7
With A Shout (Jerusalem) 7
Love You Like Mad 7
The Hands That Built America 7
Sweetest Thing 7
Window In The Skies 7
Pride (In The Name Of Love) 7
Speed Of Life 6.5
Shadows And Tall Trees 6.5
Soon 6.5
I Will Follow 6.5
In A Little While 6.5
Lemon 6.5
Levitate 6.5
Ordinary Love 6.5
Things To Make And Do 6.5
Slow Dancing 6.5
Winter 6.5
Peace On Earth 6.5
Bullet The Blue Sky 6.5
Some Days Are Better Than Others 6.5
Stay (Far Away, So Close!) 6.5
Gone 6.5
Mofo 6.5
Iris (Hold Me Close) 6.5
Please 6.5
Another Time, Another Place 6.5
Babyface 6.5
Native Son 6.5
Vertigo 6.5
The First Time 6.5
Your Blue Room 6.5
Wave Of Sorrow (Birdland) 6.5
Seconds 6.5
Exit 6.5
Scarlet 6.5
Angels Too Tied To The Ground 6.5
Oh Berlin 6.5
A Celebration 6.5
Twilight 6.5
Every Breaking Wave 6
Flower Child 6
All Because Of You 6
The Three Sunrises 6
Indian Summer Sky 6
Desire 6
A Day Without Me 6
Bad 6
Gloria 6
An Cat Dubh 6
Mothers Of The Disappeared 5.5
Drowning Man 5.5
Like A Song... 5.5
White As Snow 5.5
I Fall Down 5.5
Where Did It All Go Wrong 5.5
Stateless 5.5
Miss Sarajevo 5.5
Cedars Of Lebanon 5.5
Love Comes Tumbling 5.5
Even Better Than The Real Thing 5.5
Walk To The Water 5.5
Endless Deep 5.5
Another Day 5.5
Xanax And Wine 5.5
Yoshino Blossom 5.5
Silver And Gold 5.5
Tomorrow 5.5
Stranger In A Strange Land 5.5
The Fly 5
Fast Cars 5
No Line On The Horizon 5
Zoo Station 5
Are You Gonna Wait Forever? 5
Fire 5
Saturday Night 5
Luminous Times (Hold On To Love) 5
Spanish Eyes 5
Van Diemen's Land 5
Stand Up Comedy 5
The Ocean 5
4th Of July 5
Promenade 5
California (There Is No End To Love) 5
Get On Your Boots 5
The Playboy Mansion 5
One Step Closer 5
God Part II 5
Last Night On Earth 5
New York 5
Wake Up Dead Man 5
Dirty Day 5
The Wanderer 5
Rejoice 5
Is That All? 5
Zooropa 4.5
I'm Not Your Baby 4.5
I Threw A Brick Through A Window 4.5
Trash, Trampoline And The Party Girl 4.5
Race Against Time 4.5
J.Swallo 4.5
Lady With The Spinning Head 4.5
Plot 180 4.5
Smile 4.5
Salome 4.5
Unknown Caller 4.5
Stories For Boys 4.5
The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) 4.5
Discotheque 4.5
Beach Sequence 4.5
Numb 4.5
Red Light 4.5
Heaven And Hell 4.5
Big Girls Are Best 4.5
If You Wear That Velvet Dress 4.5
Hawkmoon 269 4.5
Out Of Control 4
Elvis Presley And America 4
Treasure (Whatever Happened To Pete The Chop) 4
North Star 4
When Love Comes To Town 4
Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car 4
Down All The Days 4
Slug 4
The Fool 4
One Minute Warning 4
Sixty Seconds In Kingdome Come 4
Grace 4
Near The Island 4
Touch 3.5
North And South Of The River 3.5
Hallelujha Here She Comes 3.5
Love Rescue Me 3.5
Love And Peace Or Else 3.5
Street Mission 3.5
Theme From Let's Go Native 3
The Refugee 3
Boy/Girl 2.5
Two Shots Of Happy, One Shot Of Sad 2.5
Desert Of Our Love 2.5
Cartoon World 2.5
Deep In The Heart 2.5
Holy Joe 2.5
MLK 2
Blow Your House Down 2
Alex Descends Into Hell For A Bottle Of Milk / Korova 1 2
A Different Kind Of Blue 2
Always Forever Now 2
A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel 1.5
Miami 1.5
Elvis Ate America 1
United Colours 1
Drunk Chicken / America 1
Viva Davidoff 0.5
Ito Okashi 0.5
Corpse (These Chains Are Way Too Long) 0.5
Theme From The Swan 0.5
Beautiful Ghost / Introduction To Songs Of Experience 0.5
And from all this, it enabled me to calculate my album order. So here it is, with each album's score out of 10.
1 Achtung Baby 7.37
2 The Joshua Tree 7.31
3 All That You Can't Leave Behind 7.22
4 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb 6.86
5 Songs Of Innocence 6.77
6 War 6.5
7 The Unforgettable Fire 6.05
8 Boy 6.04
9 No Line On The Horizon 5.95
10 October 5.72
11 Pop 5.62
12 Rattle And Hum 5.6
13 Zooropa 5.55
I left out Passengers as it's not official, but tbh it was the bottom anway, it had about 2.8 or something!
Excluded compilations, best ofs etc. And for Rattle And Hum, I excluded live versions of pre-existing songs (except Silver and Gold because it doesn't appear on another U2 album). Also excluded the live covers.
Would love to see some more lists, but I know it takes a lot of time. Interested to hear any comments, and if anyone wants to know my reasoning behind any song's position/score, I would be happy to explain my reasons.
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