Ranking U2's Albums: Best to worst - Slate.com

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I hold ATYCLB at a much higher place than most do around here. Here's my rankings

Masterpiece : Achtung Baby
Greatsterpiece (Not a "masterpiece", but better than "great") : The Joshua Tree
Great : Unforgettable Fire, All That You Can't Leave Behind, Rattle & Hum, Boy
Good : Pop, The Bomb, No Line on the Horizon, War, Zooropa
Well... it's music : October, Passengers
 
Definite U2 Masterpieces
1) Achtung Baby
2) The Joshua Tree
3) Zooropa

Amazing - Some of U2's Best Work
4) No Line On The Horizon
5) Pop
6) The Unforgettable Fire

Great
7) Boy
8) All That You Can't Leave Behind
9) How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
10) War

Good
11) Rattle & Hum
12) October
13) Passengers

My individual song ranking for each album has changed as well.
 
Platinum: Zooropa, Joshua Tree, Pop
Gold: Achtung Baby, Boy, War, Passengers, NLOTH
Silver: Unforgettable Fire, Rattle and Hum, Million Dollar Hotel
Bronze: HTDAAB, October, ATYCLB
Kryptonite: None, I enjoy most U2 albums in some capacity
 
It's just one - of many many - subjective and personal opinions, what's the big fuzz about it? Everyone can publish a list like that guy. I agree with some of his choices, disagree with others, same with the article. So what. The difference is that I don't think U2 have done a "bad" album and that I cannot agree with anyone ranking their 00's work so low and is instead only focused on the past. Apart from that, I don't care about other people's lists.
 
At least the Slate reviewer provided text and a critical opinion supporting his list so people can engage; I don't think just giving a 1 through 12 listing is a very interesting route for this thread to go.
 
gweeps said:
One Step Closer is a ballad? :lol:

It's more of a spoken-word soundscape.
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LemonMelon said:
Platinum: Zooropa, Joshua Tree, Pop
Gold: Achtung Baby, Boy, War, Passengers, NLOTH
Silver: Unforgettable Fire, Rattle and Hum, Million Dollar Hotel
Bronze: HTDAAB, October, ATYCLB
Kryptonite: None, I enjoy most U2 albums in some capacity
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:lol: your ranking mechanisms change/get more weird/abstract every day

mobvok said:
At least the Slate reviewer provided text and a critical opinion supporting his list so people can engage; I don't think just giving a 1 through 12 listing is a very interesting route for this thread to go.
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it never is.
 
Globo14 said:
I hold ATYCLB at a much higher place than most do around here. Here's my rankings.
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I hold it high too! I don't really love one period more than another, most who love the 90s albums the most don't like ATYCLB as much since it is a "safe" album.

I know it's safe and more pop and mainstream friendly but there's nothing wrong with that once in a while. It's good to have a mix.
 
I don't hold the stylistic change to ATYCLB as a horrible development, but the charm that album could have is undermined by lack of focus and leaving creativity on the cutting room floor, like its followup. The strong tracks, the leftovers and MDH proved it was no weak period for them. That said, it does come in near the bottom for me, but there's too much charm in all of them to rank them all too much.

I am comfortable to say that these are my favorites, representing plenty of eras:

1. Achtung Baby
2. The Joshua Tree
3. Zooropa
4. The Unforgettable Fire
5. No Line on the Horizon
 
3/5 have title tracks, clearly the secret to U2's success in my book (ignoring the fact that the first two don't...).
 
Personally, the only thing I really disagree with was ranking ATYCLB and HTDAAB on the same level as Spiderman.

Nothing in U2's canon is as bad as Spiderman, certainly not albums that have songs like "Beautiful Day", "Kite", and "City of Blinding Lights" on them.
 
The writer's other article is pretty dead on, with the exception of throwing NLOTH aside so easily, but I had to highlight this:

"I can’t speak for the young people of America, but Radiohead was certainly paying attention: A left turn like Kid A doesn’t happen without Achtung Baby and Zooropa. The market had been trained to accept such weirdness."

At least one modern music journalist is unafraid to admit this.
 
mobvok said:
At least the Slate reviewer provided text and a critical opinion supporting his list so people can engage; I don't think just giving a 1 through 12 listing is a very interesting route for this thread to go.
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:up:

War was too high and Pop a lil too low IMO. But I enjoyed reading it
 
Masterpieces: Achtung Baby, The Joshua Tree
Almost Masterpiece: All That You Can't Leave Behind
Amazing: War, Boy, Zooropa, Pop, No Line On The Horizon
Great: The Unforgettable Fire, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, Rattle & Hum
Good: October, Passengers
Would never buy, but could tolerate a few tracks: Spiderman
 
The True Fan Ranking (For True Fans):

Masterpieces: Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, All That You Can't Leave Behind

Perfection: The Unforgettable Fire, Zooropa

Great: October, War

Good: Boy, Original Soundtracks I, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, No Line On The Horizon

Meh: Rattle & Hum

Bleh: Pop
 
powerhour24 said:
The writer's other article is pretty dead on, with the exception of throwing NLOTH aside so easily, but I had to highlight this:

"I can’t speak for the young people of America, but Radiohead was certainly paying attention: A left turn like Kid A doesn’t happen without Achtung Baby and Zooropa. The market had been trained to accept such weirdness."

At least one modern music journalist is unafraid to admit this.
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:up:
 
PennyLanePHINS said:
Masterpieces: Achtung Baby, The Joshua Tree
Almost Masterpiece: All That You Can't Leave Behind
Amazing: War, Boy, Zooropa, Pop, No Line On The Horizon
Great: The Unforgettable Fire, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, Rattle & Hum
Good: October, Passengers
Would never buy, but could tolerate a few tracks: Spiderman
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Wow. UF under War and Boy?
 
Niceman said:
Wow. UF under War and Boy?
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I'd agree with that.

First half = platinum
Second half = bronze

But I also don't understand the irrational dislike for War here either. Amongst people who consider U2 uncool, it's always up at the top, so I'm always surprised to log in here and see it bashed. Boy is just brilliant and I won't hear anything less; if you enjoy post-punk, the album is among the most fully-formed and high quality debuts you'll find.
 
The second half of War is terrible. It doesn't have one memorable song.
 
LemonMelon said:
I'd agree with that.

First half = platinum
Second half = bronze

But I also don't understand the irrational dislike for War here either. Amongst people who consider U2 uncool, it's always up at the top, so I'm always surprised to log in here and see it bashed. Boy is just brilliant and I won't hear anything less; if you enjoy post-punk, the album is among the most fully-formed and high quality debuts you'll find.
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IMO BOY was their best album until UF. I'll never have anything bad to say about it. I just think War is uneven.
 
Rattle and Hum: Desire, Hawkmoon, Angel of Harlem, When love comes to town, All I want is you.

Hardly "Meh". Includes some of their biggest hits.

U2 doesn't have a terrible album.
 
I don't think a U2 album goes as spectacularly off the rails as it does on War. You've got two U2 classics on that first half amongst some very stellar album tracks. And then you hit the second half, where so many of the songs are unremarkable (40) and are even grating in some ways (Red Light, Surrender, Two Hearts).

War is second-last on my ranking, but still miles ahead of R&H which aside from being a mess, also features heaps of tracks (Love Rescue Me, Hawkmoon, God Part 2) that I still find unenjoyable in 9 years of being a U2 fan. It feels odd to thoroughly dislike a U2 album (me being a bit of a fundamentalist for the band), but the whole thing is distasteful and a chore to listen to. All other U2 albums I enjoy in full, in spite of occasional lapses in brilliance.
 
Niceman said:
Wow. UF under War and Boy?
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Yes forgot to explain. I like the album and it's got a bunch of nice songs...Like a lot of fans my list can change and TUF usually is something I just need to be in the mood for. It has 4 amazing songs that I'd never get tired of (Pride, TUF, Bad, Homecoming).

4th of July and Elvis Presley & America are nice but "Meh", somewhat filler to me. Promenade is a bit better but also not something I listen to much. So that leaves 7 songs on the album for me, kind of short. If I had to take one album someplace this would be at the bottom. It's just an album I have to be in the mood for. I think if you swap "Three Sunrises" and "Love Comes Tumbling" with 4th of July and Elvis I'd like the total album more. (Also like Disappearing Act more than those 3 songs. I know it has 2008/2009 vocals but it would've been similar probably.)

The 4 big songs on TUF are better than most of the songs from War/Boy, but overall I like those two complete albums better. More energy.

By the way I think Rattle & Hum gets a lukewarm response for a few reasons. Maybe it's the sequencing, also possible is that it's sandwiched between Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. Rattle & Hum has middle child syndrome...it's between the two favorites!
 
We've talked about this many times, but if you add A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel and Hallelujah Here She Comes, and remove the live tracks you have a damned good album.

Also, every time someone says something bad about Hawkmoon, a kitten dies. Such an amazing track, if not the best on there.
 
lazarus said:
We've talked about this many times, but if you add A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel and Hallelujah Here She Comes, and remove the live tracks you have a damned good album.

Also, every time someone says something bad about Hawkmoon, a kitten dies. Such an amazing track, if not the best on there.
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I agree 200%

BUT having been a fan back then, and R&H being the only live U2 available, except for UABRS, I don't see them as a negative either!
 
I know it's an old thread, but seeing as a new album is on the horizon (wink) I thought I'd list my personal favourite album order list:

1. Achtung 'Kindergarden' Baby or Pop
2. The Joshua Tree
3. Achtung Baby
4. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
5. All That You Can't Leave Behind
6. Zooropa
7. Boy
8. War
9. The Unforgetable Fire
10. Rattle and Hum
11. No Line on the Horizon
12. October

I personally don't really count R and H as a proper U2 album, but I included it anyway.

Who knows where there 13th (or 12th I should say) will fit in my list.
 
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