Whoa, I like Millennial U2 Best??

[Zoomerang96]

Hahaha! If only U2 would say such things these days.

they don't want to upset their sponsors, surely.

 

[CosmoKramer]

No kidding.



If I had my way, anyone who actually held the view of the OP would be banned from this forum with their posts immediately eradicated from view.

Well, when you go to a show next year you can take a bathroom break during the 2000+ songs.

Better drink a lot of water


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[Zoomerang96]

Was in my car the other day and I had created a playlist of U2's Millennial singles and I realized that song for song, I was enjoy this period more than I was either the 80's or the 90's, and that kind of surprised me!

I started as a fan in 1987, when I happened to be watching MTV and the splashed a notice across the screen of a world premier video, and it was With or Without You and I was hooked from that minute. I knew about them prior, remembering the cool post-apocalyptic images of the NYD video and the flag waving of the SBS Red Rocks video. But I cooled on them with TUF album. Pride did not appeal to me and I never saw Bad or TUF played on MTV. They kind of melted into the background then with other new wave acts like the Police, Tears for Fears or Duran Duran. But man WOWY was so different, and the album when I finally got it later slayed me. There was nothing like JT released anywhere. But then Rattle and Hum came out and I loved it of course, but never like JT, and like everyone else, thought the movie kind of sucked; but I wasn't into watching live music much on television... I missed RH in the theater, it only played for a week, and well, VHS wasn't exactly immersive. I like RH the film much more now than I ever did then.

HATED AB when it came out. It was so different; I wanted JT II! But grew to love it. Not so much with Zooropa, I still to this day don't think much of that; or Passengers, and while Pop did finally grow on me a bit, it wouldn't make a desert island of 5 albums or less. Okay maybe it would but just barely.

And that's what I was reflecting on with their 2000 and on stuff. Nothing compares to the high that was JT and then the near perfection of AB. But all the rest of those periods don't do it as well for me. Whereas the Millennial stuff seems to be more consistent for me. Beautiful Day is my favorite U2 song of any period, and even though I'm sick of it, I still love it the best. Add in Kite, Walk On, COBL, Vertigo, NLOTH 2, Winter, The Miracle, EBW, yes; Stand Up Comedy (I'm a rock guy at heart), Electrical Storm (Band Version), WITS, Mercy, Invisible... Even though every album is flawed and there's so real filler in them, I still find more to like on them song for song, than any from the 80's or 90's (except JT and AB); and I thought that was odd considering how long I've been a fan. So I thought I'd share that. lol. My Millennial playlist:

01) BD
02) Electrical Storm (Band Version)
03) The Miracle
04) Vertigo
05) NLOTH 2
06) TGBHF
07) Kite (Live - WITS Single)
08) Fez-BB
09) EBW
10) Ordinary Love
11) SUC
12) Crumbs
14) OOTS
15) Crazy Tonight
16) Invisible (Red Edit)
17) COBL
18) WITS
19) Winter (Linear)
20) Iris
21) Walk On
22) Yahweh
23) Mercy

Come to think of it, this was probably close to the setlist I saw in London in 2009. It's worth pointing out that I started booing when they broke into Stuck in a Moment. True story. Didn't go over well with the other fans, but whatever. I'm a multi-millionaire so I can do whatever the fuck I want, right?

 

[Zoomerang96]

Well, when you go to a show next year you can take a bathroom break during the 2000+ songs.

Better drink a lot of water


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

this was my setlist...

Breathe
No Line On The Horizon
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
London Calling (snippet) / London Bridge Is Falling Down (snippet) / Beautiful Day / Blackbird (snippet)
Elevation
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Movin' On Up (snippet)
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
Unknown Caller
The Unforgettable Fire
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo / Acquiesce (snippet)
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight / Two Tribes (snippet) / Reverend Black Grape (snippet)
Sunday Bloody Sunday / Rock The Casbah (snippet)
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
MLK
Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
Where The Streets Have No Name / All You Need Is Love (snippet) / Acquiesce (snippet)
One
Mysterious Ways / Norwegian Wood (snippet)

encore(s):
Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender


-----

I should have brought more water, as per your suggestion.

 

[Snowlock]

Come to think of it, this was probably close to the setlist I saw in London in 2009. It's worth pointing out that I started booing when they broke into Stuck in a Moment. True story. Didn't go over well with the other fans, but whatever. I'm a multi-millionaire so I can do whatever the fuck I want, right?

I don't like Stuck either.

And for the record, I would probably trade all of 2000+ for JT and AB alone. Just saying song for song, I'm enjoying millennial (and 2010's) U2 more than either the sum total of the 80's or the 90's, despite JT and AB rising above everything else.

 

[Axver]

of course they have. they're the first to point out how their greatest songs are those that arrive out of nowhere.

Well they may say that, and then in the next breath harp on about their attempts to write timeless classics. Look at Bono going on about trying to write songs you'd play on acoustic guitar at a pub at the end of the night that make people not want to go home, bla bla bla. God, remember the overblown hyperbole about WITS when it was released? What happened to that song? I doubt anybody outside this forum has even heard it in the last seven years.

 

[bobsaget77]

Whereas the Millennial stuff seems to be more consistent for me. Beautiful Day is my favorite U2 song of any period, and even though I'm sick of it, I still love it the best. Add in Kite, Walk On, COBL, Vertigo, NLOTH 2, Winter, The Miracle, EBW, yes; Stand Up Comedy (I'm a rock guy at heart), Electrical Storm (Band Version), WITS, Mercy, Invisible... Even though every album is flawed and there's so real filler in them, I still find more to like on them song for song, than any from the 80's or 90's (except JT and AB); and I thought that was odd considering how long I've been a fan. So I thought I'd share that. lol. My Millennial playlist:



01) BD

02) Electrical Storm (Band Version)

03) The Miracle

04) Vertigo

05) NLOTH 2

06) TGBHF

07) Kite (Live - WITS Single)

08) Fez-BB

09) EBW

10) Ordinary Love

11) SUC

12) Crumbs

14) OOTS

15) Crazy Tonight

16) Invisible (Red Edit)

17) COBL

18) WITS

19) Winter (Linear)

20) Iris

21) Walk On

22) Yahweh

23) Mercy

I admire your courage here and I really like ATYCLB and SOI, while sometimes I really like HTDAAB, other times I hate it. But overall, I have a mostly positive opinion of the 3, with SOI being my favorite. However, NLOTH is an absolute piece of sh*t. And Stand Up Comedy is the worse U2 song ever made. I was with ya until then, I'm sorry but it's hard for me to be sympathetic with someone who likes that song. It makes me wanna go slaughter a baby goat or something.


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[Musikwala]

this was my setlist...

Breathe
No Line On The Horizon
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
London Calling (snippet) / London Bridge Is Falling Down (snippet) / Beautiful Day / Blackbird (snippet)
Elevation
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Movin' On Up (snippet)
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
Unknown Caller
The Unforgettable Fire
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo / Acquiesce (snippet)
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight / Two Tribes (snippet) / Reverend Black Grape (snippet)
Sunday Bloody Sunday / Rock The Casbah (snippet)
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
MLK
Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
Where The Streets Have No Name / All You Need Is Love (snippet) / Acquiesce (snippet)
One
Mysterious Ways / Norwegian Wood (snippet)

encore(s):
Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender


-----

I should have brought more water, as per your suggestion.

God, that's a pretty boring setlist!

The encore sounds decent though.

 

[Valkeerie]

I think we need to be selective towards U2 in any decade. Some LPs are not as strong as a whole, but they could have the best sounding singles, or maybe live versions in a DVD. The Best Of compilations should also be taken into consideration.

Here's my essential collection:
- Under a Blood Red Sky (DVD) - I think it really sums up the best of U2's early years with their strength: playing live;
- The Joshua Tree;
- Rattle and Hum (DVD) - Great live performances of B-Sides, covers, UF, JT and new songs. I think the movie, despite its flaws, gives a better sense of continuity than the album of the same name;
- Achtung Baby;
- ZooTV (DVD) - whatever Zooropa song that was worth playing live made it to this DVD. It also includes some nice B-sides performances, an alternate Running to Stand Still, and the first time Bullet the Blue Sky took off live;
- Best Of U2 90-00
- Vertigo/SYCMIOYO/Original of the Species singles - I don't think the album is as cohesive as I would like, and these are the essential songs released on their own, in my opinion.

I'm waiting for the next tour to see if they include my favourites from No Line on the Horizon, but Songs of Innocence has become a favourite already. I'll probably purchase it and see if I can ignore the singles from the previous album (Get On Your Boots, Magnificent, If I Go Crazy Tonight were uninspired choices...)

EDIT: A good contender for the essential collection, but that I'd rather leave as a bonus, is the U2 Go Home DVD. You can't go wrong with ATYCLB singles being played live, and an overall great mood from the band. It holds a place in my heart, but I don't know what about you.

 

[LemonMelon]

I know it's subjective and everything, but this was the worst setlist of the tour:

U2 Helsinki, 2010-08-20, Olympic Stadium, 360° Tour - U2 on tour

Fucking hell, this is awful:

-Stingray/Beautiful Day intro, which was a horrible clusterfuck every time
-Uninspired 360 Elevation
-North Star
-Glastonbury
-In A Little While
-The above three are ALL IN A ROW which extends a bathroom break into a bathroom vacation
-No TUF
-No NLOTH

 

[CosmoKramer]

I know it's subjective and everything, but this was the worst setlist of the tour:

U2 Helsinki, 2010-08-20, Olympic Stadium, 360° Tour - U2 on tour

Fucking hell, this is awful:

-Stingray/Beautiful Day intro, which was a horrible clusterfuck every time
-Uninspired 360 Elevation
-North Star
-Glastonbury
-In A Little While
-The above three are ALL IN A ROW which extends a bathroom break into a bathroom vacation
-No TUF
-No NLOTH

After In a Little While they played Miss Sarajevo, which while a nice song, it's a sleeper live. That's a bad stretch of live songs!


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[BigMacPhisto]

I know it's subjective and everything, but this was the worst setlist of the tour:

U2 Helsinki, 2010-08-20, Olympic Stadium, 360° Tour - U2 on tour

Fucking hell, this is awful:

-Stingray/Beautiful Day intro, which was a horrible clusterfuck every time
-Uninspired 360 Elevation
-North Star
-Glastonbury
-In A Little While
-The above three are ALL IN A ROW which extends a bathroom break into a bathroom vacation
-No TUF
-No NLOTH

Yeah, that's absolutely atrocious.

I think the intro is the most unforgivable part (in spite of how awful North Star/Glastonbury are). Seeing them walk around aimlessly to that riff and then abruptly hop into Beautiful Day really killed the energy in the beginning.

 

[The Panther]

U2's peak, in my view (and in most people's), is around 1982 to 1993.

If we're going to break it down to 80s/90s/00s (up to today), I can see a case being made that 00s is better than the 90s. While the 90s has 1 truly classic/brilliant album, there were only 3 to choose from -- 1 wasn't very good (Pop), and another was more like an EP stretched into an album. Since 2000, there have been more good songs written and released than in the 90s (this might be more due to volume than quality), so I could see the argument that the 00s has been better than the 90s... maybe. The problem with the post-90s material isn't so much the material itself (though there've certainly been some clunkers), which is mostly great, but more so the production, the mixing, the tasteless moments ("turn it up, Captain!"), and a lot to do with the band's general approach to their career overwhelming their music.

But anyway, there were, in my view, 3 classic albums (War, UF, Joshua Tree) released in the 80s, and two more that came close. And only 1 classic after the 80s.

 

[dazzledbylight]

Huh. Well there you go. Each to their own I suppose. There is a joyousness in their music since 2000 that isn't there in the early days, and I can get how someone would connect with that. For me there is no comparison to 80s or 90s (of which i can't split for quality - 80s pips 90s due to volume of said quality), but the diversity of this band shows that people can be won in by just about anything in their catalogue.

Good on you for having the balls to admit that here.

Cheers for you. I like a lot of 00's U2 and I don't enjoy stacking periods against each other; for me there are unique joys in each. I also love some of your choices like ES, TGBHF and Kite. There's a lot to love out there about this band.

Dan & Jeevey yup! I agree! : )

Snowlock Gold star for you for being fearless with all the sometimes nastiness ( sometimes beyond Snark)...that occasionally erupts in WTAHNN and EYKIW !

I have top 10 favorites that hail from all 3- now 4 era's so yeah

And while I'm a very serious and opinionated person at times (FYM example )
I cherish being joyful and I sometimes am ebulliently, ecstatically so.....

so yeah, certain 00's now "10's songs appeal to me


But like ... 3 Sunrises to me is a very joyous and Highly Energetic song that takes me Up into the stratosphere!

And even though _and this is where The Music can totally override some , all lyrics of a song for me...

In God's Country - Edge's Guitar rhythm work along with that INCREDIBLE CASCADING set of notes right near the end IS
some of the most stratospheric , ecstatic guitar work ever created!

 

[Afliktor]

I love everything U2 has ever done, but there's an atmospheric quality to their music I found has been lacking since Pop. the songs that I feel have that - GBHF, ES, Cedars of Lebanon, Sleep Like A Baby Tonight, The Crystal Ballroom - are some of U2's very best.