My ranking will be a little out of the ordinary to the conventional wisdom of this place, but let me preface that I actually enjoy every song on this album to some extent. Maybe down the line my opinion will change, but as of right now, my rankings are:
1. The Little Things That Give You Away - Simply gorgeous. Classic U2
2. Love Is All We Have Left - One of U2's best album openers IMO. I love the atmosphere and the mood. The biggest shame is that moodiness wasn't sustained by Lights of Home (The string version would have!)
3. You're The Best Thing About Me - I've never understood the hate that some have for this song. I think there is a lot more depth to the lyrics than people give it credit for and it features some awesome work by Adam and the bridge section with Edge. I would have preferred the Sci-Fi mix on the album, but am happy with the final product as well.
4. Love Is Bigger Than Anything In It's Way - Defiant joy as Bono put it. Love the bridge section and believe this would be a great concert closer.
5. 13 (There is a Light)- Beautiful and haunting. A great album closer. The lyrics get me every time.
6. Book of Your Heart - The crescendo at the end of the song, "Babe I don't belong to you.." is the U2 that captivativated me and turned me into a huge fan. I wish it would have made the official album, but I can see why it was left off.
7. Lights of Home - I really enjoy this one, but I'm really starting to tire of the album version. I really with the band would have used the string version as it adds much needed tension and drama to a song loaded with it.
8. Get Out Of Your Own Way- Another song in which I don't quite understand the beating it takes. Calling it Beautiful Day Pt. 2 is a lazy argument. Great melody and I really like the verses. I think this one will really come alive in a live setting.
9. The Blackout- Great song. Thematically, it feels odd coming after Landlady. I think this has the potential to really move up the charts in my ranking of SOE based on live performances (I think the bridge section was a bit neutered in comparison to the "live" version we got back in late summer).
10. American Soul- Love the fuzz guitar and it rocks and gives some much needed adrenaline. This is the only song from the album that I actually hated upon first listen and I grew to really enjoy it. I especially like once the "siren" guitar notes are played during the final chorus. The "dream on brother John" is awesome. I even like the breakdown and buildup in the bridge. It's gonna be great live. The
11. Showman- Fun song and incredibly catchy. I can see this being a fun one live
12. Red Flag Day- I'm not a fan of U2's War style funk, but I think it works well in the first couple of verses. Bono has some phenomenal vocals throughout, especially in the bridge. Great, catchy chorus. My main beef with the song is the baffling decision to kill the momentum built in the "no, no, nooooo" bridge. The drums are building, the guitar is building, the bass...the song is about to explode when instead it drops into that damn "funky" bass and guitar part again. It's a good song, but the ending certainly could have been epic.
13. Summer of Love. I do enjoy the guitar riff and the melody is nice. The strings that come in towards the end of the song are absolutely gorgeous. My main problem is that atrocious edit at about the 2;10 mark, which is inexcusable. Also, I've got no problem with Lady Gaga, but her vocals were completely unnecessary and to my ears are very jarring. I understand most of Gaga's part was largely edited out, so there is no reason for her to be there. Edge could have provided the backing (His work in Get Out, Red Flag Day and others is fantastic.
14. Landlady- I'll start off by saying that the "Every" section at the end of the song is one of the absolute highlights of the album. I'm just not a huge fan of the first half of the song...I'm just not a huge fan of Bono's vocals here. Roaaaaaammmm, the road is where I live, till I get, Hoooommmmmmeeee. I just don't like the way he sings those drawn out words like "roam" and "home." It's a bit nitpicky but it's something that I picked up on the first time I listened to the album and have never liked it.
Overall, this is a stellar album and I'm incredibly grateful that my favorite band is still around and producing this caliber of music. There isn't a song on the album I regularly skip, and even my criticisms above don't stop me from enjoying the songs.