This is the best U2 album since......

[BoyOnTheHorizon]

Only time will make me think straight. But by now I can say its way better than No Line.
No Line disappointed me from the first day of listening, and it stayed that way til this day.
Bomb had Vertigo and City of Blinding Lights, Leave Behind had that wonderful first half with big hits. So its very difficult to tell at this stage. But its the most adventurous of them all. Zooropa to me is not a real rock album and Pop is just a bad record.
All albums prior to AB(except from October) to me are all masterpieces.

 

[U2freakboy]

It's their best overall album since the 90's. That's all I'm prepared to say at this point.


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[mads]

Pop

 

[Angtre01]

To me clearly it stands above the last three. To make the pantheon I need to see how it comes off live.


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[blujein]

"All That You Can't Leave Behind".

 

[Axver]

I'm not sure yet if I favour this to NLOTH, but if so, then best album since Pop.

 

[ouizy]

I do not think this is the best album since any of them - I'd say worst so far, and I like it which just says all the rest were that much better...

I stand by my feeling that Electrical Storm was the start of U2's downfall. Too many of those similar sounds on this record.

BUT I will say this record is all about The Edge.


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[david]

Best since POP.

 

[powerhour24]

No Line on the Horizon. Despite all the pull back/tinkering that weakened that album and the middle 3, the highs and the ideas were so much more compelling to me than this, and I like this plenty. I'm still hoping someday the vault opens and we get to hear the 2008 sessions, that would have the potential to be my favorite U2 record.

 

[boorock74]

I'm still not sure why NLOTH gets such a bad rap. It has, IMO, 4 of the GREATEST U2 songs in their catalog. NLOTH, Moment Of Surrender, Unknown Caller, and Breathe. I can always skip over SUC (Which could've been amazing with different lyrics).
I would have so say that this is the best album since Pop.

 

[camiloj]

to each his own, I would say I like it better than NLOTH...I THINK I still prefer HTDAAB and ATYCLB to this for sure.

Overall I think the thing that could be said IMO is that it is the most COMMERCIAL sounding U2 album ever.

And after the abstract NLOTH, that is not necessarily a bad thing.

OH and possibly Bono's best voice since...a long damn time!

 

[akann]

NLOTH. The reaction to this record is no different to how the last two albums were received on interference. Somehow, most U2 fans seem unable to be objective during the first few days following the release of an album. Very disappointing effort for mine, not what you would expect from arguably the world's greatest band ever after 5.5 years away....


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[trevgreg]

I'm still not sure why NLOTH gets such a bad rap. It has, IMO, 4 of the GREATEST U2 songs in their catalog. NLOTH, Moment Of Surrender, Unknown Caller, and Breathe. I can always skip over SUC (Which could've been amazing with different lyrics).
I would have so say that this is the best album since Pop.

For me, it's also way too early to tell. But like you said, there are a few tracks I hold in pretty high regard off of NLOTH, even though I wasn't big on the album as a whole. So I need to see where this album and its individual tracks take me in the long run before giving a definitive answer.

Other than that, I think it's pretty consistent so far and has the potential to be their best in my book since ATYCLB or Pop. But only time will figure that out here.

 

[scrumpyjsk]

Best since How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - based on early listens.


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[Yahweh]

Best since Achtung Baby.

This album is more consistent then ATYCLB.

Def top 3 material.

 

[DomCobb]

Best since Zooropa, maybe even Achtung Baby.

No first listen hyperbole, I've heard it three times now and still love it. In comparison, I disliked NLOTH the first time I listened, and have come to appreciate it more since but not by much. I loved HTDAAB the first hundred times I listened to it but am tired of it now, however it was my first exposure to U2 so no comparison. I have never cared all that much for ATYCLB, but it has some obviously great tracks. I couldn't care less about Pop - their worst album. I love Passengers, but there are some clunkers there and I don't return to it very often.

Zooropa is great but like Songs of Innocence it doesn't sound like U2 to me. (Not necessarily a bad thing, but it just means I'll never regard them as highly as the first seven albums.) They seem to be of about the same quality to me but perhaps a few more listens are in order. SOI doesn't have anything that touches the greatness of Stay, or even Zooropa. So probably the highs aren't as high on SOI, but I don't think the lows are as low.

 

[cookepuss]

Best since.... I have no frickin' idea. It simultaneously sounds like everything and like nothing they've ever done. I have no way to compare it. Since Zooropa or Achtung.... maybe?

All I know is it that I really liked it. I was NOT expecting this and I'm not just talking about the stealth drop. SoI is surprisingly dark, thumping, and consistent. It really borders on hard rock at times. Introspective, but never really whiny. I don't think that U2 have been this rock-y since Achtung Baby, which is a really good thing. Adam & Edge are definitely earning their keep on this baby.

If I've got two critiques it's that....

1) Edge's solos don't nearly soar as freely as they did on, say, "Walk On". I suppose that's intentional though, as the album has a distinctly different feel overall.

2) It's a little jarring that some of the songs simply end instead of either trailing off or being punctuated. Not really a complaint, but still.

I've already heard SoI a few times tonight and I'm impressed. I'm liking it better on replay than the first go around, which is saying something because I was grinning from ear to ear on the first listen. I mean, some songs are definitely better than others, but there's no real clunker here. Not one single "wtf was that" moment. Very strong stuff.

Even the inclusion of the guest vocal in that last song was well handled. (I only mention it because I remember when Johnny Cash did "The Wanderer" way back when. Great song, btw, but it totally confused my brain and ears when I first heard it 20 years ago.)

 

[Mr. Happy]

I guess if they were looking for relevance, the way to do it was write an Adele album, so they've succeeded in that regard, but...

NLOTH. The reaction to this record is no different to how the last two albums were received on interference. Somehow, most U2 fans seem unable to be objective during the first few days following the release of an album. Very disappointing effort for mine, not what you would expect from arguably the world's greatest band ever after 5.5 years away....

...but, that doesn't meant it's great. I'm quite disappointed to say this is my opinion too. I think it's very bland and forgettable and I can't see how people can possibly prefer this to No Line on the Horizon. There's a couple of half decent songs (Miracle, Song for Someone, Sleep Like A Baby, Reach Me), but the rest really aren't great.

Also, what they did to Every Breaking Wave is borderline criminal. I guess it's good for what it is, and is definitely one of the better if not best song on the album, but Jesus. This could have been the next Moment of Surrender. Did it really need to be the next Set Fire to the Rain?

Also ALSO, "my body is now a toilet wall."

 

[codeguy]

AB


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[BigMacPhisto]

No Line On The Horizon...although I love threads like these and all of these hilarious comments that always overrate the new material simply because some posters are so giddy about the drop.

 

[Elvis]

... the last one.

 

[david]

They're kind of Benjamin Buttoning this part of their career. Given the production and effort put forth by the band for the last 4 albums you'd think Songs of Innocence should have came out in 2000, Bomb and NLOTH are fine, but All That You Can't Leave Behind sounds more like a swan song album by a band calling it a day.

 

[BGD75]

To me definitely better that ATYCLB and Bomb....probably even NLOTH (and I like the album). Difference is that on horizon I find 3 weak links that I never listen to, while on this album, after couple of listens I truly enjoy every single song.... Really not getting how some people can be hating

 

[saltlick]

I said this in another post. This is the album that should have been out in 97, it fits perfectly between Achtung baby\Zooropa and ATYCLB. Not to say Pop was bad, i actually listen to it more today then back then. I got excited for the last few albums upon first second and third listen, but it almost felt like i was forcing myself to like the songs just because they were u2. These songs i truly like. Hope it stays that way, have a feeling it will.

 

[U2Fan101]

Fuckin' A. I'm at work and a friend texts me that the album drops. I am VERY skeptical as the last three have been hit or miss with me. Took me almost all day to finally download the album, and I'm thinking "what the hell, it is free".

I have listened to it in it's entirety 6 times in a row now. Each time gets better and better. I don't know how to describe it...I am floored at the new sound, but as others have said, it still has that signature U2 sound. They didn't go out on the edge and try something new, but they sure as hell didn't do the last three albums. The production is amazing, Bono's vocals sound strong and amazing.

To me, I view this as U2 is apologizing for the last three albums. Since Pop is my favorite, this is the best album since then, IMO. The consensus seems to be, that people fuckin' love this album.

The first time I listened to the album, my jaw dropped and I had nothing to say. I was just stunned at the awesomeness of it. U2 have redeemed themselves in my eyes.

 

[allbecauseofu2]

its their best since scary monsters.

 

[allbecauseofu2]

in truth, not sure what to make of it yet. I know so far its not horrible and its no threat to the trilogy theory because this is no sequel to NLOTH.

 

[cookepuss]

This is the album that should have been out in 97, it fits perfectly between Achtung baby\Zooropa and ATYCLB.

Yeah. I think that you nailed it. It's pretty hard hitting like U2 was back in the early 90s, but also a bit more experimental like they were by the end of the 90s. At the same time, there's no way that this album could have come out back then. It's got this dark, introspective maturity that they didn't yet have (in full) 17 years ago. The funny thing here is that, just like the 2000s U2 tried to erase the 90s, it would seem that the 2010s U2 is trying to erase the 2000s one. It seems, almost to be a return to rough rockin' 90s form, which is a bit odd for guys now in their mid-50s.

They're kind of Benjamin Buttoning this part of their career. Given the production and effort put forth by the band for the last 4 albums you'd think Songs of Innocence should have came out in 2000, Bomb and NLOTH are fine, but All That You Can't Leave Behind sounds more like a swan song album by a band calling it a day.

Because it might well have been. Remember that whole thing about them "re-applying for the job" back in 2001? I don't think that it was a joke or even a catchphrase. I think that, given the (relative) commercial flopping of POP, they thought that their time might have been up.

With the landscape of music changing, they wondered if they still had a place in it. "The last of the rock stars, when hip hop drove the big cars" kinda says it all. They weren't all about that hip-hop/rock fusion of nu-metal or the angsty emo whining of the indie performers. They were four guys, no gimmicks, and just good writing. True rock wasn't dead by any stretch of the imagination, but ATYCLB was a kick to the nuts that rock needed in 2001.

I'm quite disappointed to say this is my opinion too. I think it's very bland and forgettable

I'm of the opposite opinion. The songs aren't as immediately catchy in that jingle sort of way, but there's a definite radio friendly quality to it. It's like U2 said, "You want more guitars? BAM! Here are your f***ing guitars." In a sense, it's a very competitive album with an edge, no pun intended. I think that its consistency alone will make it much more memorable in the long run.

I will say this though. For much of the 2000s, U2 spent its time trying to be everything to everybody. They tried so hard to please everybody that I don't think that they pleased anybody, at least not totally. They produced a lot of great music on the last 3 albums, but only ATYCLB was in any way consistent.

U2 seems to have returned to form in at least one significant way. They're polarizing their audience again. Instead of trying to please everybody, they're back to playing to a specific audience. It's like how there was always a crowd who couldn't be fans of 80s U2 because they were hardcore 90s U2 fans - or vice versa. 2014 U2 has its own sound and voice too. I guarantee you that there will eventually be fans of the 2010s U2 that might loath one of the other sonically different U2 eras.

You're lukewarm to SoI. That's fine. I suppose they can't please everybody. To me, that's a really great thing. I got a little tired of the U2 that was practically on the campaign trail. They so desperately wanted to "re-apply" for the job. Fine. They got it. Now they can stop kissing babies and get back to playing to one end of the aisle, so to speak. Trying to please everybody, they almost ended up losing a unique voice. This new one might not speak to everybody, but that might not be such a bad thing either.

 

[Airseven]

Best album since Pop.

War, UF, JT, and AB are untouchable. Right now, this competes with Zooropa which is a strong compliment.

Staying power is key. But there is a certain attitude, energy and freshness to this that I haven't felt in a long time. There were glimpses of it on the previous two albums, but those tracks sound unfinished to me. Trappings with no substance. Fleeting. ATYCLB is cohesive and poignant but only average musically. SOI trends toward Zooropa/Pop but it needs more time of course.

 

[Beautifulday93]

yesterday I wrote about how this album did not have a big hitter and that it did not affect me emotionally. I was wrong. I am 21 years old and I am used to be fed on a diet of quick mass produced crap pop tunes and I could not appreciate this album. After many listens I can appreciate it.

This album is like a foreign film to me and it is very very heavy. It requires many listens. It is very very emotional and every track has touched my soul. This album will go down in the bands history as being one of their finest pieces. A lot of effort has gone into it