Best Album Survivor: Round Eight

[digitize]

With a majority of the votes in the last round, Boy has been eliminated from our contest, leaving only five albums! Round eight begins now. You have 24 hours to vote for your least favorite remaining album.

The ranking as of now:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. Boy
7 (tie). No Line on the Horizon
7 (tie). War
9. Rattle and Hum
10. All That You Can't Leave Behind
11. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
12. Original Soundtracks 1
13. October

 

[Axver]

You people disgust me, ousting Boy.

I'm sticking with my Zooropa vote of the last round. The title track is one of the times when U2 got the closest to perfection, but the rest of the album, even its other high moments, doesn't quite live up to such an epic start (much as I love some of the other tracks). Babyface is a huge turd and there are a couple of other tracks that don't do all that much for me.

 

[LemonMelon]

I want to do anything possible to help Zooropa, but I doubt that will be necessary. TUF until it's gone.

 

[Vlaco]

Pop, as much as I like this album, it has no Zooropa, Lemon, Stay and The Wanderer. (Yes, I think The Wanderer is a truly unique song). Pop has some great songs, but Zooropa and Lemon are two of my favourite U2 songs.

 

[bonocomet]

Need to sleep on this one... Zooropa, Stay, and Lemon are stellar songs.... Bad is transcendent, (and U2 almost just wouldn't be U2 if Pride didn't exist). With or Without You, ISHFWILF, RTSS, (and Streets live) are simply beautiful... DYFL, Mofo, Velvet Dress, Please, Gone are just such good, good songs... (for me, Achtung Baby is safe simply because of One alone, and the fact that it's so entirely great).... I just don't know....

The fact that I'm so torn makes me happy that I love a band this much.

 

[The Sad Punk]

Pop, and also I had no idea Axver liked Achtung Baby more than Zooropa.

 

[Axver]

Pop, and also I had no idea Axver liked Achtung Baby more than Zooropa.

It's a toss-up, but at this stage an Achtung vote is a waste. Might as well focus on Zooropa or Pop to look after the interests of UF.

I've honestly come to think of U2's nineties output in just two categories, not as three albums - i.e. "these songs I dig" and "these songs I don't" - since I don't listen to any of those albums in full any more due to the poor sequencing and amount of clunkers.

 

[lazarus]

Pop may be overcooked, but I'll take that over the half-baked effort that is The Unforgettable Fire--an important album, an uniquely atmospheric one. But the writing just isn't as strong.

 

[nielsgov]

This is a tough call for me. I don't know which album I like best from the trio Zooropa, Pop and The Joshua Tree. I voted for Pop in the end, if only to save The Unforgettable Fire which is my #2.

I just noticed that my five favourite albums are still there. Good job, Interference.

 

[Galeongirl]

Tuf.

I love Pop, and while Zooropa has Babyface, which is horrible, it still has too many good songs to let go of.
Tuf has Bad, ASOH, Pride and the title track, but that's about it for my interests. So half an album, is really not a good album.

 

[The Sad Punk]

I remain baffled at the universal disliking of Babyface - I'll save the lament until Zooropa goes, though.

 

[Axver]

I remain baffled at the universal disliking of Babyface - I'll save the lament until Zooropa goes, though.

I'd like it more if you were right about its meaning.

 

[U2girl]

Pop.

 

[intedomine]

Zooropa, easily.

 

[cobl04]

I remain baffled at the universal disliking of Babyface - I'll save the lament until Zooropa goes, though.

I'd like it more if you were right about its meaning.

 

[Tyagu_Anaykus]

Glad to see some Zooropa love. Well, TUF until it goes.

 

[digitize]

I think that Babyface has a fantastically interesting meaning as it is. It's about porn, but more deeply than that, it's about a cold, impersonal, gross relationship fostered by technology. It's especially interesting given the disgustingly cheerful way in which it is presented, and the fact that it comes off of a song that is at least on the surface so optimistic about the world created by modern technology. And really, that juxtaposition is the central theme of Zooropa, and why I think it is an utterly fantastic album.

 

[OpenG180]

I remain baffled at the universal disliking of Babyface - I'll save the lament until Zooropa goes, though.

I love Babyface. Always did, always will.

 

[LadySpinHead]

A painful vote for Pop- sorry, love.

I won't be touching Zooropa for a while, and it seems I'm in a TUF mood slightly more often than I'm in a Pop mood.

 

[lemonfly]

I think Boy should still be there in lieu of Zooropa, but otherwise this is a pretty decent lineup Pop has had a good innings (better than I expected) so it is a fond farewell. Today, I'm voting for the EP that had ideas above it's station.

 

[Nick66]

It's funny, I've always known some U2 albums are controversial...October, R&H, Pop & NLOTH for example. But until I discovered Interference, I (naively, as it turns out) thought that TUF, like JT and AB, was just one of those albums that's pretty much universally beloved by U2 fans. I know it's not everyone's (or even most peoples) favourite, but I don't quite understand the glee in voting against TUF and the comments like it's "not a good album". I mean, that record is SO U2. I've met fans who hate Pop and/or Zooropa, didn't like anything they did in the 00's, thought R&H was mess, but I don't think I've ever met a U2 fan, in person, who doesn't love TUF.

Oh well, it's a matter of art and as such a question of taste, but it's just a bit odd to me.

 

[Globo14]

Voted for Pop. It just doesn't connect with me as much, never has. It's got good stuff like Discotheque, Gone, Last Night on Earth, and Wake Up Dead Man, but other than that, I don't like it as much. The other 4 are superior to me.

 

[OpenG180]

It's funny, I've always known some U2 albums are controversial...October, R&H, Pop & NLOTH for example. But until I discovered Interference I (naively, as it turns out) thought that TUF, like JT and AB, was just one of those albums thats pretty much universally beloved by U2 fans. I know it's not everyone's (or even most peoples) favourite, but don't quite understand the glee in voting against TUF and the comments like it's "not a good album". I mean, that record is SO U2. I've met fans who hate Pop and/or Zooropa, didn't like anything they did in the 00's, thought R&H was mess, but I don't think I've ever met a U2 fan, in person, who doesn't love TUF.

Oh well, it's a matter of art and as such a question of taste, but it's just a bit odd to me.

Have to agree here.

 

[digitize]

It's funny, I've always known some U2 albums are controversial...October, R&H, Pop & NLOTH for example. But until I discovered Interference I (naively, as it turns out) thought that TUF, like JT and AB, was just one of those albums thats pretty much universally beloved by U2 fans. I know it's not everyone's (or even most peoples) favourite, but don't quite understand the glee in voting against TUF and the comments like it's "not a good album". I mean, that record is SO U2. I've met fans who hate Pop and/or Zooropa, didn't like anything they did in the 00's, thought R&H was mess, but I don't think I've ever met a U2 fan, in person, who doesn't love TUF.

Oh well, it's a matter of art and as such a question of taste, but it's just a bit odd to me.

Interestingly, I always thought that it was a little more well-respected here than in most circles. I love TUF too, and, although I understand the criticism, I disagree with it. But I think most people here really do the album. I mean, it will almost certainly be in the top four in this poll. I personally like it significantly better than TJT.

 

[OpenG180]

Interestingly, I always thought that it was a little more well-respected here than in most circles. I love TUF too, and, although I understand the criticism, I disagree with it. But I think most people here really do the album. I mean, it will almost certainly be in the top four in this poll. I personally like it significantly better than TJT.

TUF is the one album i can listen in any mood i'm in. And it's the one i never get sick of. I like it too significantly better than Joshua.
And i must be one of the few who really loves The Elvis song. It's transcendental to me.

 

[Salome]

POP

such a shame that the album with the highest numbers of great lyrics (though, somehow also showcasing some of Bono's worst lyrics IMO), only has a couple of songs on it where the tunes are even almost as good as the lyrics


Unforgettable Fire is an incredible album
only small problem is that EP&A is more interesting than that it is engaging

 

[digitize]

I like EPAA as a part of the album, but I have no interest in it as a standalone song.

 

[trojanchick99]

This is a difficult round. I love all of the albums left. I voted for UF because as much as I adore ASOH and Bad, I find myself listening to Pop, Zooropa, JT and AB more.

 

[iron yuppie]

Interestingly, I always thought that it was a little more well-respected here than in most circles.

Me too. When we ran a favorite albums poll in B&C some years ago, it placed somewhere in the top ten - the top ten of favorite albums ever by anyone.

 

[cobl04]

It's funny, I've always known some U2 albums are controversial...October, R&H, Pop & NLOTH for example. But until I discovered Interference, I (naively, as it turns out) thought that TUF, like JT and AB, was just one of those albums that's pretty much universally beloved by U2 fans. I know it's not everyone's (or even most peoples) favourite, but I don't quite understand the glee in voting against TUF and the comments like it's "not a good album". I mean, that record is SO U2. I've met fans who hate Pop and/or Zooropa, didn't like anything they did in the 00's, thought R&H was mess, but I don't think I've ever met a U2 fan, in person, who doesn't love TUF.

Oh well, it's a matter of art and as such a question of taste, but it's just a bit odd to me.

The second half, Bad excepted, is just such a huge drop in quality.