The Best of 1980-2005

[BANZAI]

Which songs would you like to see on a Best of 1980-2005 with only 17/18 songs? Don't make it an album with ONLY personal favorites. The normal fan and non-fan also have to like it (so it has to include a lot of standard hits). The Best Of also has to include at least one song from each album.

This one's difficult. Here's my try!


1. Where The Streets Have No Name
2. Acrobat
3. New Year's Day
4. Vertigo
5. Mofo
6. The Fly
7. With Or Without You
8. I Will Follow
9. The Unforgettable Fire
10. Lemon
11. City Of Blinding Lights
12. Gloria
13. Beautiful Day
14. Stay
15. Sunday Bloody Sunday
16. One
17. Bad
18. All I Want Is You

 

[J_NP]

Make it a live 80-06

 

[pgv]

Which songs would you like to see on a Best of 1980-2005 with only 17/18 songs? Don't make it an album with ONLY personal favorites. The normal fan and non-fan also have to like it (so it has to include a lot of standard hits). The Best Of also has to include at least one song from each album.

This one's difficult. Here's my try!


1. Where The Streets Have No Name
2. Acrobat
3. New Year's Day
4. Vertigo
5. Mofo
6. The Fly
7. With Or Without You
8. I Will Follow
9. The Unforgettable Fire
10. Lemon
11. City Of Blinding Lights
12. Gloria
13. Beautiful Day
14. Stay
15. Sunday Bloody Sunday
16. One
17. Bad
18. All I Want Is You

The only changes I'd make-
add october onto the end of all i want is you,
swap mofo with zooropa and add angel of harlem
in there somewhere.

 

[Axver]

Well, I distinguish between a Best Of and a Greatest Hits in that a Best Of should be the actual best of a band, regardless of its commercial success or popularity, while a Greatest Hits should be just that - the songs that did best on the charts.

Axver's Best Of U2

1. Zooropa
2. The Fly
3. Acrobat
4. God Part II
5. The Electric Co.
6. Gloria
7. New Year's Day
8. One Tree Hill
9. Where The Streets Have No Name
10. The Unforgettable Fire
11. Bad
12. Heartland
13. City Of Blinding Lights
14. Spanish Eyes
15. 11 O'clock Tick Tock
16. Gone
17. When I Look At The World
18. 40

I nearly used Treasure (Whatever Happened To Pete The Chop?) instead of 11 O'clock Tick Tock and put it before Spanish Eyes, but I think that flows better.

And, of course, there's a stark lack of Wild Irish Rose. Maybe I could end with Gone, cut 40, and slot Wild Irish Rose in somewhere ...

 

[FitzChivalry]

BANZAI, good job!

For me I'd just make one change; I'm not a big fan of "I Will Follow", so I'd replace it with another popular song from "Boy": either "The Electric Co." or "Out Of Control".

Other than that, good tracklisting!

 

[BANZAI]

Well, I distinguish between a Best Of and a Greatest Hits in that a Best Of should be the actual best of a band, regardless of its commercial success or popularity, while a Greatest Hits should be just that - the songs that did best on the charts.

It's too easy to make a Best Of album the way you did. In your case, make it a Greatest Hits album with only a few personal favorites.

 

[JCOSTER]

I Threw A Brick Through A Window
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bad
If You Wear tha Velvet Dress
Stay
Everlasting Love
I threw a Brick
City of Blinding Lights
Beautiful Day
New Year's Day
The Electric Co. - (live from Germany)
A Sort Of Homecoming
In God's Country
All I Want Is You
Until The End Of The World
If God Will Send His Angels
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
Vertigo

 

[u2thewho]

1) Where the Streets Have No Name
2) Until the End of the World
3) One
4) Miss Sarajevo
5) Bad
6) I Will Follow
7) Sunday Bloody Sunday
8) If God Will Send His Angels
9) With or Without You
10) Running to Stand Still
11) When Love Comes to Town
12) Acrobat
13) City of Blinding Lights
14) Zooropa
15) Walk On
16) Electric Co.
17) Beautiful Day
18) October

 

[Axver]

It's too easy to make a Best Of album the way you did. In your case, make it a Greatest Hits album with only a few personal favorites.

I did try to adhere to your criteria of pleasing non-fans. I included a number of worldwide top ten hits (The Fly, New Year's Day, One Tree Hill, Where The Streets Have No Name, The Unforgettable Fire, City Of Blinding Lights), classic live songs (Bad, 40), the biggest hit off October, the historically significant 11 O'clock Tick Tock (U2's first Island single), and a few songs to portray the diversity of U2's music (compare Zooropa to Heartland), as a Best Of collection should.

So I think it works.

But if I must do a Greatest Hits - yuck - then here it is:

1. Where The Streets Have No Name
2. I Will Follow
3. The Fly
4. Desire
5. Mysterious Ways
6. New Year's Day
7. Sunday Bloody Sunday
8. Pride
9. Gloria
10. Beautiful Day
11. City Of Blinding Lights
12. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
13. With Or Without You
14. Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
15. Discotheque
16. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
17. Even Better Than The Real Thing
18. All I Want Is You

 

[LMP]

The only way I can make a greatest hits is to make it chronologically.

I can never get the flow right...eep.

 

[ponkine]

The only way I can make a greatest hits is to make it chronologically.

I can never get the flow right...eep.

TOTALLY AGREE There's only one way to experience the band's changes and evolution, and that's a chronological compilation.

Also, I STRONGLY believe that you simply CANNOT make any "Best Of" from a 25 years old career in just ONE CD

Anyway, if I were the band I'd release a 3 CD Box collection:

CD1: The Best Of 1980-1990 remastered including ORIGINAL song length for WTSHNN and Bad, and including October as 15th Track (Previously released as hidden track after All I Want Is You)

CD2: The Best Of 1990-2000 remastered including ORIGINAL RECORDINGS and Mixes (That's for Discotheque, Staring, Numb Gone and Mysterious Ways for the remixes, and Miss Sarajevo for Song Lenght)

CD3: The Rest Of The Best 1980-2005

1- Out Of Control
2- Gloria
3- "40"
4- A Sort Of Homecoming
5- Bullet The Blue Sky
6- Running To Stand Still
7- In God's Country
8- One Tree Hill
9- God Part II
10-Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
11-Lemon
12-Please
13-Elevation
14-City Of Blinding Lights
15-Vertigo
16-Original Of The Species



PS: This is my post number 1000 !!!!!!!!!

 

[phillyfan26]

I'd think for something of this length, you would do it in The Essential style: 2 CDs spanning the career with mostly hits, and a third one mixed of B-sides, rarities, and live performances.

CD-1

1. I Will Follow
2. Out of Control
3. Gloria
4. Sunday Bloody Sunday
5. New Year's Day
6. Pride (In the Name of Love)
7. The Unforgettable Fire
8. Where the Streets Have No Name
9. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
10. With or Without You
11. One Tree Hill
12. Desire
13. When Love Comes to Town
14. Angel of Harlem
15. All I Want is You

CD-2

1. The Fly
2. Even Better Than the Real Thing
3. Mysterious Ways
4. One
5. Lemon
6. Numb
7. Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
8. Discotheque
9. MOFO
10. Beautiful Day
11. Elevation
12. Walk On
13. Vertigo
14. Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own
15. City of Blinding Lights

CD-3

1. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock (Live-Boy Tour)
2. 40 (Live-War Tour)
3. Bad (Live-Unforgettable Fire Tour)
4. Bullet the Blue Sky (Live-ZooTV Tour)
5. Running to Stand Still (Live-ZooTV Tour)
6. Exit (Live-Joshua Tree Tour)
7. The Sweetest Thing (single mix)
8. Spanish Eyes
9. Wild Irish Rose
10. Until the End of the World (Live-Vertigo Tour)
11. If You Wear That Velvet Dress (Live-POPMart Tour)
12. Mothers of the Disappeared (Live-POPMart Tour)
13. Original of the Species (Live-Vertigo Tour)
14. Fast Cars (Live-Vertigo Tour)
15. Love is Blindness (Live-ZooTV Tour)

 

[Snowlock]

My Best Of then:

1. Where The Streets Have No Name (Radio Edit)
2. Beautiful Day
3. Vertigo
4. Zoo Station
5. I Will Follow
6. With Or Without You (Live Rattle & Hum)
7. Out Of Control
8. Gloria
9. Bad (Live Wide Awake In America)
10. Sunday Bloody Sunday *
11. Pride *
12. Mysterious Ways*
13. Please (Single Version)
14. Stay*
15. WGRYWH (Temple Bar Remix)
16. One*
17. All I Want Is You (Radio Edit)
18. 40

* Included because you said we had to put their most popular. Were it totally my choice I would've put OOTS, Red Hill Mining Town, One Tree Hill, City Of Blinding Lights & Running To Stand Still here.

 

[Bono's shades]

I Will Follow
Gloria
New Year's Day
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Pride (In the Name of Love)
Bad (live from WAIA)
With or Without You
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Where the Streets Have No Name
All I Want Is You
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
One
Zooropa
Stay (Faraway So Close!)
Please
Gone
Walk On
Vertigo

My own personal best of would look considerably different.

 

[LMP]

My set of The Best of 1980-2005, similar to the "Essential" 3-CD collection at almost every decent record store. I did mine based on my favorites + greatest hits, and tested this playlist for a long time until deciding on this:

Disc 1:
1. Where the Streets Have No Name
2. Gloria
3. Desire
4. Angel of Harlem
5. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
6. Beautiful Day
7. Original of the Species (Single)
8. Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own
9. Walk On
10. City of Blinding Lights
11. I Will Follow
12. Out of Control
13. Pride (In the Name of Love)
14. Sunday Bloody Sunday
15. Bad
16. Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
17. All I Want is You

Disc 2:
1. Zoo Station
2. The Fly
3. Gone (Mike Hedges Mix)
4. Until the End of the World
5. New Year's Day ('Best of' Edit)
6. The Unforgettable Fire
7. Running to Stand Still
8. Please (UK Edit)
9. Love and Peace or Else
10. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
11. Pop Muzik / Mofo (a mix i picked up on here a while back which is exactly as it sounds, Pop Muzik building and blasting into Mofo)
12. Discotheque (Single Edit)
13. Mysterious Ways
14. Lemon (Single Edit)
15. With or Without You
16. Miss Sarajevo (Single Edit)
17. One

And If you pay 25 dollars more on U2.com, you can get a bonus cd of leftovers that may or may not get lost in the mail, for 40 dollars that, and a cd of remixes that no one cares for, 50 dollars more gets a live disc, and your first born child gets you a Red Rocks DVD

 

[Axver]

And If you pay 25 dollars more on U2.com, you can get a bonus cd of leftovers that may or may not get lost in the mail, for 40 dollars that, and a cd of remixes that no one cares for, 50 dollars more gets a live disc, and your first born child gets you a Red Rocks DVD

 

[Salome]

1. A Sort of Homecoming
2. Beautiful Day
3. I will follow
4. New Year's Day
5. Rejoice
6. Sunday Bloody Sunday
7. Pride
8. I still haven't found .....
9. With or without you
10. Lemon
11. Mofo
12. Where the streets .....
13. Bad
14. Sometimes you can't make it .....
15. Stuck in a Moment .....
16. Vertigo
17. The Fly
18. All I want is You


I don't think I'll ever try making this album though

 

[Joey788]

1. Where the Streets Have No Name
2. Vertigo
3. I Will Follow
4. Gloria
5. God Part 2
6. Desire
7. Beautiful Day
8. Sunday Bloody Sunday
9. Bad
10. One
11. New Year's Day
12. Lemon
13. With or Without You
14. Please
15. Acrobat
16. Gone
17. The Fly

 

[PookaMacP]

I agree with the two-disc theory, particularly for a band as big as U2. I made a two-disc Best Of recently for my girlfriend who is more of a casual fan, and it ran as follows....

Disc 1:
1 Zoo Station
2 Even Better Than The Real Thing
3 Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
4 Running To Stand Still
5 Sunday Bloody Sunday
6 Vertigo
7 Last Night on Earth [SINGLE VERSION]
8 Please
9 Where The Streets Have No Name
10 October
11 New Year’s Day
12 The Unforgettable Fire
13 Lemon
14 With Or Without You
15 The Electric Co.
16 Desire
17 The First Time

Disc 2:
1 Zooropa
2 Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
3 One
4 I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
5 Until The End Of The World
6 I Will Follow
7 Beautiful Day
8 Bad
9 Pride (In The Name Of Love)
10 Walk On [SINGLE VERSION]
11 Original Of The Species [SINGLE VERSION]
12 Mysterious Ways
13 Staring At The Sun
14 Miss Sarajevo
15 Sweetest Thing [SINGLE VERSION]
16 Out Of Control
17 All I Want Is You