What a fantastic decade, so underrated and unappreciated

[U2Kitten]

I'm talking about the 80's. I agree with Scatteroflight that 80's U2 is sadly unappreciated on this forum. U2 had a great career in the 80's. There was their spunky debut album Boy, their lovely, spiritual album October, their awesome classic War, which gave us two of the greatest U2 songs ever and more. Then came The Unforgettable Fire. This was a work of art. The songs are beautiful, passionate and dreamy. They have a feeling like no other. I was already a fan then, Bono my teenage crush, his pics on my wall. They did a charity concert called Live Aid, and delivered a memorable performance. They were already great, but they weren't done yet!

In 1987, they came out with an album called The Joshua Tree. It was full of incredible songs, well wrtiten, intense, great in every way. The band were seasoned experts now, and Bono's voice, like on UF, was in its prime. These were glorious days. They got a lot of exposure on MTV and the media and became superstars.

They followed it with Rattle and Hum, which had a lot of blues, but also some of their most beautiful songs, like Heartland and All I Want is You. U2 were on top of the world in the late 80's.

Even if they had decided not to come back when the 'went away to dream it all up again' on New Year's Eve of 1989, their legacy would still be there, they would still be remembered as a great band if they had never played another show or recorded another song. That's how great U2 was in the 80's. Let us pay homage.

 

[pop_mofo]

Agreed. I love the U2 of the 80's. You can't help but be engaged by their naievete and sheer intensity.

However, I am still more of a nineties and beyond fan. Sorry

Hell, I love everything they have ever done. Let's appreciate U2.

Peace.

 

[U2Kitten]

I am grateful for U2's long career and all their albums, but I think the 80's could have stood alone as a career and greatness if there had been nothing after. The same cannot be said of the 90's, if there had been no 80's, I don't believe that the 90's work would stand on its own and be remembered as legendary greatness. I know there is no need to split it up, it's all U2, but I'm really tired of the endless gushing over the 90's. The 80's deserve some praise!

 

[wertsie]

The 80s really were an amazing time for the band.

I love 80s music in general (particularly New Wave) but it's so interesting to listen to 80s U2 and then to a lot of the other stuff that was popular. They were so different from anything else...They've never been afraid to do their own thing!

 

[pop_mofo]

I am grateful for U2's long career and all their albums, but I think the 80's could have stood alone as a career and greatness if there had been nothing after. The same cannot be said of the 90's, if there had been no 80's, I don't believe that the 90's work would stand on its own and be remembered as legendary greatness. I know there is no need to split it up, it's all U2, but I'm really tired of the endless gushing over the 90's. The 80's deserve some praise!

I hope you didn't think my comment was meant to take the sentiment away from your original post. I only stated my admiration for their nineties work to simply qualify myself as a fan and to give some context. I hope I didn't offend you. If so, I apologize.

Peace.

 

[Zoots]

agree

Totally agree! The 80s were the launch pad. The 90s albums with the exception of Achtung may probably not have had that many fans if 80s U2 was non-existant. Okay, I know that they lost a lot of their fans with Zooropa and Pop. But the remaining fan base stuck with the band partly due to the credibility of the musicians and their long standing career since 1979. I'm not discounting the brilliance of Zooropa and Pop but just saying that the 80s definately had a small role in forming the base.

 

[scatteroflight]

U2 in the 80's...I think of the flying passion of songs like Streets and Rejoice, the spine-chilling banner waving of Pride and Gloria, the quiet torture of With Or Without You, the sad darkness of Mothers of the Disappeared and October, the awkward strangeness of An Cat Dubh, the blazing angst of Electric Co and Stranger in a Strange Land, the sheer poetry of A Sort of Homecoming and Heartland, the catharsis of Bad, the anguish of Sunday Bloody Sunday, the painful hope of 40.

I more or less missed U2 in the 80's. I was ten when the decade ended. I was exposed to The Joshua Tree and some of their other songs in that time, though, and I liked them from the start. I suppose that was enough to lay the groundwork, and I became a major fan in 1994, at a time when I didn't really like what U2 was doing in the moment. Achtung Baby is an extraordinary and complex album and I have the greatest admiration for it. But I think I will always return to the 80's work. I would agree that it could stand on its own and make U2 a truly great band, which I would have some doubts about for the 90's stuff. I love music that bleeds emotion, what can I say.

 

[Joshua_Tree_Hugger]

I don't under-appreciate the 80's. They're just as an important a part of U2 as the 90's are.

Where would we be without such forever classics as "Streets", "Pride", "With Or Without You", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", "All I Want Is You", "Desire", "Running To Stand Still", "A Sort of Homecoming", "A Day Without Me", "Out Of Control", "October", "I Will Follow", "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "New Year's Day", "Bad", "40" and "MLK" amongst countless others?

The 80's song have played a crucial part on each of U2's 90's tours. No doubt U2's early work was just as good and influencial as any of their later work!

 

[Salome]

U2 has released 2 x as many albums in the 80's as in the 90's
the probably played 3 times as many shows as they did in the 90's
if you'd ask the avarage music fan to name 10 U2 songs (not countng ATYCLB) they would probably name at least 7 songs from the 80's

I would say the 80's are underappreciated over here

 

[pinkfloyd]

Kitty , sure you 're right , 80's were great , all U2 songs from 80's are great , unique and belong to rock'n'roll best of 19** s , albums , ..great albums .. great edit....

oh Edge's guitar from the 80's this is sooooomething , absolutely fantastic ,,, raw accords .....

Larry ... good rhytmn .... cool style

AAdam ...Wow....

Bono..there is nothing more to say about 80's bono .. he's sooooo
fking cool ......... so underrated yes i'm cooompletely agree ...


all albums in top charts of europe , america , asia and the rest of the world , countless number of sold-out singles , gigs ...


so uuunderrated ......guest stars Bob Dylan , bb king and bruce , 4 b's are to make it right

 

[Savannah]

Without the 80's there would be no U2!

 

[wertsie]

And then, of course, there's the most underappreciated ALBUM of the 80s, October! woo-hoo! Yay for October!

 

[Muad'zin]

I don't even think there was a really 90's U2. From Boy to Zooropa the lads were constantly writing, recording, performing in one way or another. It's all one big continuous progression.
But that stops after Zoo TV ends and they take a big break, dating supermodels and stuff. Then Pop starts and even then half the material on Pop is basically Zooropa leftover material.

Still, even if there is a '90's' U2, its output is so poor that on its Best of CD they have to bring in material from the next decade. 3 albums and 2 tours is just not enough to fill a best of the 90's CD compared to the 6 albums and 6 tours of the best of the 80's CD.

 

[Tip Top Prince]

What about the 70s??????

C'mon ppl - U2-3, The Dream is Over, The Magic Carpet, to name a few....

Excellent stuff!

 

[pinkfloyd]

yeaaaaar Joshua Tree so underrated album ,


on this forum it's twice underrrrrrrrrrated then in any other place

Well. well.

and U2 of 70's - the best , even john lennon and Syd , admitted it , Shine On

 

[Bono's shades]

U2 released some fantastic material in the 1990s, but as someone who first started listening to U2 in the 1980s, that era will always be magical to me. I remember hearing them on the radio for the first time and being completely blown away. Their music was so passionate, so intense and so heartfelt that it made almost all the other music from that time seem like drivel. I remember how The Joshua Tree was the soundtrack of my life when I was in college. Songs like "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Where the Streets Have No Name" seemed to mirror my own restlessness and uncertainty, as well as the excitement and euphoria I felt at that time in my life when I thought anything was possible. I remember how my roomates and I would go nuts whenever a U2 video came on MTV. I remember feeling so proud when I saw the band on the cover of Time magazine and read the article inside. Ah, memories...

 

[kingofsorrow]

ACHTUNG BABY and ZOOROPA was the soundtrack to my highschool life. it represnts' to me the angry,dark,obsessive,confused by life outlook i had. but the 80's material represents to me my childhood(pre-highschool) years, where i had a not so negative outlook on life. every U2 album has coincided with what i was feeling and thinking at the time of their release. WEIRD HUH?

 

[Joshua_Tree_Hugger]

Still, even if there is a '90's' U2, its output is so poor that on its Best of CD they have to bring in material from the next decade. 3 albums and 2 tours is just not enough to fill a best of the 90's CD compared to the 6 albums and 6 tours of the best of the 80's CD.

Well even if they stuck to three albums from 1990-2000 (this is excluding ATYLCB) they would still have enough. The inner depts of Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop are so good that five or six songs could easily be taken from each to make up a Best Of. And that is EXCLUDING ATYCLB.

 

[U2Kitten]

Thanks people. Your comments were great. But I still think it's too underrated around here. Sigh.

 

[wertsie]

Thanks people. Your comments were great. But I still think it's too underrated around here. Sigh.

Well, you know what they say...if you don't like something, change it! Start some pro-80s threads! I'm sure many of us will join in on the fun (that includes me!).

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Heh, I listened to "The Joshua Tree" just last night. God, I love that album.

The 80's U2 is awesome. I'm really liking a lot of their very early 80's stuff I've been hearing in particular. I hear a lot of it on the New Wave channel (DMX channel), so anytime I'm flipping through those channels, I leave it on the New Wave channel for a while, and not only do I hear U2, I've also heard some songs from other new wave artists that are kinda cool, too.

I haven't heard anything they have done during the 70's, so I really can't comment on that (I didn't even know they had recorded any songs during the 70's!).

And "Rattle and Hum"...also great. I like the live versions of songs on there (seeing the concert footage in the movie, too...man, if only I'd been born at an earlier time...I wish I'd been old enough to go to some of those concerts in the 80's...).

Then there's "War", which just kicks major butt the whole way through (a lot of people say they don't like "The Refugee" or "Red Light" on here...I actually like those songs...I think they're kinda cool).

We all gotta get together and talk to my sister, though...she doesn't like "Where The Streets Have No Name" or "New Year's Day". I don't get why.

I love 90's U2 and 00's U2 as well. But I agree, the 80's U2 doesn't get nearly as much attention on here as it should...and having threads like this is a great idea.

Angela

 

[Joshua_Tree_Hugger]

We all gotta get together and talk to my sister, though...she doesn't like "Where The Streets Have No Name" or "New Year's Day". I don't get why.

Neither do I. They're classics

 

[U2Kitten]

Well, you know what they say...if you don't like something, change it! Start some pro-80s threads! I'm sure many of us will join in on the fun (that includes me!).

That's exactly what I tried to do by starting this thread

 

[wertsie]

That's exactly what I tried to do by starting this thread

I'd say it worked pretty well, wouldn't you? What specific aspects of the 80s do you like? Start threads about those too! More 80s threads will lead to more 80s props!

 

[SweetOnU2]

I'd say it worked pretty well, wouldn't you? What specific aspects of the 80s do you like? Start threads about those too! More 80s threads will lead to more 80s props!

We need more 80's threads!

I've been stuck on the Joshua Tree and Unforgettable Fire for weeks now! Some needs to start an "UF" appreciation thread!

 

[wertsie]

Some needs to start an "UF" appreciation thread!

Okay!