What are your 3 favorite U2 albums so far and why ?

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GBaxter

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What are your 4 favorite U2 albums so far and why ?

Of their 15 original albums so far, up to the new one, what are your 4 personal favorite U2 albums so far and please state a valid reason WHY (for each one named), rather than listing them and saying nothing.

If this has been discussed here before, please give any links.
 
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In no particular order, JT, UF, Hut Dab. They do something for me that words cannot describe.
 
#3: Unforgettable Fire was my coming of age album and "Bad" being my coming of age song.

#2: ATYCLB is now my family album. My seven year old says that BD is his song.

#1: Joshua Tree validated me in every way. Hope and faith in music.
 
Achtung Baby - one of the greatest albums in the history of rock - flawless

Pop - sonically impressive and innovative, some of Bono's best lyrics - gets better and better with every listen.

Zooropa - had the unpleasant task of succeeding AB. U2 finally takes the plunge into the waters of experimentation and the results are damn good. The album is not as solid as the two previously mentioned (the experiment really came of age with the creature POP) but it hosts some of my favourite U2 songs like Dirty Day, Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car, Numb, Stay and Some Days Are Better Than Others.

As it is obvious, even if I've been a U2 fan since the War era, I think the 90s were their best period by far. In fact I did not mention Original Sountracks - Passengers in my fave list since it is not an official U2 release. From the 80s I undoubtedly choose Waras my fave album.
 
1. The Unforgettable Fire - The most beautiful thing I've ever heard. I remember going to the National Gallery on a school trip as a kid when I still lived in DC, on a particularly gorgeous autumn day, and getting lost in the modern art wing while listening to this album on my Walkman. To this day, hearing the album triggers memories of dying leaves and Impressionist paintings. I often heard people call Brian & Danny's production on the album "murky", but I love that about it. This was the album that introduced me to mood and atmosphere in music. And, I watched the TUF documentary religiously. I wished I could have seen them working on "A Sort Of Homecoming", which is my all-time favorite recording, ever, by anyone. (I know those tapes are sitting around, somewhere, waiting to be rediscovered....)

2. Achtung Baby - I will always remember the first time I heard "The Fly", and thinking that my favorite band had gone completely out of their minds when I wasn't looking. Here I was, still learning and playing the songs from Boy to Rattle & Hum, and here comes this alien, industrial-fueled rock that seemed to shuck everything I thought the band was about. I was shocked. I didn't know what to make of it, at first. Then, I was shot down romantically by the beautiful lead singer in my band, and I suddenly felt that I understood all of it. :lol: And, it opened me up to entire musical genres to which I hadn't paid attention, or had purposely avoided, like industrial and various forms of what we used to just call "techno". That album had a huge effect on me, and even today, every song sounds brand new. The only downside is that I fear U2 will never be able to surprise me to that degree, again. So, I cherish the surprise of Achtung Baby, and little surprises like Zooropa, POP, and the Passengers album. The '90s were fantastic.

3. Under A Blood Red Sky - I know, this isn't a proper studio album, but it was integral in me becoming a fan, and I tend to listen to it more than the three albums that contributed to it. A friend in the 7th grade had made audiocassette copies of all the U2 stuff he had, and while I loved The Joshua Tree, and in particular, "In God's Country", it was UABRS and The Unforgettable Fire that really hooked me. Those live performances are both primal and elegant at the same time, especially tunes like "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" and "Party Girl", which, at that point, I had no other way of hearing. And, with the video release, it allowed me to witness the power of U2 in a live setting, something I wouldn't get to do myself until 1992.
 
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Achtung Baby - I love the style. The images that pop to your head when you hear it...

Pop - Last Night On Earth.

How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - well, you know.
 
TOP FIVE (because 4 is such an... in between number):

#1. The Joshua Tree: I know, can I get any more uncreative? But honestly, there's a reason it's THE U2 album. It's... it's... indescribable. I think I have to turn off HTDAAB for a second and listen to it again, now that I think about it. Even With or Without You, in all its overplayed glory, still gives me chills. Running to Stand Still? Exit? One Tree Hill? :drool: Probably my favorite album.

# 2. Boy: Resist baby-Bono, I dare you! :love: That's all I have to say about this one.

# 3. Achtung Baby: I know, I know, so uncreative. But really, how can you say no to The Fly? Even if you don't like the song (though if this is true of you you probably should get your brain checked), the very name conjures an image of Bono in leather - :drool: much? And One - how can an album with One not be here?

# 4. Zooropa: Lemon, Numb, Zooropa, Babyface - it amazes me that U2 can sound so unlike U2... and yet, at the same time, so exactly... the same. Besides, it's called 'Zooropa'. It's not possible to dislike an album called 'Zooropa'. It's thoroughly under-appreciated, too, which makes me feel more kindly towards it. :wink:

# 5. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb: The guitar, the poetic lyrics, the DVD that came with it with the interviews, the anticipation and the build and the downloading and the guilt and finally the moment when I listened to it and WOW. Yup, this one's a keeper. :yes:

(Sorry I didn't stick to the rules. I would feel bad if HTDAAB didn't make it :wink: )
 
#1 - Achtung Baby - this is my bible. it's where it all started for me. I'll never forget my grammar school party when one was blasting. it's what i had been looking for. I never listened to music and within the next week owned every U2 album. I have well over 500 cd's on my catalog and have never heard on better than this. I consider it the greates album ever made from start to finish.

#2 - The Unforgettable Fire - despite never liking Pride, something on this record just does it for me. I feel sometimes U2 are too much of the perfectionist type lately. This album feels so unfinished, yet thats what makes it brlilliant. U2 would never do anyhting like Elvis Presley and America again.

#3 - POP - Zooropa almost got this spot, but Pop is just so far ahead if its time. The greatest part of the album is how much it pissed of the common fan who was dying for U2 to be like all the other bands, like the Rolling Stones. Please into Streets was the highlight of every Popmart show. I long for the days, of 8 years ago now when the band didn't care what people think. ATYBLB is a completely riskless record. And while i like HTDAAB better than ATYCLB, it still lacks the risk taking of the mid to late 90's.
 
Ok, I'll play.


1. Joshua Tree - The single most reason I became a music fan. Before JT, music was something I heard in the backgorund whenever I was doing something. It was just there....it never spoke to me. I first heard With or Without You and remember thinking to myself "my god, I've never been moved inside by a song like this before". I had to hear it again. It was being played all over radio, all over MTV, but it wasn't enough. I had to go get the cassette so I could listen to that one song over and over and over and wait for it to stop moving me, but it never happened. What I found was One Tree Hill, believe it or not. The huge singles to come (Where the Streets Have No Name and Still Haven't Found) we're good....no, they were great, but One Tree Hill was doing it to me again. Over and over and over I played it, but the emotion only got worse....only grew stronger. All the sudden I found myself looking for music that moved me instead of music that sounded good. That was the beginning of the end.

2. Unforgettable Fire - once the JT hangover subsided, I had to go backwards. I had to see if this was just a shot to the soul that blind sided me, or was I simply missing the writing on the wall. I found UF....or more importantly, I found Bad. Other live versions came later that to this day make it my single favorite U2 song, but the UF cut was enough. To me, it is THE musical masterpiece by U2, moreso than any other song. Everything just fits on that song....fits perfectly. With or Without You did a good job of the same (actually, every song on JT fits perfectly, another reason why it's #1). My personal fave version is the Rattle and Hum live version. Awesome tune.

3. Achtung Baby - People crack on Rattle and Hum all the time, but to be quite honest, I have a hard time not putting it here instead of AB. But then I got to thinking.....One.....Wild horses......You're So Cruel......the guitar solo on The Fly......Ultraviolet.....and it became clear, that AB belonged here. I only named my faves from the album, but a ton of others can be found. It must be noted that the album should have ended after Ultraviolet. Acrobat and Love is Blindness don't get the credit they deserve because Ultraviolet outshines them both (in my opinion).

4. Da Bomb - I mean, come on? it's one of the first albums in a long time from these guys that is a great listen from start to finish. Even the perceived weaker songs like Love and Peace or Man and a Woman have their own sort of appeal to them. Man and a Woman has some kind of the next James Bond flick theme song feel to it. Love and Peace is just plain sassy. I must say that Mr. Hewson's belting out of "Sing" on SYCMIOYO just sends chills up my spine.....an emotion felt part of the song that I think rivals any passionate lyric Bono has ever written or sang. I don't know how he doesn't crack when he nails that, but somethin tells me it's got a little bit to do with the fact that he's just like his Pops......hardnosed and completey against letting any emotion come in and interupt the task at hand. There'll be time for crying later, but not now. Really amazing the story within that song and is easily my favorite on the album.


Well there's the 4 for me. Doesn't seem fair to limit it to that. But rules are rules, I suppose.
 
Erin go bragh said:
Ok, I'll play.


1. Joshua Tree - The single most reason I became a music fan. Before JT, music was something I heard in the backgorund whenever I was doing something. It was just there....it never spoke to me. I first heard With or Without You and remember thinking to myself "my god, I've never been moved inside by a song like this before". I had to hear it again. It was being played all over radio, all over MTV, but it wasn't enough. I had to go get the cassette so I could listen to that one song over and over and over and wait for it to stop moving me, but it never happened. What I found was One Tree Hill, believe it or not. The huge singles to come (Where the Streets Have No Name and Still Haven't Found) we're good....no, they were great, but One Tree Hill was doing it to me again. Over and over and over I played it, but the emotion only got worse....only grew stronger. All the sudden I found myself looking for music that moved me instead of music that sounded good. That was the beginning of the end.
Click to expand...


Im stealing your explanation. I can't say anything else about it, except that I was 9 years old and literally floored and am still to this day. It's my #1 as well obviously.

#2 - Achtung Baby - This album got played to DEATH when I got it. I was 13, and didnt have CD yet so I had a casette. I literally went through 4 freaking copies of it because I had one stolen, one lost, one busted and one played out on a really crappy stereo. I've only had 2 CD copies since though lol. It just feels so good even to this day. I have a karmic connection with it as well I believe. I hadnt listened to it in full for well over a year when last week I listened to it in full and it turned out to be the anniversary of its release. It was quite a shock when I found that out. It just resonates with me so well.

#3 - POP - What an album and I hate the mother fuckers who talk crap about it. It's so forward looking and other than JT I believe it has Bono's most introspective and thought provoking lyrics (until the bomb that is). I just feel it was such a brilliant step for this band and it sure as hell was ballsy. I loved the band before, but this made them deities in my eyes.

The rest of my list

#4 - War
#5 - Zooropa
#6 - The Bomb - It's climbing fast, I just need more time with it and to expierence it live in my face.
#7 - Boy
#8 - Rattle and Hum
#9 - The Unforgettable Fire
#10 - All That You Can't Leave Behind
#11 - October
 
Joshua Tree - The Yin
Actung Baby - The Yang
How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - The glue between the two
:wink:
 
1. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb: The best album in my opinion, probably because it's so fresh to me. Could not have asked for a better album by anyone.

2. The Joshua Tree: Obviously a great album, fan favorite, and the best thing to happen in the eighties.

3. Achtung Baby: So hip, so fresh. This album got me so into the band when I was becoming a fan. It's funny how this album is 13 years old, and still ahead of its time.

4. Pop: It's so daring and musically provocative. And probably because no band will ever have a tour so huge for an album like it. A rock group playing techno with strong lyrics.
 
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