I’ve seen so many different Interference members rank their top 3 or top 5 U2 albums of all time, and I’ve struggled to do the same. I finally came up with AB being my favorite and it’s because I like to listen to the whole album…no skips, no special ripped track listing, just the album played in it’s entirety just as it was made by U2. Lately, during interviews for Atomic and even ATYCLB, the band members have been talking about “the songs” are what’s important, these are 11 good reasons to go on the road, we want to be played on the radio again, etc.
Now, for Interference members and other die-hard U2 fans, song and album favorites vary widely and album rankings do not always depend on the songs. They have to be good songs, mind you, but there are mood albums, albums that remind us of certain experiences, even albums that even changed our lives.
For the average, and majority of U2 and music fans, it really is the songs that matter. People hear a song, like BD, and either love it or can’t get it out of their head and they buy the album. Also, U2, like many artists, front-load their albums with the best songs, and then there are “fillers” or more experimental (or not at all) songs that might appeal to a certain group of fans. However, once in a while, a truly GREAT album comes along, with no fillers, no duds, just glorious music for the first through the last song. U2 has those albums.
So, I’ve decided to try to rank my take on the albums since JT, up to and including Atomic. Ranking system goes like this: 1 = Classic; 2 = Hit; 3 = Near Hit; 4 = Near Miss; 5 = Skip that song! The lowest score wins. This has nothing to do with how a song does on the charts…just my subjective opinion on what average U2 fans will think of a song after hearing it, but mostly my opinion of the song. However, it also takes into account songs that have stood the test of time, which makes the rankings on the more recent albums more difficult. To deal with the different # of songs per album, the total score will be divided by the number of songs on the album to come up with an index.
It’s not perfect, and what I think will be really interesting is to do this again, but this time rank the live versions, where available, and see if the results change. (Like PLEASE live is a CLASSIC in my opinion. Here’s my go at it…I’m sure many will disagree and I hope to see other opinions! Just cut and past everything but the rankings. These ARE MY PERSONAL RANKINGS, BUT ALSO TO SEE IF MY OPINION MATCHES UP IN ANY WAY WITH WHY ALBUMS SUCCEED.
Joshua Tree
Ranking
• Where the Streets Have No Name (Classic = 1)
• I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Classic = 1)
• With or Without You (4:56) (Classic = 1)
• Bullet the Blue Sky (4:32) (N. Miss = 4)
• Running to Stand Still (4:18) (N. Hit = 3)
• Red Hill Mining Town (4:52) (N. Miss = 4)
• In God's Country (2:57) (Hit = 2)
• Trip Through Your Wires (3:32) (Skip = 5)
• One Tree Hill (5:23) (N. Miss = 4)
• Exit (4:13) (N. Miss = 4)
• Mothers of the Disappeared (5:14) (N. Miss = 4)
• TOTAL ALBUM SCORE = 29/11 = 2.64
Achtung Baby
Ranking
• ZOO station (4:36) (N. Miss = 4)
• even BETTER than the REAL THING (3:41) (Hit = 2)
• ONE (4:36) (Classic = 1)
• until the END of the WORLD (4:39) (Classic = 1)
• who's gonna RIDE your WILD HORSES (5:16) (Hit = 2)
• SO cruel (5:49) (N. Hit = 3)
• the FLY (4:29) (N. Hit = 3)
• MYSTERIOUS WAYS (4:04) (Classic = 1)
• TRYIN' to throw your ARMS around the WORLD (3:53) (N. Miss = 4)
• ULTRA violet (light my WAY) (5:31) (N. Hit = 3)
• ACROBAT (4:30) (N. Hit = 3)
• LOVE IS blindness (4:23) (N. Miss = 4)
• TOTAL ALBUM SCORE = 31/12 = 2.58
Zooropa Ranking
• Zooropa (6:30) (N. Hit = 3)
• Babyface (4:00) (Skip = 5)
• Numb (4:18) (Hit = 2)
• Lemon (6:56) (N. Hit = 3)
• Stay (Faraway So Close!) (4:58) (Hit = 2)
• Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car (5:19) (N. Miss = 4)
• Some Days are Better than Others (4:15) (N. Miss = 4)
• The First Time (3:45) (N. Hit = 3)
• Dirty Day (5:24) (N. Miss = 4)
• The Wanderer (4:44) (N. Miss = 4)
• TOTAL ALBUM SCORE = 34/10 = 3.4
POP Ranking
• Discotheque (5:19) (Hit = 2)
• Do You Feel Loved? (5:07) (N. Miss = 4)
• MOFO (5:46) (N. Miss = 4)
• If God Will Send His Angels (5:22) (Hit = 2)
• Staring at the Sun (4:36) (Hit – 2)
• Last Night on Earth (4:45) (N. Miss = 4)
• Gone (4:26) (Hit = 2)
• Miami (4:52) (Skip = 5)
• The Playboy Mansion (4:40) (N. Hit = 3)
• If You Wear that Velvet Dress (5:14) (Skip = 5)
• Please (5:10) (N. Hit = 3)
• Wake Up Dead Man (4:52) (N. Miss = 4)
• TOTAL ALBUM SCORE 40/12 = 3.33
All that you can’t leave behind
Ranking
• Beautiful Day (4:06) (Classic = 1)
• Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of (4:33) (Hit =2)
• Elevation (3:48) (Hit = 2)
• Walk On (4:57) (Classic = 1)
• Kite (4:25) (Classic = 1)
• In a Little While (3:40) (N. Hit = 3)
• Wild Honey (3:47) (N. Miss = 4)
• Peace on Earth (4:49) (Skip = 5)
• When I Look at the World (4:14) (N. Miss = 4)
• New York (5:31) (N. Miss = 4)
• Grace (5:45) (N. Miss = 4)
• TOTAL ALBUM SCORE 31/11 = 2.82
How to dismantle an Atomic Bomb
Ranking
• Vertigo (3:13) (Hit = 2)
• Miracle Drug (3:54) (Classic = 1)
• Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own (5:05) (Classic = 1)
• Love and Peace or Else (4:48) (N. Hit = 3)
• City of Blinding Lights (5:46) (Classic = 1)
• All Because of You (3:33) (Hit = 2)
• A Man and A Woman (4:27) (N. Hit = 3)
• Crumbs from Your Table (4:59) (Classic = 1)
• One Step Closer (3:47) (N. Hit =3)
• Original of the Species (4:34) (Hit = 2)
• Yahweh (4:22) (N. Miss = 4)
• TOTAL ALBUM SCORE 23/11 = 2.11
Well, that turned out different than I expected. I guess right now, I must agree with the USA Today review and say Atomic is U2’s best work. Like AB, though, I almost always listen to Atomic all the way through. Even with ATYCLB, I loved the album, but I was listening to 1-6 more and more until I finally burned my own ATYCLB. As for live versions, well, the FLY turned into a Classic for me on the Elevation Tour, and Please has always been one of my top songs live, be it from POPMART from Mexico City, the POPHEART live EP, MTV awards, etc. However, this was a ranking of the Album cuts.
As for Atomic, I tried to really look at the Classics and knock one or two of them down to just hits. Time will tell, but 4 classics is what I came up with, so I left it alone. So, since 1987, my “Classic” U2 album would look like this:
• Where the Streets Have No Name
• I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
• With or Without You
• ONE
• until the END of the WORLD
• Beautiful Day
• Walk On
• Kite
• Miracle Drug
• Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own
• City of Blinding Lights
• Crumbs from Your Table
Now that would be the all time greatest album ever…12 classics…and I don’t even go back to UF, War, October, or Boy…I skipped Rattle & Hum completely…and U2 also have some great “one-off’s” and b-sides. From a studio album perspective though, since the Joshua Tree, this would be it. Anyone care to tear apart all my rankings and perceptions?
Now, for Interference members and other die-hard U2 fans, song and album favorites vary widely and album rankings do not always depend on the songs. They have to be good songs, mind you, but there are mood albums, albums that remind us of certain experiences, even albums that even changed our lives.
For the average, and majority of U2 and music fans, it really is the songs that matter. People hear a song, like BD, and either love it or can’t get it out of their head and they buy the album. Also, U2, like many artists, front-load their albums with the best songs, and then there are “fillers” or more experimental (or not at all) songs that might appeal to a certain group of fans. However, once in a while, a truly GREAT album comes along, with no fillers, no duds, just glorious music for the first through the last song. U2 has those albums.
So, I’ve decided to try to rank my take on the albums since JT, up to and including Atomic. Ranking system goes like this: 1 = Classic; 2 = Hit; 3 = Near Hit; 4 = Near Miss; 5 = Skip that song! The lowest score wins. This has nothing to do with how a song does on the charts…just my subjective opinion on what average U2 fans will think of a song after hearing it, but mostly my opinion of the song. However, it also takes into account songs that have stood the test of time, which makes the rankings on the more recent albums more difficult. To deal with the different # of songs per album, the total score will be divided by the number of songs on the album to come up with an index.
It’s not perfect, and what I think will be really interesting is to do this again, but this time rank the live versions, where available, and see if the results change. (Like PLEASE live is a CLASSIC in my opinion. Here’s my go at it…I’m sure many will disagree and I hope to see other opinions! Just cut and past everything but the rankings. These ARE MY PERSONAL RANKINGS, BUT ALSO TO SEE IF MY OPINION MATCHES UP IN ANY WAY WITH WHY ALBUMS SUCCEED.
Joshua Tree
Ranking
• Where the Streets Have No Name (Classic = 1)
• I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Classic = 1)
• With or Without You (4:56) (Classic = 1)
• Bullet the Blue Sky (4:32) (N. Miss = 4)
• Running to Stand Still (4:18) (N. Hit = 3)
• Red Hill Mining Town (4:52) (N. Miss = 4)
• In God's Country (2:57) (Hit = 2)
• Trip Through Your Wires (3:32) (Skip = 5)
• One Tree Hill (5:23) (N. Miss = 4)
• Exit (4:13) (N. Miss = 4)
• Mothers of the Disappeared (5:14) (N. Miss = 4)
• TOTAL ALBUM SCORE = 29/11 = 2.64
Achtung Baby
Ranking
• ZOO station (4:36) (N. Miss = 4)
• even BETTER than the REAL THING (3:41) (Hit = 2)
• ONE (4:36) (Classic = 1)
• until the END of the WORLD (4:39) (Classic = 1)
• who's gonna RIDE your WILD HORSES (5:16) (Hit = 2)
• SO cruel (5:49) (N. Hit = 3)
• the FLY (4:29) (N. Hit = 3)
• MYSTERIOUS WAYS (4:04) (Classic = 1)
• TRYIN' to throw your ARMS around the WORLD (3:53) (N. Miss = 4)
• ULTRA violet (light my WAY) (5:31) (N. Hit = 3)
• ACROBAT (4:30) (N. Hit = 3)
• LOVE IS blindness (4:23) (N. Miss = 4)
• TOTAL ALBUM SCORE = 31/12 = 2.58
Zooropa Ranking
• Zooropa (6:30) (N. Hit = 3)
• Babyface (4:00) (Skip = 5)
• Numb (4:18) (Hit = 2)
• Lemon (6:56) (N. Hit = 3)
• Stay (Faraway So Close!) (4:58) (Hit = 2)
• Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car (5:19) (N. Miss = 4)
• Some Days are Better than Others (4:15) (N. Miss = 4)
• The First Time (3:45) (N. Hit = 3)
• Dirty Day (5:24) (N. Miss = 4)
• The Wanderer (4:44) (N. Miss = 4)
• TOTAL ALBUM SCORE = 34/10 = 3.4
POP Ranking
• Discotheque (5:19) (Hit = 2)
• Do You Feel Loved? (5:07) (N. Miss = 4)
• MOFO (5:46) (N. Miss = 4)
• If God Will Send His Angels (5:22) (Hit = 2)
• Staring at the Sun (4:36) (Hit – 2)
• Last Night on Earth (4:45) (N. Miss = 4)
• Gone (4:26) (Hit = 2)
• Miami (4:52) (Skip = 5)
• The Playboy Mansion (4:40) (N. Hit = 3)
• If You Wear that Velvet Dress (5:14) (Skip = 5)
• Please (5:10) (N. Hit = 3)
• Wake Up Dead Man (4:52) (N. Miss = 4)
• TOTAL ALBUM SCORE 40/12 = 3.33
All that you can’t leave behind
Ranking
• Beautiful Day (4:06) (Classic = 1)
• Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of (4:33) (Hit =2)
• Elevation (3:48) (Hit = 2)
• Walk On (4:57) (Classic = 1)
• Kite (4:25) (Classic = 1)
• In a Little While (3:40) (N. Hit = 3)
• Wild Honey (3:47) (N. Miss = 4)
• Peace on Earth (4:49) (Skip = 5)
• When I Look at the World (4:14) (N. Miss = 4)
• New York (5:31) (N. Miss = 4)
• Grace (5:45) (N. Miss = 4)
• TOTAL ALBUM SCORE 31/11 = 2.82
How to dismantle an Atomic Bomb
Ranking
• Vertigo (3:13) (Hit = 2)
• Miracle Drug (3:54) (Classic = 1)
• Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own (5:05) (Classic = 1)
• Love and Peace or Else (4:48) (N. Hit = 3)
• City of Blinding Lights (5:46) (Classic = 1)
• All Because of You (3:33) (Hit = 2)
• A Man and A Woman (4:27) (N. Hit = 3)
• Crumbs from Your Table (4:59) (Classic = 1)
• One Step Closer (3:47) (N. Hit =3)
• Original of the Species (4:34) (Hit = 2)
• Yahweh (4:22) (N. Miss = 4)
• TOTAL ALBUM SCORE 23/11 = 2.11
Well, that turned out different than I expected. I guess right now, I must agree with the USA Today review and say Atomic is U2’s best work. Like AB, though, I almost always listen to Atomic all the way through. Even with ATYCLB, I loved the album, but I was listening to 1-6 more and more until I finally burned my own ATYCLB. As for live versions, well, the FLY turned into a Classic for me on the Elevation Tour, and Please has always been one of my top songs live, be it from POPMART from Mexico City, the POPHEART live EP, MTV awards, etc. However, this was a ranking of the Album cuts.
As for Atomic, I tried to really look at the Classics and knock one or two of them down to just hits. Time will tell, but 4 classics is what I came up with, so I left it alone. So, since 1987, my “Classic” U2 album would look like this:
• Where the Streets Have No Name
• I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
• With or Without You
• ONE
• until the END of the WORLD
• Beautiful Day
• Walk On
• Kite
• Miracle Drug
• Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own
• City of Blinding Lights
• Crumbs from Your Table
Now that would be the all time greatest album ever…12 classics…and I don’t even go back to UF, War, October, or Boy…I skipped Rattle & Hum completely…and U2 also have some great “one-off’s” and b-sides. From a studio album perspective though, since the Joshua Tree, this would be it. Anyone care to tear apart all my rankings and perceptions?
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