Best to Worst U2 album trilogies.

[Valkeerie]

Let's consider trilogies for U2's albums and rank them according to your preference. These descriptions are mine, so I hope that if you disagree or have anything to add that you change them in your post.

1 - Boy/October/War - their early 80's work exploring their Irish tradition, from the portrayal of youth and celebration to the coming of age through war.

2 - Unforgettable Fire/The Joshua Tree/Rattle and Hum - the band dreams of American landscapes, rock'n'roll and blues, as they mature their political statements.

3 - Achtung Baby/Zooropa/Pop - with media breaking through the old continent, the band takes a turn for the spectacle, exploring European sounds and shuffling messages.

4 - All That You Can't Leave Behind/How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb/No Line on the Horizon - the band softens their message with personal affairs and polishes their sound for the 00s, assuming a conventional pop/rock stance.

BEST
2
1
3
4
WORST

 

[purpleoscar]

3
2
1
4

 

[dan_smee]

2
3
1
4

Was hard out of 2 and 3 - I think the inconsistency of Zooropa did it for me. That is U2's most bipolar record for mine. Amazing heights of creative and artistic glory (Zooropa, Lemon, Stay, Numb, The Wanderer), and some clunkers that just shouldn't have happened (SDABTO).

R&H was what lets 2 down, but it is saved because when you boil it down to the new songs, there isn't a 'bad' song on there, though nothing as good as Zooropa.

Hard decision. TUF is my number 1, so that helped.

 

[Flaming Friar Sr]

3
2
4/1 (ex aequo)

all may be surpassed by the SOI-SOE-SOA trilogy

 

[2861U2]

Achtung Baby / Zooropa / Pop
ATYCLB / HTDAAB / NLOTH (for me, this one is pretty close to being on top, but it's hard to pick against the 90s albums)
TUF / Joshua Tree / Rattle & Hum
Boy / October / War

 

[Axver]

2 - UF and JT are close to perfect, and even though RAH falls down as an album it still has some truly great songs
1 - almost equal with 2 thanks to the brilliance of Boy alone; October is also damn good and War has its moments despite some junk
3 - every album is excellent in part, but this era was too patchy for it to challenge 1 or 2

...

...

...

4 - who even cares?

 

[DomCobb]

Agree that it's 2-1-3-4. 1 is actually more consistent than 2 but it doesn't have as many classics. I love a lot of 3 but it's got some shit and it generally sounds dated. 4 has a lot of shit but still has some really good stuff. Here's hoping 5 is better.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

2
3
1

I kind of figure it a wash between Boy, Rattle & Hum and Pop, so i just went with trilogies based on the two better albums (in my opinion).

4

All That You Can't Leave Behind is a masterpiece, but neither of the two that followed are on par with the second string albums above (Unforgettable Fire, Zooropa and October), making this an easy decision.

I'm sure era #5 will have a strong chance at being my least favorite given that SOI is my least favorite U2 album.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Based On People's Submissions (Through SleepyDeadMan's Ballot Below):

1. Trilogy #2 (Unforgettable Fire/Joshua Tree/Rattle & Hum) - 16 points (Only ranked below second place on one ballot)

2. Trilogy #3 (Achtung Baby/Zooropa/Pop) - 18 points

3. Trilogy #1 (Boy/October/War) - 29 points (includes a third place tie for 3 points)

4. Trilogy #4 (ATYCLB/HTDAAB/NLOTH) - 36 points (includes a third place tie for 3 points, only avoids last place on two ballots)

One point for a rank of first, two points for second and so forth.

 

[LemonMelon]

3
2
1
4

 

[BigMacPhisto]

It will be interesting to see how this ends up...Achtung Baby and Joshua Tree cancel each other out around here and so do Unforgettable Fire and Zooropa...if anything, I figure Trilogy #3 has the edge since there's far more Pop lovers than Rattle & Hum fanatics.

Plus, Achtung Baby is clearly the favored album of U2 fans on the internet (and probably hardcore ones in general).

 

[SleepyDeadMan]

3
2
4
1

All have their moments though.

 

[prbiker15]

3
2
4
1

 

[MrPryck2U]

3
2
4
1

 

[Niceman]

2
3
1
4

 

[CosmoKramer]

2
4
3
1


I actually really like R&H. Additionally, I'm a big fan of ATYCLB and BOMB and not so much a fan of POP(dont like Zooropa at all).

Sent from my iPad using U2 Interference

 

[nbelcik]

3
2
1
4


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[kingofsorrow]

3
2
1

 

[bobsaget77]

2 -Solid 1st place
1 -close with 3
3 -close with 1
4 - not even close


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[Valkeerie]

Based On People's Submissions (Through SleepyDeadMan's Ballot Below):

1. Trilogy #2 (Unforgettable Fire/Joshua Tree/Rattle & Hum) - 16 points (Only ranked below second place on one ballot)

2. Trilogy #3 (Achtung Baby/Zooropa/Pop) - 18 points

3. Trilogy #1 (Boy/October/War) - 29 points (includes a third place tie for 3 points)

4. Trilogy #4 (ATYCLB/HTDAAB/NLOTH) - 36 points (includes a third place tie for 3 points, only avoids last place on two ballots)

One point for a rank of first, two points for second and so forth.

Great initiative! I also see very few posts describing the album trilogies. Was my description of them spot on?

 

[crazyu2]

2
3
4
1

 

[JTbaby]

2
3
1
4

 

[An Cat Gav]

3
2
1
4

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

very hard between 1, 2 and 3.... 4 is obvious

2
3
1

and

4

 

[Vox02]

2
3
1
4

Vox

 

[Musikwala]

3 (Achtung Zoo Pop)
2 (Unforgettable Joshua Hum)
1 (Boctowar)
4 (How You Can't Dismantle An Atomic Behind On The Horizon)

...but it is very close between the 2 classic trilogies.

 

[Valkeerie]

Let's do something else to spice things up in this thread: tetralogies! A bonus question would be: which part of the tetralogy is better?

A - Boy/October/War/Unforgettable Fire
B - The Joshua Tree/Rattle and Hum/Achtung Baby/Zooropa
C - Pop/All That You Can't Leave Behind/How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb/No Line on the Horizon

My ranks:
B - Odd albums are the best, while even albums are extensions to them.
A - Both extremes are softer than the middle albums, which sound harder.
C - The first two are weaker in polish and creative content, respectively.

This is, off course, my opinion.

 

[Salome]

2
4
1
3

 

[LemonMelon]

Ranking the halves:

1. Boy/October/War/TUF/Joshua Tree/R&H/Achtung Baby
2. Zooropa/Pop/Passengers/ATYCLB/HTDAAB/NLOTH/SOI

 

[Hollow Island]

Achtung/Zooropa/Pop
The Unforgettable Fire/The Joshua Tree/Rattle and Hum

Boy/October/War









The albums long on titles and short on good songs