How Interference Ranks The U2 Discography

[intedomine]

but your definition of a U2 album makes TUF a Passengers project, in essence. What's the threshold for instrumentals before it crosses over into Passengers territory? 3? 4? And is Eno only allowed to contribute a maximum 35% of the material?

.

Furthermore if people see fit to apply such a threshold, how legitimate a "U2" album is NLOTH, with so many of the songs co-written with LanWah and Eno?

The Passengers project remains a curious one, but I think it is worth considering as a U2 album. It is indeed vague however, as to how much of an input the four members of U2 had in each song, and I have been a little suspicious as to whether there was any concerted effort to ensure cohesion and flow (the second half of the disc).

Still flows better and is more U2 album-like than the half and half mess that is R&H, with it's covers and live songs... In my opinion.

 

[cobl04]

I've always considered it a U2 project... seems like those who don't like it say it isn't.

 

[Saracene]

1. All That You Can't Leave Behind
2. The Unforgettable Fire
3. Boy
4. Achtung Baby
5. Pop
6. The Joshua Tree
7. Rattle & Hum
8. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
9. No Line on the Horizon
10. Zooropa
11. War
12. October

I always find it hard to compare U2 albums and decide how to rank the albums I enjoy from start to finish vs. the albums that have individual songs I love. It should probably be two separate lists or something.

 

[cobl04]

How DARE YOU have All That You Can't Leave Behind as #1! As a member of interference, it is supposed to be your least favourite album, due to the band playing In a Little While at each show.

I'm going to go and bang my head against a wall for an hour.

 

[Catman]

1) Achtung, Baby!
2) The Joshua Tree
3) All That You Can't Leave Behind love
4) Zooropa
5) Boy
6) No Line on the Horizon
7) POP
8) The Unforgettable Fire
9) War
10) Rattle & Hum
11) How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
12) October


And this is just a side thought - I was thinking about Edge's comment on how they think their best work is ahead of them, and for the longest time I kept thinking that's just hogwash... and it may be, but not to the extent I previously thought. I really do think U2 are capable of brilliance, but their obsession with commercialized success has kinda put a damper on potentially stronger output. While the band's legacy will no doubt be renowned for their steady success throughout the years, I wonder if, after not achieving enough recent "hits," that U2 will perhaps call it quits before even daring to put out material that isn't catered to radio success?

 

[ozeeko]

I think the best argument you can make about Passengers being a U2 album is that Your Blue Room features on one U2 B-side collection.

 

[flybabe]

That shit is still superior to the weakest song on Bomb.

Magnificent is everything COBL wanted to be so desperately : an updated vintage U2 sound brought into the future. And MOS and Magnificent are better than COBL.

Magnificent is kick ass all the way, ten times better than COBL, but I'm going to have to disagree on one tiny little thing. Magnificent wins out whereas MOS does nothing for me personally as it's trying to get back to the effect that WOWY had, and it failed miserably. I'd rather listen to COBL than MOS bottom line.

 

[Saracene]

How DARE YOU have All That You Can't Leave Behind as #1! As a member of interference, it is supposed to be your least favourite album, due to the band playing In a Little While at each show.

I loved hearing In A Little While at each show

 

[cobl04]

I think the best argument you can make about Passengers being a U2 album is that Your Blue Room features on one U2 B-side collection.

Not the fact all four of them played on it?

 

[ozeeko]

Well i'm just going by the name they stamped on the project. They weren't "U2" - they were "Passengers" - but the "Passengers" released a song on a "U2" B-side collection. Then again, the Batman Forever soundtrack isn't a U2 album either. I dunno what to make of this. I'm just bored.

 

[powerhour24]

Why don't you ask the founder of the band if Passengers counts as a U2 album.

 

[An Cat Gav]

I think the best argument you can make about Passengers being a U2 album is that Your Blue Room features on one U2 B-side collection.

Plus Miss Sarajevo was on the A-Side.

 

[ozeeko]

Plus Miss Sarajevo was on the A-Side.

Very true. And I think they've played more Passengers songs than POP songs or OCTOBER songs or ZOOROPA songs since ATYCLB was released. But I could be wrong about that.

 

[cobl04]

Very true. And I think they've played more Passengers songs than POP songs or OCTOBER songs or ZOOROPA songs since ATYCLB was released. But I could be wrong about that.

Miss Sarajevo
Your Blue Room

Discotheque
Gone
Staring at the Sun
Wake up Dead Man

Gloria
Scarlet

Stay
The First Time

that's just off the top of my head.

all four members of the band played on Passengers. I think that's one reason enough to count it as part of their catalogue. I don't see how you can argue otherwise.

 

[ElectricalStorm]

Hmm... My list changes almost every day, bit today it's:

1 Achtung Baby
2 The Joshua Tree
3 The Unforgettable Fire
4 War
5 Pop
6 Boy
7 October
8 Zooropa
9 ATYCLB
10 HTDAAB
11 NLOTH
12 Rattle & Hum

I actually adore the songs on R&H, but as an album it's a bit... messy. It could've been one of my favourite albums, but now it just isn't.

Most of the time Bomb and NLOTH are higher, but NLOTH feels boring and I'm indifferent to Bomb today.

 

[lemonfly]

Re Passengers. If they had released it under U2, we wouldn't be having a debate about it. They chose to release it under a pseudonym (primarily it would seem because the record company asked them to) and all of a sudden it's Eno's album, it's just a collection of experimental tracks, it doesn't qualify as an album because they were on acid during the second half blah blah fucking blah. It comes down to something as frivolous as the name they released it under. Plenty of authors have books out under a pseudonym. Does that make it any less their work?
I guarantee you if they had released POP under the name Stiletto Danger Party, there would be people saying the exact same thing - POP is not a U2 album, it's a side project that doesn't qualify. Bottom line - the people who DISLIKE Passengers will always argue it's not a U2 album.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I've always considered it a U2 project... seems like those who don't like it say it isn't.

That's about it.

It's a ridiculous argument. One that completely ignores where U2 were at, musically and otherwise, disregards what came before, what came after, and what Passengers is in the middle, and either ignores or discredits what Eno's real position within U2 really is. Arguments over who played what where or what sounds more like who when or for which reason it was given that name and why - almost completely irrelevant.

 

[coolian2]

it's pretty much akin to saying the unforgettable fire isn't a u2 album.

 

[djerdap]

I think as soon as No Line on the Horizon came out, with Brian Eno officially sharing the writing credits with U2 (and Lanois), this whole thing about Passengers not being a U2 project falls apart.

There's a lot more U2 in Rattle and Hum than there is in Passengers, which wasn't a U2 album in 1995 and is not a U2 album now. The latter being half instrumentals, Eno songs with various guests and maybe Miss Sarajevo and Your blue room being legitimate U2 songs.

So what, if it is an instrumental it's not a U2 song? 4th of July and Bass Trap are fucked then I guess.

"Eno songs with various guests"? What Passengers tracks qualify as this? And how do you know each band member's input into every song?

I can't see any difference between Your Blue Room (a legitimate U2 song by your standards) and Slug, Beach Sequence or Always Forever Now. Oh, in the latter two Bono sings one line repeatedly. In that case I guess Scarlet is fucked too!

 

[lemonfly]

Obviously U2girl was in the studio with them in 1995 and witnessed how much input U2 had into each song. Duh!

 

[LemonMelon]

Obviously U2girl was in the studio with them in 1995 and witnessed how much input U2 had into each song. Duh!

She always is. I think she's Slow Loris' connection.

 

[Salome]

while people who say every member's input is the same as other U2 albums know this because it's a well documented fact?

personal list for the hell of it:
01. No Line on the Horizon
02. Unforgettable Fire
03. All that you can't leave behind
04. The Joshua Tree
05. Zooropa
06. October
07. Rattle & Hum
08. Achtung Baby
09. War
10. Boy
11. How to dismantle ...
12. POP
13. Passengers

 

[LuckyNumber7]

^ win for 'oddest list'.

I approve

 

[Rachel D.]

1. ATYCLB
2. NLOTH
3. AB
3 1/2. Passengers
4. TUF
5. JT
EDIT: forgot HTDAAB. It goes here.
6. Zooropa
7. Pop
8. R&H
9. Boy, October, War (They're all the same, anyway)

*runs away*

 

[LuckyNumber7]

9. Boy, October, War (They're all the same, anyway)

*runs away*

 

[LemonMelon]

1. ATYCLB
9. Boy, October, War (They're all the same, anyway)

 

[BVS]

I think the best argument you can make about Passengers being a U2 album is that Your Blue Room features on one U2 B-side collection.

That's why I say it's a collection. I do think there were some U2 tunes on there. I also think there were some Eno instrumentals. I also think there was one Howie B track that Bono contributed vocal and lyrics to...

And I do like Passengers, it's just not a U2 album.

 

[lazarus]

your definition of a U2 album makes TUF a Passengers project, in essence. What's the threshold for instrumentals before it crosses over into Passengers territory? 3? 4? And is Eno only allowed to contribute a maximum 35% of the material?

But, moreover, I don't see how its classification has any relevance whatsoever to its quality, and years and years of repetitious arguments about its place in the U2 catalogue haven't changed anything or made the topic any more relevant.

I'm still waiting for BVS and/or U2Girl to directly respond to all of these well-made points.

 

[BVS]

What is there to respond to?

Eno contributes, who cares how much? I think it comes down to the end of the day who is the one that has the final say(as they did with NLOTH), is it Bono, Edge, Adam, Larry, or is it Eno?

From everything I've read it was fully collaborative and the four members of U2 were not the ones at the end making those calls alone.

 

[patternshirt170]

uhm...

14th? runs