Practically flawless songs!

[bonocomet]

Wow I was really surprised to come in here and see such long lists. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I guess I thought people were way nitpickier! But I suppose "practically" leaves some wiggle room.

My absolutely flawless:

With Or Without You - The studio version is, truly flawless.
One - Same. I cannot find flaw, and like WOWY, it is a perfect song.

And I consider these to be practically perfect in every way:

The Fly
Bad
Beautiful Day
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
In A Little While
Vertigo

I have more very best favorites, but these probably make the top of my list.

Revised post.

 

[Rhiannon64]

The Unforgettable Fire
A Sort of Homecoming--pure poetry
Bad album bersion and Wide Awake in America Version
MLK (I just want to crawl inside Bono's voice on that one!)
With or Without You--heard this on the radio yesterday. It stills hold up and sounds great.
Until The End of the World
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Heartland
One is also in there but I have to be in the mood for it.
The Three Sunrises--pure joy...practically flawless.

 

[Flairix]

A Sort of Homecoming (The best U2 recording)
Where The Streets Have No Name
Moment of Surrender
Bad
The Unforgettable Fire
The Fly
Zooropa
Ultraviolet

New Years Day, One, With Or Without You, and No Line On The Horizon are close as well for me.

 

[Nick66]

A Sort of Homecoming (The best U2 recording)

You are wise. Very, very wise.

The rest of your list is pretty good too.

 

[Flairix]

It's a flawless list actually.

A Sort of Homecoming is unfortunately the one song U2 can't do justice live. It evokes such strong imagery as an album opener, you can't match it when it comes to recordings.

 

[Nick66]

It's a flawless list actually.

A Sort of Homecoming is unfortunately the one song U2 can't do justice live. It evokes such strong imagery as an album opener, you can't match it when it comes to recordings.

That's the second time I find myself agreeing with you tonight.

While I generally prefer listening to most U2 songs live...to a large degree...A Sort of Homecoming (and to a lesser extent the other "non-single" songs on the record) is one song they've just never nailed live. And unfortunately, there aren't enough live versions out there to really get any kind of comparison.

It's truly a perfect song, and far and away U2's best.

 

[nielsgov]

Please live
Love Is Blindness live
The Unforgettable Fire
Your Blue Room
New Years Day
Zooropa

The first one is the best thing U2 has ever done imo.

 

[gman]

Tomorrow
Unforgettable Fire
One Tree Hill
Ultraviolet
Please
Moment of Surrender
Walk On

 

[purpleoscar]

Holy crap that's hard.

11 O'Clock tick tock (Irving Plaza)

Boy:
I will follow (Red Rocks)
Out of control
An Cat Dubh (Into the heart)
Electric Co. (Red Rocks including song references)

October:
Gloria (Dortmund 1984)
Tomorrow
October

War:
Sunday Bloody Sunday (Rattle and Hum)
New Year's Day (ZOO TV Sydney)
Like a song
Drowning Man

The Unforgettable Fire:
A Sort of Homecoming
Pride (In the name of love) (Rattle and Hum)
The Unforgettable Fire
Bad (Live Aid)
EDIT: Bass Trap (long version)

The Joshua Tree:
I still haven't found what I'm looking for
With or without you
Bullet the blue sky (Rattle and Hum)
Running to stand still (ZOO TV live in Sydney) segway into:
Where the streets have no name
Red Hill mining town
Mothers of the disappeared

Rattle and Hum
Desire
Hawkmoon 269
All along the watchtower (Lovetown Promo)
Silver and Gold (Rattle and Hum)
Angel of Harlem
When love comes to town
Heartland
All I want is you

Achtung Baby:
Zoo Station
Even better than the real thing
One
Until the end of the world (Live Hall of Fame)
Who's gonna ride your wild horses (Temple bar mix)
So Cruel
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
Ultraviolet
Acrobat
Love is blindness (ZOO TV Sydney)

Zooropa:
Zooropa
Numb (new mix)
Lemon
Stay (Faraway so close!)
The Wanderer

Passengers:
Slug
Your blue room
Miss Sarajevo

POP:
Discotheque
Gone
Wake up dead man

All that you can't leave behind:
Beautiful Day
Elevation (single version)
Walk On
Kite

How to dismantle an atomic bomb:
Vertigo (Live Hall of Fame)
City of blinding lights

No line on the horizon:
No line on the horizon
Magnificent
Moment of surrender
Fez-being born
Breathe

 

[Nick66]

Holy crap that's hard.

11 O'Clock tick tock (Irving Plaza)

Boy:
I will follow (Red Rocks)
Out of control
An Cat Dubh (Into the heart)
Electric Co. (Red Rocks including song references)

October:
Gloria (Dortmund 1984)
Tomorrow
October

War:
Sunday Bloody Sunday (Rattle and Hum)
New Year's Day (ZOO TV Sydney)
Like a song
Drowning Man

The Unforgettable Fire:
A Sort of Homecoming
Pride (In the name of love) (Rattle and Hum)
The Unforgettable Fire
Bad (Live Aid)
EDIT: Bass Trap (long version)

The Joshua Tree:
I still haven't found what I'm looking for
With or without you
Bullet the blue sky (Rattle and Hum)
Running to stand still (ZOO TV live in Sydney) segway into:
Where the streets have no name
Red Hill mining town
Mothers of the disappeared

Rattle and Hum
Desire
Hawkmoon 269
All along the watchtower (Lovetown Promo)
Silver and Gold (Rattle and Hum)
Angel of Harlem
When love comes to town
Heartland
All I want is you

Achtung Baby:
Zoo Station
Even better than the real thing
One
Until the end of the world (Live Hall of Fame)
Who's gonna ride your wild horses (Temple bar mix)
So Cruel
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
Ultraviolet
Acrobat
Love is blindness (ZOO TV Sydney)

Zooropa:
Zooropa
Numb (new mix)
Lemon
Stay (Faraway so close!)
The Wanderer

Passengers:
Slug
Your blue room
Miss Sarajevo

POP:
Discotheque
Gone
Wake up dead man

All that you can't leave behind:
Beautiful Day
Elevation (single version)
Walk On
Kite

How to dismantle an atomic bomb:
Vertigo (Live Hall of Fame)
City of blinding lights

No line on the horizon:
No line on the horizon
Magnificent
Moment of surrender
Fez-being born
Breathe

Um...

Never mind.

 

[No spoken words]

It's truly a perfect song, and far and away U2's best.

We'll never ever agree more than we do on this......

 

[last unicorn]

Still heven't found, Until the end of the world, One, Magnificent and White as snow.

And a couple of others, too, that have already be named here and some others that haven't been named. But for me, it also depends on the mood to call a song "flawless", not on technical aspects.

 

[An Cat Gav]

Tomorrow
Unforgettable Fire
One Tree Hill
Ultraviolet
Please
Moment of Surrender
Walk On

I forgot about tomorrow, that's flawless, and Zooropa!

 

[gman]

I forgot about tomorrow, that's flawless, and Zooropa!

Agreed. I only did a few off the top of my head. There are quite a few others, as far as im concerned

 

[Unknown Caller]

In no particular order:

Your Blue Room
If You Wear That Velvet Dress
Running To Stand Still
Until the End of the World
One Tree Hill
Love Is Blindness
Angel of Harlem
Zooropa
The Unforgettable Fire
Lemon

 

[brooklynmike]

Until the End of the World

 

[OpenG180]

Many. Really.


I'll give the first 5, in no order:

Lemon
The Fly
Until the end
New Year's Day
Your blue room-The unforgettable fire

Ok, the first 6.

 

[Caleb8844]

A Sort of Homecoming
Bad
Promenade
With or Without You
Running to Stand Still
Love Is Blindness
Zooropa
Moment of Surrender

 

[PennyLanePHINS]

New Year's Day, Streets, WOWY, TUF, The Fly, Beautiful Day, Walk On, Vertigo, Moment of Surrender, One Tree Hill, Zooropa, Stay, Kite, Sort of Homecoming, All I Want Is You, Ultraviolet.

 

[AndrewCowley]

Need some oldies too...

11 O'Clock Tick Tock
Electric Co

 

[gvox]

11 O'Clock tick tock (Irving Plaza)

Say wha?

Probably the worst version they've ever done of this song!

 

[Vlaco]

Say wha?

Probably the worst version they've ever done of this song!

I disagree, Red Rocks is better that's for sure, but I like this slower version. That whole gig was incredible.

 

[purpleoscar]

Say wha?

Probably the worst version they've ever done of this song!

Bono's vocals were so good he kept looking at Edge with a smile.

 

[gvox]

I disagree, Red Rocks is better that's for sure, but I like this slower version. That whole gig was incredible.

If Red Rocks > Irving Plaza and yet you 'disagree'....Can you point me to a version worse than Irving Plaza?

 

[Vlaco]

If Red Rocks > Irving Plaza and yet you 'disagree'....Can you point me to a version worse than Irving Plaza?

1. Weak vocals, very hoarse.U2 - 11 O'Clock Tick Tock Live Den Haag Netherlands Pro Shot [Rare] - YouTube

2. studio version

 

[gvox]

1. U2 - 11 O'Clock Tick Tock Live Den Haag Netherlands Pro Shot [Rare] - YouTube
Weak vocals, very hoarse.
2. studio version

Ironically, aren't both basically at the same plodding dirge like tempo as Irvjng Plaza?

So Irving is basically a nod to their very early crapulous version...by October and into War shows they had it nailed perfectly.

Eta: wait Rockpalast Berlin is what 1981 or so and that version is stellar tempo also. Hmm..

 

[Vlaco]

Ironically, aren't both basically at the same plodding dirge like tempo as Irvjng Plaza?

So Irving is basically a nod to their very early crapulous version...by October and into War shows they had it nailed perfectly.

Eta: wait Rockpalast Berlin is what 1981 or so and that version is stellar tempo also. Hmm..

I don't mind the tempo, the vocals ruin it. Don't get me wrong, I think 11 O'Clock Tick Tock is a fantastic song and live @ Red Rocks is one of my favourite U2 moments ever, but the Irving Plaza version is just as good as many old versions in my opinion.

 

[last unicorn]

Damn, I wonder if we'll ever get to hear 11 o'clock live again. That would be so awsome

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

studio version

what! i love the studio version. i know i'm in the minority in that though, but i think it sounds good. totally unlike anything else they've ever done, but i do enjoy music along that vein. i might even like the studio version more than the live versions. but as far as live versions go, i do like the red rocks one best (though i will admit i haven't listened to hundreds of boots, though i have downloaded a lot).

 

[hasin73]

Walk On.... Studio or live version... the guitar solo in the middle.... and the end guitar note with Bono's lyrics in perfect harmony..... literally melt my heart every time i listen.