Screwtape2
Blue Crack Addict
First off, this is all my opinion. I love U2 and they will always be one of my favorite bands behind. I love most of the band’s albums but with the exception of Boy and October in which the band was strapped for songs and Zooropa which has yet to offer any demo’s, outtakes or b-sides (except Slow Dancing) I find myself looking at their albums as failing to reach their full potential. Way too many great tracks have been left off U2’s albums. In terms of songs they are among the most prolific when it comes to quality songs. The thing is you judge artists by their albums. To me so much of their best work isn’t on their albums. 20 of my top 50 U2 songs aren’t on their albums including what I consider the greatest song ever written, Walk To The Water.
War:
Knowing the cheesy Red Light and disaster that is the album version of 40 got on the album over the other tracks from the era has really hurt my opinion of the record. They had no place on the album. They should have opened the album with Treasure, had Angels Too Tied To The Ground after The Drowning Man, put A Celebration between Refugee and Two Hearts and finally end the album with Be There. It becomes a far better album with a lot more depth.
1. Treasure
2. Sunday Bloody Sunday
3. Seconds
4. New Year’s Day
5. Like A Song
6. The Drowning Man
7. Angels Too Tied To The Ground
8. The Refugee
9. A Celebration
10. Two Hearts Beat As One
11. Surrender
12. Be There
The Unforgettable Fire:
The Unforgettable Fire is a great album but it could have been so much more. Like War, you add some tracks and it gets a whole new level of depth and sonic exploration. Put the Untitled Instrumental after Wire, Bass Trap after TUF, Sixty Seconds after Bad followed by The Three Sunrises and finally Love Comes Tumbling after Indian Summer Sky. With the Untitled Instrumental, The Three Sunrises and Love Comes Tumbling in particular you get a much better album.
1. A Sort Of Homecoming
2. Pride
3. Wire
4. Untitled Instrumental
5. The Unforgettable Fire
6. Bass Trap
7. Promenade
8. 4th of July
9. Bad
10. Sixty Seconds
11. The Three Sunrises
12. Indian Summer Sky
13. Love Comes Tumbling
14. Elvis Presley & America
15. MLK
The Joshua Tree:
U2’s greatest mistake in my mind was not making The Joshua Tree a double album. While I’d say it is one of the top ten albums ever, it had the chance to be THE greatest album ever. Leaving off songs like Walk To The Water, Luminous Times, Spanish Eyes, Deep In The Heart, Rise Up and Beautiful Ghost is insane. As is not offically releasing Diamond Store. If that song is as fucking amazing as the 30 second clip suggests than the band has committed a crime. Based on the songs available no album has had as much potential as The Joshua Tree. As good as the album is, With or Without You needs Walk To The Water, Luminous Times and Deep In The Heart. Trip Through Your Wires begs for Desert Of Our Love. Streets wants to follow Beautiful Ghost. One Tree Hill and In God’s Country are missing Rise Up. Exit feels out of place without Race Against Time. Spanish Eyes and Wave of Sorrow even in a early form are too good to not find a home on this album. There really are a lot of possibilities for the track order but the good ones create an album that is nearly unrivaled.
1. Where The Streets Have No Name
2. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
3. With Or Without You
4. Bullet The Blue Sky
5. Running To Stand Still
6. Red Hill Mining Town
7. In God’s Country
8. Trip Through Your Wires
9. One Tree Hill
10. Exit
11. Mothers of The Disappeared
12. Luminous Times
13. Walk To The Water
14. Spanish Eyes
15. Deep In The Heart
16. Race Against Time
17. Beautiful Ghost
18. Wave of Sorrow
19. Rise Up
20. Desert Of Our Love
Achtung Baby:
The Salome Tapes made me look at this album in a whole new way. The darkness of the recording sessions should have been better reflected in the album. I removed TTTYAATW and Love Is Blindness While adding two worthy b-sides and five tracks from Salome. Obviously there are a few great songs from the period that wouldn’t work for the album like Wild Irish Rose, She’s Gonna Blow Your House Down and Sunset In Colors.
1. Alex Descends Into Hell
2. Someone
3. Zoo Station
4. Even Better Than The Real Thing
5. Lady With The Spinning Head
6. One
7. Acrobat
8. Until The End Of The World
9. Back Mask
10. Doctor, Doctor
11. Whose Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
12. Mysterious Ways
13. Take You Down
14. Heaven & Hell
15. Ultraviolet
Pop:
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me should have been saved for Pop. It would have given them a hit and probably sold a lot more copies of the album. And we might not have had ATYCLB.
ATYCLB:
Ground Beneath Her Feet (for all regions) and Stateless should have been on the album. Always should also have been on the album maybe as a bookend with Beautiful Day. Summer Rain too.
Bomb:
Mercy and Fast Cars (for all regions.)
I really can’t understand how the band and of course producers abandon such brilliant material and waste or let gather dust songs that deserve better. Because of this I think I’ll always feel the band and their albums never reached their full potential.
War:
Knowing the cheesy Red Light and disaster that is the album version of 40 got on the album over the other tracks from the era has really hurt my opinion of the record. They had no place on the album. They should have opened the album with Treasure, had Angels Too Tied To The Ground after The Drowning Man, put A Celebration between Refugee and Two Hearts and finally end the album with Be There. It becomes a far better album with a lot more depth.
1. Treasure
2. Sunday Bloody Sunday
3. Seconds
4. New Year’s Day
5. Like A Song
6. The Drowning Man
7. Angels Too Tied To The Ground
8. The Refugee
9. A Celebration
10. Two Hearts Beat As One
11. Surrender
12. Be There
The Unforgettable Fire:
The Unforgettable Fire is a great album but it could have been so much more. Like War, you add some tracks and it gets a whole new level of depth and sonic exploration. Put the Untitled Instrumental after Wire, Bass Trap after TUF, Sixty Seconds after Bad followed by The Three Sunrises and finally Love Comes Tumbling after Indian Summer Sky. With the Untitled Instrumental, The Three Sunrises and Love Comes Tumbling in particular you get a much better album.
1. A Sort Of Homecoming
2. Pride
3. Wire
4. Untitled Instrumental
5. The Unforgettable Fire
6. Bass Trap
7. Promenade
8. 4th of July
9. Bad
10. Sixty Seconds
11. The Three Sunrises
12. Indian Summer Sky
13. Love Comes Tumbling
14. Elvis Presley & America
15. MLK
The Joshua Tree:
U2’s greatest mistake in my mind was not making The Joshua Tree a double album. While I’d say it is one of the top ten albums ever, it had the chance to be THE greatest album ever. Leaving off songs like Walk To The Water, Luminous Times, Spanish Eyes, Deep In The Heart, Rise Up and Beautiful Ghost is insane. As is not offically releasing Diamond Store. If that song is as fucking amazing as the 30 second clip suggests than the band has committed a crime. Based on the songs available no album has had as much potential as The Joshua Tree. As good as the album is, With or Without You needs Walk To The Water, Luminous Times and Deep In The Heart. Trip Through Your Wires begs for Desert Of Our Love. Streets wants to follow Beautiful Ghost. One Tree Hill and In God’s Country are missing Rise Up. Exit feels out of place without Race Against Time. Spanish Eyes and Wave of Sorrow even in a early form are too good to not find a home on this album. There really are a lot of possibilities for the track order but the good ones create an album that is nearly unrivaled.
1. Where The Streets Have No Name
2. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
3. With Or Without You
4. Bullet The Blue Sky
5. Running To Stand Still
6. Red Hill Mining Town
7. In God’s Country
8. Trip Through Your Wires
9. One Tree Hill
10. Exit
11. Mothers of The Disappeared
12. Luminous Times
13. Walk To The Water
14. Spanish Eyes
15. Deep In The Heart
16. Race Against Time
17. Beautiful Ghost
18. Wave of Sorrow
19. Rise Up
20. Desert Of Our Love
Achtung Baby:
The Salome Tapes made me look at this album in a whole new way. The darkness of the recording sessions should have been better reflected in the album. I removed TTTYAATW and Love Is Blindness While adding two worthy b-sides and five tracks from Salome. Obviously there are a few great songs from the period that wouldn’t work for the album like Wild Irish Rose, She’s Gonna Blow Your House Down and Sunset In Colors.
1. Alex Descends Into Hell
2. Someone
3. Zoo Station
4. Even Better Than The Real Thing
5. Lady With The Spinning Head
6. One
7. Acrobat
8. Until The End Of The World
9. Back Mask
10. Doctor, Doctor
11. Whose Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
12. Mysterious Ways
13. Take You Down
14. Heaven & Hell
15. Ultraviolet
Pop:
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me should have been saved for Pop. It would have given them a hit and probably sold a lot more copies of the album. And we might not have had ATYCLB.
ATYCLB:
Ground Beneath Her Feet (for all regions) and Stateless should have been on the album. Always should also have been on the album maybe as a bookend with Beautiful Day. Summer Rain too.
Bomb:
Mercy and Fast Cars (for all regions.)
I really can’t understand how the band and of course producers abandon such brilliant material and waste or let gather dust songs that deserve better. Because of this I think I’ll always feel the band and their albums never reached their full potential.
What's she ever done to you?
