Rank the Album Among Others

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Zimmy1987 said:
1) Achtung Baby
2) The Joshua Tree
3) The Unforgettable Fire
4) War
5) Songs of Innocence
6) Zooropa
7) All That You Can Leave Behind
8) No Line on the Horizon
9) Rattle & Hum
10) Boy
11) How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb
12) Pop
13) October

I feel that "War" has not been getting the respect it deserves.
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Interesting, you don't like Pop either. I think it's such a weak effort. But not many around here think the same way. Please, explain why you dont like it...
 
I've been stewing over this question for a while.

Unless you are a new fan discovering the band now and listening to the back catalogue all at once its very difficult to "rank" the albums as so many U2 songs are personal and "living with them" will color your perception of the songs. I knew of U2 in the mid to late 80's as an adolescent but I did not get into the band until AB. I absorbed the back catalogue between 91 & 92 and have to say that it was easy for me to rank them at the time.

I grouped the albums as follows:

JT, UF. UABRS

War, R&H

October, Boy

I realize that UABRS is "cheating" but from my perspective it gave me everything I could want from the early albums. Remember, I was a new fan discovering the band. I'd rank them the same way today if I'm honest.

If I'm trying to be objective and looking into the future imagining how SOI will grow and will be a part of my "life experiences" I think it has a strong chance of being in my top 4, and where it fits will largely depend on my mood at the time.

AB / JT / Zooropa / SOI

TUF / POP / ATYCLB / NLOTH / WAR

Everything else (good, but not GREAT, though with plenty of GREAT moments!)

I'm so proud of the band right now and cant wait for SOE!

Cheers

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

That was harder than I thought. I think that's more or less the right order. Close enough :lol:
 
owl said:
Poor October. I still love you!

No really, I actually prefer it to Boy.
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They were just kids then and those were GREAT albums in that context. They also set the table for the GREATNESS to come. They definitely are not in the conversation for best "debut" albums of all time, (my personal faves are Appetite & Funeral) but the subsequent releases have made up for it.
 
1. Zooropa (A+)
2. The Joshua Tree (A+)
3. Pop (A)
4. Achtung Baby (A)
5. Boy (A)
6. War (A-)
7. The Unforgettable Fire (B+)
8. Passengers (B+)
9. No Line on the Horizon (B+)
10. Rattle and Hum (B)
11. October (B)
12. Songs of Innocence (B-)
13. All That You Can't Leave Behind (C+)
14. How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (C+)
 
Too hard to rank by numbers anymore

I. AB, JT
II. Zooropa, Boy, TUF, October
III. Pop, R&H, ATYCLB, War
IV. No Line, Atomic Bomb, OST1

Not sure if SOI would fall in category 3 or 4. It's too early to tell.
 
RobertWiscy said:
Right now I can't place SoI in my list--too soon. But if forced I'd put it just below the midpoint, maybe 7 or 8. But it's really too soon to know for sure.

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

Sent from my SPH-L720T using U2 Interference mobile app
Click to expand...

I think I'm ready now. Whew, here goes:

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

At first I said SoI was best since ATYCLB -- now it's best since AB and I'm beginning to wonder if it might eventually start to approach (not exceed, but approach) JT in the long run for me. Because like someone said somewhere, "it's a mashup of JT and AB."

I really think it's that good -- although it's still too early to be certain. But I do think it's their strongest overall album in a long, long time.
 
RobertWiscy said:
I think I'm ready now. Whew, here goes:



1. Joshua Tree

2. War

3. Boy

4. Achtung Baby

5. Songs of Innocence

6. Unforgettable Fire

7. October

8. Rattle & Hum

9. All That You Can't Leave Behind

10. Pop

11. How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

12. Zooropa

13. No Line on the Horizon



At first I said SoI was best since ATYCLB -- now it's best since AB and I'm beginning to wonder if it might eventually start to approach (not exceed, but approach) JT in the long run for me. Because like someone said somewhere, "it's a mashup of JT and AB."



I really think it's that good -- although it's still too early to be certain. But I do think it's their strongest overall album in a long, long time.
Click to expand...


Agree with you about No Line. I've tried liking it, but I really do think it's their absolute worst album. Besides UC, No Line, Breathe, MOS, and White As Snow. I think I hate every other song on it. No Line(title track) is the best song by a mile, imo. One of my favorite U2 song ever. Thats the only reason I'll ever actually listen to the album.
 
Cannot find any songs to hate on SoI -- certainly can't say that about NLOTH however.

And the few songs on SoI that I initially was not crazy about are actually sounding BETTER now (The Miracle, Volcano, for example).
 
RobertWiscy said:
Cannot find any songs to hate on SoI -- certainly can't say that about NLOTH however.

And the few songs on SoI that I initially was not crazy about are actually sounding BETTER now (The Miracle, Volcano, for example).
Click to expand...


Yeah. I agree. SOI doesn't have any songs that I hate at all. I just don't really love any of the songs either. Iris and The Troubles are my favorites, but they aren't even near The Fly, Bad, Streets, Running To Stand Still, etc. Just a good album. Nothing more, nothing less. But I'm okay with that.
 
I've given this a lot of thought the last couple of days and this is how I rank them at the moment.

Perfect:
1. Achtung Baby
2. Zooropa
3. The Unforgettable Fire

Very close to perfect:
4. The Joshua Tree
5. All That You Can't Leave Behind
6. Songs of Innocence

Great, but the whole isn't greater than the sum of it's parts:
7. No Line On the Horizon
8. Boy
9. Passengers
10. War

Flawed, but still good:
11. Pop
12. Rattle and Hum
13. October

I still don't understand how the band thought it was good enough
14. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

If they had swapped Invisible for Song For Someone, Songs of Innocence would maybe even have surpassed The Joshua Tree. At the moment I think it's a better, more cohesive album than All That You Can't Leave Behind, but that album made me a U2 fan and I will probably always be biased towards it.

All this could change though. I liked No Line a lot more in the beginning.
 
After this last review, and a couple of changes people made, the final numbers with 76 votes:

Achtung Baby
The Joshua Tree
The Unforgettable Fire
Zooropa
Songs of Innocence
Pop
War
Boy
All That You Can't Leave Behind
No Line On the Horizon
Rattle and Hum
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
October

The only difference between the last rating is Songs of Innocence moved decisively higher than POP. Boy and War are almost tied.

I would think by the end of the year (or if SOE drops sooner) it would be a good time to gauge how people feel because SOI is likely to stay steady while people are absorbing the deluxe cds.

Timpop is the only one who put SOI on top.
 
Wow this is extremely tough.... I've fortified myself with a couple of Arnold Palmers (with skyy to help).

Like many others I have grouped them:

Pantheon:
AB, TUF, JT

EXCELLENT:
Zooropa, War, Pop, ATYCLB

VERY GOOD:
Passengers, Boy, NLOTH, R&H

GOOD:
October, Bomb,

SOI at this point would be
in the Very good to excellent neighborhood.

CHEERS
 
Oh crap is this finished? A lil to much to drink, a day late and a dollar short.
 
Why is October always so low on people's lists?
I think it's one of their best. Maybe even top 5. I think people either assume its crap or forget about it and throw it in last.
 
bobsaget77 said:
Why is October always so low on people's lists?
I think it's one of their best. Maybe even top 5. I think people either assume its crap or forget about it and throw it in last.
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Just because a U2 album is at the bottom doesn't mean people won't like it compared to albums from other bands. They just like many other U2 albums instead.
 
30 people put October in last place.
14 in 12th place
8 in 11th place
3 in 10th place
5 in 9th place
5 in 8th place
7 in 7th place
1 in 6th place
2 in 5th place
1 in 4th place
 
I've never tried to quantify my album ratings so I thought I'd have a go. Being a lover of spread sheets, I built one that allowed for a 100 point rating of each album song, then an average score for the total songs on the album. I then balanced this with a 100 point rating of the 'completeness' of the album, which incorporates aspects such as balance, flow, logic, feeling of context etc. then I added these scores, divided by 20 to get a 10 point rating if each album. Obviously albums with weak tracks had a lower average, so reward for consistent albums, and ones with good completeness. I was partially surprised by the results:

1. The Unforgettable Fire - 9.66
2. Achtung Baby - 9.62
3. The Joshua Tree - 9.52

4. Songs of Innocence - 9.25
5. Boy - 9.17

6. Zooropa - 9.06
7. Pop - 8.99
8. No Line on the Horizon - 8.98

9. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - 8.75
10. War - 8.66
11. All That You Can't Leave Behind - 8.59
12. Rattle & Hum - 8.52
13. October - 8.48

There were 4 distinct categories, and clearly albums with weak points (see the bottom category) scored lower.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
You weren't alone in putting The Unforgettable Fire really high and that's why it did so well but I couldn't put it anywhere near the top because of the lesser songs on it. I think if I rated albums not on consistency but on how many 10/10 songs it included I think my list would be completely different.
 
purpleoscar said:
You weren't alone in putting The Unforgettable Fire really high and that's why it did so well but I couldn't put it anywhere near the top because of the lesser songs on it. I think if I rated albums not on consistency but on how many 10/10 songs it included I think my list would be completely different.
Click to expand...


In rating each song I looked at its place in the album, and effect it has, suitability for purpose etc. so 4th of July and EPAA did reasonably well, whereas refugee and red light did not.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
purpleoscar said:
You weren't alone in putting The Unforgettable Fire really high and that's why it did so well but I couldn't put it anywhere near the top because of the lesser songs on it.
Click to expand...

There are no lesser songs on The Unforgettable Fire.

I appreciate all the work you're doing compiling these stats so I'm going to try to forget you said that.
 
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