I realise this album is not as thematically cohesive as albums like POP, Achtung Baby, Zooropa etc, nor does it introduce that many new sounds into U2's palette...but my reason for thinking its the third classic U2 album is merely that there are 7 songs(Sometimes, Love And Peace, Miracle Drug, Vertigo, All Because Of You, Original Of The Species, One Step Closer) that are up with their best work. Its simply an abundance of great songs, and I think that overrides my feelings about the album's lack of innovation...great songs cannot be denied. To add to that, there are 3 songs I consider weaker that I still think are really good (ie 8/10 standard) which are City Of Blinding Lights, Crumbs, A Man And A Woman...and then Yahweh, which I consider the weakest song but still decent..so to me the album has a lot of strength in depth.