If we're talking about Bono exclusively, I'm going to say Rattle & Hum and Pop.
On the former, Hawkmoon, Love Rescue Me, When Loves Comes to Town, Heartland, God Part II, and All I Want Is You all have excellent lyrics (this is not to mention Edge's on Van Diemen's Land or the live tracks like Silver & Gold, which are also great). Bono spoke of Jimmy Iovine pushing him on the songwriting with this record, and Larry commented that Rattle & Hum is one of the few (the only?) albums where the songs are totally finished -- they couldn't be improved by doing anything else to them, which I tend to agree with (the album as a whole, of course, is another matter).
On Pop, Do You Feel Loved, Staring At The Sun, Last Night On Earth, Gone, The Playboy Mansion, If You Wear That Velvet Dress, and Please are all quite great, lyrically.
So that's just talking about Bono exclusively. The honorable mentions would go to The Joshua Tree and All That You Can't Leave Behind. (Achtung Baby is good, too.)
The early albums tend to be Bono's semi-improvised lyrics with minor last-minute revisions and fine-tunings, which obviously leaves a different effect than lyrics that are carefully pre-written. More recent times (starting with Joshua Tree and certainly Rattle and Hum) have seen more self-consciously crafted lyrics.
I totally approve of the HTTAAB lyrics, by the way. As a previous poster said, they're clearly intended to be very direct and loud -- I hear/see them as passionate pop art.
Some people seem to confuse "complicated" and "dark" with "good." The first two terms do not equate the third. Often in songwriting, the simplest lyrics are the best. Ever studied acoustic blues tunes? I recommend an old book called Blues Fell This Morning by a British guy called Paul Oliver. There was an interview with Paul McCartney in the late 60s where he suggested that "Love Me Do" was he best lyric The Beatles had ever written...
Another thing people seldom mention about U2's lyrics -- they're usually uplifting and positive / spiritual. This is the opposite of most pop/rock lyrics, which (besides being crap) are negative, bitching, whining, and moaning. Those kinds of lyrics are much easier to write than happy and uplifting ones. I respect U2 for always aiming to uplift the spirit, rather than bring it down.
On the former, Hawkmoon, Love Rescue Me, When Loves Comes to Town, Heartland, God Part II, and All I Want Is You all have excellent lyrics (this is not to mention Edge's on Van Diemen's Land or the live tracks like Silver & Gold, which are also great). Bono spoke of Jimmy Iovine pushing him on the songwriting with this record, and Larry commented that Rattle & Hum is one of the few (the only?) albums where the songs are totally finished -- they couldn't be improved by doing anything else to them, which I tend to agree with (the album as a whole, of course, is another matter).
On Pop, Do You Feel Loved, Staring At The Sun, Last Night On Earth, Gone, The Playboy Mansion, If You Wear That Velvet Dress, and Please are all quite great, lyrically.
So that's just talking about Bono exclusively. The honorable mentions would go to The Joshua Tree and All That You Can't Leave Behind. (Achtung Baby is good, too.)
The early albums tend to be Bono's semi-improvised lyrics with minor last-minute revisions and fine-tunings, which obviously leaves a different effect than lyrics that are carefully pre-written. More recent times (starting with Joshua Tree and certainly Rattle and Hum) have seen more self-consciously crafted lyrics.
I totally approve of the HTTAAB lyrics, by the way. As a previous poster said, they're clearly intended to be very direct and loud -- I hear/see them as passionate pop art.
Some people seem to confuse "complicated" and "dark" with "good." The first two terms do not equate the third. Often in songwriting, the simplest lyrics are the best. Ever studied acoustic blues tunes? I recommend an old book called Blues Fell This Morning by a British guy called Paul Oliver. There was an interview with Paul McCartney in the late 60s where he suggested that "Love Me Do" was he best lyric The Beatles had ever written...
Another thing people seldom mention about U2's lyrics -- they're usually uplifting and positive / spiritual. This is the opposite of most pop/rock lyrics, which (besides being crap) are negative, bitching, whining, and moaning. Those kinds of lyrics are much easier to write than happy and uplifting ones. I respect U2 for always aiming to uplift the spirit, rather than bring it down.