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The thing was back in 1987 when that album came out all you heard was With or Without You and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. I got sort of burned out on it. Plus back in those days I was in HS and I was a metalhead and wouldn't have even given a band like U2 a second thought.
Several years ago I put on that album and was just blown away by just about every track on the disc.
Great stuff, really.... but I find that U2 tries to get a little too "experimental" for my taste, I get that musicians have to grow and change, but some of their albums just suck to me... IDK...
Im not a hugh fan of any of their recent stuff I think the quality of their music really went done hill from Zooropa onwards
For me, it was after Achtung Baby. Ive not heard a U2 song since that that I really want to hear again. I really liked them in the 80s, I had most of their albums and The Josua Tree was one of the first Cds I bought.
I dont begrudge them for shifting direction, almost all artists or bands go thru that if they last more than 2 albums. But I do find I often like the early work better for almost any artist I can name. It seems like in anyones first phase of their career theres more passion and energy and much better songwriting.
Joshua tree
achtung baby
unforgettable fire
rattle and hum (such a cool name for an album)
boy
how to dismantle...
October
all that you cant leave behind
zooropa
war
pop mart
no line on the horizon
that new pos they gave out for free...never listened to it
U2 is one of my favorite bands of all time...Joshua tree changed my life...
Boy and October showed tremendous promise, but were clearly the works of musicians still developing their craft. The fact that the ages of the band members were between 19 and 21 when these albums were released is very impressive.
War was where the band found itself, shedding the heavy production of its second album and going with even less production than on Boy. The stridency is perfectly in key as well. Side one (harkening back to the old LP days) is amazing, but there's some filler on side two, demonstrating that the band was still a work in progress.
On The Unforgettable Fire the band turned again to the layered production used on October, but this time that production highlights the music rather than buries it. Again, the first half of the disc is incredible, with the second half tapering off a bit - though, I think, less than with their previous album.
It all came together on The Joshua Tree, the first of a pair of albums exploring the blues and American rock and roll in general, as well as the American landscape. There is not a weak track here, though the song Exit shows some production issues (its live performances reveal what it might have been). They also pulled off the minor miracle of continuing to become increasingly popular while taking themselves so seriously. Rarely has a band made such a degree of self-absorption work.
So, here's my answer - the previous two albums, The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree, are my favorites. They represent U2's musical pinnacle.
Then with Rattle And Hum the first cracks appear. It could have been every bit as good as the previous album if U2 had been content to make a conventional album - a single (not double) album, without the live tracks, without all the duets. Take away all that clutter and the only track that actually sucks is God Part II - but, hey, every band is allowed one dog per album. They should have been more disciplined.
Achtung Baby? At this point, the wheels start to come off. Actually, I respect the band's intent to chuck it all and go in a new direction, back to their European roots. And there's some great tracks here (I always thought the first single, The Fly, was very underrated). But this album is the work of a band that has hit the top and that is becoming detached from the angst and struggle that foster compelling art.
Zooropa should have been an EP, a book-end to the previous album, and a swan song. Because by that point it is clear that U2 had exhausted their reservoir of compelling musical ideas. Oh, sure, they can still crank out pop hits and the occasional gem. But by and large this is a band running on the fumes of past glory.
And they have been ever since.
Final note:
For what it's worth, U2 is was one hell of a live show!
They were on Jimmy Fallon last night; they were in disguise playing in the NY subway. And Bono got on a bike (supposedly for the first time) since his accident. It was pretty good, I am sure it is on youtube since all JF stuff is tailor-made for yt.
While Joshua Tree has some of U2's best songs, Achtung Baby is a more even album, so I probably have to go with the latter.
Post Achtung Baby, its best album is How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. More of a classic U2 sound with a good mix of rocking songs and more textured songs. "City of Blinding Lights" and "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" are up there with the classics.
WAR and simply because that album made me socially aware of the strife that was going on in Ireland at the time. Very few artists can pull off a socially & political album like U2 did at the time.
The album cover was quite powerfull.
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