U2 was on a higher level until Rattle and Hum then they dropped quite a bit ~ still a great band, but not 'magical'. I'm not sure if that statement makes a great deal of sense...
War would be my second favorite. It might have better songs, but I had to go with UF just because of the production value, thanks to Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. They turned a good album into a masterpiece IMO. Agree on REM. I remember a looooong time ago Michael Stipe saying if any of the members of REM ever left, they would disband. Yeah, right. I haven't listened to them since Life's Rich Pagent. Weird that U2 and REM always seem to be linked together for some reason.
I'm the other one who voted for The Unforgettable Fire. I realize that The Joshua Tree is technically their "best", but the poll was for "favorite". It was a tough choice between those two (and also Achtung Baby). The new one is good... best in a long time... but still not up there with the three mentioned above. There are several weak moments in terms of songwriting. Pop is the worst one. It's the only one I can't stand to listen to much of at a time. I always liked War... it seems a bit dated and "80's" now. October was OK, but their sound wasn't as "together" musically... I don't know if it was the production values or if they just hadn't learned to sing or play their instruments as well. I feel that same way about the early REM albums that most people love... Speaking of REM, I grew up listening to them (along with U2) because that's what "everybody" did in high school. I liked the mid-90's REM (Automatic For The People in particular) but they went downhill fast after that. I would buy albums like Up, Reveal, and New Adventures In Drink Coasters , and end up putting the few tracks I liked onto a mix so I wouldn't have to sit through the rest of it. Around The Sun, the new one, is actually much better. (thanks to someone on this board - RM95? - for suggesting that I give it a chance)
That's one of the main reasons I like War so much ~ the production is raw - very indie sounding (in an 80s sort of way). The Unforgettable Fire is definitely when they got their big 'super group' sound going IMHO.
yes. im a big fan of brian eno and all brian eno related projects myself. i think his and lanois production is what really makes uf and joshua tree so great. i agree that war has the better tunes though. i love listening to that record, especially w/in the context of the band that they became. they were so young and just going for it. so much emotion and power. if the energy on there isnt punk rock, i dont know what is. that stipe quote is what ill always remember too. think that quote came before they signed the 80 million dollar contract in the mid-90's? its like when 30 year old mick jagger claimed that he wouldnt be around singing satisfaction when he was 50.
U2 (Bono mainly) tries a little bit too hard on chasing the so called "#1 Rock Band in the World" title for my taste, something cheesy about that, kinda the equivalent of my Dad trying to listen the music I listen to. They think they are on level of the Beatles as far as being a major pop culture influence in music history, but the gap between the 2 is bigger then what Bono wants to believe. That said, I still like alot of their music, Achtung probably my fave.
The Joshua Tree. But I love them all. All. Pop has quite a few badass songs, IMO. Gone, Last Night on Earth, Staring at the Sun, etc.
War. Achtung Baby was actually the album that made me stop listening to them. They seemed to let their success really go to their heads. Joshua Tree is pretty good, but rather sissified. U2 reminds me of The Police in being good bands turned sissy by their megalomaniacal lead singer who fell in love with themselves.
Easy, easy! The Police never turned sissy because they broke up before they had the chance. Their last studio album was very much non-sissy, if you don't count the 3 radio hits (Every Breath, King of Pain, Wrapped Around Your Finger). The rest of the tracks on that album are pure Police. Now Sting, on the other hand, is the definition of sissy nowadays.
I like Maddox, but he doesn't even know what he's talking about. Cookie cutter sound, no originality? WTF is he talking about? How many times has this band evolved? There sound is constantly changing because they don't want to do the same thing over and over again. The change from Boy to UF is pretty big, but then they completely change their sound on JT. And then let's not forget the change from JT to Achtung Baby and Zooropa. Two completely different worlds as far as music goes. And finally, the change from Pop to the last 2 albums is another drastic change.
The style now where the singer holds a note for a real long time. Do you know what I mmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn???????????????????????????????????
The strange thing about me and U2 albums is that I sometimes have to sit with them for years to realize how great they are. When Joshua Tree came out, it was Number One With a Bullet on my list of Favorite U2 albums. Stayed in that spot for a few years until I realized, “Holy Crap – Unforgettable Fire is actually better!” I’d say that UF remained my favorite U2 album all the way through Pop, and then I had another realization – “Holy Crap, Achtung Baby is a freaking masterpiece.” So, for me it’s still Achtung Baby. I briefly flirted with moving All That You Can’t … to the top of the list, but I think I was just caught up in the hype. Achtung Baby, to me, was the “make or break” album for U2. Were they going to keep declining along the Rattle and Hum path, or were they going to reclaim their 80s glory/relevance? It was the bottom of the ninth, two down, and they hit it out of the park. And what’s amazing is that they did it by tearing everything down and rebuilding it again. It took balls to totally reinvent themselves with so much on the line. That’s why I just love that record. Plus, I was actually studying in Europe when Achtung Baby came out, so the whole “Europia” feel to the record really resonates with me. (On a side note, my absolute favorite part of the U2 show on this tour is when they come out for the first encore to a video display of icons from the Achtung Baby/Zoo TV tour and do a mini-set mad up entirely of Achtung Baby cuts – Zoo Station, The Fly, and Mysterious Ways.)
