As many of you know, U2 is my favorite band. I have argued for hours, and hours, about how I believe they are the greatest "rock" band of all time, and on more than one occasion I have won that argument. (Note: I consider the Beatles to be "pop"). I am of the opinion that no other band in the history of rock has had the sheer number of quality of releases, or has stayed relevant longer than U2. The facts clearly show that U2 has never "jumped the shark." In other words, they have never released a record as horrible as "Undercover" by The Rolling Stones. Many of their peers have failed (R.E.M., Depeche Mode) to keep their music sounding fresh, without sounding contrived...and regardless of the album, U2 have always been consistent at sounding like themselves...from 1979, to 2011. No line-up changes, no drummers wanting to sing on a few tracks, and no stabs at being like John Tesh (Sting). Minor missteps have come along in their 30+ year career but nothing catastrophic, and nothing that comes close to tarnishing their impeccable record of quality releases. So without any hesitation, I give to you the 2011 u2 Manic Compression Greatest Songs album! (The songs aren't in a ranked order...just in the order I'd want to hear them in.)1. "Where The Streets Have No Name" - The Joshua Tree
2. "Like A Song" - War
3. "Do You Feel Loved?" - Pop
4. "Miracle Drug" - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
5. "Heartland" - Rattle And Hum
6. "Ultraviolet" - Achtung Baby
7. "The Unforgettable Fire" - The Unforgettable Fire
8. "Kite" - All That You Can't Leave Behind
9. "So Cruel" - Achtung Baby
10. "Stay Far Away (So Close)" - Zooropa
11. "Bad" - The Unforgettable Fire
12. "New Years Day" - War
13. "Is That All?" - October
14. "With Or Without You" - Rattle And Hum
15. "Exit" - The Joshua Tree
16. "Twilight" - Boy
17. "In God's Country" - The Joshua Tree
18. "Breathe" - No Line On The Horizon
19. "Please" - Pop
Buy ALL of their records...thank me later.
I think the "Pop" album was a mistake. One of my friends was telling me that they couldn't give away tickets for the "Pop Mart" tour. Other than that album most of the material is pretty strong.
ReplyDeleteBono getting all political is unnecessary in my view. That doesn't my view of their music, but it does make me think his mic should be confiscated if he's not singing.
Have you seen the TV show where Elvis Costello interviews The Edge and Bono and also plays a couple of songs with them? I highly recommend it.
ReplyDeletehmmm...I really didn't like "Pop" when it first came out...but it has since become one of my fav's by them. "Do You Feel Loved", "If God Will Send His Angels", "Please", and "Gone" are classic U2. The lyrical content was also something that I didn't "get" at first, but really like now. It was one of those albums that needed to sink in with me...and I'll grant them a little bit of "camp" with "Discotheque" (They seem to have one campy song an album now)...still a rocking song IMO
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the Elvis Costello/U2 thing. Youtube?