Ranking U2

Another U2 post? Yes, another U2 post. Probably the last for awhile though, so rejoice if its not your thing. In the meantime, you can read Blue Napkins' scathing review of Twilight to prepare for the New Moon release. For those of you who are interested in U2, I reexamined their body of work after the concert last week and am prepared to unveil my official rankings. Official until I change my mind anyway. Here is the list in all its awesomeness, complete with download recommendations for each disc.

12. War - This will get me drummed out of the U2 clique by some of the more hardcore fans, but I've never thought much of War. When listening to all of their CD's over again, it was the only one that was a tough slog. New Years Day and Sunday Bloody Sunday are classics, but most of the rest of the album borders on terrible.

11. Boy - How good is U2? I like the album I ranked next to last. Their sound is definitely raw here, but tracks like Out of Control and Stories for Boys give a good indication of what's to come.

10. October - October is one of their most underappreciated albums. It even sold poorly when it came out. Its certainly a little unpolished like Boy, but there are a couple of classic songs on here like October and Gloria.

9. All That You Can't Leave Behind - U2 released this after a lot of people hated Pop and it is pretty boring. I struggled to put it ahead of October or Boy, and in a future ranking it may fall further. Beautiful Day, Walk On, and In a Little While keep it semi respectable.

8. No Line on the Horizon - I ripped this disc apart when it came out, and there is still about half of it that I don't care for. Over time though I've grown to really like the other half. No Line on the Horizon, Magnificent, Fez-Being Born, and even the idiotic Get on Your Boots have unexpectedly found a nice warm place in my heart.

7. The Unforgettable Fire - This used to be higher, but a lot of it just sounds dated now. There's still plenty of quality music here to keep it in the middle of the pack. MLK, The Unforgettable Fire, and Bad are classic examples of 80's U2.

6. Pop - I will never understand why so many people hated Pop. If you pay attention to Achtung Baby and Zooropa, this affair with dance music was pretty much inevitable. Plus, the tour had a giant lemon. Who can hate that? Discotheque, Do You Feel Loved?, and Please are the best songs on the CD, but the best song from the Pop era is the Discotheque B-side of Holy Joe.

5. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - This disc and its ridiculous title are the finest example of where the band is in their third decade. It alternates between preachy and inane, but from beginning to end its a solid collection of songs. Vertigo, Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own, City of Blinding Lights, and Original of the Species all need to make it on your iPod.

4. Rattle & Hum - This is a song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles...we're stealin it back! At the time of its release, some thought this album coupled with the movie were a little self indulgent. That may very well be true, but its also a collection of brilliant and beautifully written music. Van Diemen's Land (Edge on lead vocals!), Love Rescue Me, Heartland, and All I Want is You with its midget love story video are among my favorite U2 songs.

3. The Joshua Tree - The Joshua Tree first put U2 on the map for a lot of people and is widely considered one of the greatest rock albums of all time. The Irish homage to America's wide open spaces still holds up after 22 years. If you own one of the 25 million copies of this album that have been sold, you're already familiar with Where the Streets Have No Name, With or Without You, In God's Country, and Exit.

2. Zooropa - Zooropa often falls through the cracks, but its basically Achtung Baby Part II. It was written and recorded while the band was on their epic Zoo TV world tour. They were the biggest band in the world at the time and the CD just oozes the fact that they knew it. They were free to experiment and we got gems like Numb, Zooropa, and Lemon on the same disc as classic U2 style songs like Stay (Faraway so Close).

1. Achtung Baby - Music achieved perfection in 1991 when Achtung Baby hit the shelves. I have my doubts any CD will be this awesome again. U2 completely reinvented themselves musically while retaining the essence of what had made the band so popular in the 1980's. Words can't really express how great this album is from beginning to end, so I'll stop trying. I love the entire disc, but The Fly, Ultra Violet, Mysterious Ways, and One need to be on any respectable U2 playlist.

The best album of all time.

U2 in Glendale, AZ 10/20/2009

Back in March, I buried U2 following the release of No Line on the Horizon which I felt, for the most part, was mailed in. I like it more than I did then, but its still a pretty weak effort. In spite of that, I still love the band's larger body of work. I had planned to see them at the Rose Bowl, but ticket prices were off the charts. Fortunately, Blue Napkins found reasonably prices GA tickets for the show in Arizona, just a few short hours away by car. It was on.

First let me say as a Cardinals fan, it was pretty sweet seeing University of Phoenix Stadium from the field. Second, the opening act was the Black Eyed Peas. I love the Peas. They're a bit of a strange choice to open for U2, but since I'm one of the handful of people who likes both bands I was pumped. They didn't disappoint, coming out with a green laser lit stage show and bass strong enough to create a breeze. They played a solid hour before giving way to U2.

I didn't quite know what to expect. No Line wasn't great and worse, Bono's voice had been declining in recent years. Within a couple songs, it was clear Bono was at the top of his game. We were in the "inner circle" so we were periodically treated to The Edge walking over our heads on the mobile bridge. The set list was pretty heavy with new material, but they played two of the best tracks on it, No Line on the Horizon and Magnificent. I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight was a pretty pedestrian song on the CD, but for the tour they have morphed it into a bizarre tribal disco song which was amazing. Overall, I give the venue, opening act, and U2 all raves. One of the best shows I've been to. The entire set list can be found here courtesy of The Arizona Republic.

Highlights: Magnificent, I'll Go Crazy remix, Where the Streets Have No Name (the visuals paid homage to their performance at Sun Devil Stadium for Rattle and Hum), and Ultra Violet

WTF Moment: Concert goers were asked to put on masks of a Burmese political dissident for Walk On and masked ONE campaign volunteers took the stage during the performance. It was a noble cause, but the act was just a bit over the top.

R.I.P. U2 1978-2009

Let me start this post by saying I love U2. I'm not the casual music fan who will tell you "I like old U2" because I owned a cassette of The Joshua Tree back in the 80s. No friends, I am a true believer with a collection of B-sides and bootlegs and Bono-glasses who has looked forward to the release of each new U2 CD like Christmas morning. Achtung Baby was the first CD I ever bought, I made it a point to visit the Zoo Station while in Berlin, and yes Virginia, I thought POP was brilliant. That is why it pains me so much to tell you this:

The band I have loved my entire life is dead. Something calling itself U2 released No Line on the Horizon yesterday, but its not the U2 you and I have known and loved for so long.

U2, who once produced an unappreciated masterpiece called Zooropa in a couple of months on a tour bus took five years to give us this disc of pointless recycled rock. The sad track by track rundown:

No Line on the Horizon – The album starts off pretty strong with fresh sounding guitar rock. The fact that this song actually sounds different from U2’s previous work distinguishes it from nearly everything that follows. Only after listening to the album in its entirety can one truly appreciate this fact.

Magnificent – The second track starts off trippy enough and then rips into pretty standard U2 fare. In the end, its good enough to excuse the fact that it could have been written during The Unforgettable Fire sessions.

Moment of Surrender – For the first time in the band’s history, Bono’s voice sounds truly wretched on this track. Vocals aside, I feel there is a solid foundation of a song here, but they certainly didn’t find it. Its sleepy, directionless, and pointlessly long.

Unknown Caller – The ripoffs begin in earnest with a little Where the Streets Have No Name-ish intro. They should have stuck with that because it’s all downhill from here. Bits of lyrical drivel left over from the last two CDs get mixed in with tedious group chanting to produce some sort of deformed Frankenstein of a song. Yes, there are horns and organs too.

I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight – In the city of blinding lights… Oh wait, it’s a “new” song. Yeah right. At least the City of Blinding Lights guitar ripoff sounds good. The lyrics and vocals are the real problem here. If Bono had written these lyrics when he was 15, he would have been ashamed of himself.

Get On Your Boots – The first single off the disc is a mélange of 80’s songs too numerous to list. There’s an individual line here and there that sounds OK, but the end product is too confused and pointless to be worthy of a spot on a U2 CD, much less as the lead single.

Stand Up Comedy – Bono's attempt at rapping may distract you from the fact that the music is nothing more than slower wannabe bluesy versions of Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me and Holy Joe. Truly a dreadful track.

Fez – Being Born – The first part, Fez, is basically Bono saying “let me hear the sound” over some spacey mood music. Being Born gets going with some serious guitar work, moves into Bono pining for something like its 1991, and eventually arrives at a bizarre Low-era Bowie conclusion. I like it, partly because by the end I can’t remember what a waste of time Fez is.

White as Snow – Its no coincidence that when they take a break from stealing their own music, the band can still turn out a gem like this slow ode to a dying soldier. Definitely one of the high points on the album.

Breathe – This song is pretty bad, but to grasp just how bad you needed to see them perform it on Letterman. For the first time ever, they look like an old band going through the motions. Musically it’s no different. They’re just filling out an album here.

Cedars of Lebanon - U2 has always had a little trouble wrapping their albums up, and not surprisingly, No Line is no exception. The title promises something preachy and epic (which U2 can do better than anyone), but instead we get lazy lyrics laid over even lazier drums and guitar.

Did you notice the theme? We've heard almost all of this done better before. That is the ultimate problem with No Line. It isn't the change in direction promised after the half-hearted corporate rock pre-packaged for Grammy voters and the editors at Rolling Stone that made up the previous two discs, All That You Can't Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. At best, it feels like reworked leftovers from those discs that left me with the impression that the band is either out of ideas or simply doesn't care anymore. Four good songs out of eleven isn't going to cut it. I could forgive something experimental that didn't quite work, but I cannot forgive U2 for giving up on themselves and their fans.

May they rest in peace.