Let’s go… Slaho!

OK so I didn’t stick to writing, but today I got around to not just rating the CDs, but ranking them as well, and all thanks to the release of the new CD.

After listening to No line on the Horizon for a week (or three) now, and with me getting ready to see U23D tomorrow, I’ve decided to take this time to rank U2’s 12 studio albums, from my least favorite to favorite, and I’m giving brief descriptions of why. Note: I love every single one of their albums, and find myself skipping over only a select few songs when I’m not in the mood to hear them, so here it goes:

12. October: Nice little album with wonderful Christian undertones, but definitely their “sophomore slump”. It didn’t have the raw power of Boy, nor did it have the raw feelings of War. Gloria is a great song, as is Tomorrow and Fire. The last three songs could have been left off the album.

11. Rattle and Hum: I absolutely LOVE the movie, but my favorite moments are not found on this album… Bad, Streets, Exit, and the great versions of Sunday Bloody Sunday and With or Without You. The live songs are cool, but not the best ones, and the studio songs overall are not their strongest. Love Rescue Me and When Love Comes to Town, to me, are whatever. And I have to be in the mood for Hawkmoon. God Part II, Desire, and especially All I Want Is You are my faves…

10. Zooropa: I love the playful attitude on this album. Numb and Lemon are the bomb. And I love Daddy’s Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car. But any album that ends with something like The Wanderer… WOW. Talk about an experiment!! Not a big fan of First Time either. I love all the other songs though.

9. Pop: Very underrated, but when put up against their other records it’s easy to see why it would rank so low. I like all the songs on the album, and there are a few very strong efforts, but outside of If God Will Send His Angels, and Gone, their are no standouts. Most of their other records have a good 3 or 4 big standouts. Please is good too. I like Miami mostly cause I live here and think it’s cool they give us props.

8. All That You Can’t Leave Behind: Cool album, and I love the retro feel but it’s definitely not one of their best. Very consistent all the way through, but I liked it a lot better when I first heard it than I do now. I guess it’s familiar sound drew me in, but I didn’t find great depth in the sounds. Beautiful Day is definitely one of my favorite U2 songs of all time. Kite is awesome. And Grace is cool. Over time I’ve felt less strongly about Stuck in a Moment and Walk On, though I still think they are great songs.

7. Boy: Great raw debut. What a way to introduce themselves into the world with I Will Follow. Electric Co. is a classic rocker. Twilight is one of my favorites and Out of Control has a great youthful energy. I can listen to this CD over and over. Along with Achtung Baby, my favorite U2 guitar album with some great Edge solos (Twilight, Electric Co., Another Time Another Place, Out of Control, A Day Without Me)

6. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb: Still retro U2, in the 21st century, but a lot more enjoyable and a stronger effort than its predecessor ATYCLB. I can do without Vertigo. But the rest of the album is awesome. I particularly like City of Blinding Lights and Original of Species. Love, Peace or Else is awesome (looking forward to seeing it in 3D again!) I could leave this one playing over and over for an entire day!!

5. War: Any album with Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Year’s Day can not be too low on any list. Throw in 40, Drowning Man, and one of my personal faves, Surrender, and you have this record high on this list. SBS and NYD alone would put this album ahead of 6-12 in my book, and outside of Red Light (weakest song in the album), the rest of the songs complement these two classics well.

4. No Line on the Horizon: What? Did you think I’d put it at #1? It’s been three weeks, man! It may one day move up, or as ATYCLB before it, it may move down with repeated listens. I doubt it. This was anything but safe. It was challenging, but rewarding, and man it ROCKS. I love all 11 tracks. Similar to HTDAAB, my least favorite is the first single. Similar to Achtung Baby though, the first single (The Fly, in that case) wasn’t well received and only after hearing the entire piece did people get it. The songs fit well together and at the same time stand well on their own. Breathe is a breath of fresh air, no pun intended. Great guitar on Unknown Caller. And the slower tracks (Moment of Surrender, White As Snow, Cedars of Lebanon) move you on the inside. Great , great piece of work.

3. Unforgettable Fire: Two words… Pride… Bad… One reaction… WOW! Every song is a classic in my book. I love Sort of Homecoming, Indian Summer Sky, Wire and the title track. The rest are awesome too, but why list the album… if you’re reading this you probably know the track listing by heart. And the story behind Elvis Presley in America, to me, is enough to put this album here. Classic!

2. Achtung, Baby: I remember hearing this album on the radio a week before it came out and I was sooooo upset. How can U2 do this after Joshua Tree? (Rattle and Hum notwithstanding, as I always felt it was more about the movie than the record) The Fly was cool but what the hell was I listening to. Then after I bought it every listen brought me closer and closer to seeing it as Joshua Tree’s equal. It was that good. Almost, anyway. From track 1 through 12 it was just one solid song after another. And from it was born what some consider the greatest song written in the rock era, One. To think two of my favorite songs on the album were not even played live when they came… So Cruel and Acrobat. But the rest of the songs were THAT good, too. I’m going to love this one Until the End of the World…

1. Joshua Tree: One long perfect song as far as I’m concerned. To this day, I could listen to this album,, and when it ends I find myself saying, “already?” Time stops when I listen to it. I can’t even single out one song ahead of the others because of it’s consistent greatness (even though I, of course, have my preferences) To me it is the greatest record of all time, the record I measure all other records against. And to think it could have been a double album. To this day I still love some of the B-sides as much as some of the songs on the record itself (The Sweetest Thing, Luminous Times, Walk to the Water, Silver and Gold). I can’t see what anybody will ever do to eclipse this as my #1 all-time fave album.

There’s my list: What do you think? What are your rankings? Maybe this will get you thinking a bit about it… in anticipation of #13 later this year or early next if you believe what is being said by the band members anyway.

Note: Passengers is sort of U2, but it would be #13 at the moment for me. I do like Elvis Ate America, and Miss Sarajevo and a couple of others, though. BTW, I wrote this while listening to Passengers, so as to not get distracted by some song that moves me to stop and listen.

Enough writing… Time to go hear some more U2. Later.