You’re welcome! Thanks @Jimmy Agates first, though. He came up with idea. I just hogged in. A definite bummer for me that I never completed the thread, album wise, but I do that (quit stuff before I finish). Again, glad you enjoyed it. In a sense, this thread helped me get my sea legs under me for subsequent reviews and/or threads.
My top 25 U2 songs 1. With or Without You 2. Pride 3. Red Hill Mining Town 4. Your So Cruel. 5. Bad (live) 6. New Years Day 7. Sort of Homecoming (live) 8. Beautiful Day 9. Indian Summer Sky 10. An Cat Dubh 11. Heartland 12 Sunday Bloody Sunday 13. Kite 14. Vertigo 15. Magnificent 16. Silver and Gold (live) 17. Bullet the Blue Sky 18. Stay 19. Spanish Eyes 20. One 21 Last Night on Earth 22. Even Better than The Real Thing 22. Gone 23. Miss Sarajevo 24. In God’s Country 25. One Tree Hill
Boy 8 October 4 War 9 Unforgettable Fire 7 Joshua 9 Rattle and Hum 8 Achtung 10 Zooropa 9 Pop 10 All that... 3 How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb 4 No Line 8 - the only one album from the last years, where they've tried to do something different SOI 0 SOE 0 last 2 albums - i can't listen to them - they are plactic, just for money - awful they could become a LEGENDARY band, but after POP it is just a bussiness, no art or even good music.
Curious to hear from the Kite fans. I see this song on a lot of fan best-of lists, but it’s never resonated with me. Neither hate nor love it. I’m also a fan who likes the whole run of U2 albums, so am not against their poppier stuff. However, I’d probably listen to Miami more than Kite. Definitely not trying to pick a fight, but for those who rank Kite as top-tier U2, what makes it special for you?
For me it's part lyrics, part soaring chorus, and for me at least, was the only song on that album that gave me that intangible feeling like their old records did. Many others in this thread love ATYCLB but I was disappointed at the time.
Lyrically Kite is about trusting and loving someone enough to set them free. I think it is the lyrical content of man who understands a mature selfless love. I love Bono’s vocals particularly on the line “and hardness it sets in” and the line “Who's to say where the wind will take you. Who's to say what it is will break you. I don't know. Where the wind will blow”. Just as the vocals soar, The Edge comes in with his guitar. The Edge’s tone and “wobble” match the lyrics and vocals perfectly. You almost get the image of a kite soaring off into the air. a really great track to my ears.
My top 6 U2 albums: Unforgettable Fire War Achtung Baby Joshua Tree Zooropa Boy I love the atmosphere of Unforgettable Fire, and it's the perfect middle-ground between their early post-punk and the arena rock that would follow. Bad is arguably their best song too. The rest gets trickier, I guess October would be #7. I think there is a really solid album buried in Rattle and Hum but it has a lot of chaff (both big covers are awful). Pop is not an entirely successful experiment, but an interesting one admirable for its risk. All That You Can't Leave Behind would have been fine as a one-off nostalgia victory lap but looks worse in retrospect with every album that follows...The Force Awakens of rock albums. I've always read it as a song about death but great songs can often be interpreted in multiple ways.
I love this track as well for the same reasons. Surprised me that so many people disliked it. But hey, to each their own
listening to 11 o'clock tick tock - 12.6.82 Hammersmith (Radio One) boot. edge's AC30 is on fire..what a rig/tone. saw them '83 Bronco Bowl/Dallas (8 days after RR recording date). still have my Bono vest bought from the merch table hidden somewhere. not for sale lolz. for the record, my fav. u2 song is Another Time Another Place. i always dug their rockers. where have all the good times gone -
Wow. The 83 shows must have been really awesome. I wish I had seen them then. War is still a favorite of mine.
honestly - if they had cratered after the 1st 2 LPs (and listening to boots from that era), would still be musically inspired, uplifted & enlightened by those young cats. u know kim thayil of soundgarden is older (coupla months) than larry mullen jr..go figure
U2 had a tendency to hold off on releasing big signature songs as lead singles up to War. I don’t even think Sunday Bloody Sunday was released worldwide as a single.
The bonus disc to Boy is a marvel to listen to just because of this reason. It’s amateurish and clunky as heck, but it’s a joy from start to finish and you can hear the confidence grow in each successive recording.
A very good point about Boy's bonus disc being a great listen, kaztor. Amazing how solid their output was on their first outing that they could produce some great outtakes as well. Speed Of Life was a particular favorite of mine.
I wouldn't really call it holding off when the 'signature song' wasn't recorded even when the lead single was released. A Day Without Me was the first recording U2 made with Steve Lillywhite to test him out as a producer. Only after that single was recorded did they commit to have him produce the album. I don't think they had I Will Follow as a song back then. (Same for Fire and the other songs for the October album. Fire was recorded about half a year before the album sessions that birthed the other songs including Gloria.)
Okay, makes sense... I wasn’t sure about the exact recording dates. Speaking about Boy’s bonus disc; with the bonus discs for most of the deluxe issues being so successful, how come the one for War being such an utterly dreadful affair?
Fair question. I suppose either the multitude of remixes left little room for other stuff. Or, maybe there was less other stuff to start with, and the remixes were the logical stuff to fill up that disc. There wasn’t a ton of other b-sides, and everything that had existed was included. Live-wise, UaBRS had already done a fair job of documenting the era. Ultimately, I think the success of each bonus disc depends on the material available. And in the case of War, that collection was unfortunately lackluster.
I get the impression that in the case of War, yeah, there just wasn't much else besides what's there. It might have been nice to tack on a couple of other highlights from Red Rocks like Surrender and/or a few others not on UABRS, but I do think that UABRS probably ate up the live track compliment that might have otherwise been on the bonus disc as was the case with Boy and October.
I guess War’s bonus disc had the disadvantage of it’s tour being followed by a sabbatical and UABRS and October’s bonus disc mining both 1981 and 1982 material. UABRS was probably too important to be used as bonus material, although I’m pretty sure I would’ve preferred it that way with the Red Rocks dvd as a seperate release.
There were some issues with misprinted booklets is too... I think the unreleased tracks was found very late in the day ...or added later when they realised how weak the bonus disc was...surely there were some additional live tracks from the War tour knocking about .. it was a bit like they ran out of steam on that disc.. the live tracks on the New Years Day single we’re from a radio recording
As a long time U2 fan, I can't believe how much of bonus disc content consists of remixes. I like maybe 5% of these remixes. I simply don't get it. Live tracks and unreleased tracks are what I want, not 17 versions of New Years Day. U2 does this on RSD releases, too. What is the obsession on their part with dance remixes of these tunes? I get the occasional remix that they may have used for a show opener or something.... /rant
