bono never had and never will again top "lemon". that song is beyond cool

I like this album. Probably fits right in the middle of the pack if I ranked them. "Lemon" and "Zooropa" are my faves. I love hearing Brian Eno's voice and wish he'd be even more involved with the band. "Numb", however, just might be my least favorite U2 song (at least until two albums later).

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Released: 1997

Tracklisting

1. Discotheque
2. Do You Feel Loved
3. Mofo
4. If God Will Send His Angels
5. Staring At The Sun
6. Last Night On Earth
7. Gone
8. Miami
9. The Playboy Mansion
10. If You Wear That Velvet Dress
11. Please
12. Wake Up Dead Man

Credits

There are only 3 songs on Pop that I really consider great songs: Do You Feel Loved, Staring At The Sun, Please.

If this album was by any other band, it'd be considered a pretty good one, but for U2, it comes off like a collection of weak B-sides and unreleased outtakes; probably their worst proper album.

I think you have the release date wrong there, auto. :)

Personally I think Pop is still underrated. True, U2's ambitions completely ran away with them on this one, but at least they still had some ambitions, which is more than I can say about any of their subsequent albums.

Pop sits inbetween the greatness of Achtung Baby and the okness of Zooropa.

I initially didn't care for this album, but the more I listened to it, the more I dug it...and I would say it's one of my top played U2 albums now. Almost all the songs are unique and fun and it was a shame the album was scorned so bad by people just not willing to really give it a chance.

However...I must say it was nice that they finally went back to good ol' rock'n roll for the next album...but more on that as it developes.

But...how I wish I would of seen this live!

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Baffled. I have never understood the revulsion some feel for this album. For me, it's the last U2 album I loved from start (well, 2nd song!) to end. It feels like the last album where U2 took some chances. "Mofo" and "Please" are fantastic tunes. Yeah, I really can't get into "Discotheque" that much. Just like releasing "Numb" as the first single from the last album, they released another silly single here. Anyway, I really like this album and the disappointments for me came with the next album.

I totally agree with you regarding "Numb"--that is probably my least favorite U2 song ever. But while "Pop" as a whole didn't leave that much of an impression on me overall, "Discotheque" is probably at the top of my list of U2 songs that MUST be cranked up to maximum volume!

the thing is... this album ows (imo) just like zooropa or even unforgettable fire. good songs open and close the album. the middle handful are not awful, they're just boring.

the difference between pop and the other two? the "good" songs on here aren't anywhere as exciting as the masterpieces on the others.

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Released: 2000

Tracklisting

1. Beautiful Day
2. Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
3. Elevation
4. Walk On
5. Kite
6. In a Little While
7. Wild Honey
8. Peace on Earth
9. When I Look at the World
10. New York
11. Grace

Credits

tame yet enjoyable.

Yeah, a very safe album - not bad, but a very radio-friendly album with no risks taken.

This album I liked although like you guys said, it wasn't revelatory. Maybe after all the earlier albums, they wanted to play it safe.

To backtrack a bit: Achtung Baby remains one of my most oft-played tapes. I think I had that and Nevermind on constant rotation the summer of 1992.

The beginning of the end. Gone are the enticing atmospheres of Achtung Baby and Zooropa. Gone is even the sense of decadence from Pop. In its place is bland and overly sincere AOR. Things kind of looked up when "Beautiful Day" was released. An instantly memorable single with a catchy piano part and a warm Bono vocal. Sadly, from the moment we hit the awkward chorus of the second track, the terribly titled "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of" (ouch), it's clear that this is something U2 has never been before: Completely toothless. Even during Rattle and Hum they thought they had something to say. Here they just ramble through a series of trite and ultimately forgettable tunes. A few, such as "Elevation" and "Wild Honey," stick out from the crowd, but the sense of open experimentation and boundless energy is gone.

This was also the point where, in my mind, Bono's voice started to go. And it's only gotten worse since. While Pop showed they had gone too far in one direction, this wasn't the place to go to revive themselves (although it did commercially).

Suprmallet hit many of my issues. If you can recall, the guys in the band were saying before the release that this was probably their best album. Things did seem promising with "Beautiful Day". Nice tune. So, the day the CD came out I rushed across the street to Best Buy and hurried back to my stereo. "Beautiful Day" sounded damn sweet cranked loud through my speakers.....

then....

BAM!!!!!! What the hell is this? WTF? A ballad? A lyrically drippy, slow as molasses MOR by-the-numbers POS titled "Stuck In A Moment blah blah blah". Okay, it's fair to say they've done other ballads... "One" is certainly slow with uplifting lyrics. But these songs are like night and day in the creative book. I was so taken aback by this song that I had a really hard time focusing on the rest of the album. I know it seems like maybe I overreacted, but it truly goes down as the most disappointing experience I've ever had with a favorite band. They even wrote a worse tune on the next album, but it didn't surprise me after this.

There are other songs I think suck on it. "New York" is a horrible attempt at recreating "Exit" (musically). "Elevation" is okay, but with really dumb lyrics and the first signs that Bono's voice is half way shot.

I do think there are some very good songs. A tune like "Walk On" is damn good and took on a new meaning a year later when 9-11 struck. I also like "In A Little While" and it was played at my wedding in a mix during the reception.

Overall, it probably made me realize I'll need to listen to any of their future albums before shelling out bucks. Thankfully, they still kick as a live act.

Wow...I can't believe the dislike for this album.

It is this album where people always say U2 became to poppy. I've alway argued aside from "POP" and "Zooropa" they have always been a rather poppy band from that distinctive time period. Come on, "With or Without You"..."Mysterious Ways"...they all were rather poppy for that time.

"All That You Can't Leave Behind" was U2 deciding to just do a straight arrow rock album instead of doing something crazy again (and the pretty much had to in order to win back some of their alienated fans from "Pop"), and if there is one thing I know, it's that when U2 wants to "play it safe," they can still put out one kickass album.

Like others have said, Beautiful Day is a fantastic track, Stuck in a Moment sounds much better as an accoustic track (as it was played on the last tour), Elevation is just a fun rockin song, Walk On needs to explanation, Kite has become one of my favorite U2 tracks, Wild Honey is probably my least favorite track, In A Little While is another and so on and so forth.

U2 comes in phases, the first being their punk rock sound, followed by their spiritual sound, followed by their crazy electronica sound, and now with this album signaled the begining of their "let's just rock" sound.

If we want to talk about U2 dissapointing by playing it safe...perhaps that argument better fits with the next album. But until then, I will continue to say my three favorite U2 albums are: "Boy" "Achtung Baby" & "All That You Can't Leave Behind"

I think the problem with that argument is that they're not really rocking all that much. It's more like a "Let's just be bland" sound. I have no problem with them being poppy, and "Beautiful Day" is a brilliant example of how good they can sound in that style, but the rest of the album needs serious work to get to that level.

Beautiful Day, Walk On, Kite, Wild Honey, and When I Look At The World are all great songs. This is one of my favorite U2 albums. Sure, it was familiar, but at least it was listenable, which I can't say about most of Pop and half of Zooropa.

Thanks for hitting on pretty much all the points I was going to make. (Except I will differ on "Wild Honey") I LOVE this album! Granted, there's a bit of personal bias on my part, as I was listening to this album the whole morning of getting ready for my wedding - but aside form that, it's just a plain great return to form after the many experimental albums preceding it.

Not that there was anything wrong with the experimentation, and for the most part, perhaps Pop aside, it worked wonderfully. But it was getting to the point where I know a lot of my friends and I were wishing the band would just make a good old, straight forward rock album - and that's exactly what they delivered All That You Can't Leave Behind.

Again, I also agree that playing it safe would be their next album - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - which pretty much is a carbon copy of this album. However, I still listen to ATYCLB and HTDAAB more than I do Pop, or October.

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Released: 2004

Tracklisting

1. Vertigo
2. Miracle Drug
3. Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own
4. Love and Peace or Else
5. City of Blinding Lights
6. All Because of You
7. Man and a Woman
8. Crumbs from Your Table
9. One Step Closer
10. Original of the Species
11. Yahweh

Credits

Sorry for the delay in finishing off this thread. Getting married next week and things have been a little crazy. Playing 'The Sweetest Thing' at the wedding though. :)

Congrats on your wedding. You need to get your priorities in line ;). I'm a tad bit ambivalant about this recording. It came out when I already saw U2 as tarnished, so I wasn't expecting much and they ended up with an album with a few great songs, a few so-so and one dead, awful tune. I railed against "Stuck In A Moment" from the last album, but I think they upped the ante with "Original Of The Species". Just a horrible song. My least favorite thing they've ever done.

But I do like "Vertigo". A meaningless piece of fun similar to "Desire". I no longer hope for brilliance from these guys. I'll probably always be interested in what they put out, but it truly seems their best days are well in the past... at least on record.

OOTS is my favorite song off this album! (Sorry, I've been absent from this thread, I went to Ireland)

Yahweh, Vertigo, Sometimes are my favorites off this, some of the others (man and women, Crumbs, not so much)

I might add my comments for the other albums that I missed...

Which version? I hope it's the original one, and not the lame re-recorded version. ;)