Wire, Inforgettable Fire, Bad, Sort of Homecoming, Pride in the Name of Love, and Indian Summer Sky.


How can you top that?

Joshua Tree is good but it has been played on the radio a million times and only the uneducated U2 fan who only allows the radio to dictate what he or she listens to will pick the Joshua Tree.

It gets my vote for best U2 Album.

3 great U2 songs and a great album overall.

Bad
A Sort of Homecoming
Indian Summer Sky

It's not their best but it's a beautiful album and imo sure as hell better than All That You Can't Leave Behind.

Oh gimme a break. So it gets played on the radio, big friggin deal. By that rationale and elitist attitude you must think Led Zeppelin is one of the worst bands ever. Fire is great but the writing on Joshua Tree is unsurpassed.

LOL... one of the silliest comments ever. Believe it or not, there are actually a few of us old enough to have bought that recording on vinyl when it came out. I watched singles released off that album having no clue what was going to happen next as far as radio play goes. And who cares? I like "Unforgettable", but this uneducated boy thinks "Joshua" is a better pup.

Achtung Baby

Tough call. I find myself listening to Unforgettable Fire more, but that's because I've heard Joshua Tree so many times everywhere else.

No love here for Pop?

RS

Sure. It's better than Zooropa.
And the non-live portions of Rattle and Hum.

Are you happy now?

I don't like The Unforgettable Fire much at all. I prefer Boy, October, and Achtung Baby.

My favorite by far is "War" but I don't know if I would say it's their best......

"Unforgetable Fire" produced the song "Bad." For that, I will be forever grateful.

But, I'd still pick "The Joshua Tree". Aside from the bastard radio tracks (Streets, ISHFWILF, With/Without You) you have "Running to Stand Still", "Red Hill Mining Town", "Mothers of the Disappeared" and "Bullet the Blue Sky", among others. As a complete album, that's my choice.

My favs:

1) WAR (fantastic drum opening on 'Sunday')
2) OCTOBER (for the title track alone)
3) BOY ('I Will Follow' is one of the best singles ever)
4) UNFORGETABLE FIRE ('Bad'....last great piece by the band)
5) JOSUHA TREE (good album, but certainly a sign of things to come)

Side A of The Unforgettable Fire is the best side U2 ever did. Side B has Bad and Indian Summer Sky, but the rest isn't great.

Best overall album (IMO): Boy.

Achtung Baby was the greatest U2 album.

Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses and Ultraviolet are the best.

Achtung
Zooropa
JT
Pop
R&H

I'd also vote for Unforgettable Fire. It just doesn't sound like anything before or since, by any band. I thought they were really going out into uncharted territory here. Indian Summer Sky is, to me, the definitive U2 song. Wire is just some damn cool guitar playing. The Unforgettable Fire is an amazing song. To me, with U2's noble, heroic, Christian themes, it works better when it's slightly wierd and abstract, like it was on Unforgettable Fire (and October and Achtung Baby). I thought the Joshua Tree was the beginning of U2 getting overpowered by their influences, which got much worse with Rattle and Hum. I also loved most of the Unforgettable Fire videos, and HATED most of the Joshua Tree ones---particularly Where the Streets Have No Names, and I STill Haven't Found....it was like "come, ye unwashed masses, gather round and worship us as wandering Messiahs." I thought that with a lot of aspects of U2, around the time of the Joshua Tree the hype started getting better than the music, where I thought the reverse was true with Unforgettable Fire. I do like a lot of their stuff since, though----Rattle and Hum was the definite low point of this band, IMO.

My favorite thing about The Unforgettable Fire is the song titles. They were so creative, instead of just naming each song whatever was said most in that song (e.g. "Bad" vs. "Vertigo," "Kite" vs. "Beautiful Day"). Just a personal preference though, and no way am I going to argue U2 has an objective "best."

I pretty much agree, except I'd throw War in there too.

call me crazy but I tend to find I like War and Achtung Baby the best. Unforgettable Fire is very good though justg not my personal favorite.

I am a huge U2 fan...got everything from them...every album, b-side, remix, etc.

I've always loved the Unforgettable Fire...

Just totally different from everything...

I love all the albums, especially the odd ones...October, Unforgettable Fire, and Zooropa...

Bad is my second favorite U2 track, aside from One Tree Hill from the Joshua Tree...

If you guys want to check out another song from the Unforgettable Fire era, look for a demo called "Be There"...It's pretty sweet...

Can't remember the name of the book, but it was entitled something like, "The Fifty Worst Rock Albums of All-Time". It came out maybe 10 years ago. "The Unforgettable Fire" made the list.

From what I remember, the general consensus was that it was pompous, prententious, and unbelievably over-produced. All of which I agree with to some extent, but there is no way in hell that it is one of the worst 50 albums of all time. Some very good songs came off this album ("Bad", "MLK", "A Sort of Homecoming"), and one of U2's worst ("Elvis Presley and America") but they were all buried in a very murky mix. Daniel Lanois is a great producer (and musician), but this is some of his worst production work.

#2 in my book, with Bad ranking as one of my all-time favorite U2 singles. They played it live at Joyce Center during their show @ Notre Dame in October of '01 and it was AWESOME.

Achtung is still my favorite, with UF followed by JT.

I have to go with the new album right now... Of course, I always say that when a new U2 album comes out. However, I will probably find that Achtung Baby and War will float to the surface.

I think my current ranking is due to the fact that each successive U2 album has really grown up with me personally. HTDAAB is right there with my life right now and really speaks to me.

Just was watching U2 on the Live Aid DVD. Good to see them before they went commercial Good stuff.

Unforgettable Fire is a good album with some great songs- I love "A Sort of Homecoming", "Bad", "Wire", and "The Unforgettable Fire". "Pride"....eh, no thanks.

Best U2 albums:

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
Achtung Baby
Joshua Tree
War
All that you can't leave behind
Pop
Unforgettable Fire
Zooropa
October
Boy
Rattle and Hum

Yes, I have drunk the kool-aid: the new album is the best U2 album yet.

Flay me if you will with your witty ripostes.