Anyway, this will probably get a kicking but I very much grew up with this album, my dad played it a lot when I was a wee guy and it was an interesting and vital experiment from a band who had basically conquered everything already to change their style and create an elaborate interactive live show for the time.
Pretty much their last great record though, 30 years agoā¦
As a kid U2 were a pretty big deal to me. Sounds weird but they were the closest I encountered to alternative music - alternative to the charts and inescapable 60s standards - probably until I was 14 maybe even 15.
So Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree and Rattle & Hum were all big albums for me. Canāt say Iāve listened to any in decades but based on the odd song I hear around Iād say maybe UF stands up ok but the others not so much.
Anyway I guess there had been a big gap since R&H but I still bought the cd, even though I guess I knew I was over them. Just thought the album was awful - really clunky and even at its best sounded like a poor imitation of what theyād done before. Just think it is really poor songwriting, theyād definitely exhausted their ideas.
Love the Joshua Tree and they have some brilliant singles from the 80ās. Donāt think Iāve ever listened to Achtung Baby in full but Iām not a fan of the ones I know on here. Quite cheesy and overproduced imo. Will give it a spin to see if the album tracks bind it together.
Iāve voted 8. Iām by no means a U2 apologist, but I think up to Pop they were a decent band, and this is their pinnacle in my opinion. It was a bit of a departure from their past bombast, but it never felt like they were trying too hard, if that makes any sense. Just good songs. Some of it doesnāt sound so great to modern ears (Mysterious Ways is pretty boring really), but a few tracks are all-timers for me. āOneā (yes, itās probably been a bit overplayed), āUntil The End Of The Worldā and āAcrobatā are all brilliant.
I listen to this at least once a year and I still really enjoy it, putting out of my mind what an utter bellsniff Bono has become.
Itās a 9 for me. Sounds slightly dated now but was somewhat daring for a band of that size back then. āUntil The End Of The Worldā, āMysterious Waysā, āWild Horsesā, āReal Thingā, āLove Is Blindnessāā¦ all immense. Just the right amount of irony and darkness creeping in and āThe Flyā was a great opening statement for the era. Hard to listen to āOneā objectively, although itās obviously a very well-written song.
Will probably lose loads of point because Bono is a bit annoying but I think itās fair to say, in 2021, heās far from the worst bloke associated with rock music out there.
