"It's a musical journey" - U2 POLL RESULTS

the next one will probably do it for you

and if not, the one after

some dude, "I Threw A Brick Through A Window" is a great song, you should check it out

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42 Numb
142 points, seven votes
Zooropa (1993)

yeah, listening right now, this is pretty good! one of these days i definitely need to spend a good amount of time w/ the pre-Joshua Tree LPs. (xpost)

"Love Comes Tumbling" was about as obscure as my ballot got, but that song's a keeper; the sound is close to Fables of the Reconstruction, with Bono's vocal sounding like Elvis circa 1966 (think "Beyond the Reef").

last one for today, should meet the humming test...

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41 Discotheque
148 points, nine votes, one most hated
Pop (1997)

voted for it!

Me too!

As most hated... cannot stand it and it was the moment where U2 and I definitely parted ways.

You crazy, it's fantastic.

Loooooved Larry's expression in the video.

I voted for it too. As a song there's not a lot to it. I get the feeling that they had all these scraps of songs and ideas which were pretty good but not quite enough to expand into a whole so they just stuck all these scraps together and it's utterly fantastic.

"Discoteque" is one of two U2 CD singles I own

it's kind of funny how they openly drew from dance music for half a decade to huge acclaim, but then they name a song "Discotheque" and dress like the Village People in a video and the backlash comes along pretty swiftly

Really interesting results so far. I'm not sure why I didn't vote for more early 80's songs like "11 O Clock Tick Tock". And I love "Rattle and Hum" but can't stand "Heartland", I'm surprised that made it!

And like others have been saying, the pictures are great!

well U2 was leaden about it, as usual: the band begged you to applaud their embrace of kitsch. Remember the K-Mart press conference?

Smart fans already heard the interest in junk culture on its two predecessors, so why was the band being so self-congratulatory about it on Pop?

Remember the K-Mart press conference?

http://jerome.galica.free.fr/cinetv/MUSIC/U2Popmart.gif

Is Adam supposed to be a drain clearance guy? Or is that Larry on the left?

That's Adam. I saw them on this tour.

So did he fix the septic tank or what then?

'I Fall Down' was my #1. Also, I guess 'October' will always be my favorite U2 album. It's damp and swirly, and the sound is very much within the conventions of 1981 post-punk, which is still one of my very favorite musical epochs. You could play 'October' for your same mopey English-major friends who were listening to The Sound or Echo & the Bunnymen, for example, and they might not hurt your feelings with savage dismissals!

I still get the "discotheque" guitar riff stuck in my head regularly

Smart fans already heard the interest in junk culture on its two predecessors, so why was the band being so self-congratulatory about it on Pop?

Exactly. Baffled me at the time.

Gotta tell you the truth here: I remember the era well, and I listen to the albums lots, but I've never for the life of me figured out just what about "Achtung Baby" and "Zooropa" was meant to be ironic, or junk cultury or whatever. I took them both as pretty earnest works. Even much of "Pop" is pretty dark. Is this all just because Bono started wearing sunglasses?

But, yeah, "Pop" is just an all-around underrated record. Of special note, it's the only one post-'UF" with neither Eno nor Lanois, let alone Lillywhite, and may be the last time I've seen the name Howie B. credited anywhere.

good work ismael

Damn straight. I'll get this up & running in a few minutes. First up today is the best song I didn't vote for.

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40 Love Is Blindness
157 points, eight votes
Achtung Baby (1991)

Didn't vote for this, but easily could have voted for this. More dark stuff, great album closer, perfect closer to the disc's themes.

Next one got few votes, but everyone who did rated it highly.

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39 Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?
159 points, six votes
Achtung Baby (1991)

Interesting. I like the music of that one, but don't really dig the lyrics, the same way so many don't dig ""Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World."

I thought it was the best when I first had the album, probably because it's such a strong tune, but I find it uninteresting now the album brings me darker pleasures.

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38 Desire
165 points, eight votes
Rattle And Hum (1988)

This was my last cut fwiw. Loved this at the time, feel it's a bit unambitious now, though seeing Rattle & Hum woke me up to it again.

my only post '87 trk iirc

pop was one of the first CDs i owned. i bought it when it came out without having heard any songs off it, or any u2 songs at all i think, but i saw it at the store and had some money to spend and i was like, im a big boy, ive heard of this band, im gonna get me a u2 cd

so i put all 12 Pop tracks on my ballot

That's the kind of commitment we need.

The next song I don't even know.

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37 City Of Blinding Lights
167 points, eight votes
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (2004)

i can already see that none of my top 4 are going to place :(

I didn't vote but if I did it probably would have looked something like this:

1 - Out of Control
2 - With of Without You
3 - All I Want is You
4 - Pride
5 - Two Hearts Beat As One
6 - I Will Follow
7 - New Year's Day
8 - Who's Gonna Ride Yr Wild Horses
9 - Seconds
10 - Where the Streets Have no Name

Tsk. Stay tuned - I can reveal that at least one of those will still place.

Only one? I would have thought at least a couple. Hmmmm. Well I suppose you did say at least one.

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36 Gloria
180 points, eight votes
October (1981)

Gotta tell you the truth here: I remember the era well, and I listen to the albums lots, but I've never for the life of me figured out just what about "Achtung Baby" and "Zooropa" was meant to be ironic, or junk cultury or whatever.

When Bono discovers a big word like "irony," he tends to muck up its definition. I love those albums cuz they're trashy and hook-filled like U2 albums rarely are.

I love this on Live At Red Rocks, especially when Adam gets the stage to himself to slap bass. It's not exactly funky, but it's damn cool.

Gloria!

I feel strongly about my vote for this one. I don't care if it's earnest and corny, I love it. Love that picture too.

Yeah. A lot of these pictures, esp the early ones, are pretty great.

another fantastic early song

I played October to DEATH in junior high, probably listened to that album more than any other in eighth grade.