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

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.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/7830/040loveisblindness.jpg

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.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/1277/sgonnarideyourwildhorse.jpg

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.

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/8302/038desire.jpg

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.

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/4643/037cityofblindinglights.jpg

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.

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/8440/036gloria.jpg

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK34DVYsICY

I mean, I challenge anyone who likes U2 to not like this song. Also, Bono's Gloria contains an alveolar flap!

If I only had the slightest idea what that is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveolar_flap

I started a thread about alveolar flaps this morning! I was thinking about them, and this song illustrated my point perfectly!

A thread about your alveolar flap, or tap

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/8608/035acrobat.jpg

35 Acrobat
187 points, nine votes
Achtung Baby (1991)

This was a top five pick for me. I love how the album slows down in the last three tracks to a deep, complicated mess. The book reckons that's the return to the reality of making a marriage work after the surface thrills of the first nine tracks.

I only voted for one of the final three songs on Achtung Baby but they're all of a piece to me & together U2's finest album closer.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/6459/034seconds.jpg

34 Seconds
192 points, nine votes
War (1983)

My #5.

I put the 3 final tracks from Achtung in my top 10 -- all of a piece for me too, they just kept moving up my ballot. Had Love is Blindness at #3, thanks in part to its gorgeous and expansive live version (the Sydney Zooropa tour video is on youtube). AFAIK they never played Acrobat live, even in the days when the Zoo tour included every other song on the album except So Cruel.

Any great versions you know, feel free to put the youtube up. I keep hearing about legendary performances, but I wouldn't know where to start looking.

The "Love Is Blindness" on the Stay! single put it on my ballot for a while, though I eventually demoted it in favor of "Gloria" (my only vote for a song pre-Unforgettable Fire iirc).

live at Yankee Stadium, 1992, apparently (not on youtube)

xp Achtung Baby/Zooropa's "irony" is all in the packaging - artwork, videos, the Zoo TV tour. That's what's so brilliant about it imo - moving, complex, sincere songs in a fun, flashy wrapper.

I'm not sure how I feel about Seconds. It usually seems a bit ham-fisted, but sometimes I catch myself singing it without thinking.

I was just listening to "Seconds" the other day, and for all the talk about War being strident/anthemic, here's a very clear yet poetic song about the moral symmetry between terrorists and nuclear superpowers, which wasn't something you heard very much about outside the left in the '80s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33ZKmi586PA

^^ one of Edge's best moments. Though I also like the understated album version, the way the guitar gets stuck on one note.

Seconds is a good song but I always flinch at the bom-bom-bom drum sound.

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/6595/033bulletthebluesky.jpg

33 Bullet The Blue Sky
194 points, eleven votes, one most hated
The Joshua Tree (1987)

Their only truly, violently angry political song - very much playing against type. Very strong on the Atomic Bomb tour.

my most hated; what a dreadful song, enough to degrade The Joshua Tree significantly in my view. The Rattle & Hum version is the worst, though I guess it's provided lotsa lols over the years emulating the ridiculous ending.