# What is U2's best album? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 29, 2017, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100 "2017-06-29T00:42:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/21 "2017-06-29T02:52:38Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Joshua tree > > It’s the album that made me love them…and then be sick of them. I can’t listen to ANY U2 now despite knowing they are a quality band. I wouldn’t say I’m sick of them, but I haven’t actively listened to any of their stuff since Joshua Tree. I was a fan up until that album and really enjoyed the show I saw on the '87 tour. But after that I lost interest–I can’t really explain why. To semi-quote Keef, they just didn’t move me anymore. (I have stayed at the Harmony Hotel though…but only because there wasn’t a room to be had anywhere else.) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/22 "2017-06-29T03:11:23Z")
War. It’s been downhill ever since. No love for Under A Blood Red Sky? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/23 "2017-06-29T04:25:08Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Joshua tree > > It’s the album that made me love them…and then be sick of them. I can’t listen to ANY U2 now despite knowing they are a quality band. Well, couldn’t have said that better. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/24 "2017-06-29T04:29:26Z")
> [@somepumpkin](#): > > The Unforgettable Fire. I like the mood and sounds from that album… especially “Wire”. This is my fave too. Followed by War, then Joshua Tree. Not that Joshua isn’t a better album but I like the more raw sounds of their earlier work. Like the opening cassette tape drum beat of October… I have a hard time listening to anything after Rattle and Hum. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/25 "2017-06-29T05:06:12Z")
I like \*Boy, War, Unforgettable Fire, \*and _Joshua Tree_, though my favorite song of theirs (“Gloria”) is on _October_. Went with _Boy_ in this poll, when their sound was freshest and unburdened by Importance. Is “An Cat Dubh” on that one? ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/26 "2017-06-29T05:13:51Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > He said. One. Which one? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/27 "2017-06-29T10:09:47Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I feel like this question requires a defense of the choice to not rank Joshua Tree #1. To me, the opening three songs are too similar; these days it’s rare I want to sit and listen to that solid 15 minutes of Edge delay/reverb stylings. The album has polish, but little spark. Fair point. For me, the Joshua Tree’s songs never grabbed me. They led with With or Without You which is just kinda meh for me. Love the start of Where the Streets Have No Name. But I never listen to it. It was Peak U2, their full arrival as a force in Amercia. But Achtung Baby has better songs, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/28 "2017-06-29T10:52:04Z")
I liked their first seven albums…it’s hard to pick one over the others. _Joshua Tree_ was so huge and omnipresent that it’s hard to evaluate it now. I did play it to death. I was listening to _Walk On_ just before I saw this thread. Knowing it’s about [AungbSanbSuu Kyi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi) makes it all the more poignant. Some of their best writing, especially: _You could have flown away A singing bird In an open cage Who will only fly Only fly for freedom_ _All That You Can’t Leave Behind_ wasn’t half bad. That concert tour was the last time I saw them live. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/29 "2017-06-29T14:15:53Z")
I would say (and voted for) “Joshua Tree”, which was when they really broke out as a superstar band. Close second for “War” (the first album of theirs I heard), followed by “Rattle and Hum”. The latter has some of their most kickass material, but also a lot of “two-disc set” filler. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/30 "2017-06-29T15:39:25Z")
I do have to add that the only bright spot out of the election of Trump for me was U2 abandoning plans for their new album (which they said would be more like Pop, their lowest selling album :smack:) and returning to their roots with Songs of Innocence and the Joshua Tree tour. ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/31 "2017-06-29T16:50:28Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Which one? One by U2. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/32 "2017-06-29T16:58:19Z")
I chose “The Joshua Tree.” It’s a cliche answer, but this thing is, _ **it’s a cliche answer for a reason.** _ “Achtung Baby” is sensational as well, but I had to pick one. “Rattle and Hum,” “War,” “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” and “The Unforgettable Fire” are all outstanding. I even like a lot of the tracks on “Pop,” which is, IMHO, underrated. ---
**Author:** ![mazinger\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mazinger\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazinger_z)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/33 "2017-06-29T18:01:27Z")
It’s a toss up between Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby for me. All the songs I sort of don’t like on Achtung Baby, I really like live or if played in a different arrangement. But, the first three songs have more significant meaning for me in the Joshua Tree. If it wasn’t for Bullet the Blue Sky (yes, I hate that song, in any incarnation), this wouldn’t be a toss up. Basically the highs are higher for me in Joshua, but because of that one low, my average high is higher in Achtung. No one remembers the average, they just remember the home run. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/34 "2017-06-29T19:15:16Z")
I got into U2 with _The Unforgettable Fire_ and wore the grooves out of it, but with\* The Joshua Tree\* they became REALLY big in any way and consolidated their signature sound. The foundations of this sound were apparent earlier, especially on _…Fire_, but though it had top producers with Eno and Lanois (the same ones as on\* Joshua Tree\*), it sounds strangely murky compared to their later work. _The Joshua Tree_ then became THE quintessential U2 album, and it was huge and heard everywhere in 1987, but it’s not their best. It all became a bit boring and pretentious with _Rattle And Hum_, though it’s no bad album either and has some great songs. But it’s an extravaganza: double album, feature film, gospel choir, Beatles cover, Dylan collaboration, B.B. King duet and so on and on, pure overkill. So I and many people got kinda sick of their shtick, but they were wise enough to realize this and reinvent themselves with _Achtung Baby_. This was an album that’s absolutely state of the art for 1991 by shedding their former sound and changing their approach drastically, and it showed that they could do great pop music and even groove! You can dance to that album, and it has at least seven or eight killer songs, and not one stinker. It’s the rare kind of album that sounds like a collection of singles and nonetheless works as a whole, as an album. And it also aged much better, _The Joshua Tree_ today sounds so much like a product of it’s time (maybe because its sound is so iconic), but _Achtung Baby_ still sounds fresh to my ears. They never got better. \*Zooropa \*was kind of interesting, but seemed like an afterthought to _Achtung Baby_. Everything after that I still cared to listen to was boring. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/35 "2017-06-29T20:29:10Z")
> [@Dahnlor](#): > > One by U2. This one, or the other one? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/36 "2017-06-29T21:01:12Z")
I just want to say that I think their single best song is actually not on an album. It’s Ordinary Love, from the Nelson Mandela movie. [Ordinary Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC3ahd6Di3M) If not the best, it’s up their with their best work of the late 80’s and early 90’s. A real return to form. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/37 "2017-06-29T21:02:13Z")
I did vote Joshua Tree, but I also think Achtung Baby and the first 4-5 songs of Songs of Innocence are also amazing. War is great, too. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/38 "2017-06-29T21:25:11Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I can’t really listen to One anymore after basically living through it with my ex-wife. > Did I ask too much? More than a lot > You gave me nothing, now it’s all I got > We’re one, but we’re not the same > Well, we hurt each other, then we do it again > > You say love is a temple, love a higher law > Love is a temple, love the higher law > You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl > And I can’t be holding on to what you got > When all you got is hurt I love that people will play this at weddings, per friends who’ve DJ’d. Along with “Every Breath You Take,” etc… Joshua Tree for me, but Achtung is a really close second. I haven’t like their albums since All That You Can’t Leave Behind. EDIT: Their latest albums to me, come close to proving the joke that U2 is the world’s greatest Christian Rock band. Just too sappy, and corporate sounding, and forgettable. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/39 "2017-06-29T22:00:57Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > I love that people will play this at weddings, per friends who’ve DJ’d. Along with “Every Breath You Take,” etc… I keep hearing that, but I wonder how true it is. Maybe people have wised up to it. I’ve been to over 300 weddings in the past 10 years, and I’ve never heard either song played at one, even though I keep hearing stories about how supposedly common it is. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100/40 "2017-06-29T22:06:09Z")
It probably is an urban legend. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to a wedding, not that I’ve been to many, and they played mainly salsa and conjunto at the last one. Just relaying what I was told by a travelling DJ, friend of an acquaintance, and they may have been pulling my leg. People really don’t like _In God’s Country_? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-u2s-best-album/790100.md?page=3)