CC00018: U2
Submitted by lbangs on Tue, 02/20/2001 - 10:24
Tags:
- The Joshua Tree (10)
- Achtung Baby (10)
- War (10)
- The Unforgettable Fire [Album] (8)
- Boy (8)
- Best of 1980-1990 (7.5)
- Zooropa (7)
- Rattle & Hum (6)
- Pop [US] (5.5)
- October (5)
- Under a Blood Red Sky [live] (5)
- Wide Awake in America [live] (5)
Author Comments:
This is an entry in a continuing series I call Critical Consensus. I am averaging the opinions of several excellent music critics to produce a list of each artist's albums. The albums will each have a rating between 1 and 10. The albums will be listed in a recommended purchasing order, so new fans will have an idea of where the best place to start buying an artist's work is. These are not my opinions, although, since I have chosen the critics used (and I'm using many), my taste will perhaps seep through a bit.
Terribly nerdy, I know, but maybe this will help people only now beginning to dabble into certain artists' bodies of work.
I would be in absolute agreement that The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby are excellent starting places for U2, and War is certainly a powerful release. The lyrics contained in these 3 are U2 at their politically and socially clearest. I would confess that I have not been a big fan of their techno albums (Pop, Zooropa). Wide Awake, Under and October are basic re-hashes of earlier work, and Boy and Unforgettable Fire seemed to be transitional pieces...I continue having Unforgettable Fire on my cd changer a lot. I love Rattle & Hum, but upon further consideration can acknowledge that as an emotional not critical choice. :0
Thanks for the comments. I pretty much agree with most of this list. I must admit to not liking Unforgettable Fire nearly as much as most do (to these ears, the album is a formless atmospheric exercise occasionally broken by a brilliant song or two (Pride, for example)). I also still enjoy Rattle and Hum, but usually only after some 'Skip' button editing. Heartland in particular is an over-looked gem and one of my favorite U2 songs.
Zooropa was the most disagreed upon album. Some critics felt U2 valiantly pushed further into the direction they headed for in Achtung, while others felt they got in over their heads. I like the album, but I wouldn't claim it as one of U2's greatest.
My personal favorite is easily Achtung Baby, followed by Joshua and War.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I'm curious about the Passengers CD. Are you not counting that one because it's a soundtrack compilation? It has some great tunes on it. IMHO, it deserves at least an 8.
I didn't count Passengers because Eno's contribution was obviously enough that I can not claim it to be a true U2 album. It's a U2 and Eno album. There is also a significantly less amount of criticism available on the Passengers' album than on the U2 proper albums. Spin-offs and solo projects are a tricky line to draw on these CCs, but that's where I decided to put it. Perhaps The Passengers will get their own entry at some point.
From my research, I gather the Passengers' album would have ranked between 6 and a 7, with a slight edge (no pun intended) to the 7. Most critics loved certain songs (especially Ms. Saravajo) but felt some of the ambient pieces were a bit too vague to be as effective as they should be. Overall, the reviews were positive but not glowing.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs