best stuff they ever did. they should have broken up after War, before they became alt rock gods and old and tired

albo: best stuff they ever did. they should have broken up after War, before they became alt rock gods and old and tired

Joshua Tree was their best work, but War is a close second.

The way The Edge makes so many different songs with the same guitar riff and delay pedal is quite dazzling

It is.

Boy and War made me believe you would do well to carry a guitar into battle.

Well now I have to go back and watch that Bill Bailey bit.

make me some tea: albo: best stuff they ever did. they should have broken up after War, before they became alt rock gods and old and tired

Joshua Tree was their best work, but War is a close second.

/This
//Red Hill Mining Town

Some, two, three, fourteen!

Joshua Tree FTW.

Scattered songs ever since. No albums.

i listen to three complete albums in order on my ipod-

Dark side and wish you were here by floyd

and

Joshua Tree

It is a complete and awesome album.

War is good but not joshua tree.

cameroncrazy1984: Well now I have to go back and watch that Bill Bailey bit.

That one?

/No rickroll
//Although it might qualify as a troll...

"These guys are from England and who gives a sh*t!?"

/Casey Kasem, the man

Mr. Fenster Manifester: "These guys are from England and who gives a sh*t!?"

/Casey Kasem, the man

A little dog named snuggles

Boy is ok now. Dated, but ok.
October sucks. One good song.
War is awesome.
Unforgetable Fire = 50% awesome.
Joshua Tree is/was overplayed. Can't listen to it anymore.

Rattle and Hum is awesome, except for one or two songs that can be easily removed with your Ipod.

Actung Baby = overplayed. Can still listen to it.
Zooropa = overplayed in every foreign country I've been to.

Pop is awesome except for "Miami." I don't care what anyone thinks. They should have continued in this direction. Made more songs like "Mofo"

Later albums = meh. R.E.M.'s latest was better.

I like R&H, War and Pop best.

Under A Blood Red Sky is my favorite U2 recording with Joshua Tree a close second.

the edge is shiat ... worst guitarist ever

barneyfifesbullet: Joshua Tree FTW.

Scattered songs ever since. No albums.

Eh, Achtung Baby is a pretty cohesive record. I still listen to Zooropa and Pop more now, though.

In God's Country is a farking soaring pantheon of grandeur and an audible feast of turbulent sounds and imagery.

///So there

HappyHarryHardOn: Mr. Fenster Manifester: "These guys are from England and who gives a sh*t!?"

/Casey Kasem, the man

A little dog named snuggles

"for god sakes, can I get someone not to come out of a farking uptempo record and I've got to talk about a farking dog dieing!!!"

albo best stuff they ever did. they should have broken up after War, before they became alt rock gods and old and tired

THIS.

Boy was very exciting when it came out.
Had my first bass guitar, a Fender jazz sunburst,
loved to plunk along.

NOW i wish i'd never heard of the bombastic stragglers

The thing that makes U2 different from other bands out there and especially in the 80's is that they had the collective balls to write and produce albums that sounded different. Everyone has their favorite U2 songs/albums based on their personal taste.

Name another band that came out in that era that you don't take their entire body of work as a whole?

Van Halen/Haggar?
Bon Jovi?
Motley Crue?
The Cure?
The Clash?
REM?

All of those bands pretty much banked on the idea of "our sound" or "that made us some cash" very few of that level of popularity were willing to risk it on something different.

/disapproves
//yeah I went there
///extra slashies for hotlinking

davynelson: albo best stuff they ever did. they should have broken up after War, before they became alt rock gods and old and tired

THIS.

Boy was very exciting when it came out.
Had my first bass guitar, a Fender jazz sunburst,
loved to plunk along.

NOW i wish i'd never heard of the bombastic stragglers

I saw U2 on the BOY tour - in a little bar in Iowa where no one had ever heard of them. The place was about 1/2 full, and they had the audience almost hypnotized. They were playing songs twice and finally said that was all they knew. A week later they were the darlings of MTV. And have sucked ever since, in my book.

cormac_zoso: the edge is shiat ... worst guitarist ever

Yep, him and that Gilmour guy can't play for shiat. That's why no one remembers them or their songs.

/idiot

Achtung Baby FTW. The production on that album is incredible.

Sid Vicious' Corpse:
I saw U2 on the BOY tour - in a little bar in Iowa where no one had ever heard of them. The place was about 1/2 full, and they had the audience almost hypnotized. They were playing songs twice and finally said that was all they knew. A week later they were the darlings of MTV. And have sucked ever since, in my book.

The U2 by U2 book talks about their early shows in detail - they were apparently completely incapable of doing covers, apparently. Worked out well for them I suppose...

When I saw U2 in a bar in Oklahoma City during the October (Spring 1982?) tour they were doing covers, specifically "Southern Man" by Neil Young. I remember it quite well. Bono had a lot of dental work.

cormac_zoso: the edge is shiat ... worst guitarist ever

Yes, quite true. And considering he STOLE everything he has ever played from John McGeoch it makes it even worse.

savage henry: cormac_zoso: the edge is shiat ... worst guitarist ever

Yep, him and that Gilmour guy can't play for shiat. That's why no one remembers them or their songs.

/idiot

The edge is only considered good by people who know nothing about guitar.

The edge is only considered good by people who know nothing about guitar.


Oh great the guitar snobs are emerging. Let's see here, Edge/U2 = 10+ million albums, falconpunch = none (as far as I know). Excuse me while I don't take youe opinion as gospel. And I'm sure you'll understand as the Edge mocks you as he sits back in his golden pool filled with caviar while getting handjorbs from various super models.

I'm a guitar player and I admire the Edge's work. He doesn't have to melt your face with ridiculous Yngwie-style pyrotechnics. He's crafty. I'd rather listen to his hand-carved soundscapes than another Steve Vai wankathon.

(Not a big fan, by the way...I haven't dug a U2 album since The Unforgettable Fire. I just think it's ridiculous to say that The Edge sucks.)

carmody
I'm a guitar player and I admire the Edge's work. He doesn't have to melt your face with ridiculous Yngwie-style pyrotechnics. He's crafty. I'd rather listen to his hand-carved soundscapes than another Steve Vai wankathon.

This.

All the hate from hipper-than-thou music snobs doesn't stop U2 from being the biggest rock band on the frickin' planet.

I'll give the Edge some credit, but he doesn't play guitar, he plays digital delay. He doesn't hesitate to slam Zep, Floyd, Yes and the like, so I don't feel bad at all for pointing out he's an Andy Summers wannabe with a ridiculously pretentious made up name who was stupid lucky enough to hook up with perhaps the best rhythm section and frontman of his generation, none of which would have been possible without the groundbreaking work of the acts he holds in such contempt

WTF do you say when you're introduced to him? "Nice to meet you Mr Edge, can I call you The?"

U2 is easily one of the top 10 live acts I've seen, though.

I came in for the "U2 sucks!" comments. I was not disappointed.

/huge fan
//I even dig their new stuff
///U2 3D was epic

I came for a "Courics" reference and was left disappointed.


/Hello, Hello
//Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

danduran: Achtung Baby FTW. The production on that album is incredible.

This. It's the band's best album. War comes second, followed by Zooropa and The Unforgettable Fire. Boy was a good debut, Pop was very good, while The Joshua Tree is over-rated pap. God, I can't stand that album (except for Bullet the Blue Sky).

Anyway, it's about bloody time the band put out re-issues for their early work.

/next up, The Smiths
//then, Kate Bush

cormac_zoso: the edge is shiat ... worst guitarist ever

You are probably an Eric Johnson fan.

/soulless noodling FTL!

Unforgettable Fire is my favorite album, followed by War. I agree with whomever said that Joshua Tree is overplayed. I guess in retrospect it was their best album because so many people loved it.

The only song off Joshua Tree that was fantastic was One Tree Hill, all the other songs were good, but radio-friendly, run-of-the-mill good, they weren't challenging enough artistically to distinguish themselves amongst the greatest of all time.

This is great news to me, as the Boy/October/War era is my favorite span of U2's output. I like songs from their following albums, but those are the only three I will put on and listen to all the way through without getting tired of listening. It'll be great to hear some of their more obscure songs (that I've only read about) from that era, as well as remastered versions of the original albums.

As for haters of The Edge - his style fits the band really well. Yeah, he's not a virtuoso, but he doesn't need to be.

I'm glad those rare songs are finally coming out on CD. I spent TONS of money and time in the 80's tracking down and collecting those songs on 45's.

As for the Edge... Who cares if he isn't a technical virtuoso? He has a totally unique sound and playing style, and much of his work is just beautiful. The first 7 seconds of "In God's Country" give me goosebumps every time I hear it. Oh, but Yngwie Malmsteen can play 1,000,000 notes per second more than the Edge, so he's clearly better, right?

I admire those with enough guts and not enough brains to call U2 as anything other than an absolutely larger than life band that has a great library of songs and hits. They were progressive even though they could have made Achtung Baby after Achtung baby - who cares if you're arrogant? Like I'm ever going to meet the guys....although I'd kill to...

/big U2 fan
//respects the haters
///just doesn't understand them
////personal choice is R+H