U2start.com | Rank the Albums

Originally posted by WojBhoy:[..]
Aha, but you see I wouldn't try because I consider your opinion as valid as my own - the album itself isn't necessarily chock-a-block with stand-out material but I think it works really well as a complete piece of work. If I was to listen to anything it would be Gloria or October, but it's one of those albums that I like to listen through from start to finish instead of picking different tracks etc., to my mind it has a great chronology.

I see your point. Same counts for Zooropa to me, I wont likely just pick a track from it (maybe Lemon or Stay) but if I listen to it from start to finish it feels like an absolute masterpiece to me. But that's indeed my opinion

and opinions differ.

vanquish

15 years

See the problem with rating albums based on their overarching themes or completeness etc, and favouring these qualities over the strength of individual songs.

Is that after the initial few listens, you rarely listen to whole albums but rather pick and choose the best songs from that album and listen to them.

I personally, simply do not have time to listen to all the filler between the good songs, but then again when I listen to music, its usually doing nothing else but listening. Which makes it much easier to get bored and even annoyed with the weaker tracks on the album and so I tend to just skip over them.

WojBhoy

15 years

Originally posted by vanquish:See the problem with rating albums based on their overarching themes or completeness etc, and favouring these qualities over the strength of individual songs.

Is that after the initial few listens, you rarely listen to whole albums but rather pick and choose the best songs from that album and listen to them.

I personally, simply do not have time to listen to all the filler between the good songs, but then again when I listen to music, its usually doing nothing else but listening. Which makes it much easier to get bored and even annoyed with the weaker tracks on the album and so I tend to just skip over them.

Fair kop

it's certainly one way to evaluate an album

I listen to albums as a whole, partly 'cause I can't be arsed to skip but also because I like to assess the album as a whole, sum of its parts-type thing, but that's just my take.

vanquish

15 years

Originally posted by WojBhoy:[..]
Fair kop it's certainly one way to evaluate an album I listen to albums as a whole, partly 'cause I can't be arsed to skip but also because I like to assess the album as a whole, sum of its parts-type thing, but that's just my take.

Oh, I do that too in the beginning and the atmosphere/feel definitely helps me appreciate the songs more (AB, TJT and Zooropa are great examples of this in action).

But then it ends up being what am I listening to on my iPod.

I also find it really hard to listen to a whole album properly (properly meaning in bed, lights out, just u and the music), without getting distracted and your mind wandering away from listening.
Which is why I only tend to do it the first couple of times.

PS: actually next on my listening list is going to be the October remasters, i'm looking forward to trying to hear what u find so special in it Harry, I've only listened to October once before years ago, so I might see it differently this time round.

WojBhoy

15 years

Originally posted by vanquish:Oh, I do that too in the beginning and the atmosphere/feel definitely helps me appreciate the songs more (AB, TJT and Zooropa are great examples of this in action).

But then it ends up being what am I listening to on my iPod.

I also find it really hard to listen to a whole album properly (properly meaning in bed, lights out, only u and the music), without getting distracted and your mind wandering away from listening.
Which is why I only tend to do it the first couple of times.

PS: actually next on my listening list is going to be the October remasters, i'm looking forward to trying to hear what u find so special in it Harry, I've only listened to October once before years ago, so I might see it differently this time round.

I get you - as a rule, with any album, I prefer listening all the way through but I agree that there are times where you want to just listen to a particular song but in the main, I am one for just sticking a CD or album on from the hard drive and going with it. I have tried once or twice to edit the running order on an album now'n'then, or sometimes put it on shuffle, but I generally find I've got used to the running order the album was originally released with and like, for me a lot of it works with like you hear a song, and then you're expecting the next one along and when it doesn't come around, you think "huh?". Well, I do

And re. October, go for it - you might not get anything extra from it, for me it was one of the first U2 albums I got and really connected with, I can't quite explain to be honest, it just struck a chord with me. I do consider a lot of the more recent stuff to be better BUT it holds a certain place in my musical conscience.

*shrugs*

drewhiggins

15 years

But it depends on how you like to listen. With the advent of the magic shuffle button on your CD player, I can discover how interesting the record might be if I try a different song first. Of course, I continue to buy albums in full packaging (sometimes splurging out for the special limited editions with extra songs - oooooohhh) because I prefer to hear what the artist had in mind for me to hear.

You sure as hell can't do it with concept albums. You couldn't start Dark Side of The Moon with Money - it has to be Speak To Me to start because it's the beginning of the story. Same when I might read a novel - I can't start at the back and read my way backwards because it doesn't work. Even Viva La Vida - I love the instrumental at the front and the way it pretty much bookends is the way I will listen, every time. Chinese Democracy - yeah, I do like it a lot - it has to start with Chinese Democracy, get the fillers out of the way (even albums that take 15 years and several band changes have them!) and end with Prostitute, because no other song has that outtro at the end. Scraped doesn't have it, IRS doesn't have it and I'm sure as sure that Catcher In The Rye doesn't either. Black Ice on the other hand, any order will do.

October is an interesting album but a lot of people dismiss it for the fact it didn't have any big hits or supposed staying power. Yeah, it's no Boy or Zooropa (or OST for that matter) but it's something in it's own right, just can't tell what it is.

Antvox77

15 years

This is my list:

01 - Achtung Baby
02 - All That You Can't Leave Behind
03 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
04 - Joshua Tree
05 - The Unforgettable Fire
06 - Zooropa
07 - War
08 - Boy
09 - Under A Blood Red Sky
10 - Rattle And Hum
11 - PoP
12 - October

djrlewis

15 years

Originally posted by Antvox77:This is my list:

01 - Achtung Baby
02 - All That You Can't Leave Behind
03 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
04 - Joshua Tree
05 - The Unforgettable Fire
06 - Zooropa
07 - War
08 - Boy
09 - Under A Blood Red Sky
10 - Rattle And Hum
11 - PoP
12 - October

?latest album??

yuri31

15 years

1. Achtung Baby
2. No Line On The Horizon
3. The Joshua Tree
4. The Unforgettable Fire
5. Pop
6. Zooropa
7. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
8. All That You Can't Leave Behind
9. Boy
10. War
11. October
12. Rattle And Hum

germcevoy

15 years

1. Zooropa
2. Achtung Baby
3. Boy
4. Pop
5. No Line
6. Joshua Tree
7. War

The rest I cant care for at the moment

AllBecauseOfU2

15 years

1. Pop
2. AB
3. War
4. TJT
5. NLOTH
6. TUF
7. October
8. Boy
9. HTDAAB
10. ATYCLB
11. R&H
12. Zooropa

Listening to Pop a lot lately. Just an all-out great album. Edge's guitar tone especially, but everything...just fantastic.

Sorry Zooropa.

aussiemofo

15 years

Originally posted by AllBecauseOfU2:12. Zooropa

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