1: Achtung Baby
2: The Joshua Tree
3: Zooropa
4: The Unforgettable Fire
6: War
7: Pop
: Songs of Experience
8: All That You Can't Leave Behind
9: Boy
10: How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
11: October
12: Songs of Innocence
13: No Line On The Horizon
I just don't count Rattle and Hum as an album. For me Passengers is more eligible to be included on the list. If it includes live tracks, some of which are live tracks from their previous album then it disqualifies it for me.
Don't have any qualms about placing SOE relatively high. A year on from the release of SOE I'd happily put it as joint 7th favourite along with Pop an excellent achievement. It is for me, from the moment I listened to it, a dramatic upsurge in form from their previous two. There are moments on it that genuinely recapture the spirit of U2, something that was largely missing in their previous two albums. Little Things, Lights of Home, Love Is All We Have Left and 13 are genuinely heartfelt messages that hit the mark of 'experience' in a way they failed with 'Innocence'. To balance out the weight of experience we get the brighter and breezier tunes like Red Flag Day and Summer of Love which allude to distressing themes but the tightness and slickness of them pack a different kind of punch. The only misfires I can really say that feature on that album are Best Thing and American Soul. GOOYOW is unremarkable but I can see why people may like it. Little question in my mind that SOE is their best effort of the 21st century.
I don’t think my rankings have changed that much
14. October
Favorites: Gloria, October, Tomorrow
13. Boy
Favorites: I will follow, The ocean, Out of control
12. Rattle and hum
Favorites: Desire, AIWIY, God part II, Heartland
11. No line on the horizon
Favorites: Breathe, Ceaders of lebanon, MOS
10. Songs of innocence
Favorites: Iris, RBW, CWR, SFS,
9. War
Favorites: SBS, Drowning man, NYD, 40
8. All that you can’t leave behind
Favorites: Walk on, Peace on earth, Kite, Stuck, elevation
7. Zooropa
Favorites: Stay, Zooropa, Lemon, dirty day, DGPFYCC, the first time
6. The unforgettable fire
Favorites: ASOH, TUF, Bad, MLK,
5. How to dismantle an atomic bomb
Favorites: SYCMIOYO, Miracle drug, vertigo, COBL, ABOY, One step closer
4. Songs of experience
Favorites: LOH, RFD, Little things, landlady, the blackout, love is bigger, 13
3. Pop
Favorites: Discotheque, mofo, IGWSHA, SATS, Gone, Miami, IYWTVD, Please, WUDM
2. Achtung baby
Favorites: Zoo station, EBTTRT, Wild horses, The fly, ultraviolet, acrobat, LIB
1. The Joshua Tree
Favorites: Streets, WOWY, BTBS, RTSS, RHMT, IGC, OTH, exit
14. October
13. All That You Can’t Leave Behind
12. Rattle and Hum
11. No Line on the Horizon
10. The Unforgettable Fire
9. Pop
8. Songs of Innocence
7. War
6. Zooropa
5. Boy
4. Songs of Experience
3. The Joshua Tree
2. Achtung Baby
1. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb