I know this is discussed a lot but I am new to the site and thought I'd open a discussion about it. For me it is hands down the 90's... I am obsessed with AB, Zooropa, and Pop. IMO this is U2 at their absolute peak and I feel like those 3 albums are virtually flawless. "Trying to throw your arms around the world" is my all-time favorite U2 song with "Lemon" right behind that. To be fair, I became a fan in 1997. I heard my sister playing The Joshua Tree album and I immediately went to buy U2s newest record Pop (which was my favorite album for a long time). I don't think U2 has captured that creativity of the 90s since, but I do feel that SOI is extremely impressive and the closest they've got since Pop. Perhaps the most impressive thing is that even though 2000s U2 isn' my favorite, its still REALLY good. I am curious as to what the other fellow diehards think. Hope all is well.
For me 90's era U2 was definitely the best also. Zoo TV wins hands down everytime, with Pop/Popmart and TJT/R&H/LT coming a close joint second. But to be honest, there's not a single era of U2 I don't like
The era I enjoy the most and that I never get tired of, is the pre-Boy/Boy era, even including October which ironically is probably my least favorite album.
When I recently made a setlist using just 1990s songs (another thread on this forum) and reviewed it I couldn't believe how great the 26 songs that I listed were.
Sure the 80s stuff is hall of fame material but I guess it's just a bit worn out these days (for me, anyway).
... as for the 2000 and beyond material, I generally like it when it comes out but it doesn't stay with me... much like a lot of pop music. Catchy? Yes. Meaningful? Not so much.
It's so hard to say, because I found U2 due to Joshua Tree and that album has always been so personally meaningful to me - and then AB came out at a really crucial time in my life. So JT - R&H - AB is my favorite time.
Years later I started spending a lot of time listening to their earlier albums and fell in love with them all over again. Now I think the Boy era is amazing too.
Thanks for all the replies. It's always interesting to me how the different eras connect so differently to different people. We are all right and thats whats so impressive about U2s discography.
August 1991 to August 1998. A gutsy, prolific band with something to say, the passion to take chances and explore the medium, and the youth and arrogance to get away with it. They were never as interesting again.
