Wednesday, March 04, 2009

The 11 Best U2 Songs of the 90s

U2's 90s material is a perfect example of why I don't include music from a recent release in my current lists. Some music can only be appreciated from a distance. Excluding Achtung Baby, much of U2's 90s fare was difficult to grasp upon the initial listening. Every time I'd hear a new song, I spent the first few spins trying to figure out if they were being serious or not. The jury's still out over "Lemon." But years down the road, I can listen to Pop and Zooropa and at least appreciate what they were trying to do. And surprisingly rediscover a new fondness for Edge's "Numb."

The 11 Best U2 Songs of the 90s:

1. One (Achtung Baby)
2. Love Is Blindness (Achtung Baby)
3. Until The End of the World (Achtung Baby)
4. Staring At The Sun (Pop)
5. Do You Feel Loved (Pop)
6. Ultraviolet (Achtung Baby)
7. 2 Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad (B-Side)
8. If God Will Send His Angels (Pop)
9. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (Achtung Baby)
10. Paint It Black (B-Side)
11. Numb (Zooropa)

Buy U2's new album, No Line On The Horizon for only $3.99.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

It's hard not to draw from Achtung, Baby, given how awesome that album was. I admire your recognizing some U2 B-Sides (which sometimes are better than other bands singles). That said, I thought I'd offer up another view...

1. Mysterious Ways (Achtung, Baby)
2. Zoo Station (Achtung, Baby)
3. One (Achtung, Baby)
4. Ultraviolet (Achtung, Baby)
5. Until the End of the World (Achtung, Baby)
6. The First Time (Zooropa)
7. Last Night on Earth (Pop)
8. Numb (Zooropa)
9. If God Will Send His Angels (Pop)
10. Lady with the Spinning Head (B-Side)
11. Zooropa (Zooropa)

Yeah, I'm just not a huge fan of Pop. Staring at the Sun is a fine song, I just get tired of it. I classify it with the new single, Get On Your Boots, where it's a decent song, but grating at the same time. Lots of overlap in our lists when it comes to Achtung, Baby, and I always felt like Ultraviolet was a great song yet buried a bit on that album, maybe even underrated.

Cheers,
-Scott