Album Rating: 4.0

"hot take" in this thread I guess but i don't think they really got boring 'til after Atomic Bomb, tbh. ATYCLB was pushing it but at least they hadn't worn out their "adult alternative" welcome quite yet. always sad when a band essentially goes into corrective-steering mode for the rest of their careers 'cause of poor reception to one album, though

Album Rating: 4.0

i actually happen to think atyclb is their worst album lol kite is the only redeeming thing amidst a sea of bland. how to dismantle is almost as bad to me but at least miracle drug and city of blinding lights are on that, and no line has some of the older textural side peeking out from behind the curtains on stuff like unknown caller and moment of surrender (their best song since this album imo). had they not put two of their worst ever songs in the middle of that album and swapped them with winter itd be the only fully solid u2 album in my lifetime



very frustrating that atyclb and dismantle both have a bunch of really strong outtakes from those sessions (levitate, ground beneath her feet, smile, mf MERCY) that show if they strayed away from the pressure of hitmaking both those albums could have been something but oh well

Album Rating: 4.0

i mean it's not Achtung Baby but it's the closest they ever got to revisiting the War sound and even though it's a bit more "supermarket-friendly" than that album, still ranks pretty high in my U2 discog



No Line has its moments, sure but yeah those low moments can really tank it for me

Album Rating: 4.0

to each their own but ngl i dont hear even a remote trace of war in that album lol



the only songs i dont like on no line are boots and stand up comedy. in my 10+ years of liking this band i dont think ive ever talked to anybody that is a fan of boots lmao horrible track and one of the worst lead single choices ive ever heard of. the rest is all solid to great for me tho ill go crazy gets a bad rep but i dig that song a lot and it runs with the atcylb template so i can dig songs like that, they just didnt show up on atcylb for the most part lol

Album Rating: 4.0

i actually like that one too

i may need to just give that album a revisit, might extend my own "horizon line" (lolz) for this band since I def remember enjoying at least a handful quite a bit. just hard to shake the feeling it was when they really dug into their ongoing "grey period" where everything is just kinda funereal, borderline U2 by numbers, and, well, grey

Album Rating: 4.0

the "Atomic Bomb sounds like War" thing might just be a by-proxy situation of Steve Lilywhite being back on board for the first time since that album, I won't act like the subject matter is at all the same

Album Rating: 4.0

ohhhh i thought you were talking about atyclb lol i see that argument more for atomic bomb for sure since its trying to go for more of a big guitar thing

Album Rating: 3.5

I think every album they did after Pop has at least some redeeming songs (except Songs of Experience, god I hate that album. It’s a culmination of two decades of overproduced desperation to stay relevant). Boots was them trying to do the Elevation/Vertigo thing yet again to get a “rocking” radio hit, it was just no good. They’d do it again with Miracle (of Joey Ramone) and while that song has maybe the worst transition from verse to chorus I’ve ever heard at least some parts of the song were enjoyable.



I hope whenever they release the albums of new material they’ve been teasing lately, that they actually just focus on making good songs, have fun, and not try to be trendy or deaden it with endless overproduction. Part of me knows that Bono has just lost it at this point and he can’t help himself but ruin songs with weird lyrics and whatnot, but I still hold out a tiny bit of hope.

Album Rating: 4.0

back on my bi-yearly jamming nothing but u2 shit and this album still beats ass