Rating U2's recorded works By CHRIS HANSEN ORF
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Boy (1980) U2's debut album drafts the band's sonic blueprint: Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and bassist Adam Clayton provide the steady, thudding rhythm section, The Edge (née Dave Evans) delivers the tone and style that will make him arguably one of rock music's most distinctive guitarists and lead singer Bono's powerful vocals and expressive lyrics prove him to be a frontman on the order of rock's best. Essential listening: “I Will Follow,” “An Cat Dubh.” Grade: B+
October (1981) The follow-up to “Boy” proves that even a band like U2 cannot escape the sophomore slump. The band had a hit with “Gloria,” a tune with a cascading vocal chorus and the loud/soft dynamics that would influence many a band in the ’90s, but too much of the record delves into musical murkiness and political/religious pomp. Essential listening: “Gloria,” “I Threw a Brick Through a Window.” Grade: B-
War (1983) This is U2's first classic, a record that blends the religious underpinnings of the lyrics with the band's finest pop hooks to date. The eerie “Sunday Bloody Sunday” brings in Irish history and a fierce anti-IRA stance, and “New Year's Day” becomes the band's first hit on the new musical media giant, MTV. Essential listening: “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “Two Hearts Beat as One,” “Drowning Man.” Grade: A-
Under a Blood Red Sky (1983) A stopgap for the band after the great success of “War,” the band's first live set, an eight-song EP, captures them at Red Rocks in Colorado playing previous hits like “Gloria” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” If anything, U2 proves that they can reproduce their studio sound in a live setting. Essential listening: “New Year's Day,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” Grade: B-
The Unforgettable Fire(1984) The band's first of many attempts at throwing fans a curveball comes off largely without a hitch as the group tinkers with a muddy guitar synth sound and experiments with longer, epic songs. The band's “Pride (In the Name of Love),” one of U2's many peace anthems, is a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and a concert staple. Essential listening: “A Sort of Homecoming,” “The Unforgettable Fire,” “Bad.” Grade: B
Wide Awake in America (1985) Largely just a knockoff, this four-song EP contains a couple of pretty good tunes left off “Unforgettable Fire” and two live cuts from that album. Strictly for the U2 collector. Essential listening: “Three Sunrises.” Grade: B-
The Joshua Tree (1987) If U2 was a big band before, then this is the album that made them what they are today — a supergroup that plays stadiums and delivers the goods on disc. “The Joshua Tree” finds the band creating an album that can be classified as “Americana,” with some of the tunes sounding influenced by country music. Several of the group's best-known radio songs are here, as well as stunning album tracks such as “Bullet the Blue Sky.” Essential listening: “With or Without You,” “In God's Country,” “Where the Streets Have No Name.” Grade: A-
Rattle and Hum (1988)Coming off the astounding success of “The Joshua Tree,” U2 chooses to make a somewhat disappointing documentary film and releases this record, a mishmash of live and studio material that seems to have no cohesive starting point. There are some bright moments here, but it's a far cry from their previous work. Essential listening: “Desire,” “When Love Comes to Town.” Grade: C+
Achtung Baby (1991) Every band worth its salt has a masterpiece, and this is U2's. Mixing psychedelia and electronic tweaking with power chord pop, the band grafts their best ear-candy hooks onto instantly memorable tunes that are at once danceable, surrealistic and hummable to create near-pitch-perfect pop. “Achtung Baby” finds U2 clearly at the peak of their creative powers. Essential listening: “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” “Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses,” “One,” “Mysterious Ways.” Grade: A
Zooropa (1993) Probably anything the band released at this point would be a disappointment after catching lightning in a bottle with “Achtung Baby,” so U2 does the smart thing by not trying to re-create their best work and going off in a completely different direction. The band delves into European house music and the results are decidedly mixed, with great songs like the catchy, oddly alluring dance track “Lemon” balancing out the waste-of-tape dreck like “Numb.” Essential listening: “Lemon,” “Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car.” Grade: C+
Pop (1997)The hype surrounding U2's first record in nearly four years led one to believe that the band was coming back with something on the order of “Achtung Baby,” a record that would polarize a generation. Instead the band dropped on the adoring masses what most consider its worst album. Techno influences abound, but U2 is not Depeche Mode and they ultimately fail to capture their intended blend of pop, rock and electronica with a streamlined gloss of production. Essential listening: “Mofo,” “If You Wear That Velvet Dress.” Grade: C-
All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000) U2 quickly put the “washed up” talk to bed with this release, a record that harks back to the band's pop and rock roots. The set contains some of the band’s best work in a decade, crafting its most pure power pop blasts since “Achtung Baby.” While the album as a whole is not as coherent as its masterwork, the best songs here rank with the best the band has ever done. Essential listening: “Beautiful Day,” “Wild Honey,” “Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of.” Grade: A-
How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (2004) Seemingly on firm footing after experimenting with sound and song structure in the mid- to late ’90s, U2 follows up “All That You Can't Leave Behind” with a record much in the same vein musically as the 2000 release. The group seems to have fully recovered from its musical midlife crisis as loud, stinging guitars and the band's unparalleled propulsive rhythm section are back in the forefront. Essential listening: “Vertigo,” “All Because of You,” “Miracle Drug.” Grade: B+
