Six U2 Albums in Rolling Stone 100

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AWARDS02 OCTOBER 2002 1 MIN READ

Six U2 Albums in Rolling Stone 100

Rolling Stone readers have placed six U2 albums in their 100 GreatestRecords of all time - two in the Top Ten.

02 Oct 2002

Rolling Stone readers have placed six U2 albums in their 100 GreatestRecords of all time - two in the Top Ten.

The six albums are War (1983), The Unforgettable Fire (1984), The JoshuaTree (1987), Achtung Baby (1991), Zooropa (1993) and All That You Can'tLeave Behind (2000).

Check the poll results for yourself here rollingstone.com

Meanwhile, here's the six U2 albums in the Readers 100, in descending order,complete with the magazine's comments.

70. Zooropa

"When we start records, Edge is a slow starter. But at the end, he's the guywho's up all night for weeks." - BONO

During a two-month vacation from the Zoo TV Tour, U2 improvised some oftheir strangest songs.

Essential track: "The Wanderer," with lead vocals by Johnny Cash.

You said: "This album is the embodiment of a period from the most creative,intelligent band in a time when one-hit-wonders and over-produced,no-talent, pseudo-artists ruled the charts."

Chart peak: 1
Sales: 2 million

53. The Unforgettable Fire

"The greatest threat to the career of this band, or any other band, isfinancial success." - THE EDGE

The band's first collaboration with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanoistraded in martial guitars for murky soundscapes.

Essential track: "Pride (In the Name of Love)," even though it got the timeof Martin Luther King Jr.'s death wrong.

You said: "Magnificent lyrics, great build-up, fabulous chemistry andabsolute classic masterpieces!"

Chart peak: 12
Sales: 3 million

49. War

"Sadomasochism is not taboo in rock & roll. Spirituality is." - BONO

To get the drums to boom properly, the band recorded them under a staircasebehind the studio receptionist's desk.

Essential track: "Sunday Bloody Sunday" -- even if you don't know what it'sprotesting (the death of Irish civilians at the hands of British soldiers in1920, and again in 1972), it makes you want to storm the ramparts.

You said: "Initially, it is the album that declared to the world that U2would take over rock & roll and attempt to raise consciousness at the sametime -- an admirable feat."

Chart peak: 12
Sales: 4 million

15. All That You Can't Leave Behind

"Joy in our group comes out of vowels, words with very few consonants, wordsthat form when you're singing." - BONO

"Beautiful Day" was once a surf-punk song, then a New Age hymn. Then theEdge added a guitar part that the group dubbed "the Classic Coke riff."

Essential track: "Elevation," built around one of the Edge's most sinuouslicks.

You said: "There isn't a song on the album that doesn't touch you in someway. This album changed my life; it actually SAVED my life in the daysfollowing September 11th. Music is a great thing, and it is never greaterthan when it comes from U2."

Chart peak: 3
Sales: 3 million

10. Achtung Baby

"U2's records take a long time to make not because the band members arestuck for ideas but because they never stop talking about them." - BRIAN ENO

U2 arrived in Berlin the night before the Wall came down and stuck around tomake their darkest album -- which they obscured with a goofy title.

Essential track: "One," which became a standard done by everyone from Gunsn' Roses to Michael Stipe to Johnny Cash.

You said: "Achtung Baby hides themes like infidelity and failingrelationships among infectious dance rhythms and dirty guitar lines. It isone of the great examples of a band experimenting with its sound withoutsacrificing the songs."

Chart peak: 1
Sales: 8 million

4. The Joshua Tree

"Marvin Gaye, Patti Smith, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder -- gee, Idon't think there's anyone I like in rock & roll that isn't as screwed up asme in this area [religion]. I started realizing that rock & roll devoid ofthat spiritual confusion is the rock & roll that I don't like anyway." -BONO

On their fifth album, U2 leapt into the arms of America and landed theirfirst Number One record. Before the Edge performed the guitar solo in"Bullet the Blue Sky," Bono told him, "Put El Salvador through youramplifier."

Essential track: "Running to Stand Still," a steel-guitar ballad aboutheroin addiction.

You said: "It transcends time, media overplay, and keeps providinginspiration (spiritual and otherwise). It's down to earth, no bubble-gum popover-blow."

Chart peak: 1
Sales: 10 million