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U2 - Community rankings - FIN - #4 Sunday Bloody Sunday, #3 - One, #2 - Bad, #1 - Where the Streets Have No Name -Spotify links, thanks to Krista4 (4 Viewers)

(40) - > 55- Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get out Of

Vulture.com ranking and comment -73/218 - Brian Eno can throw everything into a blender that he wants, but this is still a gospel song at its heart — a tribute to Michael Hutchence, the late INXS singer who was a friend of the band and whose suicide weighed heavily on Bono and Edge particularly. Bono told Rolling Stone, “t’s a row I didn’t have while he was alive.” The last three stanzas of the song are heart-wrenching.
I know it's weird to be talking about this song now that we are into the Top 10 songs, but I was in Ireland when this one came up and wanted to double back and post about it. I consider INXS to one of my musical children (along with Duran Duran, U2, and R.E.M., and maybe one or two others). When I first started DJing at my high school in 1980, I played all these bands when they were completely off the radar. I remember their first singles, albums, and promos coming into the station and playing them on the air (with a listen base of probably 8 people).

U2 and INXS were on similar paths and trajectories at one point. INXS' first major album release dropped in 1982 (after a couple of Aussie releases). They had two of platinum selling albums before their Kick album in 1987 . . . the same year U2 released The Joshua Tree. Kick went on to sell 20 million copies (TJT would pass that much later with U2 having a longer shelf life as a band). There was actually a brief timeframe when INXS was on par, if not more popular globally, than U2 was (pre Achtung Baby).

Oddly enough, INXS was the one band that I was sort of on an island on. I didn't know anyone that liked them, in my 13 years as a DJ, no one else really played them. Listeners didn't call up and clamor for me to play them. I just liked them. I think part of the reason for that is they seemed to have a sound that I would want if I had started a band (all I was missing was talent, songwriting ability, and the ability to play an instrument). I loved their sound. A mix of rock, new wave, alternative, pop, and dance all rolled into one.

Hard to believe it's been 25 years since Michael Hutchence died. It seems like yesterday to me. Somehow, INXS tried to stay together for 15 more years after that before calling it a day 10 years ago. Does anyone remember Rock Star INXS? It's sad to me how things turned out for a band I enjoyed so much. They tried 8 different singers over the years and none of them stuck.

I know, people will be aghast with dread and horror when I say that I probably like INXS better than U2. Don't get me wrong, U2 is far and away a better band, but at times they are too cerebral and have so much back story and causes to some of their songs. Sometimes I just like to hear upbeat music that I can tap my feet to and enjoy being entertained. INXS is one of my go to bands to throw on that perks me up and gets me recalibrated and readjusted. They put me in a good mood, and I have lots of memories involving INXS (even though I didn't have people I knew that were into them). They were always a fortress of solitude band for me . . . I'd listen to them alone on hikes, walks on the beach, working out, doing yardwork, at work, etc. I'd say they have been a guilty pleasure of mine, but I don't feel guilty about it. I listen to Kick more than I listen to TJT. I know people will scream . . . HEATHEN! He's a witch! Burn him!

Hutchence and Bono ended up as drinking buddies and neighbors and in France. SIAMYCGOO is a fitting tribute and memorial to a showman and singer that could get a crowd into a tizzy. Go watch INXS' Live Baby Live DVD in front of a sold-out Wembley Stadium. INXS wasn't a great band, but they were fun.
I knew a lot of people in HS who loved INXS. Some of them were the same people who were all about that Berlin record.
 
It's still amazing to me that INXS would have been considered "alternative" anywhere. They were as mainstream as Madonna where I was. Until I started posting in music threads here, I thought most people considered them mainstream pop from the 80s to be written off, but found a lot of the good folks of this board really love them. IIRC Mrs. R is a huge fan.

Agree with simey about Hutchence's sex appeal; I think that was a large part of the draw for my high-school classmates. ;(

ETA: When I'm saying "mainstream as Madonna," Madonna was not hugely mainstream yet. At the point of comparison, she just had "Holiday" and "Borderline." My impression where we were was that she and INXS grew in popularity at roughly the same time.
 
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I had Running to Stand Still at #9 and regret I didn't put it higher. It just might be a perfect song and, to my mind, doesn't sound like any other U2 song. The bending guitar notes to begin and the harmonica at the end give it a Western feel, and those two quiet instrumental notions perfectly bookend the powerful middle. Like One Tree Hill, this is a song where I feel like Bono could have gone off the rails in the vocal, but instead it is clearly emotional but also beautifully restrained. As with most of their songs, I don't have a particular connection to the lyrics, and in fact until this thread it had not registered to me that it's about drug addiction. :bag: But I do particularly love these lines, which are gorgeously evocative and which I think are one of the highlights of Bono's vocal in not just this, but any song: "You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice." The rise and fall between his delivery of these lines when combined with the next section is perfection.
Perfect song. My #3, and it easily could have been #1. The pace and flow of the song mimics what the addict feels prior to and right after a fix. It’s one of those songs that chokes me up every time I hear it.
 
It's still amazing to me that INXS would have been considered "alternative" anywhere. They were as mainstream as Madonna where I was. Until I started posting in music threads here, I thought most people considered them mainstream pop from the 80s to be written off, but found a lot of the good folks of this board really love them. IIRC Mrs. R is a huge fan.

Agree with simey about Hutchence's sex appeal; I think that was a large part of the draw for my high-school classmates. ;(

ETA: When I'm saying "mainstream as Madonna," Madonna was not hugely mainstream yet. At the point of comparison, she just had "Holiday" and "Borderline." My impression where we were was that she and INXS grew in popularity at roughly the same time.
Sure, multiple bands ended up as pop sensations or FM darlings, but they didn't start out like that. INXS had two international albums before Shabooh Shoobah came out (2 years of relative obscurity). U2 had two albums before War (3-year ramp up to become popular). Bands like Eurythmics had an album out before hitting it big with their second album. Duran Duran's first album didn't do much in the U.S. before Hungry Like The Wolf off their second album. Depeche Mode had several albums out before having several platinum albums. Alternative is a relative term . . . many times meaning a different sound or a new band compared to what is mainstream at the time.
 
U2 and INXS were on similar paths and trajectories at one point. INXS' first major album release dropped in 1982 (after a couple of Aussie releases). They had two of platinum selling albums before their Kick album in 1987 . . . the same year U2 released The Joshua Tree. Kick went on to sell 20 million copies (TJT would pass that much later with U2 having a longer shelf life as a band). There was actually a brief timeframe when INXS was on par, if not more popular globally, than U2 was (pre Achtung Baby).
Growing up in Australia I saw them rise and fall. Never saw them love as I was sort of a greatest hits fan of theirs.
First time they piqued my interest was in 1980/1981 when their second single Just Keep Walking came out. It was fresh, ambitious and hinted at potential. Only reached #38 but they were widely tipped for success.....like about 100 other up and coming bands.
Their cover of The Loved Ones “The Loved One”, a big hit in Australia in the 60s was basically treading water. It went top 20, but by now Hutchence was being viewed as a sex symbol.
The second Album “Underneath the Colours” went Gold, but barely and probably in retrospect. Stay Young was the hit, but it only reached 21.They still weren’t delivering on their promise
Shabooh Shoobah things changed but they were by no means stars in Australia. There were at least 10 bigger bands. The One Thing and Don’t Change marked musical development and both reached #14. The album went platinum.
The big surprise was One Thing making the top 40 in the US. They realised early in their career that only hard work would get them to break in the US. AC/DC gave them the path to follow. Relentless slog, good management and hard work. Most Australian bands thought a good song would help them break the US. Many Australian #1s, top 5 artists etc thought their material was good enough, but they didnt play the game or had horrible management. Men at Work got lucky.
One Thing breaking shocked the band.
The follow up album “The Swing” was mega in australia. Original Sin was massive, but ran into problems in the US with Black boy/white girl lyric. The reaction to the controversy stunned the band. They were expecting to break out, but that would have to wait.
What You Need and Listen Like Thieves got them their break through, but Kick and Need You Tonight is where they finally hit their much expected big time. .
 
They were a great band, and Michael Hutchence was a fabulous frontman
He was. Guys were jealous of Hutchence and his effect on women. Most of their fans were young women. The amount of times i hear him called a (word for cigarette) or other gay slurs was astonsihing. Most Australian singers were blue collar rough as guts types. Hutchence was seen as effete. He was always in the gossip rags dating which ever hot young woman was around.
Shabooh Shoobah came out just before I was entering high school and was absolutely huge where I lived (Midwest)
Thats the thing about the US market, international bands used to break huge in certain regions but be anonymous elsewhere. The amount of times we heard in australia of a certain artist reaching the top 10 in a state or city made you think they had broken out, but most couldnt expand their reach as they didnt work as hard as you needed to then.
The show itself was great . . . 24 songs. almost all hits. Hutchence looked and acted like Jim Morrison and was drunk, stoned, or both. He was definitively in an altered state. Halfway though, Mike was in full-throttle party mode. Speaking of Madonna, Hutchence went off the rails during What You Need. I couldn't quite understand what he was saying, but leading into the song (and again halfway through), he started blathering about Madonna. It sounded like he had just hooked up with her.
Hutchence lived on the edge. He lived hard, but most rock stars did. The thing that astonished me is that he was always in the company of amazing women who adored him. I dont know how many ex’s were at his funeral heartbroken but it was at least a handful. His rumoured huge package, magnetism and ability to please women was legendary. Australias pop sweetheart Kylie Minogue was a tiny thing at 5 ft, but Hutchence apparently was ravenously in love with her and brought out her sexual side.
It's still amazing to me that INXS would have been considered "alternative" anywhere. They were as mainstream as Madonna where I was. Until I started posting in music threads here, I thought most people considered them mainstream pop from the 80s to be written off, but found a lot of the good folks of this board really love them. IIRC Mrs. R is a huge fan.

Agree with simey about Hutchence's sex appeal; I think that was a large part of the draw for my high-school classmates. 8.png

ETA: When I'm saying "mainstream as Madonna," Madonna was not hugely mainstream yet. At the point of comparison, she just had "Holiday" and "Borderline." My impression where we were was that she and INXS grew in popularity at roughly the same time.
Sure, multiple bands ended up as pop sensations or FM darlings, but they didn't start out like that. INXS had two international albums before Shabooh Shoobah came out (2 years of relative obscurity). U2 had two albums before War (3-year ramp up to become popular). Bands like Eurythmics had an album out before hitting it big with their second album. Duran Duran's first album didn't do much in the U.S. before Hungry Like The Wolf off their second album. Depeche Mode had several albums out before having several platinum albums. Alternative is a relative term . . . many times meaning a different sound or a new band compared to what is mainstream at the time.
The US charts were a funny beast. Airplay was enough to chart. Ones that sold in the millions, like Band Aids Do you know its christmas didnt even break top 10. Other charts like the UK and Australia were on pure sales and smaller markets. Easier to break through. The Eurythmics broke in Australia as “The Tourists” witha cover of “I Only wanne be with You”, Duran Durans first single Planet Earth was a big hit in Australia. Depeche Mode had a top 10 single in Australia and the UK with their third single Just Cant Get Enough. Even Simple Minds broke in Australia first with a top 40 hit in Love Song.
Much easier to break out when maybe only 3 cities to hit. The UK maybe 5-6. The US how many did you need to break through nationally? 15-20?
 
With or Without You never really clicked for me. Maybe when I was listening to Joshua Tree everyday in HS I wasn't necessarily looking for a love song? I like it just fine at my #38. It suffers a little from repetition, but my #1 song is probably equally as played, so that ain't the whole story.
All I Want is You is at my #8. I'm not a huge fan of R&H, but there's no denying what a greatly crafted song this is. I don't have any emotional connection to this song - but I just respect the heck out of it.
 
In high school (class of '88; Midwest suburbs), INXS and U2 were probably equally as popular prior to TJT release but then U2 took off. That was primarily driven just by Listen Like Thieves - another cassette album that was part of my high school soundtrack. In wasn't until college that I got into Shabooh and The Swing.
I like U2 more than INXS - just more quality songs. I'd rather put U2 on shuffle then INXS, but thinking back on which U2/INXS albums I've listened to the most start to finish over the past 5-10 yrs, it's easily Shabooh Shoobah.
 
IMO, All I Want Is You is the band's true masterpiece. I had it at #1. It's one of the few U2 songs where I feel all the live versions don't do the song justice and are all steps back to what was engineered in the lab known as the studio. It starts so quiet and then layers on instrument after instrument and picks up momentum for three and a half minutes, Then, somehow, it builds up even more over the next minute, hitting a gear and an altitude that most songs quite frankly rarely, if ever, reach. Edge just goes off like he was shot out of a cannon. The song takes the listener to the moon and back in six and a half minutes. The last two minutes are a gentle glide back down to earth.

Don't get me wrong, the live versions are all very, very good . . . filled with emotion, the crowd unites to become one, and a fun time is had by all. But performed live . . . it's not Bad (the song . . . not the adjective).

For one of the kids, my wife conceived with this song on in the background (and if I ever catch the guy that did it, they'll be hell to pay!). Like the album, it was definitely saved for the end of the evening to put things over the top. I don't know how many candidates I have for Top 5 songs of all time across all genres of music, but this song would almost certainly be on the short list.

I always enjoyed the performance with Stephanie in Toronto in 2015 (it may have been posted already earlier in the thread). She still posts about her magical moment on Facebook on the anniversary of the show. I don't play guitar, so this would never have happened with me on stage. Even if I did, I would have crashed and burned in the moment. This is one of the few times I've seen a band pick someone out of the crowd and that person actually fit in and didn't butcher the song.
This is what I posted 8 months ago. I don't think my opinion has changed any.
 
Hard to believe it's been 25 years since Michael Hutchence died. It seems like yesterday to me.
Somehow, INXS tried to stay together for 15 more years after that before calling it a day 10 years ago. Does anyone remember Rock Star INXS?
It's sad to me how things turned out for a band I enjoyed so much. They tried 8 different singers over the years and none of them stuck.
My wife and I watched Season 1 of Rock Star intently (I liked INXS, but she was the bigger fan than me)
We were hopeful that INXS would continue onward and put out some more great music..........
Van Halen did it.....so why couldn't INXS? ..............because apparently, JD Fortune was such a %*$#-up and couldn't keep his nose clean
Where is JD Fortune now?
 
11 I Still Haven't Found
Original demo was called "The Weather Girls" and had a loose, almost Jamaican tone. It wasn't until Bono hit upon the melody that song took off, while Edge is one who had the title tucked away in a notebook.
Won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group in 1988. Adam Clayton, missed the presentation because he was in the bathroom. 🚽
  • Some of you might recognize the name Rick Beato. Musician, songwriter, audio engineer & record producer w a YouTube channel where he has de-constructed & reviewed 100s of famous songs in his series called, "What Makes This Song Great?" (2.5 million subscribers....check him out)
    Rick Beato reviews "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"

10 Running to Stand Still
While the song is about the heroin addiction that Bono witnessed around him......the song's title came from Bono's brother, who frustratingly commented on his job/business & said "I feel like I'm running to stand still".
RTSS was an improvised jam in the recording studio, with producer Daniel Lanois joining in on a "scrape guitar". Bono already had the words written & (The making of Running to Stand Still - TJT Documentary)
 
9 With or Without You
U2's first #1 hit in the US. The song leapt off the page when Edge added a prototype distortion device that he'd just received called an "Infinite Guitar" to create the wail. It added a haunting quality that elevated its sound created from the feedback. The Infinite Guitar replaces the pickup with a magnetic device that vibrates the strings so you didn't have to use your right hand on the guitar. You just hold a note w your left hand, & the self-looping system built into the instrument lets you go up higher on the guitar, with the infinite sustain just going into the stratosphere."

DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE WAS A MAJOR CONTROVERSY WITH THE SONG'S ORIGINAL VIDEO & IT HAD TO BE RE-SHOT DUE TO NUDITY?


8 All I Want is You
Bono's tender tribute to his wife, Ali. Edge came up w the guitar part while working on the song "Desire."
AIWIY - U2 at the BBC - 2017 ---check this one out

……it’s U2’s version of “Purple Rain”. (the song).........OR............. the 1985 song Brothers in Arms (Dire Straits)
a great 6 min song placed as the very last song on the album. Like finding a hidden gem & then asking yourself “Why did they put it there?”
 
Original demo was called "The Weather Girls" and had a loose, almost Jamaican tone.
Off topic - when I lived in London in 1988 I worked in a hotel as as a chambermaid. Hey - I got free room and board…. In the mornings I would work in the hotel restaurant serving breakfast. One day I met these three humongous black women from the US. I was so glad to see anyone from the US that we instantly hit it off. I remember they ordered refill after refill of coffee, and I was happy to do it because every time I served them they would take a moment to talk to me about what I was doing in London and what my plans were. On the second day they were in the hotel, my boss got pissed at me for something and gave me a public undressing in front of the people in the restaurant. The three black ladies called me over and said something to the effect of, “Don’t ever let someone disrespect you in public like that.” I told them it was water off the duck’s back, and that he wasn’t worth my time. It was then that they told me who they were – the Weather Girls. They were in London to do a TV special at the Hippodrome, and they invited me to sit at the head table with them for the performance. I had a blast that night and it was one of the highlights of my one year trip to London. Great ladies, great spirit, and great singers.
 
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11 I Still Haven't Found
Original demo was called "The Weather Girls" and had a loose, almost Jamaican tone. It wasn't until Bono hit upon the melody that song took off, while Edge is one who had the title tucked away in a notebook.
Won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group in 1988. Adam Clayton, missed the presentation because he was in the bathroom. 🚽
  • Some of you might recognize the name Rick Beato. Musician, songwriter, audio engineer & record producer w a YouTube channel where he has de-constructed & reviewed 100s of famous songs in his series called, "What Makes This Song Great?" (2.5 million subscribers....check him out)
    Rick Beato reviews "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"

10 Running to Stand Still
While the song is about the heroin addiction that Bono witnessed around him......the song's title came from Bono's brother, who frustratingly commented on his job/business & said "I feel like I'm running to stand still".
RTSS was an improvised jam in the recording studio, with producer Daniel Lanois joining in on a "scrape guitar". Bono already had the words written & (The making of Running to Stand Still - TJT Documentary)
The lyrics in these two songs. Side A of the Joshua Tree is the best side of any album ever.
 
(6) - 7 - I Will Follow
(6) - 7 - I Will Follow Live Under a Blood Red Sky
(6) - 7 - I Will Follow Remastered 2008

Vulture.com ranking and comment -2/218 - There are a handful of records that sound so completely different that you will always remember the first moment you heard them. That’s “I Will Follow,” which I heard for the first time while sitting in traffic on the way home from my high-school part-time job, listening to the WNYU New Afternoon Show. The opening thrum of guitar notes, a literal siren, mystical bells in the distance, a rhythm section playing almost off-rhythm, and those opening lines, sung by a voice full of urgency and emotion: “I was on the outside / When you said you needed me …” It sounded like nothing I had ever heard before. The otherworldly noises acting as percussion — bicycle spokes, broken bottles — and the guitar moving back into angelic notes, before picking up the SOS pace into full speed, coming out of the bridge and back into the last chorus. There is so much going on that it leaves you breathless. It is one of the best opening songs on a debut album, ever. Live, it turned into a maelstrom, and never really stopped.

Original Comment - I first heard this song on Under a Blood Red Sky. It was magnificent. Loved it. Would have been top 11 just like everyone else. I know we are supposed to rate it on the best version, but it wasn’t until years later that I checked out the version on Boy. I knew after hearing both versions of Sunday Bloody Sunday and others that sometimes the difference was significant. Holy sheeetballs, I almost threw up. That bell, triangle, glockenspiel or whatever drives me crazy. I guess its trying to add a level of chaos, but it is maddening. I notice on wiki it says “For the middle eightsection of the song, producer Steve Lillywhiterecorded the sounds of cutleryrubbing against the spokes of a spinning wheel on an upturned bicycle, as well as Bono smashing bottles”

It doesnt work for me and makes me hate a version, the studio version, of a song I love when they knock that shiit off. As mentioned on this track it didn’t matter that I rated it #29 or #8, it still lands at #6. Big leap in the rankings from #5 to #6. I Will Follow beat out many songs that could have landed at #6, but weren’t strong enough to break the top 5

Total Points - 2637.75

Rankers - 38

Average Points per rank - 69.41 (Approximately a 9th rank).

Ranks - 11th on average points per ranker

Highest Rank - 1

Lowest Rank - 75

Previous Rank - 6-7

Special Versions Requested -
(6) - 7 - I Will Follow Live Under a Blood Red Sky
(6) - 7 - I Will Follow Remastered 2008

Ranking Comments - Half the rankers have this top 10, 17 of the next 19 are between 11 and 27. The lowest 2 are at 34 and 75. Not me lol. I still hate the noise on the studio version. Detest it. The live versions are where this song is at. In an interesting sidenote, I Will Follow occupies every ranking from 1 to 13. The only song to do so....although i still have to check a couple of the top 6 to confirm.
 
The number 6 is an interesting one.
i will save most of the interesting stuff for when i do the write up. Its really not much different in the numbers. 19 rankings in the top 10, 12 more between 11 and 18. It doesn’t have a 12 ranking, but everything else between 1 and 14.
 
The seven songs that remain are my 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12 and 18.
I Will Follow = 12

Agree that it's better live than studio, but that's because it hits harder. I have no issues with the glockenspiel and whatever on the studio version. It's a great album opener and introduces U2 to the world with a monstrous, distinctive riff that showcases Edge's unique style of playing that would define the sound of their early years. The transition from the "your eyes make a circle" bridge to the triumphant finale is another moment that showed this was a special band from the getgo.
 
Of the seven songs that I have tied for #1, I Will Follow beat them all to be my actual #1. Is it really my favorite U2 song? Could be. Could be any of the other six on another day. But this is the only song that stuck in the same spot from beginning to end during my endless re-rankings. When I thought of doing this list, it was the first song to pop in my head as "this might be my favorite U2 song," and I left it there partly because it might be and partly due to stubbornness.

I think Pip and simey identified well what makes this a phenomenal song, especially the transition out of the bridge that Pip mentioned. If you aren't jumping around after that transition, then you're dead inside. Punk AF.

And, I don't just "not mind" the studio version, but I actively love it. I love the additional chaos and madness of all those weird sounds.
 
Of the seven songs that I have tied for #1, I Will Follow beat them all to be my actual #1. Is it really my favorite U2 song? Could be. Could be any of the other six on another day. But this is the only song that stuck in the same spot from beginning to end during my endless re-rankings. When I thought of doing this list, it was the first song to pop in my head as "this might be my favorite U2 song," and I left it there partly because it might be and partly due to stubbornness.

I think Pip and simey identified well what makes this a phenomenal song, especially the transition out of the bridge that Pip mentioned. If you aren't jumping around after that transition, then you're dead inside. Punk AF.

And, I don't just "not mind" the studio version, but I actively love it. I love the additional chaos and madness of all those weird sounds.
With any band, my list of faves changes like swings in the stock market. I ended up ranking IWF 10th . . . and I probably wouldn't go too much higher on a day when I was overly smitten with it. In the first set of rankings, we discussed several times whether on some tracks Bono went over the top with his vocals and performance. IWF is a very repetitive song pretty much carried by Bono. Compared to the remaining songs, this one really is a building block to other more complex songs that the band would record later. Sad that Bono's mum died when he was so young.

In the shows I saw where they played IWF, it was either the second song or part of the encore. Both times the song was a jolt of rocket fuel and adrenaline. I heart high energy songs, so thumbs up on that. I know I am going in the other direction after my comments about INXS (I liked them cause their songs were simple and straightforward), in this case, I think I like some of U2's more sophisticated efforts a little better.
 
With any band, my list of faves changes like swings in the stock market. I ended up ranking IWF 10th . . . and I probably wouldn't go too much higher on a day when I was overly smitten with it. In the first set of rankings, we discussed several times whether on some tracks Bono went over the top with his vocals and performance. IWF is a very repetitive song pretty much carried by Bono. Compared to the remaining songs, this one really is a building block to other more complex songs that the band would record later. Sad that Bono's mum died when he was so young.

In the shows I saw where they played IWF, it was either the second song or part of the encore. Both times the song was a jolt of rocket fuel and adrenaline. I heart high energy songs, so thumbs up on that. I know I am going in the other direction after my comments about INXS (I liked them cause their songs were simple and straightforward), in this case, I think I like some of U2's more sophisticated efforts a little better.

It's definitely a simpler song. Hard to compare to something like All I Want Is You, which is a masterpiece. The youthful energy is certainly the draw here!
 
Scott Stapp cover of Running To Stand Still. LINK
Creed guy, wow.
The other thing I was thinking about over the weekend was U2 has retained the same lineup for 46 years (wich is really unbelievable when you think about it). Can anyone think of another band that 100% kept the same musicians for the entirety of their recording and performing career without making any personnel moves? I can't think of another example remotely close to U2.
Think ZZ Top had the same lineup from 1969 till Dusty Hill's death in 2021. Pretty good run.
 
Scott Stapp cover of Running To Stand Still. LINK
Creed guy, wow.
The other thing I was thinking about over the weekend was U2 has retained the same lineup for 46 years (wich is really unbelievable when you think about it). Can anyone think of another band that 100% kept the same musicians for the entirety of their recording and performing career without making any personnel moves? I can't think of another example remotely close to U2.
Think ZZ Top had the same lineup from 1969 till Dusty Hill's death in 2021. Pretty good run.
We covered the ZZTop situation. Yes, they had a 50 year run with the same lineup. But it wasn’t the original lineup. Only one of them was in the original configuration of the band.
 
This was my intro to U2. I love the punkish sound, and everyone in the band stands out. I don't care whether I'm listening to the studio or UABRS version. Both versions have great energy and rock.
#4 for me.

I agree with simey.

I was in a fraternity in college. We hosted a Senior night a few weeks before graduation every year in which all the graduating seniors were honored. The evening kicked off with an introduction of the graduates, each with their own entry song as chosen by the underclassmen. They chose this song for me.

The three songs I have ranked higher in this countdown had all been released at the time (1989), but if I’d been asked to do top 40 then, I’m sure I Will Follow would’ve been #1.
 
We covered the ZZTop situation. Yes, they had a 50 year run with the same lineup. But it wasn’t the original lineup. Only one of them was in the original configuration of the band.
Eh. It was pretty muddy and unsettled the year the band formed as ZZ Top. The original configuration of the band, which Gibbons started, was only together a few months. They made a single, but they were still in the stages of coming together, and looking for a recording contract. Two players would leave that same year, and Beard would join. Hill then came aboard when another guy didn't want to sign a contract. When they signed their record deal on London Records in 1970, the official lineup of ZZ Top was Gibbons, Beard, and Hill. In '71, they made their first album called ZZ Top's First Album, and the rest is history. I consider ZZ Top to have always been Gibbons, Beard, and Hill.
 
(9) - 6 - New Years Day

Vulture.com ranking and comment -31/218 - War is so full of the kind of robust atmospheric production that Steve Lillywhite excelled at, and “New Year’s Day” is probably at the top of the list on this record. Even before the band went out prancing through a frozen snow-covered steppe in the video, Bono was deliberately trying to invoke snow as “an image of surrender”: the sound of emptiness, of new beginnings, of hope. “Nothing changes on New Year’s Day,” is followed by, “I will be with you again.” There’s also a subconscious nod to Lech Walesa, at the time still imprisoned. But it’s the bass line that dominates (along with those achingly sparse piano notes), resulting from a sound check where Adam Clayton was trying to play “Fade to Grey” by Visage: “It’s kind of a bass part still searching for a melody,” Clayton said in 2006.

Original Comment - This was their first mainstream song, maybe anarchy99 disagrees but its the song that launched War and it’s durability was due to New Years day having an extended middle of the Uk Charts run as more and more people discovered the band. Great name check of Fade to Grey by Visage, one of the greatest New Romantic songs. The Rankings? Really weird. We have a 15, 18, 18 and 19. Everyone really likes the song, but no one hates it or puts it close to the top 10. All the songs from 5-8 have one ranker who has it below 20. It’s not until the top 4 until we have all 4 of us ranking them high again.

Total Points - 2681.50

Rankers - 40

Average Points per rank - 67.03 (Approximately a 10th rank).

Ranks - 13th on average points per ranker

Highest Rank - 1

Lowest Rank - 57

Previous Rank - 9-6

Special Versions Requested - None

Ranking Comments - Last time round no one had it higher than #15, but it ended up at #9 due to a mathematical quirk. This time round we have 2 number 1 rankings, 8 in the top 5, 19 in the top 10 and 31 rankings in the top 20. This is also the only track that all 40 people ranked. It would be higher as most people like it, but less than half the rankers put it in the top 10. The lucky bingo numbers here are 7 and 17, which both had 4 rankers.
 
Our number 5 does not have a number #1 ranking, which is highly surprising. It has 5 number 2 rankings and 10 in the top 5. It also only has 1 ranking lower than 29. And 2 people didnt rank it. With only 5 left no order would really surprise, but there are definite tiers within the top 5
 
(9) - 6 - New Years Day

Vulture.com ranking and comment -31/218 - War is so full of the kind of robust atmospheric production that Steve Lillywhite excelled at, and “New Year’s Day” is probably at the top of the list on this record. Even before the band went out prancing through a frozen snow-covered steppe in the video, Bono was deliberately trying to invoke snow as “an image of surrender”: the sound of emptiness, of new beginnings, of hope. “Nothing changes on New Year’s Day,” is followed by, “I will be with you again.” There’s also a subconscious nod to Lech Walesa, at the time still imprisoned. But it’s the bass line that dominates (along with those achingly sparse piano notes), resulting from a sound check where Adam Clayton was trying to play “Fade to Grey” by Visage: “It’s kind of a bass part still searching for a melody,” Clayton said in 2006.

Original Comment - This was their first mainstream song, maybe anarchy99 disagrees but its the song that launched War and it’s durability was due to New Years day having an extended middle of the Uk Charts run as more and more people discovered the band. Great name check of Fade to Grey by Visage, one of the greatest New Romantic songs. The Rankings? Really weird. We have a 15, 18, 18 and 19. Everyone really likes the song, but no one hates it or puts it close to the top 10. All the songs from 5-8 have one ranker who has it below 20. It’s not until the top 4 until we have all 4 of us ranking them high again.

Total Points - 2681.50

Rankers - 40

Average Points per rank - 67.03 (Approximately a 10th rank).

Ranks - 13th on average points per ranker

Highest Rank - 1

Lowest Rank - 57

Previous Rank - 9-6

Special Versions Requested - None

Ranking Comments - Last time round no one had it higher than #15, but it ended up at #9 due to a mathematical quirk. This time round we have 2 number 1 rankings, 8 in the top 5, 19 in the top 10 and 31 rankings in the top 20. This is also the only track that all 40 people ranked. It would be higher as most people like it, but less than half the rankers put it in the top 10. The lucky bingo numbers here are 7 and 17, which both had 4 rankers.
Mrs APK was at 26, I’m at 24. Which is weird, because we both love this song. Probably one of those we could have ranked higher any other day.
 
That video is the edited version of the song. I ranked this song #7, but it could have gone higher. I love the intro, that awesome bass, the piano, the guitar, the drums, Bono, everything about this song. I love the arrangement of it. It is one of my favorite songs by them, and I also think it is one of their best songs. It sure does take me back to the early 80s and high school. This is a turn up loud song for me.
 
(9) - 6 - New Years Day

The lucky bingo numbers here are 7 and 17, which both had 4 rankers.
I'm at 17 on New Year's Day. As a big fan of War, it's great to see it this high up. I also recall this as their first big song, or at least one of their first. "I will be with you again" is one of the lines where I remember thinking this guy can sing a little bit.
 
New Year’s Day = 3

Their sound took leaps into new territory with this song. October may have sounded kind of like a lesser Boy, but this song signaled that War would be a different thing altogether.
It’s catchy, memorable and a little bit funky. Adam’s bass part is one of his best. The breakdown in the middle that was cut from the single version is one of my favorite passages in their entire catalog.
But the main reason this is so high is that it confirmed I was going to be a U2 fan going forward. I had heard Gloria and I Will Follow before this came out, but after the NYD video debuted, I was all in.
 
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Our number 5 does not have a number #1 ranking, which is highly surprising. It has 5 number 2 rankings and 10 in the top 5. It also only has 1 ranking lower than 29. And 2 people didnt rank it. With only 5 left no order would really surprise, but there are definite tiers within the top 5
My #2 song is still out there. Hmmm…
 
New Year’s Day = 3

Their sound took leaps into new territory with this song. October may have sounded kind a lesser Boy, but this song signaled that War would be a different thing altogether.
It’s catchy, memorable and a little bit funky. Adam’s bass part is one of his best. The breakdown in the middle that was cut from the single version is one of my favorite passages in their entire catalog.
But the main reason this is so high is that it confirmed I was going to be a U2 fan going forward. I had heard Gloria and I Will Follow before this came out, but after the NYD video debuted, I was all in.

Great write-up. I sign on to all of this. The bass line is phenomenal. NYD was my #8.
 
(4) - 5- Pride (In the Name of Love)

Vulture.com ranking and comment -10/218 - It’s both surprising and not surprising that the lyrics to one of U2’s most powerful songs would prove to be timeless and enduring: “One man caught on a barbed-wire fence / One man he resist / One man washed up on an empty beach / One man betrayed with a kiss” might have seemed vague and generalized when the song was written, but given that every line has its direct equivalent in 2017, there was clearly some kind of universal wisdom pushing Bono forward.
It is one of those songs that from almost anyone else would have felt contrived, but U2 meant it and continue to mean it. It is a tremendous thing to hear 80,000 people in a stadium singing along to it, but my favorite moment remains standing in the subzero cold watching the band sing the song on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial the day before Obama’s inauguration — not because of Obama, but because seeing that band sing that song in the place where Martin Luther King Jr. had stood was not a small thing.

Original Comment - OK. I had heard Gloria, I Will Follow, New Year’s Day and whatever else was on Under a Blood Red Sky. Really keen on what was coming next. Coincidentally I had been watching a Martin Luther King Documentary which I recorded on VHS and had just read a book about MLK. Once I heard Pride.....holy crap. I was amazed. This band is pretty effing good. Still I only had enough money for one album so I bought the new one by Berlin lol. All my cool school friends loved the new U2 album and I was too stubborn to listen or buy it as I was anti cool. Still I loved Pride and played it loud and proud at home from my recording on tape off the radio. As an aside years later a girlfriend recorded over my MLK documentary thinking the tape was blank. I wrote a letter to the TV Station asking if they had a video or copy I could watch. They apologised and said no they didnt as it was 7 years ago and theyd lost the rights. They did send me a 20 page booklet they had on the documentary, which I still have lol. Maybe this song is too high, but i dont think so. There are two #3 rankings to go with the others in the teens.

Total Points - 2692

Rankers - 38

Average Points per rank - 70.84 (Approximately a 7th rank).

Ranks - 11th on average points per ranker

Highest Rank - 2

Lowest Rank - 47

Previous Rank - 4-5

Special Versions Requested - None

Ranking Comments - The no number 1 ranking surprises me, especially in light of 5 people ranking it at 2. It also has 5 people ranking it at 6 for those playing bingo at home. It even has 3 people ranking it at 5, its actual landing spot. Only one ranking lower than 29. Two people didnt rank it at all though.
 
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The next song is our last one without a number 1 ranking. It only has three rankings at #2, but a whopping 14 top 5 entries. It only has 6 rankings between 6 and 10 though. 13 between 11 and 20 indicate its a nice second tier song for most people. With a lowest rank of 35, no one hates it although 3 people didnt rank it so maybe they do.

This will be the last in the tier running from 8-4 that are tightly grouped together. Our #3 is considerably ahead of this song in points. Then our top 2 are miles out in front.
 
If you were to ask me which song I first think of when you say U2, I'd say Pride. I think it might have been the first one I was aware that my older brother was playing in constant rotation. I love all of it, from the lyrics (even with the "mistake" in them) to every aspect of the instrumentation. It's perfect and was my #2 all along until I inexplicably dropped it to #6 at the last minute. Why? No idea. Should have been #4 at worst. Can I get a do-over?
 

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