Top 10 U2 tracks

Next week U2 release their latest studio album, No Line On The Horizon, some four years after the last album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb was released.

I am a huge fan of the Irish veteran rockers. I take my hat off to the band for staying at the top of their game after 30 years of recording and touring together and given the tensions that must arise in a band, it is quite incredible that their original line-up still remains intact after 30 years together.

I am looking forward to hearing their latest album, although I must confess I am a little disappointed by the first singles cut from the album, Get On Your Boots, which the band performed at the Brits last week. As with their last album, I think the band, or maybe their record company, have decided to go with the most commercial sounding, radio friendly track. This is probably especially so given U2's promotional arrangement with iTunes, but just as I felt Vertigo was one of the weaker tracks on their last album, I am doubtful that this track is one of the stronger offerings on this album. At least I hope it isn't.

By way of whetting the appetite for the imminent release of their new album which hits the shops a week today, I thought I would compile my personal list of top 10 U2 songs to date, stretching back over their 30 years of recording. It is quite disturbing to think that when their first top 75 hit I Will Follow was released in 1980, I wasn't even 2 years old! As ever with these kinds of lists I appreciate they are subjective and purely a matter of personal opinion and as such there are some notable omissions which would not only be in many people's lists, but would head them. But these are my calls.

10. Two Hearts Beat As One
This song was originally released in 1983 and featured on the political album War which also featured New Year's Day and Sunday Bloody Sunday. Unlike those two tracks though which are both very much political in tone, this track would seem to be more of a romantic song, even if it retains the edgy sound of U2's other signature tracks from that time. Bono's vocals particularly hit the spot on this track and it is just a general all-round rockout track. Because of U2's vast back catalogue, you don't tend to hear this song played on the radio often and it seldom features on music TV. But it is a very good track, and, at least in my view, ranks as one of U2's most underrated songs.

9. Even Better Than The Real Thing
Just as I have with other bands like Oasis, Coldplay and even Queen, I have tended to go through different phases of my life where I had a particular favourite song by those bands and back when I was in my early 20s, this song ranked as my favourite U2 song. It was very much a song of its time, part of U2's Achtung Baby album which was released in 1992 which then spawned a world tour that saw U2 concerts with big TV screens above the stage showing images of giant lemons and the like. Achtung Baby is largely seen as one of U2's most commercial albums and this is certainly a track that sets out to be commercial and in some ways, overblown. For a little while, I went off this track and thought it had not aged that well, but hearing it again in recent times, I have realised that while the track is not one of U2's most thought provoking, it is not intended to be and instead it is one of those tracks with plenty of get-up-and-go about it, a hedonistic pleasure.

8. With Or Without You
This is another U2 song which at one point in my life I regarded as my favourite and it is testament to the strength of the songs they have released that this only polls at number 8. The Joshua Tree is regarded by many as the best album of all time and although I would not go that far, it certainly ranks as U2's strongest. This track features on the album and even now, 22 years after its release, it sounds as haunting as it ever did. Bono's vocals really suit the mood of this song, which is one of the band's more mellow offerings. The Joshua Tree is generally an album of political overtones but this track seems to be more about affairs of the heart, although it is not a love song in the simple sense. For me, it is a beautiful song and is definitely one of those tracks that makes the hairs on the back of the neck stand on end when it comes on the radio or I chilling out to it on a CD.

7. Where The Streets Have No Name
Again, another offering from The Joshua Tree and once again, a song that was my favourite of theirs when I was a bit younger. Musically, this song is a masterpiece and it was the perfect choice to open The Joshua Tree album. I recall the video of the song which was shot on the roof of a building in New York and that was very much in keeping with this album being the one that cracked America for U2. Even so, the Americans who loved this song might not quite appreciate the meaning behind the song, which I have always interpreted as being about poverty and Western civilisation's part in allowing it to continue. Whether my interpretation is right or not, this is just a fantastic composition and the intro and ending to the song with guitar steadily fading in and fading out just sounds brilliant. To fully appreciate this though, you need to listen to The Joshua Tree version, rather than the version on U2's Greatest Hits which cuts both the intro and the ending short.

6. Running To Stand Still
This is the third consecutive song which is taken from The Joshua Tree, although unlike the previous two, it was never released as a single and so consequently, it is not as widely known. That could change, however, owing to the song currently featuring on the latest War Child album, where Brit Award winners Elbow have recorded an excellent cover version of this song. This is not a typical U2 song, it is not a hard rock, punchy guitar based song and it is certainly not a commercial pop track. Instead, it is just a gentle ballad which largely centres around Bono's vocals although there is a gentle background to the song. The lyrics are beautiful and I think this song lent Snow Patrol some inspiration when they recorded How To Be Dead on their album Final Straw, which incidentally, I opine is one of their finest songs. Because this song is not really a radio friendly song unless some leftfield DJ plays in the chill-out zone late at night, people who are not that familiar with U2's album tracks have quite possibly never heard it. It's a pity, because it really is a hidden gem tucked away on U2's most well known album.

5. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
It was a close call, but this track ranks the highest out of the tracks from The Joshua Tree. It had to be really, as it simply is a classic U2 song with what on the surface seems a relatively straightforward concept and meaning, but which in fact may be a very deep song. Bono really lays bare his tortured soul on this track which seems to examine his belief in his religious faith and his inability to experience what he is looking for, despite his greatest efforts. This torture is conveyed tremendously in Bono's vocal levels on this song, while the opening section to the song and the middle section with the gentle guitar chords really add to what makes this track a masterpiece. Some people might interpret it as a complex love song, and although I don't, I think what stands out about U2's best work is that the meanings of the songs can be interpreted in a number of ways. This is definitely a classic example and I think this will be regarded as one of U2's signature songs long after they have taken to the stage for the final time.

4. One
I never used to like this song that much, although I did like the video for the single which involved two Trabant cars crashing in to one another. As I've got older though, I've grown to appreciate just what a beautiful song this track really is. The story goes that this is the song that saved U2 from splitting up, such was the impact it had on the band at a time when tensions between the band members had reached boiling point. But the opening strains of acoustic guitar by The Edge and Bono's beautiful delivery of such poetic lyrics convinced the band they were on to a sure fire hit and although this song did not reach number 1, it was a song that was critically acclaimed. I've heard this song compared to Imagine by John Lennon and I can understand the comparison given that both songs are beautiful in their simplicity. I think there are similarities in the concepts of the songs too, although I think the beauty of One is that while musically it seems quite a straightforward composition, the lyrics point to several possible meanings. Some of the songs on Achtung Baby have not aged that well, but this track is assured of having stood the test of time.

3. Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
U2's 2001 album All That You Can't Leave Behind signalled a spectacular return to form for U2 after the band lost its way for a few years in the commercial bubble it had entered in the aftermath of Achtung Baby. Tracks like Beautiful Day and Wild Honey could very easily have made the higher echelons of this list, but it is this song which is the solitary entry from that album on this shortlist. It is a special song and it is supposedly a song that Bono wrote about the former INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence who had taken his own life just a few months before U2 first started to record this album. Bono and Hutchence were friends and Bono had seen Hutchence not long before Hutchence had died. If, however, you are expecting this song to be a eulogy from Bono to his old friend, think again. It is very much a song of tough love, advising the subject of the song to face up to their problems rather than allowing them to fester and creating a rut they cannot get out of, which sadly it appears happened to Hutchence. The sentiment behind the song is well captured by Bono's vocals and it ranks as one of the band's more mellow offerings. Again, because it is not regularly played on the radio, it is perhaps not as widely known as some of U2's other songs, although it did reach number 2 when released as a single in the spring of 2001.

2. Angel Of Harlem
This song featured on U2's 1988 album Rattle and Hum which paid homage to blues and jazz music from a bygone age and also included U2's first UK number 1 hit Desire and their recording with BB King, When Love Comes To Town. The song is a tribute to Billie Holiday, whose music seems to have provided some inspiration to some of the female throwback singers of recent times, such as Duffy and Amy Winehouse. Because of the imagery of Christmas trees that are referenced in the song, you tend to hear this song more in the winter months than during the summer and it was released as a single in December 1988, although it is not a Christmas song and does in fact sound good at any time of the year. In keeping with U2's other songs of that period, it shows influences from blues and jazz music and the saxophone solo that features in the mid-point of the song is a particular highlight. All in all, it is just such a pleasant piece of music and has always been a track which I have held in high esteem and the great thing about it is that it is perfect listening just as much on a warm summer's day just as much as it was initially intended to be on a cold, wet December afternoon.

1. The Unforgettable Fire
Compiling this list was very tough, but choosing the number 1 was in fact a comparatively easy decision. That is not to detract from the other fine songs in the top 10 and indeed several other fantastic tracks that did not even make the cut, but it serves to demonstrate just how great a track this is. There are certain songs that when they come on the radio just draw you in and make you realise you are about to hear something great. Whole Of The Moon by The Waterboys always does that for me, as does True Faith by New Order and Hotel California by The Eagles. Well, this is U2's moment of musical perfection as far as I am concerned.

I have mentioned before how I feel U2 have been quite an influential band to Coldplay and that is evident if you listen to some of Coldplay's recent singles releases. Well, I would say that this song was a source of influence to one of my favourite Coldplay songs, White Shadows, which is off of the X&Y album. Both tracks feature the singer performing in a falsetto voice and both are roughly five minutes in length. The similarities extend beyond those points of detail though, because what makes both songs the great tracks that they are is the all-round package. U2 have done songs with better lyrics and they have produced songs with heavier, rockier riffs. But it is the music as a composition which makes this track so memorable and makes it stand out from the crowd.

That is not to say that Bono's vocals on this track are irrelevant or just a sideshow. That would be incorrect, because his vocals in fact are delivered perfectly for the song, but it is just that the instrumental components to the song are what make it particularly sound like the masterpiece it is. In some ways, Bono's falsetto strains just provide the backdrop to the song but his contribution is essential in making the song a timeless classic.

This is more than just a bog standard song. It does feel like a modern piece of classical music in some respects that could be performed in a concert hall, given how strings sections feature strongly throughout the track. The instrumental section in the middle of the track is masterful, as are the closing sections of the track which fades out to the sound of a violin.

There are some songs and pieces of music that sound at their best if you do not hear them often and you do not press the repeat button. I would put The Unforgettable Fire in that category but that should not deter you from downloading it. After all these years, I still have not quite worked out what this song is about. The 1985 album that it was taken from of the same name supposedly got its name after the band had visited an exhibition to do with the Hiroshima bombings, but that does not mean necessarily that this song is about nuclear war. In fact I think it is one of those U2 songs with several possible meanings. The imagery that the lyrics throw up suggest it is about a one night stand or a short lived affair and the realisation that the liaison is coming to an end, but I am sure there are other possible interpretations. Whatever the song is about, I would argue that this is U2's finest all-round musical composition to date in 30 years of trying.


So that's the top 10 list completed. It was a wrench narrowing the list down to 10 and had the list been extended to 20 then Electrical Storm, New Year's Day, When Love Comes To Town, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, Bad, Walk On and Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own would have been certain to make the cut. But even then, I still wouldn't have found a place for U2's number 1 hit singles Desire, The Fly or Beautiful Day, while two of their signature songs Pride (In The Name Of Love) and Sunday Bloody Sunday would still have been excluded. That only serves to show what an extensive back catalogue the band have and how subjective opinion is in terms of deciding what songs are their finest moments. Hopefully their upcoming album will throw up some other future candidates for revised shortlists in a year or two's time.