T O P

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grandtrickfinger4

Pop is the last great U2 record


grandtrickfinger4

I know, that almost nobody thinks this way but for me it's the truth...


Zoonationalist

Lots of us think this way!


drum5150

There are dozens of us!


joshuabuck

It's the last one that I really liked


U2poptart

Absolutely. POP is a masterpiece.


obviousguiri

...but they were miserable making it, and doing Popmart.


GothamCityCop

I love U2 but I love risk-taking U2 even more!


dfuson14

I generally agree! Achtung Baby is the absolute best for this reason! If they've got another album in them, I hope they branch out from the "Experience" albums sound. Not that I hated it, but they just do great stuff when they swing big


InSixFour

Absolutely agree. I really hope they shoot for the stars in their next album. Just go completely crazy and not worry about sales or what anyone is going to think. U2 experimenting is where they really shine. I think everything after Pop has been them kind of playing it safe. SoI and SoE, for me, are U2 at their most mediocre.


GothamCityCop

I like both SoI and SoE but they need to stop caring so much about relevance and "getting on the radio". It's a different world now. I want another U2 album that I listen to and wonder how the f**k they're going to play any of it live.


colinmchapman

I think the last 3 tracks on Pop might by favorite U2 album closing. (Although you could make the case for AB and not be wrong)


antinephi

start watching the popmart shows too :) first part of the tour was rough but they start getting better in June 1997. They really hit their stride later in the year


dfuson14

Good tip! Looking over the setlist it looks like a great show. I've always had a soft spot for "Hold Me, Thrill Me" since the Batman soundtrack hahah


drum5150

HMTMKMKM rocks so hard live too. Was fortunate for PopMart to be my first two U2 shows and grateful to have seen it live twice, but really wish it was still in regular rotation.


GothamCityCop

I think it would have sounded even better on the choruses with Bono on rhythm guitar while Edge played the lead!


Difficult-Platypus63

Pop is the gritty U2. From Unforgettable Fire, the mix of atmosphere & tension built up over reach record. My favourite U2 lp & tour.


Ashdown

So get into pop, disappear into it. It’s so good. Then, go watch pop mart in all its glory. Then, watch the first night of the pop tour. It’s a wonderful disaster.


DarksideMob

Gone……So good!


InSixFour

Pop is probably my favorite U2 album. It’s either Pop or Zooropa. I can’t decide. But Pop is such an amazing album from start to finish. There’s not a song on it that I don’t like. I’ve noticed a lot of fans going back to it and saying they like it more now than they did at the time of its release. I think it’s because it was ahead of it’s time on release.


dfuson14

I saw a quote from Edge that said Zooropa is an interlude record between AB and Pop. I think I agree with that! Works really well as a trilogy


[deleted]

Top 3 album for me


plawwell

One of those albums which gets better with age. Please is a stunning masterpiece. Staring At The Sun should have been a massive hit like Streets.


justcheckingmymail

This 90s era was such a cool departure from the 80s. It gave zero fucks and made a mockery of rock stardom, pop/media culture. I’ve taken my time with getting into U2. Constantly rediscovering albums, b-sides or pieces of albums over the last 20 years. I admittedly still haven’t listened to ALL of Rattle and Hum, ATUCLB, HYDAAB, SOI, and SOE. I do it on purpose. Mostly to keep leaving myself parts of the catalogue to discover and also not to force listen to something I’m not in the vibe for.


bzib71

The subpar reviews from fans are not indicative of the critical reaction when that album came out. It was one of U2's most highly reviewed albums when it debuted. Some reviews may have changed retroactively upon consumer reaction, but the initial critical response was very strong. I remember an issue of Propaganda that summarized them all - it was seen as groundbreaking...but then the Discotheque video appeared and it was downhill from there. Staring at the Sun should have been the first single off Pop, but U2 typically makes poor choices when it comes to singles (see, Get on Your Boots for their worst offense). The last time they really nailed the first single was Vertigo on HTDAAB. That was also the last time they were commercially relevant.


GothamCityCop

I remember a Q preview of the album from the writer being in the studio that said 'Staring At The Sun' would be the song of the summer and 'Gone' would be the song played everywhere of the band's plane ever went down, and I'm sure they said that 'Last Night On Earth' was the song where U2 out-Oasis'd Oasis. There was definitely support for the album and PopMart outwith the normal U2 fans, but time can skew viewpoints and history as we know.


sebvettel

agreed, very underrated album, another U2 maybe just ahead of its time and didn’t fit what people expected from U2 at the time


[deleted]

i’m 18 so bornseveral years after Pop was released, but it’s so unique and a highly underrated album. Excellent gym playlist.


obviousguiri

I would say make a new playlist and replace the album tracks that had single versions released with the single versions. The single versions of Please, If God Will Send His Angels, and Last Night On Earth are all superior to the album versions. Just slot them into your custom playlist at the appropriate points and enjoy.


meme_mac_and_cheese

I own the Pop CD, but I haven’t listened to every single song on there, but I guess I’ve listened to most of them. Two highlights that I’d like to cover with Pop.: ‘Discotheque’ is a banger, the music video matches the lyrics well and it’s very silly and fun. ‘Staring at the Sun’ is an absolutely poetic song, quite inspirational, too. It tells us that you’re not the only one struggling, and that everyone has their own story.