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The Best Of: 1980-1990 by: U2

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Rating: - Good, But Could Have Been Better!

If you're looking for just a taste of early U2, this album is definately worth a look.
1. PRIDE - 10/10, MAYBE U2'S BEST SONG, GREAT GUITAR WORK AND A GREAT SONG!
2. NEW YEAR'S DAY - 8/10, OVERRATED IN MY OPINION, STILL A GREAT SONG.
3. WITH OR WITHOUT YOU - 10/10, ANOTHER EXCELLENT SONG, WITH GOOD VOCALS FROM BONO.
4. I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR - 8/10, EXCELLENT OPENING, CHORUS LETS THE SONG DOWN A BIT THO.
5. SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY - 10/10, THIS ROCK SONG IS EXCELLENT, A MORE HARD HITTING U2 SONG.
6. BAD - 9/10, SLIGHTLY SLOWER THAN THE REST, BUT A GREAT MELODY.
7. WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NO NAME - 9/10, DRAGS ON A BIT, BUT THE GUITAR STUFF IS EXCELLENT.
8. I WILL FOLLOW 10/10, A FAMOUS CLASSIC, ONE OF U2'S ALL TIME BEST.
9. THE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE - 10/10, SOME GREAT MUSIC IN THIS ONE, ANOTHER EXCELLENT SONG.
10. SWEETEST THING - 5/10, FILLER, OKAY BUT NO CLASSIC.
11. DESIRE - 4/10, NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT THIS SONG, POOR.
12. WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN - 1/10, AWFUL PROBABLY U2'S WORST SONG!
13. ANGEL OF HARLEM - 6/10, BASIC BUT STILL A DECENT ROCKER.
14. ALL I WANT IS YOU - 9/10, GOOD ENDING TO THE ALBUM, LIKE BAD BUT MAYBE BETTER!

There are songs that are missing here and with junk like "When Love Comes to Town" on this, it's quite bad. However the first 9 tracks are excellent, and if you're not a die-hard fan, this is worth a look.
But if you are wanting real U2, buy all their albums, especially Joshua tree and Unforgettble Fire!

Rating: - U2 - 1980-1990

I never bought this CD, an ex girlfriend who was of irish descent gave it me. This is the best CD i have ever listened to and brings back happy memories. Never really listened to the mighty U2 much before this. Go and buy this CD you won't regret it.

Rating: - With REM, THE SMITHS, LED ZEP etc. one of greatest bands BUT

As with most 'Best Of' compilations, it's mainly just the singles, which makes the title 'Best Of' seem pointless. In fact, I'm sick of buying 'Greatest Hits' albums, just cos I like the band, in the hope that it may be worth a few bob in years to come. I'm only buying 'Best Of' albums from now on for bands/artists that I only merely 'like' rather than 'love.' U2 are a band where you simply have to buy all their albums (that includes the underrated 'POP' from 1997) to understand the full glory of U2, from Bono's lyrics and singing, The Edge's excellent guitar work, Larry Mullen Junior's great drumming and Adam Clayton's (the only English-born person in this otherwise Irish band) impressive bass-playing. Well, I had to include Adam Clayton, as he doesn't normally get the recognition he deserves. He must be good to be up there on stage with The Edge.

Well, though I own this, along with their other 'Best Of' album, I've recently done my own personal 'Best Of U2' CD's. I've used most of the songs on their 'Best Of 1990-2000' one, then mixed them up with other great tracks from that period (and up to 2002, which is actually where that album went up to, but they falsely called it '1990-2000' for some reason. Daft mistake to make) to make what would've been a much more accurate 'Best Of,' and certainly one which would've shown the brilliance of this band much better, making it better value for money. I've done the same with their second one too. Though their best album was probably 1991's 'Achtung Baby' (narrowly pipping 'The Joshua Tree' if you ask me), they were actually better in the 80's, so there's more songs on this one. Here is my 2 CD compilation, and what a proper 'Best Of U2:1980-1990' should look like:

CD1:

1) Pride (In The Name Of Love)
2) Seconds
3) Gloria
4) Drowning Man
5) Sunday Bloody Sunday
6) Bullet The Blue Sky
7) Running To Stand Still
8) Wire
9) Sweetest Thing (the single mix)
10) Where The Streets Have No Name
11) The Unforgettable Fire
12) A Sort Of Homecoming
13) One Tree Hill
14) All I Want Is You
15) October

CD2:

1) New Year's Day (album version)
2) With Or Without You
3) I Will Follow
4) Party Girl (live)
5) Promenade
6) Tomorrow
7) Desire
8) Angel Of Harlem
9) I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
10) Van Diemen's Land
11) In God's Country
12) When Love Comes To Town
13) Mothers Of The Disappeared
14) Bad
15) MLK
16) "40" (live)

Hopefully that'll help you out.

Rating: - Other gems that this compilation offers..

An amazing compilation, one of the best value CD's I've ever purchased. However, there are some absolute gems are to be found on the limited edition B-Side CD that sometimes accompanies this album. Listen to the energy of 'The Three Sunrises', where Bono is on top form, or the twinkling intro to the original 'Sweetest Thing'. "Love comes tumbling down" is dark, moody, road-trip music. But the atmospheric 'Walk to the Water' stands out. A subtle song that catches you by surprise with its beautiful melodies. A remarkable compilation.

Rating: - Even better that the new stuff

It has only been in the last few years that I have really started to appreciate U2's music, meaning that my ears have been very much focussed on 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' and 'Pop'. Having been relatively pleased with the singles form the two albums I bought the Best of 1990-2000 album, nevertheless finding myself severely disappointed with it. To try and accomodate for what I considered to be a very poor selection, I bought this album - The Best of 1980-1990 - which has totally redeemed my faith in the fact that U2 are capable of making brilliant pop-rock records.
The earlier stuff is alot rawer and sounds much more like rock than the pop tendancies that U2 have leaned towards in recent years with songs like 'Beautiful Day'. The Edge is at his best as a guitarist and Bono's vocals sound more refreshing and more powerful. If you like U2 beacuse of their political opinions then it goes without saying that songs like 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' are getting across the sheer angst of Bono's views on war and imprisonment alot better than 'Walk on' has more recently, where, although the message is still evident, is nowhere near as forceful.
In the 1980-1990 album, you get the idea that U2 are giving all that they've got into every record, and, with such criticised albums such as 'Zooropa' dominating the latest best of album, it is clear how U2's style has drastically changed. With such great songs as 'New Years Day', 'All I Want Is You' and 'With or Without you', it is almost regrettable that they haven't chosen to stick to what they were good at instead of going all techno. There is a reason why 'The Joshua Tree' was the first album to go platinum, and I doubt that had they released ATYCLB instead, we wouldn't know U2 as the legends they are today. THey would just be another rock band.

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