i’m talking specifically about early early U2. just a completely different band from what they would become

Achtung Baby and Zooropa are good too but the first three albums are what i show to people who associate them with middle of the road garbage

sunday bloody sunday is kind of one of the greatest songs of all time

I throw the Live Aid Bad performance on my tv everytime I get home drunk

war is kind of the best album ever

I liked Pop too and I don't care who knows it. And listen, I am not going to pretend that I didn't enjoy at least half of All That You Can't Leave Behind. It's kind of surprising that their stock has fallen given that we live in really "sincere" times.

Sorry, this is still really dull. Bono's lyrics kill anything you put behind them, they're just generic cud. There's no bite to the music, yet this is as good as they got. It's 1980: Kaleidoscope, Closer, Heathen Earth. I've heard better Christian Contemporary Music "new wave".

Very few bands get progressively worse the way U2 has… if you erase all their work after the Joshua Tree - they are among the greats… after that… it’s just awful

they were kids. They made amazing music. Then they matured and made even more yet different amazing music.

under a blood red sky is unimpeachable

Assuming this is just for engagement but are there any big bands that didn’t get significantly worse after… say… 7 albums

Which bands don’t evolve/change? I love REM & U2,they changed my life 83ish. I’d say REM got sideways more than U2. No one is static. Intentionally or unintentionally it happens. Beautiful Day is awesome. Zep changed. The Beatles changed. Skynyrd & ZZ Top did. Marley & Dylan..

My hot take is that they're incredibly underrated because they get so much hate from their image (mostly deserved). I Will Follow was an absolute banger and their early sound was pretty innovative overall.

War is so raw and good. Bass and drums from Two Hearts Beat as One is off the charts good. Every sound has its place and is just so present.

WAR was a great album. Never thought as much of the rest. Glad they're around.

@polypocketknife The Cult did it better tho

Before the CIA recruited them to make them the ambassadors of post-Communist European liberal imperialism

Live Red Rocks is absolutely fantastic. That Gloria, Electric Co. absolutely riveting performances!

Having been around at the time, let me assure you this was considered very gay.

Bad is still top 5 songs of all time.

The problem with U2 is Bono. He’s always been cringeworthy

i liked them up thru achtung baby they got a little stupid after that but had handful of good songs here and there

Yep. Early U2 would despise U2, today - entirely antithetical to the anti-establishment, anti-racist, anti-militarist upstarts they once were. I just pretend they died in an avalanche in 1997.

by Joshua tree, they needed the pet shop boys to rescue their bombastic shit

Gloria was their peak

I've got a soft spot for '90s U2 where they tried something radically different and noodled around with indie pop for a few years. But sales were disappointing so they went back to hard rock that was more on-brand and never wrote anything that anyone would remember ever again.

Bono before he thought he was god

Early U2 are amazing. For some reason they haven't resonated with the younger generations. I'd look past all the stuff on the surface that turns them off and just listen to the music

1980 to 1991 is all you wanna hear from these guys.

Gloria is insanely good

This is the case with almost every single significant band

There was once this band called The Beatles who also went through some creative changes during their run

Post punk in the very very early 80's was almost like post-hardcore and screamo in the '99 and early 2000's They come in waves of trend and then they become underground scenes again, U2 had that aesthetic at some point until they released Joshua Tree and became mainstream and pop

🙄 It's like saying The Rolling Stones ruined their legacy because their later work isn't as good as their early work

There’s a through line from Sunday Bloody Sunday to Relationship of Command. I love showing people.