U2 are just so damn good! After over 36 years they still make great music. Such great musicians, one of the best rock bands ever, imo. I've been thinking about what my all-time fave U2 songs are. There's so many I love it's not an easy choice but if I had to make a Top Ten (in no particular order) it would have to be:

1. Bad
2. New Year's Day
3. With Or Without You
4. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
5. Desire
6. One
7. The Fly
8. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
9. Every Breaking Wave
10. Electrical Storm

oh dammit, I can't choose just 10, I'll make it a Top 15! Lol.

11. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
12. Staring At The Sun
13. Sunday Bloody Sunday
14. The Unforgettable Fire
15. Red Hill Mining Town

Of course there's a ton more I could choose but these will have to do or I'll end up listing their entire back catalogue, lol! They're all classics, in my opinion. A lot of people seem to like their 80's and early 90's stuff but dismiss everything afterwards, which is a shame as I think all their past few albums have some terrific songs on them.

Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr, they can do no wrong in my book. Brilliant band, one of the all-time greats. Anyone else have any Top 15 faves of theirs?

"One".

The fly

I have to agree with Spaceygal, there are very few bands who have produced good music throughout the period of their existence. And U2 are still the same four guys after all that time. I've seen them at different times from the early 80s to last year. And I agree that the music is as good now as at the beginning.

There are too many to pick from, but here are a few.

'I Will Follow'
'A Day Without Me'
'Gloria'
'Bad'
''40''
'I Still Haven't Found'
'Stay (Far Away, So Close)'
'Who's Gonna Ride your Wild Horses'
'If God will send his Angels'
'Kite'
'Miracle Drug'
'Raised By Wolves'

I think the future will be very kind to U2, as Bono/Edge's songwriting ability will be recognized even more...up with Lennon/McCartney, Dylan, Spingsteen etc.

I have four songs by them that I love and in no particular order.

'One'
'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'
'Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of'
'With or Without You'

Every Breaking Wave

Bad
Unforgeable Fire

I can only reiterate mgvsmith, I think they will be truly appreciated once they split. That said, I feel REM were the better band.

Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of

Ultra Violet (Light My Way)

Even better than the real thing (The Perfecto Remix)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRQg1R4jiwk

I totally agree about their songwriting. I do think Bono and The Edge are often overlooked and under-appreciated by some people for their songwriting skills. Their music may not be to everyone's taste, sure, but there's no denying their tremendous ability for writing classic songs and how brilliant the band are as musicians and live performers.

Oh, btw, you listed other songs I adore by them (especially I Will Follow, Stay and Kite) but as I said I know I can't list every song, lol!

These are the tracks I've ♥ed in my music library. All 80s vintage because I mostly lost interest in U2 circa Rattle and Hum.

I Will Follow
A Day Without Me
The Electric Co
Gloria
Fire
Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year's Day
Like A Song...
Surrender
A Sort Of Homecoming
Pride
The Unforgettable Fire
Bad
Where The Streets Have No Name
With Or Without You

The trouble I've found with U2 is that for a top band they have never produced an album with consistently great tracks throughout, unlike certain other famous artists, not that they're alone when it comes to that. Their best considered album, Joshua Tree had 3, maybe 4 classic tracks, with the rest of the songs being 'good' to 'mediocre'. And that album was horribly produced, with the sound flat and muddy.

Despite that, their best songs came from the '80s with the odd great song from rhe 90s and 00's. I'd choose between Pride, Bad, With Or Without You, One and Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own among my favourite U2 tunes depending on mood. My favourite version of One was the recording they did with Mary. J. Blige, That transcended the song from a great one to brilliant status IMO. That has to be my all time favourite U2 recording.

I'd be here forever

'Bad' is my all time favourite U2 song and I've been lucky enough to hear it many times--and it never fails to move me.

Every song that has been mentioned is special to me in its own way, so I won't list them all again here.

Some of my favourites are:

Miracle Drug
Walk On
Original of the Species
Playboy Mansion
Staring At The Sun
Magnificent
Electrical Storm
Miss Sarejevo
A Sort of Homecoming
Zooropa
Slug
Elevation
Invisible https://youtu.be/ajVoeX4eqIQ?t=95
Window In the Skies https://youtu.be/wo-NskE3M2A?t=253


I agree.U2 are one of a kind.

I've been a fan since I was 19 (I'm nearly 52) and I have always loved the fact that U2 were formed out of friendship.They've stuck together all these years and I admire their loyalty to each other and I think that's why they have so many long time fans.Such longevity and loyalty is very rare in the music business--in any business for that matter!

I grew up listening to U2. Wanted to miss school when the video of 'Under a blood red sky' arrived in the post on a day my dad was on holiday & I knew he'd watch it without me! Finally saw them live last year (& hence the reason this song is number 1 on my list but when The Edge started the chords on this song, I turned to my sister and said "Oh My God!" & started bawling) - every Saturday night my parents put on the rattle & hum video & to this day it's the best version of that song!

1) Bad
2) With or without you
3) Where the streets have no name
4) Running to stand still
5) Pride (In the name of love)
6) MLK
7) Beautiful Day
8) Trying to throw your arms around the world
9) Angel of Harlem
10) Sunday Bloody Sunday
11) All I Want Is You
12) A Sort of Homecoming
13) I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
14) Walk On
15) 40

One
Pride (In The Name Of Love)

I like many U2 songs. However, if I restrict these to a top 5 these would be

5 City of Blinding Lights
4 Staring At the Sun
3 Elevation
2 I Will Follow
1 One

It's a shame people can't appreciate them whilst we still have them around!

Btw, REM is another one of my all-time favourite bands, since the 80's. I loved them, always will. However, in some ways I think U2 are the greater band because they've been more versatitle, music wise. They experimented a lot more with their sound and style, especially in the 90's, starting with Achtung Baby through to Pop. They took more risks and, whilst some think it backfired on them, they did what they wanted and changed things up a bit. As much as I adore REM sometimes I felt their music became a little stagnant and samey. Not much progression, which disappointed me for a while. Probably around the late 90's/early 00's the most. I guess they just stuck with what worked best for them, whereas U2 jumped out of their comfort zone on several occasions, like with their Pop album and tour, took more risks and ultimately I think it paid off.

Ultimately though, both are/were brilliant bands who's music will definitely stand the test of time.

It's a shame you gave up on them after Rattle And Hum as they've released some wonderful stuff since then. Then again I know our tastes in music often change over the years. With some acts that I love I tend to "put them on the shelf for a while", so to speak, whilst getting into other bands and styles of music but, with bands like U2, I always end up returning to them and they sound fresher than ever to me. Plus, it's nice to catch up on stuff you may have missed/ignored along the way. Try giving some of their 90's onwards stuff a go too, I'm sure you'll find many gems you love that might have not appealed to you at the time but you might appreciate more now.

It's funny but whilst I adored their stuff in the 80's I wasn't as keen on Rattle And Hum as a whole, apart from some of the singles they released from it. Then when they released Achtung Baby I was "Wow, this is AMAZING!" I was blown away by this album and it still remains my fave album of theirs. I think it's consistently great all the way through. It made me love the band again in a big way. Some of their later stuff in the 90's I wasn't as keen on, at the time, but have grown to love them more, listening to those songs again years later.

I agree that some of their albums are a bit patchy but an album like Achtung Baby is, in my opinion, brilliant from beginning to end! For me there isn't a single bad track on that album, it's just perfect. It remains my all-time favourite U2 album - to date.


Certainly they released some wonderful stuff in the 80's but they've done so much great stuff since then, I do think it's a shame that a lot of people (I don't mean you, just generally) just dismiss anything they've released since Rattle And Hum and don't give their later stuff a chance. Actually, as much as I adored their early 80's stuff at the time I find I don't listen to some of it as much as I do their later stuff as some of it does come across as a bit samey and shouty to me, at times! Those early songs sound brilliant live but I generally prefer Bono's singing when it's more subtle and less screamy. I guess it depends on my mood though. I still enjoy listening to War a lot and I love various tracks from October and Boy, but they're not my favourite albums of theirs. I think U2 progressed so much over the years. They just got better and better.

As for the song One, it's one of my favourite songs by ANY act, ever! The original version though. I'm not keen on the version with Mary J Blige at all. The original version is just magical to me. I did love the acoustic live version they performed with REM though, at President Clinton's inaugeration ball in 1993. Michael Stipe on lead vocals, accompanied by Mike Mills, Adam and Larry. Sheer brilliance. Michael sang it so well and it was wonderful to see members of my two favourite bands performing together!

I don't know if U2 have a completely perfect album in their oeuvre but there are many near misses - 'Boy', 'War', "The Joshua Tree', 'Achtung Baby', 'All that you can't Leave Behind', 'How to dismantle an Atomic Bomb', 'Songs of Innocence'.....it's interesting but three of their last four albums contain some of their best work. 'All That You Can't Leave..' may in future be recognized as their best album because it is a startling rediscovery of simple, beautiful songwriting.

REM, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Eno and Springsteen are also favorites of mine who like U2 have showed little diminution of creativity throughout their careers. If there is a criticism of U2 it is probably that they are not particularly prolific. (I also think that with 'No Line on the Horizon' they should have given Eno free reign and created a completely ambient record - the cover would have suited that!).

Funny I rather like 'One' with Mary J Blige, for two reasons. Firstly, I think many U2 songs would work well with a female singer and secondly, there is a soulful side to much of their music which Mary J brought out. The soul, gospel thing is also apparent on the 'Rattie and Hum' version of 'I Still Haven't Found...'. I would like to hear Adele's version of 'Stuck in a Moment' or Beyonce's version of 'Sometimes you can't Make it..'.

And with all that U2 are essentially a rock group.

The Sweetest Thing and With or Without You.

Stuck in a Moment, my hands down favourite.

Angel of Harlem, close second.

With it without you
Song for Someone
Where the streets have no name
All I want is you

There four are my favourites even though I like many more

My top 15 favourite U2 singles are:

1. Desire
2. Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
3. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
4. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
5. One
6. The Sweetest Thing
7. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
8. When Love Comes To Town
9. The Fly
10. With Or Without You
11. Where The Streets Have No Name
12. Vertigo
13. Electrical Storm
14. Beautiful Day
15. Mysterious Ways

I'm not familiar enough with their early singles to place them here.

Apart from that, I couldn't stand their 2009 single Get On Your Boots and found the whole Pop era quite clunky and not particularly great either. Still, those singles listed above are some top quality tunes.