U2 - The Best of 1980-1990
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Free Music Notes for The Best of 1980-1990
Free Music Review: U2 ARE TERRIBLE
Hit: 1 Stars
Who really likes U2? I think that they are really bad, and their vocalist Bono sings like he had been drinking alcohol. Every song on this disgraceful "Baddest Hits" compilation sucks. Don't purchase any CD from AC/DC, U2, The Doors, Slayer, Megadeth, Queen, and the Stones. For good CDs, get CDs by such artists like Miles Davis, Metallica(except K'EA), Jimi Hendrix, and Dire Straits. They will rock your socks out than any of the bands above.Free Music Review: A basic, bare-bones hit set
Hit: 4 Stars
U2's music is legendary. Every single song they do is simply incredible. Every single album they do is simply amazing. They are that good.
This is the first official U2 best-of. Released in 1998 on Island, the set documents the band's early years, spanning (as the title says) the 1980-1990 period.
So how does this collection measure up?
Positives
-MOST OF THE BIG U2 HITS FROM THAT ERA ARE HERE! 'Pride (In The Name Of Love),' 'New Year's Day,' 'Where The Streets Have No Name' and 'With Or Without You' all appear on this set.
-You get underrated gems on here too. 'October (not listed in the track listing, because it is a hidden track),' 'The Unforgettable Fire' and 'Bad' all appear on this set.
-THE SOUND QUALITY IS EXCELLENT!
Negatives
-WHERE IS 'BULLET THE BLUE SKY' AND 'A SORT OF HOMECOMING'? These are great U2 songs that got some radio airplay back in the day, and yet, THEY ARE NOT ON HERE!!!
-And, they could probably fit on here too!
Overall, despite what's here, I can't give this more than four stars. But this is still highly recommended for the casual U2 fan looking for nothing more than the hits.
ENJOY!!!
Free Music Review: Touches the hits quite nicely, which is all a compilation is supposed to do in the first place
Hit: 4 Stars
Part of me can understand why some people hate U2 as passionately as they do. They were (and, if the success of the recent U23D is any indicator, remain) huge. I'll admit even I got burned out on hearing all of their hits a million times a day. And Bono does come off as a bit pompous (especially on Rattle and Hum, the first true failure of their career), though unlike (for example) Mick Jagger, who bought his seventh or eighth house a couple years ago, he does good stuff with his money. Unlike Mick, he puts it where his mouth is. Wait a sec... Mick does. Okay, this has the potential to come out really, really wrong. Never mind. Forget I said that. Back to square one.
But anyway, despite all that I still think U2 is a great band, even though I don't listen to their studio albums all that often, fantastic as War and The Unforgettable Fire and Boy and the Joshua Tree and All That You Can't Leave Behind are. I mean, if I feel like listening to U2 I can just turn on the radio and I'll hear ten of their songs in an hour. This is probably the U2 album I listen to most, because my cousin (cool guy, by the way) is a pretty big U2 fan, and whenever I see him (which is quite often, considering he now only lives twenty minutes away, as opposed to two hours as he used to, even though he had a sweet house back then), we ALWAYS play this and usually spin War or The Joshua Tree (my two favorites) as well. Good times.
But here's the point: If you just want a place to start your U2 collection, it doesn't really get much better than this. I would've liked "Gloria" (from their second album, October, which is decidedly hit-or-miss), but other than that it's got all their significant hits from the '80s, which were great. Oh yeah, I could complain about how "Anh Cat Dubh", "Shadows and Tall Trees", "I Fall Down", "With a Shout", "Seconds", "Two Hearts Beat as One", "Wire", "A Sort of Homecoming", "Running to Stand Still", "One Tree Hill", "Exit", "Hawkmoon 269" and so forth were left off, and there are too many edits. But it does contain the basics - "Where the Streets Have No Names", "Pride (In the Name of Love)", "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Desire", "I Will Follow", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", "Bad" and all the others that have made them one of the most imitated bands in recent history. I think my favorite U2 track, contained here, is "New Year's Day", though I also really like "With or Without You".
U2 were great in the '80s, a time when nobody else really was (except for Prince, R.E.M. and Stevie Ray Vaughan, no other new artists really had much going for them). They've got a distinct sound, a solid rhythm section, and the Edge playing some fine guitar. And Bono. Love him or hate him, you have to admit he's been influential. Good band!
Free Music Review: A good, maybe great, but not perfect compilation
Hit: 4 Stars
I bought this CD right when it came out, and I was very glad to, as at the time, U2 hadn't released a compilation and I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy four or five albums to get all the songs I liked by them.
First of all, a few provisos: people can argue over whether or not it was a good idea to restrict this compilation to a single decade, particularly when U2 continued to thrive, and possibly even improve, in the time following the period this album represents.
Also, compilations with titles like "The Best of..." are arguably more subjective than ones with titles like "Greatest Hits" or "Singles", as people can quibble about what an artist's best songs are, but there is less disputing whether or not a song was a hit, and even less about whether or not one was a single. Nevertheless, assuming that they meant something like "Hits" or "Singles" instead of "The Best of", this album fits the bill well, but not perfect.
First of all, not every song you might hear on the radio from this era is represented here - some more important than others, but still - "Bullet the Blue Sky", "In God's Country", "Two Hearts Beat As One", "Surrender", "God, Part 2", and several others are missing. At just over an hour, this compilation contains a good amount of music, but 4 or 5 more songs could have been included on a single CD.
Further, not all of them are as you might expect. "Bad", for example, is present in the studio version from The Unforgettable Fire and not the live version from Wide Awake in America that I was accustomed to hearing. Also, "New Year's Day" and "Where the Streets Have No Name" are in edited versions, which may be more familiar to some (again with the radio vs. album versions), but others will miss the full-length versions.
In hindsight, I'm glad I bought this CD - there are a lot of excellent songs on here I don't have elsewhere, like "Pride", "Desire", and "I Will Follow", but I now own The Joshua Tree and War and several of their other albums, though. In summary, I'd say that if you really like what you've heard from U2 thus far, you might consider their individual albums - you won't be disappointed with most of them. That said, this is a good introduction to U2's early work, and I recommend it for casual fans.
Free Music Review: I love this CD
Hit: 5 Stars
U2 one of the greatest bands ever! I love my CD! it has one of my favorite songs "With or With out you"