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U2 - The Best of 1980-1990 Audio CD

A fair review of the U2 "The Best of 1980-1990" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all U2 reviews here, or go back to the U2 tabs.

U2 Band: U2
Title: The Best of 1980-1990
Rating:
Release Date: 1998-11-10
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Pride (In The Name Of Love) 2: New Year's Day 3: With Or Without You 4: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For 5: Sunday Bloody Sunday 6: Bad 7: Where The Streets Have No Name 8: I Will Follow 9: Unforgettable Fire 10: Sweetest Thing 11: Desire 12: When Love Comes To Town 13: Angel Of Harlem 14: All I Want Is You

U2 at their peak

After purchasing this and reflecting back while listening going down the road lets you know that this was their peak period in time. I really enjoyed this period of U2s music.
It wound up being better than they probably thought it might be when they were working those years.
.


A Good Album But...
Sure, I knew many songs from "The Joshua Tree", but beyond that, my education was lacking. As a newer-generation U2 fan, I was interested in hearing their older material. Listening to "The Best of 1980-1990" seemed like a good way to catch up on the music I missed because of my age. Result? It's a good album, but as I'm quickly finding out, not a true greatest hits record.

When a band like U2 decides to go the route of a greatest hits album, there are sure to be critics following. Having the first such album cover a decade of material is a good idea; they have amassed so much music that any other attempt at cramming it all on one disc would be sure to meet with failure. Ten of the first eleven tracks are an absolute delight to listen to. Despite my young age (I was not yet born when the first of the songs from this album was released), I am familiar with most of the early ones on this disc. 'Pride (In the Name of Love)' starts off the record with an explosive energy, and from there it is, for the most part, one hit after another. I grew up listening to many of these songs, from 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for' to 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' and everything between. But the end of the album has me puzzled. It's not that the last few tracks are bad, just that I'd never actually heard of some of them before. And 'When Love Comes to Town' seems to stick out like a sore thumb on this disc.

I can't honestly say that the music on this one is bad, because that would be a lie. However, from talking with other U2 fans and attending their 2009 360 Degrees Tour, I can say that many of the earlier hits are missing from this album. Worth it? Depends on what's in your current collection, or whether or not you like having hit songs all in one place. But in this age of digital downloads, it seems that you might be better off picking out your own favorites.


Excellent introduction for casual fans
Nearly all of the band's important early songs are here: 'I Will Follow', 'Sunday Bloody Sunday', 'New Year's Day', 'Pride', 'Bad', 'Where the Streets Have No Name', 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For', 'With Or Without You', 'Desire', 'All I Want Is You'. For casual U2 fans, the sort of people who jumped on board with 'Pride' or 'With Or Without You', this album provides as good a summary as you can get of the band's early days. To be honest, it's almost impossible to go wrong with the set of hits U2 churned out through the 80's.

On the other hand, there isn't that much here for die-hard fans, who would have all the studio albums anyway. A re-recorded version of B-side 'The Sweetest Thing' is the only "new" song here, and while it's pleasant enough, it's probably not worth the price of a new album. Another problem is that the songs are not in chronological order; given each album had a slightly different feel, it would have been better if we could follow their musical progression from post-punk wannabees to stadium rock superstars. And I'm not sure that 'Rattle And Hum' deserved FOUR songs on here, especially since tracks like 'Gloria' and 'Bullet The Blue Sky' were left off. Either of those two would be more deserving of a place than 'When Love Comes To Town', for example.

These minor quibbles aside, 'Best Of 1980-1990' is a strong collection that provides an accurate representation of the first phase of U2's career for casual fans.

[4. 5 stars].


Classic Tunes
Even if they didn't release an album after Rattle and Hum they would have left a great legacy. It's great to go back and listen the music that helped make U2 one of the biggest bands ever. Great buy!.


Butchery
Not only do they grossly underrepresent or outright deny a much richer heritage of their own music, but they butcher the rest with obvious digital patching and push some outright second-rate material. For shame. For shame! I highly recommend you skip this, and go straight to the original releases of (at the very least) War, Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. Make sure they're not remastered either, for heaven's sake. For the record, who is responsible for remixing New Year's Day and Where the Streets Have No Name on this release? I could barely believe what I was hearing. .


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