Aye aye, cap'n.

In a culture where Bono's well-intentioned penchant for grandiosity and celebrity have become the default lens through which many people view the band's music, I would think "Zooropa" would stand the best chance of showing a new listener what a creative and truly inventive band U2 could be while downplaying many of the things that consistently seem to put people off of them. Most people have probably heard 50% of "Joshua Tree" and "Achtung Baby" on the radio by now anyway.

This is a joke, right?

Another Time, Another Place, I Fall Down, Seconds, Surrender, A Sort of Homecoming, Wire, Running to Stand Still, One Tree Hill, Exit, Until the End of the World, So Cruel, Acrobat, Love is Blindness, Zooropa, Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Cars, Dirty Day, The Wanderer, Do You Feel Loved, Gone, Wake Up Dead Man, I'm Not Your Baby, When I Look at the World, Yahweh, Unknown Caller, Breathe, Cedars of Lebannon...

Like pretty much every great band, their deep cuts dwarf their singles.

One tree hill is one of the greatest songs by anyone, ever

The bridge of "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" is one of my favorite pieces of music.

This is a good song, but wasn't it in their Greatest Hits? I think it was a single. I remember owning a live DVD where they play this song and Bono and Edge do an incredibly gay dance where Bono pretends to be a bull or something.

U2 has been uneven this last decade, and are in decline, but they really deserved most of the praise and hype they got. They've written some fantastic music, and taken some real chances.

do you know the version where the piano replaces some of the distorted guitar?

It's a song they've played live at nearly every show since the Zoo TV tour, and it ended up on the Greatest Hits mostly for that reason. It was never actually released as a single though. The Fly, Mysterious Ways, One, Even Better than the Real Thing, and Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses were the singles off of Achtung Baby.

Bad is kinda the same way (actually, it's a really similar case to Pearl Jam's Black). Everyone assumes it was a single because it later became such a radio staple and was played at Live Aid(and to be fair, the live version was the lead track on the Wide Awake in America EP) and is on their greatest hits, but it was never actually released as a single (Pride and The Unforgettable Fire were the singles from that record). Sunday Bloody Sunday also was never released as a single outside of one or two minor markets (New Year's Day and Two Hearts Beat as One were the singles from that album).

The Temple Bar Edit/Single version, right?

Acrobat. Love is Blindness. Pleasure.

Yeah, that was the first version I heard. I was really disappointed with the album version.

I have a feeling U2 is a better "garage" band than they are an "arena" band.

If that makes sense....

basically, Im turned off by the grandiose-ness of it all sometimes...

There are quite a few songs that I really like, some love, but I just can't seem to really attach myself to the band. The live version of With or Without You from Live Rattle and Hum has always been a favorite of mine. Painfully beautiful

Me too. I can only take a few songs at a time. After a while, I start to feel like I need a palate cleanser.

Zooropa. Their best album.

Have they ever done anything really stripped down ? I know Bono has a really incredible and power voice. Are they talented enough to pull off something as a stripped down effort? The Edge was totally out of place on the "Play it loud" documentary. One trick pony.

that's pretty much it - even in their earlier incarnations I was put off by the spectacle... never hated them, but never had an urge to take part in that.

I want to say yes, but it doesn't sound like this one, at least at the start--but it turns into what I'm remembering

not u2, but check this out. It almost made my mix for the RM mix tape thingy

Is this a Crowded House cover? I have yet to click the link....