U2's Albums: #9

#9. Zooropa (1993)


Votes: 31

Highest Rank: 6th (3)

Lowest Rank: 11th (1)

I am willing to go on record as saying that Zooropa is U2's weirdest album, though I disagree that it should be ranked this low on the list. An extension of "Achtung Baby" in many ways, it was initially conceived as an EP the band was putting together during the Zoo TV tour that turned into an album of its own. I would offer that no album does a better job of allowing the listener to completey immerse himself in a specific mood than does Zooropa. Recorded during a time in the 90s that provided the world with ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, economic downturns in Western Europe and the rise of nationalism throughout the West, this album truly does bring to mind, as Rolling Stone said, "a fever-dream last waltz on the deck of the Titanic." By its 9th place ranking however, many of the panel disagree with my rosier painting of the album, and to an extent I can see their point.

Perhaps more than any other album, Zooropa is much greater than the sum of its parts. Except for "Stay (Faraway So Close)" there are no real great singles on this album, yet as a whole I believe that this record is much stronger than the individual links of the ten songs it contains.  From the first strains of the title track, the mood is quickly established and the confusion of the world is made apparent through its questioning yet spiritually muddy lyrics ("What do you want?") and meandering distortions. Though it's probably the best known song on the album, I happen to really dislike "Numb" and find it mind numbing to listen to, yet I appreciate the creativity that went into it. It sounds like nothing else on the radio and for that they should be commended. Of course, nothing sounds like hyenas on the radio (other than Avril Lavigne) and that wouldn't exactly be a plus.  In addition, the video where everyone tries to distract the Edge is damn entertaining.  "Stay(Faraway So Close)" is the overwhelming highlight of the record with some of Bono's most descriptive lyrics ("Dressed up like a car crash" conveys more detail than many complete songs have managed to get across) and nails the essential point of the album: that we are farther away and more disconnected from each other, and only God knows where that may lead us.

"Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car" explodes on the second half of the album and contains some of the freshest and most satisfying music the band has ever done. Yet despite the music experimentation and some of the most un-U2 like music the band has ever done, the spiritual undertones slowly reveal themselves through the tracks "For the First Time" and "The Wanderer." Both explore a feeling of hope that, while nearly destroyed, still exists. In the former, it is in the rejection of the easy way and to "enter by the back door" while in the latter the singer is searching, not knowing if there is even anything left to find...but hoping there just might be.

I have to mention Jack's criticism of "The Wanderer" though, because it's very true: "That ending screechy-squelch noise alarm thing still makes me mad when I have to go turn down the stereo to avoid it." Very unnecessary. Also, "Lemon" is just silly and "Babyface" could be sung by any band - nothing distinguishes it at all.

Ranking U2's Albums: #10

#10. Pop (1997)



Votes: 24

Highest Rank: 5th (1)

Lowest Rank: 11th (2)

Few albums seem to divide U2 fans as this effort does, for it certainly is, as Jack calls it, "deeper down the electronic rabbithole." Expanding on their embrace of an electronic sound that they mined in Achtung Baby and further explored in Zooropa, U2 dropped "Pop" on the world and emerged either as visionary or a parody of themselves depending on who you listened to. With its rank at #10, obviously more of the panel felt it was more of the latter than the former, and I wrestled with where to put this album moreso than any of the other 10 records. Because while I think that the music on many of the tracks is outstanding, and that some of the lyrics are surprisingly some of the most personal ever written by Bono, some tracks are downright unlistenable.

Much of this can be traced back to the fact that for the first (and last) time U2 gave a date when an album would be due (since plans for the corresponding PopMart tour had already been worked out) and they were still mixing tracks the day it was sent to the label. I think they would be the first to tell you (and since they have remixed songs off Pop to include in their "Best of" collections, have shown through their efforts) that some songs weren't finished.

First the good. To me, "Please" is as well crafted of a song as U2 has ever put together. Slowly building (especially when sung live) to a crescendo where Bono, at his anti-war best, pleads with the audience to "Please, get up off your knees", "Please" is the 90's version of "Sunday, Bloody Sunday." In addition, during the PopMart tour, the segue from "Please" to "Where the Streets Have No Name" is unreal. The tense sadness of the soul-searching "Wake Up Dead Man", the solid bass line that supports the groovily danceable "Do You Feel Loved" and the atmospheric sadness of the most successful track "Staring at the Sun" ("Will be ever live in peace, there's those that get to") all are outstanding. Then in, of all places, the hypertechno "Mofo", Bono drops in a heartfelt lament for his long dead mother ("Mother, am I still your son, You know I've waited for so long to hear you say so, Mother, you left and made me someone, now I'm still a child but no one tells me no"). That's a mouthful of lifetime lament examined through a celebrity life where the more childlike he behaves, the less anyone tells him to stop. However, it's hard to feel emotionally moved when you're looking around the corner for kids on ectascy to pass you a glow stick. The remade "If God Would Send His Angels" that appears on the soundtrack of "City of Angels" (a BRUTAL movie by the way) is an upgrade from the album version, but it's a sweet song nonetheless.

On the flipside, I'm not sure U2 has ever made a worse song than "Miami". On every level it is terrible - meaningless lyrics spread out over a sonically distorted trip-hop that embraces bad songwriting at every level. The music to "Gone" has caused dogs and cats to run for the hills every time it's played, and causes me to hit "skip" every time as well. Even in concert it's actually painful to hear the opening chords - just a misstep. In fact, it reminds me of the horribly annoying music at the end of Pearljam's "Black" that makes me want to punch Eddie Vedder in the face for recording it. It didn't help that in high school everyone insisted on listening to the whole track without forwarding it once the lyrics stopped. Damn you Eddie Vedder!! "Discotheque" is just silliness and the lyrics for "Playboy Mansion" have to still embarass Bono to this day. ("If Coke is a mystery, and Michael Jackson, History". Ummm...really?)

Ranking U2's Albums: #11

U2

Since their debut album "Boy" swept across the ocean and exploded onto the airwaves in 1980, U2 has constantly turned out vibrantly textured, boldly anthemic,and creatively relevant music for 28 years and counting . With a new album expected in early 2009 and a tour as well (yes Jessica, I will be taking you this time!) what better time than the present to rank the 11 full length studio albums of the biggest band in the world. To focus on only their studio albums, this list will not include any Greatest Hits, EPs, B-Sides, Singles or all Live Albums...so no "Under a Blood Red Sky", "Wide Awake in America", etc.)

While I enjoyed U2's music for years, I didn't truly become a U2 disciple until the mid 90's and my first show came in the Astrodome on the PopMart tour. As an introduction to the live event that is U2 it was, to say the least, interesting. Not too many concerts I had been before had giant (not to mention mobile) lemons nor a tv so immense that it could have caused a blind epileptic to have a seizure. Needless to say, I was hooked.



Since then I've seen them 5 times on the Elevation tour (DC, Baltimore, NYC, Philly and Slane Castle in Ireland) and 3 times on the Vertigo tour (DC twice and Houston). I've got to say, few things compare to jumping in unison to the opening chords of "Elevation" with 120,000 of your closest Irish friends on a castle-topped hill just down the road from Dublin. Good times indeed!

Without further ado, here are the rankings as voted on by myself and 8 other diehard U2 fans.
Each album was given a number between 1 and 11, with a score of 1 representing the least favorite album of a voter, and a score of 11 representing their most favorite album:

11. October (1981)Votes: 21

Highest Rank: 6th (1)

Lowest Rank: 11th (3)

This is not to say that U2's sophomore effort October is a terrible album by any means, but I have to agree with the consensus that is the last one I reach for on my Ipod. One reason for its spottiness I believe is that Bono's lyrics were stolen during its recording and he had to re-create many of them on the spot and at the last second. However, 23 years after the fact he did get them back, albeit a bit late to have an impact on the album. The album seems less of refinement of their sound as it does a refinement of their spiritual beliefs. While October was being recorded, the band underwent a spiritual crisis (Adam Clayton was uncomfortable with the increased emphasis on religion placed by the other 3) and U2 almost ceased to exist after this album was finished. Thus, as one would expect, a spiritual undercurrent snakes through October, from the exalting "Gloria" ("Oh Lord, if I had anything, anything at all, I would give it to you" to the contemplative title track ("kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall but You go on") to the pleading of "Tomorrow" ("Open up, open up to the love of God").

There are some high points, both musically and lyrically. "Gloria" and "I Threw a Brick Through a Window" are still outstanding and there are some nice moments throughout (the piano in "October" is haunting), but overall it seems the least finished of their albums. Thus its place as #11.

Hats off to the 9-3 Rice Owls

While my weekend was partially spoiled by the OU/UT debacle, it couldn't touch the pride I had from watching my Owls lay a good old fashioned ass whuppin' on Cougar High this past Saturday 56-42. Now, the Owls are headed the 3 miles from South Main to the Texas Bowl in Houston to play. A few items of note:

• The 9 wins was the most wins for an Owls' team since 1953.
• After going 45 years without a bowl appearance from 1961-2006, Rice has now gone to two bowls in the past three years (2006 New Orleans Bowl).
• Rice Team Rankings:
• Points/game: 41.6 - 8th in the Country
• Passing yards/game: 327.8 - 5th in the Country
• Total yards/game: 472.3 - 10th in the Country
• Individual Stats:
• James Casey set a Conference-USA record for receptions in a season with 104 (in addition to 1,217 yards and 12 tds)
• Jarrett Dillard's senior year (79 catches, 1,224 yards, 19tds) gave him 4,052 yards and 59 tds for his career. FIFTY-NINE!! He's also only 5'11". Dude is a stud.
• Oh yeah, and that QB Chase Clement guy, all he did was throw for 3,812 yards and 41 tds and rush for 11 tds more.

So to say that this season has been a success has been an understatement. It's a testament to the senior leadership and the steady hand of Coach Bailiff's staff that a team can go from 3-9 to 9-3 and play so well doing it. In 2006 when the Owls were 7-5 they truly were fortunate to win over half of their games...but this year, if they had better special teams on the field against Vanderbilt, they easily could have been 10-2. UT was always going to beat them, and Rice just didn't show up against Tulsa. It's unfortunate when your worst game of the season happens against arguably the game your team wants to win the most (thanks to douchebag Graham), but it happens.

Still though, what a year! Rice heads into the Texas Bowl on a 6 game winning streak in which they have scored 265 points. Right now possible opponents include Notre Dame, Louisville (if they beat Rutgers this weekend) and possibly someone out of the ACC. To read the best analysis of Rice football (and all their sports) that the school has ever had in my opinion, check out Moisekapenda Bower with the Houston Chronicle.

Also, in Sports Illustrated's latest poll they have Rice at #28 in the country as well as their receiving 3 votes for the latest AP poll.

Big 12 Deserves the Bashing, not the BCS

So while every UT fan gets prepared to root for Missouri on Saturday, and while the majority of OU fans learn about their team's #2 BCS ranking from the one person in each Oklahoma town that can read, I'm not sure what to make of this debacle. Though I feel UT should be #2, I don't necessarily view OU's ascension itself as the debacle.

What I feel is tragic is that the Big 12 allowed a tiebreaker to be decided on the basis of computers and the votes of a number of people who are not held accountable in their voting, and probably are not all that well informed to begin with. In nearly every other BCS conference, in the event of a 3 way tie, the corresponding tiebreaker drops the lowest ranked team in the BCS, and then decides the tie based on the head-to-head matchup between the top ranked 2 schools. That way, the tie is given to the team who prevailed on the field. Blame the Big 12 for taking it away from the on-field results and putting it in the hands of idiotic pollsters. And regarding those pollsters:

1. The Coaches' Poll, which is in and of itself kind of ridiculous. You are asking coaches who have been immersed in their own preparation all week, and immediately after their game on Saturday begin planning for the next week's game, to be able to give informed opinions about the other 116 D-1 teams? That is asking a lot! Basically a coach plays their game, scans highlights, reads scores, and makes their vote by the next day. Plus with college coaches being so close to one another (or at least highly familiar with each other) there will always be people who vote one team higher or lower based upon their affiliation with the coach. Thus, it really is an unfair position to put coaches in.

2. The Harris Poll. Who are the voters and where is the accountability? It is 114 voters who "have been randomly selected from among more than 300 nominations submitted by the conference offices and the independent institutions." I have no idea what this truly means, nor do I know who these people are. Why is Slappy McJohnson deciding which teams play for the national title?

Personally, I think 45-35 should have settled this, but I can see how people could vote OU over UT. The problem is that they were allowed to come to that conclusion, rather than having the matter settled on the field as it should be.

LET'S GO MISSOU!