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?)