Best of 1980-1990 (U2)

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. 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'. 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 pro... Read more

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

For shame. 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! 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.

I love the stuff I grew up on, and this is it. Great disc, brings back memories.

The Best of 1980-1990 by U2 is an ok greatest hits album but some songs are not included such as One. Bono has a great voice and the band has written some incredible music over the years. All I Want Is You, With or Without You, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, The Sweetest Thing, and Pride are the standout tracks here. This CD could have been stronger for fans, oh well.

It's the best of U2. Enough said. It's a great album. Too bad it was stolen from me, along with most of my other CDs.

While I quite like some of U2's 1990 -2000 stuff, the same cant be said of this period. Words that come to mind that describe U2's 1980 -1990 output include pretentious, pompous, po-faced, humourless, anthemic (a bad word in my books), bombastic, Christian (no apologies here as I abhor all organised religion)and unfortunately successful. At least other critically overrated yet sh*te bands of this era like Echo & The Bunnymen, Joy Division etc never made it beyond cult status

I do think U2 is overrated, particularly when compared to others from the same period...someone mentioned Echo and the Bunnymen...or perhaps The Smiths, etc. However, I will take their 80's stuff ANYDAY over the drivel they put out in the 90's. At least they were raw and sounded passionate in the 80's...once the 90's hit, they sounded bored with their own music. In recent years, they have released some decent stuff, but the 90's for U2 was pathetic. Sure, maybe they collected a lot of awards, but if I only knew of 90's U2 stuff, I never would have listened to them.

Bloody good!! So what happened?

better than the next batch

Great collection of songs from the most popular band of the eighties. The Limited Edition 2CD set gives an added bonus of some great B-Sides that were hard to come by before this. You can hear Bono's vocals and Edge's guitar mature from the older tracks like I Will Follow to later tracks like Where The Streets Have No Name. A must have for anyone that appreciates U2 or just likes Best Of or Greatest Hits compilations.

The three most overrated bands in music today are Limp Bizkit,Aerosmith, and these guys. Pass!

This album shows all sides to their music.It deals with issues that are important to them. They also write their own music and what they write is fantastic, and it means something. U2 are probably one of the best bands ever.

If you have most of the great U2 CDs from the 80s (Unforgettable Fire, War, Joshua Tree), don’t waste your money on this CD (either the single CD with the “Greatest Hits” or the double CD that also has the B-sides). If you have the three U2 albums listed above, you already have the Greatest Hits, and the B-sides aren’t worth the $15 or so. I like U2 a lot, but I never find myself listening to anything on this “Best of” CD anymore.

U2 is one of the most solid, talented, long lasting bands around at the moment. They've covered political issues (Sunday Bloody Sunday) and mesmerising hits like 'With Or Without You' and 'Beautiful Day'. This band, like David Bowie have learnt how to successfully adapt to the times and manage it wonderfully. I doubt if there is one person in the Western hemisphere who doesn't know any of their songs. That shows brilliance.

So overrated!

To me, U2 represents what a great band should be. Not only do they write incredibly good songs, but they also deal with the issues that are important to them. Too often bands care so much about their image that they lose touch with the important matters surrounding them. U2 has not forgotten their heritage, not to mention all the great bands that influenced them, and it shows in all of their great music.

How could a greatest hits compilation from this band be anything less then excellent? This CD offers a nice snapshot of how U2 has been able to reinvent itself over the years - taking chances with their music, but without losing the core of what makes them a special band. Love them or hate them, you have to give this band respect - they have proven themselves to be one of the most innovative, enduring bands in the history of rock music.

A piece of crap.

U2 is so overrated it is sad!

This band is horrible.

Most overrated band ever!

Does anyone really like this crap?

A few things they have done.I like better but this one is a good solid album.

U2 just never did it for me.

Don't get me wrong, I love U2 and I like a lot of their music. I like there older stuff. If you asked me what I thought of WAR, it would be a 5, but I don't like a lotof their new stuff. That is why their compliation from 1980-90, doesn't cut it for me.

I hated every song the first time around

crap!

They are a good band, in the early days they had great music. In the 90's it was just average.

They should have put "One" on this CD.

This CD got me through some really tough times. I love this CD - the B side is superb.

U2 was one of the few memorable bands of the 1980s. This CD shows why they are among those elite.

I *completely* disagree with the choice of songs on this record, but ya gotta love it. :)

U2 is by far the best band of the mid-80's/early 90's.

The U2 of the 80s was a little too precious for their own good, but I still like that more than the more recent too ironic for their own good version.

Anyone thinking of purchasing this should try to get the limited double CD with the B-Sides included--a great album! Their B-sides are remarkably good; how many other bands can you say that about?

this is a great cd, special for fans and for people who don't know very well the musical work of U2

ugh! don't you people have any taste??

U2 is the bomb!

1st class first disc makes up for dismal B-sides.

Best band of the 80's? A strong aruguement can be made for U2. What does that say about a CD that is a collectoin of all of their hits from that decade? It must be a pretty great album. This CD contains most of the band's singles from the 80's ranging from 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' to 'In the Name of Love'. This is a must-have for everyone's record collection, even if they are not avid fans of the band. Will there be a 'Best of U2, 19990-2000'? - Undoubtedly. Will it be as good as this alnum? - Unlikely.

they are good...!!!

LOVE U2 - classic

Definitely a 5! There just couldn't be a bad compilation of U2 songs...

Always classics. Great band.

U2 is great; especially their 80s hits