59 - U2

Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

At number 59 is Irish rock group, U2. They have been around for a very long time, and their last album might indicate that it could be time to hang 'em up soon.

Wiki - U2 are a rock band from Dublin, Ireland. The group consists of Bono (vocals and guitar), The Edge (guitar, keyboards, and vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar), and Larry Mullen, Jr. (drums and percussion).

The band formed at Mount Temple secondary school in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency. Within four years, they signed to Island Records and released their debut album Boy. By the mid-1980s, they had become a top international act. They were more successful as a live act than they were at selling records, until their 1987 album The Joshua Tree, which, according to Rolling Stone, elevated the band's stature "from heroes to superstars".

Their 1991 album Achtung Baby and the accompanying Zoo TV Tour were a musical and thematic reinvention for the band. Reacting to their own sense of musical stagnation and a late-1980s critical backlash, U2 incorporated dance music and alternative rock influences into their sound and performances, abandoning their earnest image for a more ironic, self-deprecating tone. Similar experimentation continued for the remainder of the 1990s. Since 2000, U2 have pursued a more conventional sound, while maintaining influences from their previous musical explorations.

U2 have released 12 studio albums and are among the most critically and commercially successful groups in popular music. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, and they have sold more than 145 million records. In 2005, the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone magazine listed U2 at #22 in its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes, including Amnesty International, the ONE Campaign, Product Red, Bono's DATA campaign, and The Edge's Music Rising.

Discography -

Boy (1980)
October (1981)
War (1983)
The Unforgettable Fire (1984)
The Joshua Tree (1987)*
Rattle and Hum (1988)
Achtung Baby (1991)*
Zooropa (1993)
Pop (1997)
All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000)*
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004)
No Line on the Horizon (2009)
* = best albums

Best Songs -

I Will Follow
Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year's Day
Pride (In The Name of Love)
With or Without You
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Desire
Bullet the Blue Sky
Mysterious Ways
One
Beautiful Day
Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
Vertigo
Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own
Magnificent

Bono is a great lead singer and the Edge's style of playing has been imitated by numerous followers. Without them, bands like Coldplay, Radiohead, Muse, etc. might have significantly sounded different. U2 has a long list of hit songs, which is a testament to how long they have been able to put out solid music. While I feel like their best work was in the 80's, I give them props for trying a new style in the 90's with Zooropa and Pop. Each of the 2000's albums have their bright spots too, specifically ATYCLB.



next up: a band that had a 12 year hiatus.