U2 - The Best of 1990-2000

U2

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 12, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Interscope Records
• ASIN: B00006LIRI
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (106 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,356 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
U2's second decade often seemed as preoccupied with the band's burgeoning superstardom--and how to confront/confound it--as it did with creating music. The band managed only four albums during the era (only half of its '80s output), projects whose gestations seemed perennially plagued by turmoil as much as mercurial creative instincts. But as this anthology chronicles, U2 ultimately managed a considerable feat: producing a memorable, lasting body of work in a decade where one of pop music's chief attributes was its disposability. The disc mixes hits like "Mysterious Ways" and "One" with seductive soundtrack cuts (the title track to Wim Wenders's Until the End of the World, Batman Forever's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me"), new mixes of "Discotheque," "Staring at the Sun," and "Numb," and a pair of strong new tracks, the Orbit mix of "Electrical Storm" and "The Hands that Built America," the title track from Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All They Couldn't Leave Behind, March 1, 2003

By	Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

U2's 1990s "Best Of" album is a rather strange collection. The band recorded only four studio albums during that time, all of which ardent U2 fans most likely already own. So this disc is for casual fans who want only the highlights, right? Well, not exactly. 1991's "Ach-tung Baby" gets the most conventional treatment--the four selections from it ("Even Better than the Real Thing," "Mysterious Ways," "One" and "Until the End of the World") are all the original versions. Likewise, the band's most recent studio album, "All That You Can't Leave Behind" is grossly underepresnted with only two selections ("Beautiful Day" and "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of") that are also original versions.

It is the rest of the material where things really get strange. The three songs from the album "Pop" are all remixes, probably in acknowledgement that it was U2's least successful album. Likewise, the "Zooropa" cut "Numb" gets a similar realtering, but one that serves it very well. Otherwise that album is also underrepresented. Of the non-studio album tracks, "The Hands That Built America" from the "Gangs of New York" soundtrack is a ho-hum ballad (like the movie), while the two other new songs included add little to the band's legacy. The CD booklet, however, is quite cool--lots of photographs of the band looking pretty slick for a bunch of forty-somethings.

Overall, "The Best of...1990-2000" contains a lot of outstanding music, but is nevertheless a terribly confused anthology.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why are there songs missing?, February 14, 2003

By	neoninfusion (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

I would give this CD five stars if it contained U2's best songs of the 90's. But it doesn't!

Where is "The Fly" - the first single off Achtung Baby? Where is the single or album version of "Lemon" - the most popular song on Zooropa? What about Pop's most important song - "Mofo"? What about the single - "Please"?

Why is "Beautiful Day" and "Stuck in a Moment..." on this basically 90's CD? Shouldn't they really begin the next Best Of version: 2000 - 2010?

If I wasn't a fan I would be extremely unimpressed with some of the remixes, especially "Staring at the Sun". I would like to have the album-versions of these songs that I remembered and liked at the time.

I still bought this CD because I am a U2 fan, and I guess if you're not a U2 'fan' than you would buy this CD before you bought any other U2 album anyway - as most people that build up a collection of CD's usually start with the greatest hits CD's.

This CD does provide for the general music fan, but as a U2 fan I'm a little disappointed.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the Best "Best Of", January 28, 2003

By	Andrew Steeley (Ithaca, NY, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Incomplete" is the word that comes to my mind when I look at the tracklisting for "The Best of 1990-2000," U2's retrospective of the band's second decade of music. First off, "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" was not released until 2001, so trade that track for "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses," and the compilation seems better already. The songs representing Achtung Baby are strong ones, though an argument in favor of "The Fly" being included can be made. "Hold Me..." was a great track to put on the CD because it was overshadowed by Seal's big hit from the Batman Forever Soundtrack. The middle two albums of the 90's, Zooropa and Pop, did produce some hits, though "If God Will Send His Angels" is the only song I can recall at my young age. I found a quote that said the Edge did not want the compilation to be weighted toward All That You Can't Leave Behind, so only two songs were included. "Beautiful Day" would have been just fine on its own, and save the other three hits for the Best of 2000-2010. In my opinion, if you want a true taste of U2 in the 90's, I recommend listening to the individual albums.