The following is a list of U2’s popular recordings (arranged chronologically), most of which are readily available for purchase. In addition to the band’s studio albums, I have noted several corollary projects, as well as live concert films/videos in separate sections. The list of collections, rare editions, and fan club compilations over U2’s forty-year career is far too large to inventory here, but readers can explore the fascinating depth of the band’s entire catalog through a variety of Internet resources, including U2.com, atu2.com, and u2songs.com.
Boy. Island, 1980. The band’s debut studio album reflects on the innocence and idealism of adolescence. It was well received and produced the hit “I Will Follow,” a standard that U2 continues to use in concert.
October. Island, 1981. With a heavy religious subtext, this second album reflects Bono, Edge, and Larry’s involvement in a Christian commune. Though not as acclaimed by critics as the earlier record, its opening track, “Gloria,” was a huge hit and received lots of airplay on the new cable channel MTV.
War. Island, 1983. The third album is a well-developed, “grown-up” version of Boy. The shift to more overt political themes is clearly evidenced in the hits “New Year’s Day” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday.”
The Unforgettable Fire. Island, 1984. With its fourth album, U2 made a significant shift in style, moving toward a more ambient and experimental sound, and also began tackling social themes, including heroin addiction in “Bad” and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in “Pride (in the Name of Love).”
The Joshua Tree. Island, 1987. U2’s fifth album landed them global status as superstars, resulting in multiple award-winning singles, including “With or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and “Where the Streets Have No Name.”
Rattle and Hum. Island, 1988. The sixth album combined live recordings with new studio tunes and also had a companion film of the same name. It was not received well by critics but still produced several chart-topping singles with “Desire,” “Angel of Harlem,” and “All I Want Is You.”
Achtung Baby. Island, 1991. U2 launched into a new decade with a redefined image on its seventh album, this time featuring a more industrial sound and provocative themes. Though the band was conflicted and unsure of its future while producing the record, it contains some of U2’s best-loved songs: “One,” “The Fly,” “Mysterious Ways,” and “Even Better than the Real Thing.”
Zooropa. Island, 1993. The group’s eighth album picked up where the previous one left off with wild sonic experiments and earned U2 a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, demonstrating the band’s ability to create relevant, up-to-date music.
Pop. Island, 1997. On its ninth album, U2 mixed rock with the progressive sounds of the European dance and electronica scenes. One of the band’s least selling records—potentially due to the hurried pace of its final stages of production—it was a bit of disappointment for a group accustomed to awards and honors.
All That You Can’t Leave Behind. Interscope, 2000. As the band entered a new millennium, its tenth album once again helped redefine U2’s image, this time focusing on familiar sounds and themes. The record produced award-winning tunes, including “Beautiful Day,” “Elevation,” and “Walk On.”
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Interscope, 2004. U2’s eleventh album reinforced the direction of the one before it with driving rock anthems and deep spirituality, resulting in the smash hit “Vertigo,” which also represented a promotional partnership with Apple.
No Line on the Horizon. Interscope, 2009. With a long gap between its last album and this one, U2’s twelfth veered toward the experimental once again. Nuanced with African music, complex rhythms, lavish harmonies, and rich theology, the record underperformed yet produced the largest supporting tour of the band’s career.
Songs of Innocence. Interscope, 2014. Suffering from a bit of an identity crisis, U2 took longer than it ever had—five years—to complete a new project. The result was its thirteenth record, a retrospective that reflected back on the band’s earliest days. Partnering again with Apple, the album was released digitally as a gift to all iTunes subscribers.
Under a Blood Red Sky. Island, 1983. Featuring several concerts while the members of U2 were in their early twenties, the album introduced U2 to an American audience.
Passengers: Original Soundtracks. Island, 1995. Under the pseudonym Passengers, U2 teamed up with Brian Eno on an album that allowed them to create music not intended for the mass market.
The Best of 1980–1990. Island, 1998. This greatest hits collection from U2’s first decade also included “Sweetest Thing,” a new single that charted in Top 10 lists around the world.
The Million Dollar Hotel: Music from the Motion Picture. Interscope, 2000. In collaboration with Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno, and other artists, this album features music by U2 for the film The Million Dollar Hotel, which Bono helped write and produce.
The Best of 1990–2000. Interscope, 2002. A compilation of hits from the band’s second decade, this album includes several tracks not previously available on U2 albums, including the single “Electrical Storm,” as well as “The Hands That Built America,” “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me,” and “Miss Sarajevo.”
U218 Singles. Interscope, 2006. A third compilation album, this time containing sixteen of the band’s all-time greatest hits, plus “The Saints Are Coming” and “Window in the Skies.”
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Interscope, 2011. This is the sound track to the Broadway musical for which Bono and Edge wrote the music and lyrics.
U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky. Island, 1984. This concert features the historic performance by U2 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado on June 5, 1983, and also helped solidify the band’s reputation as a remarkable live act, especially in America.
Rattle and Hum. Paramount Pictures, 1988. Filmed at several locations in 1987 while on the Joshua Tree tour, this feature movie appeared in cinemas and showed behind-the-scenes footage of U2 at play in America as well as in concert.
Zoo TV: Live from Sydney. Island, 1994. This performance from May 17, 1993, features the Zoo TV tour and illustrates U2’s stunning use of theatrics, irony, and stage personae while supporting both Achtung Baby and Zooropa.
PopMart: Live from Mexico City. Island, 1998. In conjunction with the album Pop, U2’s PopMart concert from November 22, 1998, intentionally presented gargantuan representations of the kitschiest icons from a 1990s consumerist culture.
Elevation 2001: Live from Boston. Island, 2001. Supporting All That You Can’t Leave Behind, this video was filmed over three nights in June 2001 and features a simpler, stripped-down version of U2 while still becoming one of the band’s best-selling live performances.
Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago. Island, 2005. This concert film tapped into the fears of the times, especially with regard to terrorism and the Middle Eastern conflict, and supported the album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
U2: 360° at the Rose Bowl. Interscope, 2010. This October 25, 2009, concert promoted the album No Line on the Horizon, featured the biggest stage ever built, and was broadcast live on YouTube.
U2: iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Live in Paris. HBO, 2015. This performance, originally planned for Nov. 14, 2015 but then rescheduled for December 7 due to the terrorist attacks in Paris, showcases state-of-the-art technology as well as a retrospective on U2’s earliest days as a band and was broadcast exclusively on HBO.