“U2 ARE now very close to irrelevance” - Bono to Irish Times, Sept 10, 2011

[Tumbling Dice]

The last U2 album people cared about is 8 years old. The last Stones album people cared about was...25 years ago.

Who are you speaking for here; yourself?

[xy]

Most people. Bomb and Steel wheels respectfully (though I believe most would argue Some Girls/Tatoo you are better albums).

[So Cruel]

The last U2 album people cared about is 8 years old. The last Stones album people cared about was...25 years ago.

If U2 continues the trend of borrowing off their past on their records, then maybe. But given their track record of change being the only constant, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt.

Voodoo Lounge was a great album, and Bridges to Babylon was pretty good.

[xy]

Mmm-hmm.

[Tumbling Dice]

The last U2 album people cared about is 8 years old. The last Stones album people cared about was...25 years ago.

If U2 continues the trend of borrowing off their past on their records, then maybe. But given their track record of change being the only constant, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt.

Voodoo Lounge was a great album, and Bridges to Babylon was pretty good.

Yeah, Voodoo Lounge won the Grammy for Best Rock Album and sold 6 Million copies, as well as being a very good album.  The Stones also started the Voodoo Lounge tour playing 7 new songs from their latest album.  I think Bridges To Babylon was even better and more eclectic, although it was nowhere near as commercially successful.  Once again, on the Bridges To Babylon tour, the Stones played 4 - 5 songs from their latest album every night.  The Stones 2005 album, A Bigger Bang, was perhaps the Stones best album since Tattoo You and was ranked the second best album of 2005 by Rolling Stone magazine.

[soapit]

stones wise regardless of quality most people (non fans) havent heard any of it and therefore dont care about it. this is my opinion formed through from knowing my friends listening habits and what has been on radio here.

[Tumbling Dice]

Most people. Bomb and Steel wheels respectfully (though I believe most would argue Some Girls/Tatoo you are better albums).

So, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, you're speaking for yourself.

On what basis do you think people 'cared' about Steel Wheels, but not, say, Voodoo Lounge?

[Sugarcube]

Most people. Bomb and Steel wheels respectfully (though I believe most would argue Some Girls/Tatoo you are better albums).

So, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, you're speaking for yourself.

On what basis do you think people 'cared' about Steel Wheels, but not, say, Voodoo Lounge?

On the same abstract basis xy thinks ATYCLB is U2's 'most loved album' no doubt 

[mattressjedi]

On the same abstract basis xy thinks ATYCLB is U2's 'most loved album' no doubt 

As popular as ATYCLB was, nothing of their recordings had the mass appeal of TJT. I knew what in junior high school we called cowboys, country music fans, who loved it. I knew preppys who loved it. Nerds, geeks and heck, I even knew a few stoners or headbangers who liked BTBS.

Nothing had the appeal of that before or since for U2. I was there for TJT and ATYCLB. The latter reignited some of the longtime fans and some new ones as well as underwhelming those who liked their POP trajectory. TJT.... just about everyone in my school loved or liked all or some aspect of that record.

I knew people twice my age(I was 14 at the time) who loved the record.

[xy]

Most people. Bomb and Steel wheels respectfully (though I believe most would argue Some Girls/Tatoo you are better albums).

So, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, you're speaking for yourself.

On what basis do you think people 'cared' about Steel Wheels, but not, say, Voodoo Lounge?

On the basis it was their comeback album after the drugged, Richards/Jagger feud 80's ? Just a hunch. And pretty sure it's the consensus Tattoo You/Some girls are the last genuinly quality Stones albums.

And for the record, what I said was ATYCLB is their most loved album SINCE AB. But people just don't read...

[dysthanasiac]

And for the record, what I said was ATYCLB is their most loved album SINCE AB. But people just don't read...

The problem in this case is that people do read.  You're just ignoring their responses.

So we're all on the same page, I've taken the liberty of highlighting the point of contention.  (It's nothing to do with sequencing.)

"And for the record, what I said was ATYCLB is their MOST LOVED album since AB."

How do you know?  Album sales?  I bought it and think it's sh*t.  Is it possible that I'm the only one for whom that's true? 

Awards?  Jethro Tull has won a Best Hard Rock/Metal Grammy.  With music that featured a flute.  Need I say more?

There's no metric in existence with which to quantify mass appeal, much less love.  So, stop trying.

[TheSceneoftheAccident]

Sorry but ATYCLB is generally considered U2's 'comeback' album by most publications. For some reason Pop is ridiculed and Zooropa is met with mixed feelings. Despite thinking that both of those are vastly superior to Behind, Behind is considered their 'best' album since Achtung Baby by the majority of the press. Unfortunate since I see it as being the opposite - I see it as the start of a downward spiral in terms of songwriting quality.

[Dali]

I don't get all these "Stones vs U2" comparisons that pop up every few years on both U2 boards and Stones boards, maybe because Michael Cohl is the tour promoter for both bands.
Rolling Stones are quite a different band from U2 especially regarding the history of both bands. When have the Rolling Stones really branched out stylistically over an entire album length and have had success with it? Where have U2 been in the 60s? Neither band have got anything to show as answers for these questions. Hence, you cannot compare them because they are from different eras.

For U2, it would make sense to compare them with their peers such as INXS, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys. Oh yeah, and R.E.M. actually but they quit. Turns out that in these comparisons, U2 win big time. I guess that might only be different if the world still had Michael Hutchence amongst its population (RIP).

[satellitedog01]

You seem to interpret the comparisons in a very different way, that might have been accurate in the early-to-mid nineties, but not currently.

[Sugarcube]

And for the record, what I said was ATYCLB is their most loved album SINCE AB. But people just don't read...

The problem in this case is that people do read.  You're just ignoring their responses.

So we're all on the same page, I've taken the liberty of highlighting the point of contention.  (It's nothing to do with sequencing.)

"And for the record, what I said was ATYCLB is their MOST LOVED album since AB."

How do you know?  Album sales?  I bought it and think it's sh*t.  Is it possible that I'm the only one for whom that's true? 

Awards?  Jethro Tull has won a Best Hard Rock/Metal Grammy.  With music that featured a flute.  Need I say more?

There's no metric in existence with which to quantify mass appeal, much less love.  So, stop trying.

Apart from Kite and (at a push) Stuck in a moment I think it's sh** too.

Without canvassing the whole world, it's impossible to quantify what a bands best loved record is.

Music journalists are an unreliable sycophantic lot so they can't be trusted. The record buying public are similarly fickle. Sales don't make sense either unless we all agree Take That make great music. As for tours, Elevation was an arena tour...