which U2 album shocked you most on your first listen?

[Thunder Peel]

great topic, I must say; some really neat stories in here.



for me personally, Pop
I was too young for the AB shock. in fact I got on after ATYCLB
I was still pretty new to the band at the time, i can't remember which albums I hadn't heard yet. I just remember practically dancing in my bed with my headphones on. and I was acquainted with the best of versions from Pop, I couldn't beleive my ears when I heard the original versions.

"BOOM CHA! WHAT?"

^_^ I love the boom chas. I can't believe they took them out on the Best Of version.

[U2_fan8 [aka U28]]

Zooropa. The 2 minutes of white noise and eerie voices speaking during the intro to the title track. The lopping chimes of Babyface. The monotone mumbling of Numb. The falsetto disco of Lemon. The nearly industrial Daddy's Gonna Pay. The blistering guitar effect during the solo of Some Days. Johnny Cash showing up on The Wanderer. 

The album was so utterly bizarre, so ethereal, so unlike the other U2 albums I had listened to up to that point, it was jarring and alarming.

This.
I came to Zooropa and Pop after having heard Bomb and ATYCLB and then JT and AB and then the rest of U2's 80's albums. Zooropa thus came across as VERY un-U2y, the whole album. But spectacular. Same for Pop.

[Johnny Feathers]

Hard to say.  For one, I got into them around 1989 due to the Joshua Tree.  I really kind of disliked Unforgettable Fire when I first heard it--it just sounded "weird" to me.

Aside from that, though:

Achtung Baby was a surprise to some degree, but I wasn't quite ingrained on what U2 "should" sound like, so I accepted it almost as a natural evolution.

But Zooropa was really weird to me.  That one would probably be the most shocking.  I had no idea what they were doing, and it took me awhile to come around to it.

Pop wasn't as shocking to me.

ATYCLB was a let-down on first listen.

HTDAAB I took to immediately--I was really excited by Vertigo the first time I heard it.

NLOTH--I didn't have much of a reaction.  I've grown to really dislike that one.

[Tumbling Dice]

ATYCLB was a let-down on first listen.

This. 

Then I got into it, especially around the time of the Elevation tour, and then I kind of lost interest.

[Domenico of Lovetown]

Zooropa.

It was one of the few times when the band overdelivered in terms of product.  I wasn't excepting an album during the ZOO TV Tour and then they started talking about an EP and during the tour they go ahead and release a full album instead.  I was simply shocked that I was listening new U2 material of any kind on July 6, 1993.

During the summer of 1993, while immersed in the sounds of Zooropa, the two songs I connected with most were Lemon and The Wanderer.

Achtung Baby was a bold album, but the wild experiments of Zooropa still caught me off guard.

[Johnny Feathers]

ATYCLB was a let-down on first listen.

This. 

Then I got into it, especially around the time of the Elevation tour, and then I kind of lost interest.

I can recognize the artistic merit in it--an evolution from their previous work to one that recognizes their own advancing age, maturity, and family responsibilities.  But that doesn't make it a terribly compelling listen.  I agree, some of the tunes really took on a new life during the tour, but I've since wondered at my own fandom back then.  It's hard to believe that I was that excited about U2 at that point, but I was.  Now, that album is only revisited on occasions I want to relive the nostalgia for that particular period.

[jick]

No Line On The Horizon.

Cheers,

J

[JTBaby]

TUF for the startling change in direction, shocking in a good way. the band in full advance on unknown (to them) territory. A charge forward.

ATYCLB for the startling change in direction, shocking in a bad way. The band in full retreat. Brought to mind a Monty Python scene: "Run away, run away....."

[Chargedvt]

For me HTDAAB shocked me at how good it was on first listen (I'll get flamed for that but hey everyone's got different tastes)

But usually, for us hardcore fans, by the time we sit down on release day and press play on that CD (or press play on Media Player for those that download) we've already heard half the songs from either radio, promo appearances or leaked clips.  So sometimes we know what to expect and aren't easily shocked.

[rager1969]

Achtung Baby, especially when The Fly video was premiered on MTV. 

[jacob]

The only album that really shocked was No-line. Because it was the first time ever I doubted U2’s judgement.
I put on the record and heard Bono yelling the first verse like a chipmunk on coke. And I thought: Wow, apparently something very exciting is coming up. But then (shock) the whole song falls completely flat on its back with the tuneless, “no nloth no no line” thing, which (shock) turned out to be the chorus of the song. I was really disappointed and still can’t believe how badly this was done.

[KenpoMatt]

The first U2 album I heard was Achtung Baby at a friends house in Grade 4. I was instantly hooked.

A year later, I got a cd player for Christmas. I went to go buy my first CD. When Achtung Baby was sold out, I picked The Unforgettable Fire, expecting that all U2's albums sounded like AB ( again, I was in Grade 5 at this point )

I got home and put it on, heard the opening chords to "A Sort of Homecoming" and thought "WTF!!??" in a good way of course.

As for my friend, I feel bad because I think I ruined U2 for him because I played Achtung Baby so much whenever I was at his house lol.

[emalvick]

The Joshua Tree

The why:  I was turned on to u2 with the release of Achtung Baby by an uncle who was a DJ at the time.  He gave me a tape copy of the album and I became obsessed with the album.  As a relatively young teenager that was narrow minded with music at the time, U2 was only really a name and that album to me.  I was too young during the 80's to appreciate the good music of the 80's.  So, in 1992, I decided to move backwards and try to discover this band U2 starting with the Joshua Tree as my second album.  All I can say is wow.  Imagine moving backwards with no knowledge of U2 and going from AB to JT.  It is probably the reverse of many of you whom were U2 fans before AB and were exposed to that album.

I also have to say I was shocked because I realized I did know songs from the JT but was too naive and ignorant to know it until I consciously gave the album a listen. 

Anyway, I throw this experience out there because most people seem to have their shock going forward where mine went a bit backward.  I was never quite shocked with U2 after discovering AB and JT as my first and second U2 albums.  The changes going forward and backward were never that shocking and nothing really surprised me again. 

[pophater]

No Line On The Horizon. I was shocked that they could not make a good follow up to the previous 2.

[charlottes_mouth]

NLOTH - I couldn't comprehend how bad GOYB was and that whole awful middle section.

AB - because it was such a massive departure but it quickly grew on me into the classic everyone recognises it as.
Zooropa and POP seemed like logical progressions from AB so they didn't shock.

ATYCLB didn't shock me because bono announced it was back to basics which is pretty much what the album was. Although I was truly surprised how lazy and awful Wild Honey, When I look at the World and Peace on Earth were. Similarly I was amazed how great Kite and Stuck in a Momonet were.

HTDAAB shocked me because the production is so horrible on it. U2 aren't really known for great production but this one really sucked. Ther album itself is rather average too with the odd diamond in the rough. ie Sometimes. All because of you is one of the worst songs they've ever done however.