Music

U2 put out the best album of 2014 according to Rolling Stone

by Tyler Munro

U2’s new album raised a stink when it came out, and not for the right reasons. By forcing itself onto your iPhones and into your iTunes accounts, Songs of Innocence and U2’s sense of entitlement irked people immediately. Because of that, few gave it a chance; but were they missing out?

Rolling Stone thinks so: They’ve named it the best album of 2014, calling it a “brilliant surprise” and “the emotionally raw rock album of the year.”

On a list that’s otherwise pretty decent, with nods to everyone from Yob to Mac DeMarco, Rolling Stone went full self-parody with its top ten, listing Bruce Springsteen’s High Hopes, an album consisting almost entirely of b-sides and covers, at number two. And The Black Keys are at number three. If you’re curious who released worse albums than U2 this year, check out the rest of the list below:

1. U2 – Songs of Innocence
2. Bruce Springsteen – High Hopes
3. The Black Keys – Turn Blue
4. St. Vincent – St. Vincent
5. Miranda Lambert – Platinum
6. Charli XCX – SUCKER
7. Lana Del Rey – Ultraviolence
8. Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 2
9. Mac DeMarco – Salad Days
10. Taylor Swift – 1989
11. Flying Lotus – You’re Dead
12. Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways
13. Ought – More Than Any Other Day
14. Weezer – Everything Will Be Alright in the End
15. Against Me! – Transgender Dysphoria Blues
16. FKA twigs – LP1
17. Jenny Lewis – The Voyager
18. Sturgill Simpson – Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
19. Jackson Browne – Standing in the Breach
20. Sharon Van Etten – Are We There
21. Eric Church – The Outsiders
22. Skrillex – Recess
23. The War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream
24. Leonard Cohen – Popular Problems
25. YG – My Krazy Life
26. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Hypnotic Eye
27. Alt-J – This Is All Yours
28. Parquet Courts – Sunbathing Animal
29. Spoon – They Want My Soul
30. Thom Yorke – Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes
31. Young Thug and Bloody Jay – Black Portland
32. Damon Albarn – Everyday Robots
33. The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger – Midnight Sun
34. Prince – Art Official Age
35. Lenny Kravitz – Strut
36. Alvvays – Alvvays
37. Benjamin Booker – Benjamin Booker
38. Hurray for the RIff Raff – Small Town Heroes
39. Caribou – Our Love
40. Jack White – Lazaretto
41. Aphex Twin – Syro
42. Perfume Genius – Too Bright
43. Future – Honest
44. Interpol – El Pintor
45. EMA – The Future’s Void
46. Tweedy – Sukierae
47. Gary Clark Jr – Gary Clark Jr Live
48. Coldplay – Ghost Stories
49. Tinariwen – Emmaar
50. Yob – Clearing the Path to Ascend