Ranking the 5 Best Album-Closers by U2

U2’s catalog ranks right up there with the best of any rock band in history. Even on albums that were relatively middling (at least compared to the imposing standard set by some of their masterworks), there are keeper tracks that any band would love to have.

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When you think about the songs they’ve chosen to close out their albums, a few of the best come from some of those relative misfire albums. Here are the five U2 album-closers we believe are tops.

5. “Yahweh” from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004)

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb gets slept on sometimes because people see it as a mere continuation of the uplifting formula the band mastered on their previous record (All That You Can’t Leave Behind). That view overlooks that the album features some of the band’s strongest ever songwriting. As the closer, “Yahweh” isn’t trying to do anything fancy musically, which actually makes it just right for the message of humility Bono is delivering. Just the natural chemistry of these four guys makes this one something special.

4. “The Wanderer” (Starring Johnny Cash) from Zooropa (1993)

On Zooropa, U2 took the approach of throwing everything at the wall, and frankly, not everything stuck. “The Wanderer” sort of comes out of the blue at the end of the album, especially when Johnny Cash steps up to the mic instead of Bono. As a summation of the rest of the record, it’s probably a bit wanting. But as a standalone piece of music, it’s a gem. The band hands Cash a brooding backdrop that slowly builds in intensity, while Bono provides lyrics full of portent and regret. From there, it was just a matter of getting out of the way and letting the Man in Black do his thing.

3. “Love is Blindness” from Achtung Baby (1991)

For our money, Achtung Baby is U2’s masterpiece. Those go-for-the-rafters moments for which the band is known are there, but so are heaping helpings of irreverence to balance out the earnestness, as well as darkness to make the light that much more appreciated. “Love is Blindness,” as the closing track, certainly dwells in the shadows. Bono moans and groans some of his most biting lyrics over a sauntering rhythm, calling love a dangerous idea / That almost makes sense. In a change of pace for the band, he restrains those vocals, letting The Edge do all the emoting with his anguished guitar lead.

2. “40” from War (1983)

U2 made the third-album leap that all the greats seem to do on War, mostly because it felt like the first they thought of an LP as one piece instead of just a collection of songs. A big part of that was sequencing things in just such a way that “40” made perfect sense as the sweet sentiment to close it out. Even though the song takes its time, much of its power derives from Larry Mullen Jr.’s forceful rat-a-tat. In addition, it’s one of the most beautiful melodies the band ever conjured. Feel free to wave those lighters with this one.

1. “All I Want Is You” from Rattle and Hum (1988)

We’ve done of these few album-closer lists for other top artists, and, almost to a one, the best closer comes from one of the best albums. Not so with U2. Rattle and Hum found them forcing their way into their American influences instead of allowing them to shine through naturally. Yet “All I Want Is You” closes out the whole thing on a towering high note. There’s something a little weird about it that’s endearing, the way it almost fades away at times before returning to those typical U2 peaks. The orchestration by Van Dyke Parks feeds into the eerie catharsis of it all.

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