I'm a huge U2 fan.

They’ve been my favorite band ever since I had a favorite band.

I also like ranking my favorite things (as you’ve already seen if you’ve visited my coffee rankings page).

So it’s only natural that I provide you with a list of the best U2 songs of all time. This has been an incredibly difficult — and time-consuming! — task, but call it a labor of love.

My rankings may elicit surprise, with some songs reaching much higher, and others much lower, than some U2 fans would have predicted. But that is bound to be the case with rankings like these, which will always reflect the idiosyncratic tastes of the ranker.

What becomes immediately apparent is that the band’s older material absolutely dominates my rankings, particularly songs from The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, and Rattle and Hum. The latter is a criminally underrated album; five of the top 25 songs on my list come from it.

Note that, separating the wheat from the chaff, I am not planning to include every song the band has ever written, but rather only those songs that are worth including.

What determines whether a song makes it onto the list or not? My criteria is this: If you hear the song, do you feel compelled to listen to the end ? If the answer is yes, the song receives a ranking. I’ve listed the Top 25 songs below, with more songs to be listed in the future.

I hope my list sparks discussion and debate — that’s why these lists should exist in the first place. Enjoy.

Get ready…