Top Ten Songs by U2

Classic rock was built on the foundation of bands with staying power. The Beatles, the Stones, the Who, the Kinks, Led Zeppelin and others - bands that stayed together a decade or more and put out consistently great music. Unfortunately, bands like that are few and far between these days. The most prominent band of that type is U2.

The Irish rockers are one of the few bands to make the leap from college radio favorites to mainstream acceptance to rock-n-roll gods. It hasn't always been easy and there have been more than a few bumps along the way, but U2 have put out some of the best music of the past two decades. Here is my list of their top 10 songs, trying to highlight their many different styles along the way.

#10) Angel of Harlem After U2's multi-platinum "The Joshua Tree", the band found itself saddled with the moniker, best band in the world. Struggling with that weight, U2 turned its focus on all things American. That influence could be heard on their next album, "Rattle and Hum". The album tried to be too many things to too many people but it did have some standout cuts, including Angel of Harlem. The song is a bouncy tribute to "Lady Day" better known as Billie Holiday.

"Birdland on fifty-three
The street sounds like a symphony
We got John Coltrane and a love supreme
Miles, and she's got to be an angel

Lady Day got diamond eyes
She sees the truth behind the lies
Angel

Soul love
This love won't let me go
So long
Angel of Harlem
Angel of Harlem"

#9) I Will Follow The opening track from U2's debut album, 1980's "Boy", I Will Follow was a college-radio hit. The band had not yet developed its signature sound and the song has a definite, sign of the times, new-wave feel. At the time, it was thought to have religious overtones, while others thought it was about Bono's relationship with his mother.

"I was on the inside
When they pulled the four walls down
I was looking through the window
I was lost, I am found

Walkaway, walkaway
I walkaway, walkaway...I will follow
If you walkaway, walkaway,
I walkaway, walkaway...I will follow
I will follow."