Rattle And Hum (studio album) by U2

Rattle And Hum by U2
Year: 1988
Overall rank: 1,229th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
73/100 (from 639 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1988 (20th)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (197th)
Award Best albums of all time (1,229th)

U2 bestography

Rattle And Hum is ranked 8th best out of 36 albums by U2 on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by U2 is The Joshua Tree which is ranked number 52 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 18,628.

U2 album bestography « Higher ranked (1,129th) This album (1,229th) Lower ranked (1,536th) »
ZooropaRattle And HumHow To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

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Rattle And Hum track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Rattle And Hum rankings

Rattle And Hum collection

Rattle And Hum ratings

Average Rating: 
73/100 (from 639 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 639 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
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07/20/2025 20:45 rfowler  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 43585/100
 
70/100
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07/20/2025 18:26 Araldo  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 35388/100
 
55/100
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06/20/2025 02:41 replacementlevel  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 7,54970/100
 
60/100
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06/13/2025 11:28 Invader666  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,62565/100
 
80/100
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06/09/2025 09:03 MemphisDelft  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 11681/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 72.5/100, a mean average of 71.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 72.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.0.

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Rattle And Hum comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 35 comments |
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Rating:  
95/100
From 03/05/2025 10:13
Don't get me wrong, I love this album but whenever I listen to it, it feels rather overblown. If they had released it without the live and covers tracks it would rank as one of the greatest albums of all time. Having said that, still in my top 100 of all time so not too shabby.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 10/10/2024 07:37
I got into the habit of listening to it by keeping only the new compositions (10) to which I added "A Room at HeartBreak Hotel" and "Hallelujah Here she comes". It makes a real studio album (except Silver & Gold) more coherent.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 03/13/2024 02:01
Whatever followed Joshua Tree was unlikely to be as good, so instead U2 went with this weird blend of live music, originals, greatest hits, and covers. The result is good - but it's kind of "cheating", isn't it? Even if they only stuck with the original material, it would still be a decent album, but I would view it almost as a companion piece to Joshua Tree. Might as well just have them both together.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 03/09/2023 02:00
There are ten original songs on this album. They're great. If those had been released without the live tracks/covers it would have a different, and better reputation.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 05/28/2021 02:44
Riddle me this ? What’s the most pretentious fat headed self indulgent my sh** don’t stink album ever released ? ‘Rattle And Hum’ quickly comes to mind

From the opening seconds of Bono’s cringeworthy declaration “Charles Manson stole it from the Beatles we’re stealing it back “ its pretty clear from the get go U2 already see themselves as one of the all time greats and it only gets worse from there - 2 Jimi Hendrix Covers, a Bob Dylan appearance, a BB King appearance and a Little Steven name drop only confirms the theory. Egotistical clap trap aside the entire DOUBLE album is an utter mess - is it a live album ? (nope), is it a covers album? (Nope), is it a reinterpretation album? (Nope), is it U2 with a self inflated opinion of themselves? (You bet). We are so big and important now we can release any piece of garbage we like

“OK Edge play the blues” !!!! If it wasn’t serious I’d swear it was a joke

Zero Stars Out 100 Ego’s
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (2 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 06/22/2020 17:57
Average Track Rating = 93.53
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 05/17/2020 21:56
Awesome!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 05/09/2020 00:44
One of the greatest compilation records ever!U2's Perfect Soundtrack.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 03/21/2019 21:14
Overall: 9.0

Top Tracks: "Angel of Harlem", "God Part II", "All I Want is You"

Pompous as all hell, but with U2 that's not a valid criticism, kinda just goes with the territory. It's as underrated as it is pretentious, but it's also one of their best collections of songs up to this point.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 02/02/2019 14:30
Dunno why this album gets so much hate (especially from the critics) I think this is a great collection of some of U2's best work.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (3 helpful | 1 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1988
1. Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth
2. Surfer Rosa by Pixies
3. Spirit Of Eden by Talk Talk
4. It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back by Public Enemy
5. ...And Justice For All by Metallica
6. Tracy Chapman by Tracy Chapman
7. Isn't Anything by My Bloody Valentine
8. Green by R.E.M.
9. Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A
10. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son by Iron Maiden
11. I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen
12. Nothing's Shocking by Jane's Addiction
13. Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1 by The Traveling Wilburys
14. Operation: Mindcrime by Queensrÿche
15. If I Should Fall From Grace With God by The Pogues
16. 16 Lovers Lane by The Go-Betweens
17. Viva Hate by Morrissey
18. Tender Prey by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
19. Starfish by The Church
20. Rattle And Hum by U2
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