War
by U2

War by U2
Year: 1983
Release date: 1983-02-28
Overall rank: 318th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 1,208 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 1983 (5th)
Award Top 50 albums of the 1980s (43rd)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (318th)

Listen on Spotify SPOTIFY

U2 bestography

War is ranked 3rd best out of 37 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 18,352.

U2 album bestography « Higher ranked (109th)
Achtung Baby
This album (318th)
War
Lower ranked (479th) »
The Unforgettable Fire

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Apr
08
Wed
Fleshwater @ Rialto Theatre
Rialto Theatre-Tucson, Tucson, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Apr
24
Fri
DEXTA DAPS LIVE! Champagne Tour
Buckhead Theatre, Atlanta, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Mar
18
Wed
Dream, Ivory
recordBar, Kansas City, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 

Listen to War on YouTube

Loading content from YouTube...

War track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

Sort Sort by

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

War rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 318th | 1980s rank: 43rd | 1983 rank: 5th
Filter Filter
Sort Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026bonnequestionMy top 100 from BEA's top 200021/100 -
2026MasterOfPuppetsTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s67/1007
2026fabm0Platinum decade 1980s77/100 -
2026araidernomoreTop 25 Music Albums of the 1980s12/2511
2026bonnequestionTop 100 Greatest Music Albums47/10054
2026 BroknsocialShawnTop 24 Music Albums of the 1980s24/241
2026CrusaderlordTop 50 Greatest Music Albums21/5060
2026Cheboygan74Top 17 Music Albums of 19835/174
2026SiromynianTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s12/10018
2026bonnequestionBest albums from '75 to '843/100 -
2026HyggevinylTop 48 Music Albums of 198333/482
2026 jeremy9Top 52 Music Albums of 198319/523
2026BurndenAceTop 100 Greatest Music Albums47/10053
2026 RhynerTop 19 Music Albums of 198319/190
2026 LeonardTop 100 Music Albums of 198324/1004
2026wizardalienTop 100 Greatest Albums of the 20th Century18/100 -
2026fabm0Platinum albums Pt 437/100 -
2026SkernsTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s41/10012
2026 LeonardTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s72/1006
2026fabm0List 19837/96 -
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 780
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 5,264
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

War collection

War ratings

Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 1,208 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help 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 1,208 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
90/100
 
3 days ago dukeboxkool  Ratings distribution  2,07672/100
 
100/100
 
02/20/2026 19:16 Kronikal433  Ratings distribution  15493/100
 
80/100
 
02/18/2026 23:04 LedZep  Ratings distribution  4,92379/100
 
70/100
 
01/20/2026 22:38 phh  Ratings distribution  14077/100
 
85/100
 
01/18/2026 23:05 BroknsocialShawn  Ratings distribution  29185/100

Rating metrics: Help 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 is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 79.1/100, a mean average of 77.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.3.

Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating

War comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 82 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
95/100
From 07/22/2024 19:23 | #304482
This was their Best Album, complete end to end! They could have released all of the tracks and they would have charted to 20 or better. I don't any of their other albums were ever quite so good
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 10/18/2022 10:20 | #290583
Quite decent record with two big highlights (Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Year's Day). Unfortunately it is less consistent than Boy and most songs on second side are not that good.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 09/07/2022 01:14 | #289469
Solid record
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/28/2022 12:43 | #280220
A very frontloaded album with the classic bangers on the A side.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
60/100
From 01/03/2022 16:56 | #278497
when it hits, it hits. when it misses, it misses which isn't unusual
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 01/01/2022 00:39 | #278297
Love this album. Very consistent but doesn't have the same highs as Joshua Tree or All That You Can't Leave Behind. Highlights are Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Years Day, Surrender and Seconds. Also really like Drowning Man and the end track, 40, though short is really nice. The Refugee is the only real down-point here, the album could do without it.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/24/2021 14:22 | #264984
Comme beaucoup, le titre blood Sunday m'a fait connaitre ce groupe. Un album très rock, peut-être le plus rock du groupe que je connaisse.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 09/29/2020 11:58 | #258849
You can see the evolution of the U2 we know today take shape in this release. Rating (80.50)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 06/30/2020 12:34 | #254800
A very good record which features a pretty interesting sound for U2. A little rougher and heavier than what they would go into on subsequent releases. This is them really finding their footing.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 07/13/2019 15:16 | #239438
It's hard to ignore the success of "The Joshua Tree," but this masterpiece from several years earlier planted seeds that eventually helped bring an end to a bloody civil war. If you want to make a chart about the influential power of popular music on the culture of its time, , U2 belongs right there with Mozart and the Beatles.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (1 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for War

Anonymous
Let us know what you think of this album by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
Log in or register to assign a rating or leave a comment for this album.
Best Albums of 1983
1. Murmur by R.E.M.
2. Violent Femmes by Violent Femmes
3. Power, Corruption & Lies by New Order
4. Synchronicity by The Police
5. War by U2
6. Speaking In Tongues by Talking Heads
7. Swordfishtrombones by Tom Waits
8. Kill 'Em All by Metallica
9. Let's Dance by David Bowie
10. Clics Modernos by Charly García
11. Script Of The Bridge by The Chameleons
12. The Final Cut by Pink Floyd
13. Soul Mining by The The
14. Piece Of Mind by Iron Maiden
15. The Hurting by Tears For Fears
16. Pyromania by Def Leppard
17. Holy Diver by Dio
18. Eliminator by ZZ Top
19. Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
20. Script For A Jester's Tear by Marillion
Back to Top