The Best of 1990 - 2000 (2002)
1. Even Better Than the Real Thing 2. Mysterious Ways 3. Beautiful Day 4. Electrical Storm 5. One 6. Miss Sarajevo 7. Stay (Far Away, So Close) 8. Stuck in a Moment That You Can't Get Out Of 9. Gone 10.Until the End of the World 11.The Hands That Built America 12.Discotheque 13.Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me 14.Staring at the Sun 15.Numb 16.The First Time
In many respects, U2’s second greatest hits compilation, The Best of 1990–2000, manages to improve upon the first. There’s a greater cohesion in the sound, the sequencing is smoother, and the selections, for the most part, are more thoughtfully curated. But despite these strengths, the set ultimately falters—not for what it includes, but for what it leaves out.
By the 1990s, U2 had traded in the ringing anthems and stripped-down righteousness of their early years for something more complex and synthetic. This was the “techno” era, as it’s often labeled, but that term, reductive though it may be, at least speaks to the band’s relentless desire to evolve. What’s striking here is how well that era holds together in hindsight. Though critics and some fans resisted the shift at the time, the material has aged surprisingly well. In this collection, the sonic through-line from Achtung Baby through Pop gives the album a fluidity that the more stylistically varied The Best of 1980–1990 lacked.
Another improvement is the presence of several non-album tracks—four in total—all of which prove to be worthwhile inclusions rather than mere padding. These are not afterthoughts or B-side curiosities; they’re fully realized pieces that earn their place and add depth to the collection.
But for all that the compilation gets right, it stumbles in crucial ways. The most glaring omission is The Fly—arguably the band’s most defining song of the decade, and a cornerstone of their reinvention. That it’s missing from a collection purporting to represent the best of the 1990s is, quite frankly, baffling. It’s not just a curious oversight—it’s a hole right in the middle of the set’s identity.
Compounding the confusion is the inclusion of two tracks from the 2000 album All That You Can’t Leave Behind. These are strong songs, certainly—Beautiful Day and Stuck in a Moment Without You are both highlights of that album—but their presence feels like a breach in the editorial wall. This was, after all, meant to be a snapshot of the 1990s. Including material from the next decade doesn’t just muddle the concept—it uses valuable space that could have been better allocated.
Had the compilation drawn a clean line at the end of the decade, and used the extra room to reinstate The Fly (and perhaps another deep track, such as Acrobat or Please), the result would have been far stronger. As it stands, The Best of 1990–2000 is an effective, if slightly compromised, summary of a decade in which U2 risked everything—and, for the most part, delivered.
Still, for all its minor missteps, this remains a compelling listen. Cohesive, well-produced, and, at times, surprisingly moving, it reaffirms that even U2’s most polarizing period was marked by ambition, invention, and, yes, plenty of greatness.