10 Perfect Albums Ruined By One Song

10. Elvis Presley and America - U2

The streak of albums that U2 went on in the '80s still holds up as some of the greatest rock and roll of the decade. As they worked their way closer and closer to the Joshua Tree, you could see the Irish lads slowly but surely honing their craft through albums like War and October. And when they first broke through on the Unforgettable Fire, we got a song that feels like it should have been a leftover.

Compared to the other songs on this record, Elvis Presley and America feels really off. While not the first song that U2 would write in tribute to one of their heroes, this entire song feels like it's missing something, with Bono meandering his way through the song with a backing track that is too slow for its own good. And that's because...well, it's actually slowed down.

From the original tracks that the band had, they originally just slowed down a backing track that they had already made and had Bono improvise freeverse-style until they hit upon something that sounded good. If anything, this entire song feels like a good exercise to see if U2 can write a song in this formula rather than starting with an actual structure in the beginning. There's a reason why this song sounds the way it does: this is one of the few songs on here that is genuinely unfinished.