U2 is a band that has certainly gone through their share of ups and downs. From the release of The Joshua Tree, which gave them two number one singles and international success, to the release of Songs of Innocence, and its nearly opposite reception from the public, they have both enjoyed and endured a true roller coaster of a career. Anyone who was around in the '80s, or anyone who was curious enough to actually listen to the album that magically appeared in their iTunes one day in 2014, knows full well just how massively talented the band really is.

In the 45 years since their debut album, Boy, was released, U2 has consisted of the same four : Bono on vocals, The Edge on guitar, Adam Clayton on bass, and Larry Mullen Jr. on drums. U2 has, however, changed their sound and style quite a bit over the years, but have remained consistently successful with a fiercely loyal fanbase. Unless you are a devout member of that fanbase, there's a good chance you haven't heard all of U2's vast body of work. Here are ten songs that have remained buried beneath the singles, but are fantastic tracks nonetheless.

10 Wire

Track 3: The Unforgettable Fire (1984)

The Unforgettable Fire really was the perfect set-up for the massive success that was The Joshua Tree a few years later. "Wire" is a track that exemplifies that transition, but gets buried underneath the buzz of singles "Pride (In the Name of Love)," "The Unforgettable Fire," and "Bad," a staple of many of their live shows. "Wire" incorporates so much of U2's signature sound, past, present, and future.

The Unforgettable Fire really was the perfect set-up for the massive success that was The Joshua Tree a few years later.

Driven by The Edge's fast-paced guitar lick that fades in slowly at the start of the song and leads into Clayton's heavy bass line and Bono's hearty vocals, "Wire" is a song that is hard to overlook in the context of this album and U2's discography at large. The chorus is a beautiful showing of Bono's vocal prowess, as he belts, "Cold these eyes, I can't believe it / Cold, this heart is slow / Heart is stone." The way he just lets loose might be enough to categorize "Wire" as my favorite vocal song on the album.

9 Stories For Boys

Track 6: Boy (1980)

Another beautiful intro by The Edge, it's Mullen Jr. who takes over almost immediately with an absolutely insane drum fill to kick off "Stories For Boys." The drums on this song are unbelievable, Mullen Jr. making sure to assert his talent right up there with his fellow bandmates with high tempo beats and crazy fast fills in between measures. Of all the greatest examples of his drumming throughout their discography, "Stories For Boys" may very well be the absolute best.

"Stories For Boys" is also a song that feels a little bit ahead of its time. Many of the tracks on their debut album, Boy, have an almost youthful edge to them, unrefined as they were still discovering their sound. Granted, one could argue that U2 are still discovering their sound, but "Stories For Boys" is great in many of the same ways "Wire" is: its upbeat tempo, The Edge's short but sweet guitar riffs, and Bono's steady and consistent vocals.

8 I Threw A Brick Through A Window

Track 3: October (1981)

October was a typical sophomore album, with many U2 fans left feeling borderline disappointed after the way U2 burst on the scene with Boy. That said, the album's second single, "Gloria," peaked at number 10 on the Irish singles chart, and the album also gave us the great "I Threw A Brick Through A Window." This song could easily have been the other single from October; it's catchy, all the musical elements work together in perfect unison, and it's just an all around great song.

The drum beat kicks off this song before The Edge starts on a guitar riff that sounds almost like a vocal harmony with Bono once the lyrics start. Where Bono is usually a classic frontman, making the instruments really fight for the attention beyond his vocals, in "I Threw A Brick Through A Window," he almost takes a backseat, sharing all the song's attention evenly.

7 So Cruel

Track 6: Achtung Baby (1991)

Achtung Baby was an album that saw a total of five singles out of its 12 tracks, leading to its comprehensive commercial success. The Edge had recently undergone a divorce, and "So Cruel" is a deeply personal and emotional reflection of that experience by him and his bandmates. The song was written on all acoustic instruments, but given Achtung Baby's overall transitional sound to more of an electronic vibe, that recording did not entirely fit in.

After a bit more production, "So Cruel" came out as a perfect combination of the original softer acoustic sound, and a more produced, mixed song to fit in with the rest of the album. In context, the lyrics are tragic, and Bono's signature humming between the words elevates their impact. "So Cruel" is one of the greatest U2 songs where The Edge's guitar isn't immediately discernible, which certainly makes the song's impact all the more poignant.

6 In A Little While

Track 6: All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000)

The first ten seconds of "In A Little While" are just The Edge on guitar, and it sounds like he is just messing around with a riff in his living room. It's not until the drums kick in that the riff starts to come together a little more, leading right into Bono's raspy vocals. While "So Cruel" was a song whose acoustic vibe had to be masked a little bit, all four of the band really lean into the acoustic sound of "In A Little While."

The first ten seconds of "In A Little While" are just The Edge on guitar, and it sounds like he is just messing around with a riff in his living room.

The lyrics of "In A Little While" are reminiscent of the sheer poetry of U2's earlier albums, specifically The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree. Bono's songwriting took a bit of a dip on some of their albums of the '90s, but by the time All That You Can't Leave Behind was released in 2000, he was right back at it, and "In A Little While" is a great example:

When the night takes a deep breath

And the daylight has no end

If I crawl, if I come crawling home

Will you be there?

There are a ton of great tracks on this album that may overshadow "In A Little While," but this is not at all a song to be glossed over.

5 Running To Stand Still

Track 5: The Joshua Tree (1987)

Really, only three songs have ever evoked a truly visceral reaction and stopped me dead in my tracks upon hearing them for the first time, and "Running To Stand Still" is one of them. This song is pure, unbridled ion and beauty, and it's the song that made me fall in love with U2. The introduction to the song is chilling, the guitar taking on a twangy, almost banjo-like sound, before the song really kicks off with the piano. From there, it's a slow descent into madness.

Really, only three songs have ever evoked a truly visceral reaction and stopped me dead in my tracks upon hearing them for the first time, and "Running To Stand Still" is one of them.

"Running To Stand Still" is the peak of Bono's lyrical poetry:

Sweet the sin, bitter the taste in my mouth

I see seven towers, but I only see one way out

You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking

Scream without raising your voice

In a song about drug addiction, his strong, ionate vocals hit the listener like a ton of bricks. Between verses, he launches into another signature wailing vocal performance, where he just lets his voice ring out without words, bringing the song up to an emotional high before bringing it back down, and eventually closing out the song with a beautiful harmonica solo. It's no wonder a song like this is on U2's Album of The Year-winning masterpiece.

4 Surrender

Track 9: War (1983)

"Surrender" is just a nice, simple, great all-around track. There's nothing crazy going on, no solos or insane drum fills; it's just a well-produced rock song. The drums and bass play off each other's sound, complimenting one another as the guitar provides a steady musical overlay, and the vocals are a lovely show of the higher end of Bono's range. The song closes with what sounds like a youth choir repeating the line, "Papa sing my, sing my, sing my song," softly carrying the listener out of the track.

Between verses, Mullen Jr. does, in fact, play up the drum beat a bit, and The Edge takes some creative liberties with a few licks here and there among the song's chord progression, but again, neither of them go too crazy. The lyrics tell a sad story of a young woman trying to navigate life's struggles, but the consistent musical backing sends an overall message that what she is going through is just an equally consistent reality.

3 Original Of The Species

Track 10: How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004)

"Original Of The Species" is a track that Bono has dedicated to his daughters in the past, and given the lyrics, it's easy to see why. The song is written from his perspective as a parent, and starts out with the verse: "Baby slow down / The end is not as fun as the start / Please stay a child somewhere in your heart," really pulling at the heartstrings. The Edge's guitar is complex, employing picking techniques that subtly give us just enough to appreciate the mastery we know he's capable of, without taking too much attention away from the words.

This slow, beautiful ballad touches on the duality of a child growing up, and a parent growing old while watching. It is exactly the kind of song that reminds fans why they first got into U2's music. Released in 2004 on their album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb after a string of more electronic albums, U2 was slowly moving back to their poetic lyrical and musical roots, and "Original Of The Species" is a perfect call back to that original '80s sound.

2 Kite

Track 5: All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000)

Beginning with an ethereal, dream-like string arrangement, "Kite" is another song which Bono has attributed to his kids. The entire musical backing is slow and soft, really driving home the emotion in the lyrics. He sings, "I want you to know / That you don't need me anymore," something that hits close to home for any parent. The emotional gut punches in the lyrics don't stop there, however, as towards the end of the song, he sings:

Who's to say where the wind will take you?

Who's to say what it is will break you?

I don't know where the wind will blow

Who's to know when the time's come around

Don't want to see you cry

I know that this is not goodbye

There are certainly a handful of interpretations of the lyrics and whether this song is written from the perspective of a parent or the perspective of a lost love, but one thing's certain: the emotion behind these lyrics is truly palpable.

The entire musical backing is slow and soft, really driving home the emotion in the lyrics.

The musical backing of "Kite" is just as emotionally raw as the lyrics, as it mimics a symphony at first. By the time we get to the meat of the track in the middle, the music sounds like typical U2 again, but stripped back, slowed down, and still just as fraught and emotional as the symphony at the beginning.

1 Breathe

Track 10: No Line On The Horizon (2009)

"Breathe" is a track on which The Edge really lets loose with the guitar. His style of play had always been personal to him, with riffs and patterns that certainly drew inspiration from other guitarists, but were still entirely his own. The beginning of "Breathe" is a steady drum beat which, after about 25 seconds, is accompanied by piano, and a hardcore progression on the guitar, similar to the style of Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.

The guitar isn't the only aspect of this song that draws on classic rock elements in "Breathe"; Bono's vocals also tend to stray a bit from his norm. He quickens his pace at times, and experiments with harmonies that he had not really used in the past. As the song progresses, The Edge adds in a few more riffs and licks that seem more his signature style, but still with a more classic rock influence than what U2 fans were used to. He also takes a few measures to play a fantastic, wailing solo with Mullen Jr.'s drums backing him.