Rolling Stone has published a ranked list of every leadoff single U2 have released to introduce their studio albums, prompted by the band unveiling "Street of Dreams" on Tuesday as the first single from a new album due later this year. The moment is notable because it ends the longest gap in U2's career: their last record, Songs of Experience, appeared nearly nine years ago, so the new material marks a significant return after an unusually lengthy hiatus.

The article ranks the singles on both their own merit and how effectively they set up the album that followed, and it repeatedly argues that U2 have often chosen poorly. Low-ranked picks include "Get On Your Boots" (2009), said to have masked the experimental No Line on the Horizon; "Fire" (1981), which Bono himself later dismissed and which the band has not played live since 1983; and "A Day Without Me" (1980), judged a throwaway next to "I Will Follow". By contrast, overlooked but well-regarded choices such as "You're the Best Thing About Me" (2017) and higher-ranked entries like "Vertigo" (2004), which Apple used in an iPod advertisement, are treated more favourably.