The Joshua Tree

another 50 minutes of bono..

Still haven't found what Im looking for is a pure embodiment of a warm spring morning.

The whole album is very light and energetic.

There is no doubt that "The Joshua Tree" was U2's finest hour, before their success turned to hubris and they sacrificed their musical evolution for mass appeal — and with it, a certain degree of mediocrity. At some point, U2 became the U2 machine, staging colossal tours. With "The Joshua Tree", they reached their musical and compositional peak. Thanks to Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, the album is perfectly produced, transporting the Irish band to the heart of the USA, from the major cities to the endless expanses and surreal swamps of the southern states. The album opens with three of the band’s best-known and most popular songs: ‘With or Without You’, ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ and ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’. The standard remains consistently high throughout. U2’s fascination with 'mythical America' – a romanticised vision of the USA – is portrayed through musically consistent yet astonishingly diverse tracks. From the sombre swamp sound of the southern states to straightforward rock numbers, it has it all. Although the album begins with the three singles, it is anything but top-heavy, maintaining the high standard of the first section. In fact, the tracklisting is also very well thought out, which is why "The Joshua Tree" is regarded as one of the best albums of the 1980s. Remarkably, even 40 years after its initial release, it has lost none of its lustre and still sounds utterly compelling.

A powerful album which is part of my musical history

The vibes I get off this album are like an attempt to make an epic, storytelling album. Reminds me of roots rock and Bruce Springsteen. The songs themselves don't feel too long despite the runtime. My favourite among them has to be "With Or Without You". The way it builds up and gets intense with every verse is *chef's kiss*.

Unlike the last album I got, this one is more consistent, but the production choices sound make it same-y than cohesive. That's the major gripe I have with "The Joshua Tree".

U2's latest album in this project. My feelings about the band are a bit mixed. In my youth, liking this band was practically a must. I often found their music too saccharine and their stage presence too melodramatic. This album, however, brings back memories of times gone by that I cherish. And that's how I feel about this album, too. It might just be the band's best. 5/5

First three tracks are pretty dang great.

A great recording that stood the pass of time.

I think, we, as full-album listeners, sometimes forget that it's completely okay to be a singles band.

so many sitcoms have some sort of bono joke so for the longest time i did not think that u2 would be any good. jokes on me because i really did enjoy this.

There's basically no way to sustain that three song opening sequence, possibly the pinnacle of rock as pop - the rest isn't bad, it's just there. But the production is the star. The guitar sound on this album is spectactular: chiming, echoey, textural and melodic at once and the interplay with the simple but thundering post-punk bass parts creates such a huge space.

Overall this was great, but they really front loaded this one

I can see why a lot of people love this. Great atmosphere throughout and you have to say the vocals are pretty impeccable.

Oi! Gobshite! Shut the fuck up and let us hear the guitar!

I had a lit teacher in high school named Mr. Tucker. Now Mr. Tucker was generally a cool dude - he taught the classics like 1984, Brave New World etc and was probably in his early 50s at the time.

Mr. Tucker was obsessed with U2. He was convinced they were geniuses and their work transcended those who listened to a higher plane. I would argue about how my angsty bands at the time were better (namely Tool and Porcupine Tree) but he would always come out on top.

Listening to The Joshua Tree I could not help but come up with quips to arm my 16 year old self with: "the Coldplay of the 80s", "pop rock so soft it should only be played on the speakers of a Goodwill" etc etc.

The thing is, no matter how hard bono yelps and that little guitar strums I just don't hear passion, nor a cause. I hear pandering dribble to numb the masses. Not for me.

1.7/5 -> 2/5

Ganz gut. Ikonisch. Aber bin kein U2 Fan

Was enjoying the first 2 minutes and was then let down when Bono started singing. I still haven't found what I'm looking for and with or without you carry this to a 3

Five innit?

Can't be many greater opening 3 track combos than this. Yes, of course they got massively annoying and Bono became "Bono" etc etc. But as an example of a band at the peak of their powers - Bono's howling vocals, Edge's driving guitar, Larry's heavy boot, Adam's tonality................ it's absolutely glorious.

Great.

Stacked first side, and some still very good songs on the second. Can easily see how this made them the world's biggest rock band.