The Joshua Tree

This was bad. It was so boring and after the first 3 tracks, it sounded like 1 big song

The only thing saving this from a 2 star rating is the fact they have 3 big songs on this. Them I enjoyed. The rest of this album I did not

Rounded up to 3 ⭐️

This album is frustrating, because it’s almost pretty decent, but there are just a few things with U2’s sound that I kind of just can’t do. Either way, I’m not sure this has earned the classic status that it is often given. I will say that if you heard this when it came out, I can kind of get it. At the time, I could have seen the Edge’s signature tone and effects being atmospheric and kind of futuristic, but unfortunately, time has not been kind to The Joshua Tree, and this guitar sound is, to me, synonymous with advertising, which really is too bad. That being said, it is sorta U2’s fault, if your signature guitar effect is a delay pedal, then you can’t complain if it doesn’t sound all that exciting to future generations. Something I can more confidently blame on U2 is Bono’s performance here. Something about the way he sings makes me feel like a cat being pet backwards. His pitch isn’t always there, he tries ducking off into expressive little detours that just don’t feel right to me, and when he gets a little growly, it kind of sounds like he has something stuck in his throat. A lot of the songs here, on a writing level, are at least melodically decent, if melodramatic, but what often really makes or breaks an individual song for me is Bono. For example, on I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, he plays it pretty straight and let’s the melody speak for itself, and as such, it’s one of my favorites on here. Conversely, Bullet The Blue Sky is pretty good, until Bono starts doing his thing, and I’m immediately sucked out of an otherwise atmospheric song. I would also like to note the baffling Trip Through Your Wires, which stuns me with Bono yelping to no particular gain, and harmonica playing which feels as though it has no place on this album. Although, I did actually like the subdued approach of the last two tracks here: Exit and Mothers Of The Disappeared. They both tone it back and let the atmosphere speak instead of trying to coat then in obnoxious vocals and huge choruses. Overall, this was actually kind of interesting to me, I just didn’t like it that much. But I do think there’s value of some kind here.

'Our love turns to rust / We're beaten and blown by the wind, blown by the wind.' Bono's no Boss, but that's clearly what's he's going for w/ this one. Apparently about 'America,' the fantasy as well as the reality, The Joshua Tree is really about U2 being the most maddeningly mawkish band in the history of pop music. 'I can't live, with or without you / with or without you.' I bring up Bruce Springsteen b/c, unlike Bono, he brilliantly negotiates the sentimental and the concrete. U2, on the other hand, is absolute schmaltz. Plus, it goes w/o saying that Bruce knows America better than these faux. The best songs, 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' and 'Running to Stand Still,' are doomed by vague religiosity. The rest? Acute syrup.

I’m at a 4.5 & I’ll have to talk my way into either a 4 or a 5.

I dunno, I just found myself a little underwhelmed compared to the expectations I had – whenever an album pops up on the list that has both the critical acclaim & the sales to back it up, it feels like a sort of cultural zeitgeist, and the sort of album where once you hear it, you fully & totally understand why it has that place. The first 3 songs fit that bill really, really nicely, & the rest of the album coasts off of those 3 tracks, carrying itself rather well to a smooth 50 minutes. I’m not disappointed by the quality of the album, because it is a 4 at the very, very least. I just feel like I’m leaving this album without having fully gotten it, because it just doesn’t feel like a fully satisfying front to back album. There’s not a bad track, there’s not any noticeably awkward moments, and in terms of production / vocal work, I have genuinely no major complaints. I just think the pacing of the album doesn’t lend itself to that “all-timer” status.

I do have a nitpick, and it may be a big enough nitpick to qualify as a complaint, as it’s one that just permeates throughout the remainder of the album for me: I just don’t think the lyricism is that tight. A lot of the political statements that underline this album add heavily needed context to a number of these tracks, but without them, I think parts of this album don’t feel as satisfying, at least to my ears. A lot of the political statements being made are in reference to specific events, but painted with broader strokes, and as such, I think they’re left too open to interpretation on some of its more biting ones. I might just be reading them the “wrong” way, though.

As a whole though, even with the lyricism not feeling as tight & as timeless as it could be on its more politically driven tracks, when it gets closer to the personal level of “Achtung Baby”, it hits really, really nicely. It’s just not all-time songwriting, at least not to the level I was expecting based on the critical acclaim. Does that drag the album down enough to give it a 4 as opposed to a 5? Eh, not necessarily. Really, if there’s anything that’ll drag the album down to a 4, it would be that the album isn’t as “energetic” as I was expecting, with a lot more of these tracks feeling folksier, & the overall tone of the album coming across as more preachy than I anticipated. There’s a lot of biblical / spiritual overtones that permeate the album, and while it’s to be expected from U2, it feels especially heavy-handed on this one. “I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For” may as well be a church hymn.

At a base level, each of my complaints about pacing, lyricism, or overall tone aren’t enough to drag them down to a 4 by themselves, but when you pile them on top of each other, for my own personal tastes, I think they just compound in a way where I can’t personally give this a 5, at least on a first pass – hell, I listened to the album twice, just to be absolutely sure with myself, and I’m pretty comfortable with where I’m at – hence, the bump down to a 4. Still like a 9/10, though.

Make no mistake: I really did enjoy this album, and I can see it easily going up to a 5 if it just clicks better on a different day. If this is someone’s favorite U2 album, I wouldn’t question that one bit. It’s certainly my second favorite one, from what I’ve heard. For my tastes, based on what we’ve gotten from the list, my favorite goes to “Achtung Baby”. Hell, since this is the last U2 album on the list, I guess it’s up to me to see if the rest of “The Unforgettable Fire” lives up to “Pride (In The Name of Love)”. As far as Bono & friends go, it’s a solid 16/20, but batting an average of 4 is pretty damn good regardless. Hell, it would be 13/15 if “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” wasn’t here. C’est la vie, though.

Meh .. downhill after the first 3 tracks

Elliot loves U2.

svaka pjesma slična, traje duže nego što bi trebala i previše zavijanja, prenemaganja, klišejizirano, radiofrendli itd, al je okej u stvari, nezz

Great album.

Geniales Album mir 3 starken Titeln am Anfang. Diese nehmen den Hörer mit in die Tiefen des Albumskonzept, sodass sich auch die weiteren Titel sehr gut einbinden.

Classic. 4/5. Starts so strong with 3 iconic songs but peters out.

"This is Stanley Hudson, and is one of our talented salesmen. An African American father of two, Stanley's dedication is no doubt one of the hallmarks of the foundation of the business we're hoping to build our basis on."

U2 is a lot like Coldplay for me in terms of how I feel about them (vaguely annoyed, bored, well at least they're familiar). There are certainly a lot of hits on here.

Highlights: 'Where the Streets Have No Name' (only because one of my favorite songs is "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and therefore I also like the Pet Shop Boys' 'Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)'), 'Running to Stand Still'

The fact that this album came up a few days ago and I saved it for my next bout of insomnia... yeah, that about sums it up. Dull but occasionally useful. 🥱

Ah yeah, another two. We’re on a roll.

The soundtrack of my life for the last 38 years.

This album is ridiculously front loaded - the first three tracks are the big hitters while the rest is largely unmemorable. Even though the first tracks are completely overplayed, I have to give them some credit; they're overplayed for a reason. But I can't imagine ever choosing to listen to this.

I already heard Achtung Baby on this journey and how U2 reinvented themselves going into the 90s. It's about time we took a step back to what I consider to be the peak of their first run with The Joshua Tree.

This album is undoubtedly the most anthemic the band ever got in their Irish-rooted heartland rock, where the songs bounce and sway with the sort of quiet explosion that the band were capable of back in the 80s. From the Edge's jaunty guitar strumming, Larry Mullen Jr.'s pulsating drums, Adam Clayton's infectious bass cylinders, and young Bono's soaring vocals, and aided by the rhythm section focused production of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, the band had this unparalleled etherealness for the time.

The most shining aspect of this album is the lyrics that tread the line between earnest comfort and socially charged poignancy. From the single-minded searching in "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", the condemnation of US foreign policy for the unrest caused in Central America on "Bullet the Blue Sky" and "Mothers of the Disappeared", the tragic drug-riddled couple portrayed in "Running to Stand Still", to reflections on the loss of a close friend of the band on "One Tree Hill", there's personal stake that Bono took in. This was not simply his beef with the Reagan administration, but just how to reconcile with oneself and move forward, to find pathos in what one thought the land of the free would be versus what it was. As such, the content of this album remains starkingly relevant to this day.

I know that following this album would be the release of Rattle and Hum, which exposed how pretentious the band ended up being, and they would spend decades having to live up and down from where they were here. Regardless of what came next, The Joshua Tree remained a strong album in U2's discography, when their songwriting reached its apex.

I’ve never liked U2, I honestly don’t get their appeal. That was until today, this album is bloody brilliant. I wouldn’t say I’m a fan now but I am willing to give them a go.

If you were in a covers band with your schoolmates at the time this album was tantalising, especially if you had a half decent drummer. The bass lines were so easy to work out and play, the smattering of keyboards were mostly straightforward and you didn't absolutely have to be a great singer to fake Bono's over earnestness. But nobody could afford The Edge's rack delay unit and even if you could you'd probably struggle with the settings. Didn't stop us trying and coming up with laughably weird spiky and plinky plonky versions.

Gets an extra star for the nostalgia factor.

The Good: U2
The Bad: U2
The Ugly: U2

Is that me cheating above? Should I be more creative? Maybe. However, I’ve never been a U2 fan, even if I really like a lot of their music… I just find that Bono has re-invented the term Ego

However, holy crap, what an album!
Many of my friends in high school and college had this album, yet I never bothered listening to it, the album that is. Because, unless one was living under a rock, there was no escaping several of the massive hits that are included on this album.

A great listen. An album to played with frequency, and thus, sadly for me, a 5*