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U2 - The Joshua Tree Audio CD

A fair review of the U2 "The Joshua Tree" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all U2 reviews here, or go back to the U2 tabs.

U2 Band: U2
Title: The Joshua Tree
Rating:
Release Date: 1990-06-15
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Where the Streets Have No Name 2: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For 3: With or Without You 4: Bullet the Blue Sky 5: Running to Stand Still 6: Red Hill Mining Town 7: In God's Country 8: Trip Through Your Wires 9: One Tree Hill 10: Exit 11: Mothers of the Disappeared

What I'm Looking For
It's that good. Though it sounds like teenage hyperbole, I rank this album up there with Sergeant Pepper. And not only is it good, it's been every bit as inspirational and epoch-making as that Beatles classic. Its musicality, spirituality, and political engagement transcend its original late-Eighties milieu to create an experience that crosses generations without diminishing its impact.

This album kicks off with three classic tracks: "Where the Streets Have No Name," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," and "With Or Without You. " All three were hit singles that remain in heavy rotation over twenty years after they were released. And it's not hard to see why. Not only are they musically and lyrically rich, they have a sing-along quality that radio audiences love.

When you pass the singles, you reach what makes the album great. Densely evocative tracks like "Bullet the Blue Sky," "One Tree Hill," and "Red Dirt Mining Town" aren't well known outside fan circles, but if anything they're more dense and impactful than the classic singles. Politically engaged but not bullying, these songs ask the audience questions about itself that not all of us may be ready to answer.

The celebrated desert that informs this album isn't always overt in the songs, but it's always there. The musical austerity, with guitars and drums ringing like some animal calling off in the distance, remind us that the desert is a place of purity. From Christ at Lent to John Wayne in "The Searchers," this is the desert people seek when they want to be purged and made new.

Most music released at the same time as this album was overproduced and virtually unlistenable. Not so this. "The Joshua Tree" is clean in its poetry, incisive in its music, and timeless in its impact. It encourages both imitation and parody, the marks of a true classic. And people still want to listen to it. Over twenty years later, its power and impact remain undiminished.


Classic.
on drums. Is there any doubt that this is one of the best CDs ever recorded?

Hats off to Bono on vocals and guitar, the Edge on guitar, Adam Clayton on bass, and Larry Mullin, Jr. They go down in history.

.


Excellent album that launched U2 into superstardom
Instead, they begin to incorporate American roots rock into their signature sound, especially elements of folk and country rock. For 'The Joshua Tree', U2 toned down some of the artier experiments of 'The Unforgettable Fire', while still retaining that album's atmospheric, reflective mood. While 'The Unforgettable Fire' had a couple of good songs, it also had its fair share of directionless filler, while here there is not a single weak song. The end result is an album just as ambitious as its predecessor, but far more consistent.

The typical anthemic U2 sound is most evident on the first three songs, which also became the three big hit singles; 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For', 'With Or Without You', and in particular the surging opener 'Where The Streets Have No Name', one of the best lead-off tracks for an album ever written. 'In God's Country' is another fairly straightforward anthem. In contrast, the most explicit incorporation of American music is the country-tinged 'Trip Through Your Wires', complete with sqwarking harmonica and steel guitar. 'Running To Stand Still' and 'Mothers Of The Disappeared' are very sober, restained laments for a drug addict and political prisoner respectively. At the other end of the scale, the pounding 'Bullet The Blue Sky' contains some of U2's heaviest music and lyrics, while the claustrophobic 'Exit' is downright distrubing.

In some ways it's a bit surprising that 'The Joshua Tree' was such as massive commercial success, since it is not a particularly immediate or optimistic album, nor is it an easy listen. However, from an artistic viewpoint U2 are in top form, trying a number of new things and writing really strong songs. I personally think 'Achtung Baby' just shades this album, since it was an even more radical departure that worked just as well. But 'The Joshua Tree' is still an excellent album, one of U2's very best.

Five stars.


Planted long-term success
. Of course this represents U2 at a peak of their earlier earnestness: consistently satisfying, hipster-approved, mainstream-lined like few spotlighted rock releases of the decade, if prone to staleness in retrospective treasure hunts of subtlety.


Remastered CD version
Some of their later records, especially, the newest one from 2009, are somewhat lackluster in comparison. U2 might have peaked out at this point in their career, with this record, although they still continued to put out interesting music.


You can see a complete list of all U2 discography, or go back to the U2 tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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