The Joshua Tree

I think this is the worst thing I've listened to yet. I tried. Honest. It was really a struggle to power through this. Every song was exactly the same. At its best, I found some of these songs to be somewhere between "Gen X Easy Listening" and "Songs to hear when you're in the dental chair". If you found a Gen Z kid who had never heard U2 and then played this album for them while saying "These guys sell out stadiums", they straight up wouldn't believe you

I still haven't found what I'm looking for, but I know it's definitely not U2.

I needed exactly this album today. I mean, this is one of those all-time-great albums anyway but there's nothing like listening to the perfect album for a particular time. This morning, this is the album I needed and I'm not even a U2 fan. But these tracks are undeniable monsters.

Seventeen year old me chalks this up as an easy 5. And upon listening again, 51-year old me is pleased to agree with my younger self. Bono can get on my nerves pretty fast, but I have to think even his harshest critics have to give him props for a lot here, especially With Or Without You and my favorite track on the album, Running To Stand Still. This was the moment for U2 when everything fell together, and they finally reached an audience who somehow missed their landmark performance at Live Aid two years earlier. The three hit songs from this album are arguably the three most popular of the band's career. It's almost the definition of a quintessential album. It's worth listening to the 30th anniversary edition, as not only is the entire original album remastered, but you get a great concert from this album's tour in 1987. For anyone tired of "With Or Without You", go watch how it was used in the final episode of The Americans. It'll make you appreciate the song all over again. As much as I cherish The Joshua Tree, it's my third favorite U2 album. Quick research tells me the other two will be coming up on this list.....

When I grabbed The Joshua Tree on cassette when dropped my senior year of high school, it was exactly what I needed and solidified that U2 was my favorite band. There was no album I knew better that year. Its symbolic and poetic lyrics are rich with very human truths and contradictions, as well as spiritual longings. I could write on and on about how each song has influenced my own writing, spirituality, and outlook on life, and how the musicianship from Bono, Edge, Adam and Larry in this piece of art framed a sound that I gravitated towards back in '87 as well as inspired my search for more of the same moving into college and beyond. There isn't 1 of the 11 songs that I don't love and that doesn't spark contemplation and joy in me. I know each one personally and have meditated on each with endless hours and emotional intention. Initially One Tree Hill was not a popular song, but it made it onto several mix tapes that Scott and I made. One of my Top 10 albums of all time, The Joshua Tree is one of my favorite representations of why an album is greater than the sum of its parts, even though each individual song is so powerful!

I'm not a fan of U2, and this is a great representation of their sound.

I've written and deleted the word "bloviated" at least five times. Thing is, despite each song being a short walk up a small hill stretched out to feel like an ironman challenge courtesy of those neverending synth lines, marching drums, and Bono's mouthful of cotton wool, these songs move at some kind of clip. Right, they spend longer in each section of the song than most artists would, but within their clearly defined aesthetic, they don't spend longer than they should. So I'm happy to call it a formal achievment, even if I found virtually nothing that made me want to come back.

U2 seem to be the band everyone loves to hate, mainly due to Bono. I never really felt that is particularly fair but I've never really previously found a good reason to ignore this viewpoint either. A further listen today hasn't changed this. I tried to be open minded and enjoy it, but I just cringed. Bono over-sings every line like a 3 years old who hasn't got his or her own way. Some people are just born to be really annoying and you can't quite pinpoint exactly why. With regret Bono, that's you.

My first 5* new discovery (although hardly a hidden gem) and of all the artists for it to be... not a weak song in sight though and there's just a weird kind of atmosphere throughout which I can't pinpoint but I'm all in for. Best track: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

Perhapss the most important Irish rock album of all time and certainly the album that turned U2 into the biggest band in the world. It is both a political and religious album and makes no apology for it; ground well covered by U2 prior to Joshua Tree. On this record however there is a power and conviction in the songs as well as a confidence in the presentation and imagery of Americana, despite most of the songs not being directly about America. ‘WTSHNN’, inspired by Belfast, is as good an opener as you’ll hear on any album whilst the soaring ‘Red Hill Mining Town’ is about the UK miners strike of 1984. Although the second half of the album cannot match its powerful opening run of anthems The Joshua Tree is a triumph.

Beautiful album. The opening three songs are probably the best album opener of all time. The rest of the album is filled with mysterious atmospheric songs about American desert, which are not standout hits, however give a great vibe.

Classic! Everyone needs to hear these songs

U2 fucking sucks

As someone who grew up surrounded by desert but didn't appreciate the landscape until I grew up and moved away, I connect with U2's desire to build an album around their desert inspiration. The album builds up and opens with so much excitement and energy. That energy builds and is held throughout the entire album. This album marries unique rock instrumentation with Bono's soaring, ethereal voice to make every track something interesting, unique, and a little bit mysterious. Everything about Bono's voice seems deliberate; you can feel the emotion behind the way he sings, artistic and full of emotion, but in full command of his vocals. Bono's lyrics, inspired by political and world events, are also deliberate and done incredibly artfully, as if writing a poem. This album caught my attention and didn't let go until it was finished. Every song was strongly written, sung, and performed. This has definitely inspired me to dig further into U2's discography.

Hard to think of an album with a stronger opening three songs. This album turned U2 into global superstars and rightly so. It’s not just the anthemic Where the Streets have no name, Still haven’t found what I’m looking for or With or without you that make this such a good album, it is consistently excellent all the way through. Blues and Country influences add light and shade throughout as U2 tap into their American influences and the result is a near flawless record with some epic track that have more than stood the test of time.

Amazing, not listened to this in a very long time. Forgot how brilliant U2 are, when they are just being brilliant. I was back in the car with my Dad listening to this on cassette during the drive to school.

Greatest three-song stretch opener of all time. These songs are loud and orchestral, carrying New Wave into a more alt rock direction in the late 80s. This is an album hard for me to describe why it deserves all 5 stars, but it's intelligent and hardly possesses any negative characteristics. Between the lyrics and choice of instruments like the harmonica, the songs reflect strongly of American folk culture, speaking of the vast open space and American ideals. The gospel-like orchestral sound puts you in that environment, feeling insignificant yet open to opportunities. Did I mention Eno helped produce this piece? Explains a lot considering he invented the ambient genre. There is hope and optimism in these songs (also religiously influenced). This is U2's most impressive record yet and got me into plenty of their singles.

Hard to think of an album with a stronger opening three songs. This album turned U2 into global superstars and rightly so. It’s not just the anthemic Where the Streets have no name, Still haven’t found what I’m looking for or With or without you that make this such a good album, it is consistently excellent all the way through. Blues and Country influences add light and shade throughout as U2 tap into their American influences and the result is a near flawless record with some epic track that have more than stood the test of time.

Awful, like Phil Collins all the songs have completely rounded edges, anything interesting is sanitised for mass appeal. Anything that seems like it might be worth listening to is repeated for ages until you forget how it could have been interested in the first place. With or without you is the best track and it's terrible.

It’s been said that Elvis died musically when he reported for duty after receiving his draft notice. U2 died musically with Joshua Tree. The rating is not based on the music which is better than my rating. It’s a 1 because it marked the death of an excellent band’s music and how big of a letdown that was. Their first album Boy came when exciting music was staring to make its way to Sudbury. I expect MG procured Boy since I recall having it on cassette. I stayed a U2 fan for their first three albums picking up what I could on cassette. I saw WAR on release in the local record store, bought it on the spot and it was my favourite album. I was a big U2 fan. They were getting better known and their music kept getting better. They had a hard driving original sound, were exploring new areas, playing w passion and had an original and provocative sound. WAR was better than prior albums and they were on an insanely good trajectory. I could only dream about what might come next. Spoiler Alert Then came Joshua Tree. They simply followed what worked on WAR. They died musically. I think they realized this and tried to get back on the trajectory but never did. The ship had sailed. Of course the record buying public rewarded them which didn’t help. Its hard not to think of Joshua Tree when I hear the song American Pie.

The best album opening ever and one of the best albums ever made; should be played through high-quality speakers for maximum effect...

I struggle to think of a better opening three tracks of any other album - it’s quite something and nearly 35 years later the 3 tracks remain as iconic as ever. The rest of the album can’t cope to keep up but still holds some of U2’s best work by a distance. I debated a four but felt I would be doing this album a disservice so I listened again - it’s gets the five it deserves

Classic U2 album. Probably their best with some of their most well-known and best loved songs. Probably a band at their peak on this.

Love

Well shit I love this album. Second half cannot keep up with the galactic speed of the first but that is only because the first three songs left the world breathless. “Running to Stand Still” remains in my list of top 10 songs of all time.

One of the great albums of all time!

You can tell that U2 knew what album they wanted to make, and they succeeded on all fronts. All the singles are frontloaded but you never want to stop listening because every track could’ve been a single. Another example of albums as art.

I was going into this expecting to have a 5, I think I set myself up for disappointment. This is an amazing album, the first half being my favorites. After the half way point, however, I became less interested and impressed. A bit too similar in the later half. Standouts: Where The Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, With Or Without You, Bullet The Blue Sky, and Red Hill Mining Town.

Starts off incredibly strong. It’s such a strong start that you might think to yourself, “are U2 going to defy the odds and pull off a perfect record?”, but it gradually falls off, song by song, and becomes evident that Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois’ production is doing a fair amount of heavy lifting on this record.

Some of the tracks on the second half of this album are a bit boring/naff but the first 4-5 really make up for it. Bullet the Blue Sky is slammin'

Joshua Tree? More like Jogging in Circles. 'Running to Stand Still' made me squirm—like, Bono, we get it, you're emotional, but why is he breathing so loud? Did someone forget to bring an inhaler to the recording session? Best tracks? Definitely 'Bullet the Blue Sky,' 'Exit,' and 'Mothers of the Disappeared'—at least there’s some edge there (pun intended). But overall? Yeah, it's kinda like being lectured by that one guy at the bar who really wants you to know how deep he is. Overrated? U(get)2. 2/5.

I am not too excited for today's album; I've been known to traditionally not like U2's music. I have never, however, sat down and listened to a full album of theirs either, so we will see how this goes. Right off the bat, three of their "hits" play back to back: Where the Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, and With or Without You. I am familiar with these songs, and don't particularly like any of them. It may be because radio stations have literally played them to death, or it may be the ethereal, slow, elevator music-esque atmosphere that all of their songs have, but I just don't like the music, I don't have a reason why. Also, a minute passes before anything happens in Where the Streets Have No Name for some reason. Bono's try-hard, angst filled vocal delivery is just grating. Leave it to Bono to not look at the camera for the album cover photo. He probably saw a koala in distress. What a tool. I think my favourite story about Bono is that one time, Shane McGowan (lead singer of the Pogues) was crashing with Bono for a time. Bono's house was quite handy to a busy railroad. Droves of people went by on the train every day to see Shane flapping his cock at them in the window of Bono's home, unbeknownst to Bono. Bono got the blame, and promptly kicked Shane out. Overall, this is bland Walmart rock. I just don't like U2. I will never listen again if I can help it. Favorite songs: Bullet the Blue Sky, Trip Through Your Wires (the little bit of energy this album has is during these two songs) Least favorite songs: the whole beige, bland album. 2/5

Still one of the greatest running starts to an album, first four tracks are brilliant and peak U2. The rest of the album holds up well too, in mu opinion.

Wow, the first three songs are back to back bangers. I’ll never not like Where the streets have no name with its subtle start from nothing to that great guitar line. Didn’t know the rest of the songs but enjoyed what I heard. Atmospheric sounds and nice rising melodies. Doesn’t sound like it’s from the 80s. 5* Highlights: where the streets have no name, I still haven’t found what I’m looking for, with or without you

A foundational favorite, even far into the depths of hipsterdom the following decade and beyond. It does take itself a bit seriously (e.g., "Bullet The Blue Sky", the coda of "One Tree Hill") but fair enough, the tunes are more than sufficient to carry the weight of the ego (I even made a pilgrimage up the latter while in Auckland and, of course, have visited Zabriskie Point). Caused a spirited debate amongst my kids whether "Where The Streets Have No Name" is grammatically correct, and if "Running To Stand Still" is a stupid expression, so thanks for that Bongo. If you like this, and you like "War", check out "The Unforgettable Fire"; it's basically the average of the two, a bit more new wave with limited Americana and Enofication, epic soundscapes that are a bit rougher around the edges. I can't hide from my unfashionable tastes on this website - yes, I really do like U2 and The Doors, let's see who crawls out of the woodwork next..

I was in a pub once and I heard these two Irish voices behind me saying ‘I’ll have a pint of Guinness’, I turned round and it was Bono and his mate The Edge. Bono looked at me and said ‘Alright mate?’ and I said ‘Oh no, not YOU TWO again!’. Anyway we all laughed and I told that while I’m no U2 super fan, this is a perfect album. I asked him why he was wearing sunglasses indoors but I don’t think he heard me because he started talking about something else.

Classic. Nostalgic.

This one is easy, all time favourite of mine, there is only one song I usually skip, if I am in the mood, everything else is basically perfect.

Great album

Not much to say, really.

don't LOVE U2 but this album is pretty damn good

a classic

Gran disco, la verdad. Quizá hoy en día, U2 ha perdido vigencia, pero sin duda, tuvieron lo suyo. No sé bien cómo explicarlo, pero creo que es un álbum grandilocuente: en su conjunto, las melodías con las letras, la voz de Bono, tranquila en ocasiones, en otras, más bien hasta desgarradora. Creo que todas las canciones me gustan, la triada del principio está muy bien, pero quizá mi fav esta vez sea "Mothers of the Disappeared". Un cierre genial. Finalmente, un pensamiento random: ¿le debe mucho Muse —con sus atributos y carencias— a U2? 9.5/10.

Un classique. Le debut est incroya le 5*

Incredible. Epic. Interesting. Lyrically diverse. An all time classic.

A perfect classic.

There is literally nothing I can say about this album that has not been said by thousands of other Irish. It's a national heritage at this stage. It should be on a podium in Dublin Airport, and it probably is. Bono is still a gobshite though.

Really starts off with a trio of bangers. The influence this album has is readily apparent. Sometimes it can be hard to view a work of art separate from the art it has influenced. It is hard to view a work alone and not think of the many pieces it has gone on to influence. Sometimes a work of art might not stand the test of time on its own but rather as a piece of all it helped create. I think this album is not that. I think it does stand on its own. I might like some of the music is inspired more, but I liked this quite a bit.

U2 really did a disservice to themselves by arranging the track list the way they did. The first 16 minutes of this album are literally perfect. The rest of the album is really great. But I felt like I was waiting for there to be another song that matched the high of the first 3 tracks, but it never came. Still really enjoyable, for sure.

And on the first day Bono said, Eno, make me sound like God. I wrote that on Friday, and on Sunday night I can’t remember where I was going for that. This is a very good record, front-loaded but never less than bold.

where the streets have no name is an incredible way to start the album and really leans into that moody 80s post punk which is a genre i really love. I still haven't found what ive been looking for and with or without you continued the trend of awesome fucking songs. the rest of the album couldnt really compare to the first three tracks but honestly thats fine: it was all enjoyable

This still stands up after all these years.

Great album, great band. This album touches all genres, rock, gospel, etc. Fantastic album. Alway a pleasure to listen to.

Nice music. Not a song on the album that I didn't like the sound of. Easy listening. Pretty hard to believe that some songs on the albums have so much more plays than the others. There's a lot of people who are probably missing out on some good songs because they all just listen to that one track.

listened before, makes me think of mom (surprise surprise), love that bono is a man with Feeling (tm)

Never been a huge U2 fan. Not bad, but pretty generic and samey sounding.

I do not love U2 and would go so far to say that they get a big eye roll from me, but I like the more muted rock from this album compared to their hits from the aughts.

U2 sucks. Which is probably just how Gen Xers feel about sixties and seventies rock. We all want to burn down what came before. Can’t understand how this is a totemic album if the eighties. Because the rest is so much worse? The hits are good but repetitive. I probably would have loved it if I were born in 1970 and 17 when this came out. Alas, I wasn’t, and I don’t. Bono’s carefully triangulated liberal Irish Catholicism - I wanna drink with my lefty friends but not offend the pope or Reagan, challenge them, convict their hearts for Jesus! but not offend - is exhausting. As is his keening wail. As is his self indulgence. And that thumping rhythm that a hundred bands drove to death - looking at you, Coldplay. Like all these albums, maybe great for someone sometime. Now a period piece curiosity at best. I’ve found what I’m looking for, elsewhere.

More confused than ever at how popular U2 are, especially this record. It’s not terrible. They arent terrible. But it isnt great either. Hated the first 3 songs - each one sounded tiresome and strained. Like theyd found a catchy hook and wanted to drag it out over and over and over. But then Bullet the Blue Sky came on which has a totally different sound. Almost Nick Cave at times in terms of the vocals. I’d go as far as saying the non-singles are what saves this album. Enjoyed Bullet the Blue Sky, In Gods Country, One Tree Hill, and Exit. None are amazing, but decent enough. Seems to me that when they arent striving to write a stadium rock song they aren’t too shabby. Either way, I wont be returning to this. It’s ok. Nout special. Dont get the hype. 2.5

Kinda begrudgingly didn't mind this. Much better than achtung baby that we've had previously, but mostly because I knew the hits on this album. Still not a u2 fan and I don't think I ever will be, but didn't dislike it like I thought I would. It's still all just so safe and dull though. Nothing remotely exciting here either With or without you is probably the best track, although not sure I would be bothered if I never heard it again.... They also look like knobs on the album cover 2.5, I enjoyed Alanis more so this is getting 2

It’s wild to me that the wiki page said this was a push for a harder hitting sound. As someone who hasn’t heard a U2 album before this, I can only imagine their previous albums were marketed as sleep aids. Everything is so soft and rounded off like the album was childproofed. Truly one of the albums of all time.

I knew one or two of these songs already. This album was not bad by any means, but I didn’t find it particularly interesting. It’s not something I would choose to listen to again.

Tried to get through it a couple of times, it just doesn't work for me. The calculating earnestness of their influences and output is very disingenuous, always has been. They're copyists rather than innovators - music for people without ambition or imagination. Some of their music is magical, but even that is lost in the face of the zealotry of their believers. The Manchester United of music

Gone back for a listen … No surprises, nothing intriguing hiding inside, never really a fan Just leaves me a bit cold to be honest …

This list has made me re examine a few huge rock albums which I have always written off as trite and I now love. This was not the case here. They have taken all the elemnts of post punk and ambient pioneers and just made it all so incredibly boring. Even the involvment of the great Brian Eno couldn't save them from devolving on every song into the same pseudo ambient shimmering guitar and Bono droning in exactly the same tone on every track. Fair enough they have fit on a formula and it works but wheres the variety? Apparntly their previous album was much more experimental. I'll check that one out instead.

It's like if 9/11 was an album

Listening to this album feels like I'm trapped in an MC Escher painting on a never ending staircase. Every song feels like it's building to a crescendo that never happens.

i genuinely do not understand the hype behind U2. how they have managed to cling onto relevancy is beyond me. album comes across as whiny and drab. entirely doleful. genuinely a hard 45 mins to sit through.

The first three tracks can easily be the most overplayed first three songs on a album of all time. Horrendous stuff. I almost turned this record off. Why did bullet in the sky get no play? Wow the rest of the album is really bad. If the next few out of these 1001 also bomb I probably won't continue to weed through this mediocrity. 1 outta 5 mics

I try to ignore my previous feelings about bands and artists and this was particularly hard for me. I hated U2 cos my elder sister and her chums loved them, as an angry adolescent I wanted to find my own thing and so shut them out. a crazy attitude as my sister is an awesome person with great taste in music, but that's hormones for you. still relistening with an open mind I find it's pretty shit. over produced, concieted annoying metaphors and just really dull. I tried to like those first three songs so universally played and enjoyed but they left me cold. it just total arse.

I want to punch Bono in his stupid little face

whats the difference between jesus and Bonio? Jesus doesn't think he's Bonio. musically this is actually fairly enjoyable but its dominated by the wailings of one of the biggest cunts going. an instrumental version of this album would be pretty good, but as it is its really diffuicult to get past the noises coming out of the egotistical, narcissistic self anointed uber cunt. i used to think the hedge was a cunt too, but i've got a bit more respect for his playing now i've endured an albums worth of Bonio.

U2 are a steaming pile of shit. The Joshua Tree hates the fact they named this album after it. Anyone named Joshua is hugely ashamed of any connections to this. All trees are thoroughly embarrassed too.

Ew

U2 suck.

Gross, U2 is the worst

U2 is the worst thing to happen to music - and I still have that other albums on my iTunes 😂

Favorite album of all time.

Killer

U2 is kind of a joke now, it’s nice to remember when people took them seriously.

Masterpiece!!

Another all time favorite and a reminder of younger days

Klassiker.

I hadn't heard this album in full before but it was fantastic. The guitar parts do so much with so little, and make the album feel very spacious and ethereal. It's all very easy to listen to, which I definitely appreciate at this point. Of the songs I hadn't heard before, Trip Through Your Wires and Bullet The Blue Sky were my favourites.

Well, how many stars do you give an album like that? The first song is 5 stars, the second song is 5 stars, the third is 5 stars. The whole album? Okay, 5 stars too.

I listened to this on vinyl. One of my favorite concert memories is seeing U2 perform this album in its entirety in 2017. After they played a few songs, they began the opening chords of Where the Streets Have No Name. As they were starting a plane was spotted over the distance of the stadium, and flew right overhead as Bono began to sing. Anyways, this is an all-time classic album.

Best album of all time. Better than wearing underpants.

"Where The Streets Have No Name" is one of my favorite album openers of all time. No question about it. I mean, let's just cut to the chase, huh? With that beautiful synth fade-in and the arpeggiated guitar that soon joins it, crashing into the anthemic main portion, over which Bono passionately sings about... Y'know, I don't even know what, but with how he's singing it, and with how huge the band's going... It just sounds like the most important thing in the world, y'know? The most meaningful, inspiring thing in the world. It's just fuckin' amazing. And you follow that up with "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking Far" — a slower burn, but no less huge feeling. It has this soulful vibe to it, to where I'm not surprised that for the live tour (as captured in RATTLE & HUM) they straight up had a gospel choir backing them. And that version is the best, but the original ain't no slouch. Every time the title line hits, I can't help but do this slow groove to it... It's great, I swear. Another winner of a soundscape, I'm tellin' yah. "With Or Without You" comes after, and from the moment that little chime-y keyboard riff starts up, all the way to Bono's big "OOOOH" three minutes in... It's all about the tension, y'know? Building and building and building until you have that final release at the end there. I mean, it doesn't even have a traditional verse-chorus structure; it's just all about mounting tension until it explodes. And it's **glorious**. No wonder it's U2's second-most covered song, huh? And with that little "ooo" close to the end, backed with The Edge's sustained, whining little notes... Swear to goodness, honestly. And right on its heels is "Bullet The Blue Sky", without a doubt the biggest "rocker" on the album — and the song where they got the title for their oh-so-infamous concert film and live album. It's just a hard-ass song, I'm telling you. The drums pound like it ain't nobody's business, the bass grooves like hell, the guitar screeches across the track when it's not filling in the atmosphere, and Bono... Well, he has his little monologue at the end (a Bonologue, if you will), but it does nothing to take away from the track. **Especially** with that little guitar line/solo that plays in-between segments. Then the rest of the album happens, and, uh, it's good stuff. Yeah. Pretty dang good. I like it all well enough. It's just, uh, y'know, that nothing else on the album hits the high those first four songs do. Thus, we come to why I had a paragraph each to the album's first four songs. 'Coz I'll admit, in a way this album feels a bit frontloaded? I mean, those are all just monsters of songs, among the greatest and most famous U2 would ever do. It's like, I realize this structure isn't exactly fair to the songs that come afterwards, like "Trip Through Your Wire" and "One Tree Hill", but I mean, when your album **starts** with "Where The Streets Have No Name"... Y'know, no matter how good the rest of it is, it's still downhill, so matter how slight. Like, if there's anything I've come to realize about myself and this album across this listen, it's that: just how much I define it by those first four songs. I mean, if there aren't times where I just play 'em in reverse order, ignoring everything else. Heck, sometimes I just start on "With Or Without You" and go from there. These songs, and honestly them alone, are **why** I consider this album one of the all-timers of the 80's, among the likes of Michael Jackson's THRILLER and such. Just an absolute cornerstone of popular music in this era — and based solely on a quarter of the album. So allow me to show some respect to the seven other songs on the album, then — and at the same time, I'll explain why this is my favorite U2 album. 'Coz on the one hand, it kind of feels like it shouldn't? I imagine a bigger U2 fan might have this album in their top three or five, but not at the time of the pile. The way I figure it, they'd probably tend more towards WAR, where the band's punkier and more righteously angry. Meanwhile, here on THE JOSHUA TREE, the band's sound is a lot softer thanks to the Americana influence they're pulling from. Believe me, there's no "Sunday Bloody Sunday" or "New Year's Day" here. All the same, though, it's kind of why I like THE JOSHUA TREE as much as I do? Which might make me sound like a **FILTHY CASUAL**, but hear me out. I believe that allowing their sound to soften like this is what allows these songs to sound as grand and, well, anthemic as they do. Not that "Sunday Bloody Sunday" couldn't, but I'unno, the songs on THE JOSHUA TREE just hit different, y'know? With the quietness of "Running To Stand Still", and the swing and harmonica of "Trip Through Your Wires", [&c.]... Again, none of these hit the highs of the first four songs, but they're so consistently strong that it hardly brings the album down. Not to mention, compared to U2's more recent works... Well, there's still an energy to these songs. I mean, if you think **these songs** are soft, go check something off of ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND. That stuff's soft enough as to almost be imperceptible. Take it: I can remember songs like "One Hill Tree" and "Red Hill Mining Town". The outro to the former will always stick out to me. I doubt I could remember any song on ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND, even the moment after they happen. So, yeah, while the majority of the album might live in the shadow of its opening run, let's not get it twisted. This is, without a doubt in my mind, some of the absolute best music U2 would ever make. They didn't do two tours of this album (in 2017 and 2019) for nothing. Like I said, it's an absolute cornerstone of 80's music, as much like Kate Bush and HOUNDS OF LOVE, I can't imagine a better album to exit this group on. In short: well, dang, if I ain't found what **I'm** looking for.

The peak of U2 in many peoples' eyes, including mine. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

Went to Where the Streets Have No Name In God’s Country. With or Without You, I’m rating this a 5

Very good U2 album

1987. Rock. 9/10 Where the Streets Have No Name / I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / With or Without You / Bullet the Blue Sky / Running to Stand Still / Red Hill Mining Town / In God's Country / Trip Through Your Wires / One Tree Hill / Exit / Mothers of the Disappeared

This is the kind of album that makes the distinction between a 4 & a 5 very clear. The songwriting and performances are excellent and varied. Yes, U2 has a sound — and at times (after this album) that sound might occasionally become repetitive. But here they mix up the singles-designed-to-chart with songs (Bullet the Blue Sky, Trip Through Your Wires) that galvanize the whole effort into a singular achievement, rather than just a compilation of songs. The Edge is a genius of layering guitar parts and rhythms to achieve an ocean of sound. Adam Clayton’s bass playing is impeccable; Larry Mullen Jr’s drumming is always tasteful, often driving the melody, ever on point. Bono can sing. Listening to it now, I realize that this is a road trip album, pivoting from very earthy songs (Red Hill Mining Town & those previously mentioned) to songs that express quest and epiphany. This is a great ride & a spiritual reboot. Makes me happy to give it a 5.

to so perfectly stand on the razor’s edge with God on one side and complete bathos on the other is a feat only true heroes can attain

Simply beautiful.

Strong 5

U2 is een van mijn "jeugdhelden". Heerlijk op de kamer van Johan naar albums luisteren terwijl we een kopie maken op cassette. Dit album heeft veel bekende hits! Top!!

Really enjoyed this, I have no clue how I haven’t listened to it before

OH HELLL YEAHHHH. Ready to get into this one 🤩🤩. Easy 5 stars. I mean, wow. Just wow. An incredible feat of artistry.

amazing album, every song is a banger. i would say 9/10 for me, great production, amazing singles, almost no filler.