Isn't the Joshua Tree quite a good record?

[PookaMacP]

My girlfriend bought me the remastered vinyl copy of The Joshua Tree for my birthday a few weeks ago and I thought I'd give it a spin on this sunny Dublin evening. I hadn't played the album in its entirety for a long time, but from the first organ notes of Streets to that fantastic processed drum loop on Mothers of the Disappeared, I've been struck by one thought: What An Album. No matter what they do for the rest of their career, no matter how much we (or at least me personally) might lament the loss of some creative boldness (regained in the first and last thirds of NLOTH, but they dropped the ball in the middle), I think we should all celebrate the fact that we will always have records like this. Absolutely brilliant.

Now, before you shoot me down for starting a thread about something we might all agree on or clogging up the board, I was interested in seeing the I don't get Zooropa thread and have been dragged down a bit by the talk of how badly they appear to have planned the campaign for the new record and decided we needed to do a bit of celebrating of the band that brought us here in the first place.

Round of applause for records like The Joshua Tree, there ain't enough of them to go around.

 

[Sicy]

My favorite album.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

it's a'ight...

 

[LemonMelon]

Meh. It's no X&Y.

 

[adypole]

Good call, Pooka, good call.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Meh. It's no X&Y.

 

[Galeongirl]

Meh. It's no X&Y.

/thread

 

[Peterrrrr]

Its a great album, but AB

 

[mikal]

Its a great album, but AB

exactly my feelings. and the biggest difference to me is The Edge. on Achtung Baby, The Edge's guitar sounds like it's having sex.

 

[europop2005]

mmm...yes...quite good...hoomph... *smokes bubble pipe*

 

[LemonMelon]

exactly my feelings. and the biggest difference to me is The Edge. on Achtung Baby, The Edge's guitar sounds like it's having sex.

Bono sounds like he's having sex too. Dude moans or attempts to exhale seductively on every other track.

This is why people attempting to play down Achtung Baby's innuendo never fail to crack me up.

 

[bigjohn2441]

no, it's the biggest piece of shit ive ever listened to. it actually makes my ears bleed everytime i hear it, especially that awful where the streets have no name.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

The sarcasm reading is off the charts!

 

[bigjohn2441]

actually where the streets have no name sounds like the soundtrack of the ascent into heaven. (if there is such a thing)

 

[alanah]

 

[Peterrrrr]

no, it's the biggest piece of shit ive ever listened to. it actually makes my ears bleed everytime i hear it, especially that awful where the streets have no name.

And then they play it every live show But OTH was good on the album, but then they destroyed the song totaly on 1989-12-26 - Dublin, I hate that version. I still can figure out why they didnt include Silver And Gold instead of WTSHNN.

 

[mikal]

one thing i'll give this album credit for is some excellent B-Sides.

Deep In The Heart

 

[digitize]

I like JT. I really do. It's a great album. But I actually rank it in the bottom half of my U2 album rankings. That isn't sarcasm.

 

[rastacruz]

the Joshua Tree is GREAT!

'80s U2 is the best U2...for me

 

[mikal]

I like JT. I really do. It's a great album. But I actually rank it in the bottom half of my U2 album rankings. That isn't sarcasm.

my thoughts too. people called me crazy when i ranked Zooropa ahead of it, but that's really how i feel. JT is still a great album though.....Streets, RTSS, and WOWY rank in my top 10 list.

 

[popacrobat]

at the end of the day, I do believe this to be the greatest album made...even though I will prefer at times achtung, no line and pop- then I listen to the joshua tree and i remember that i'm merely a slave to its awesomeness.

 

[SamuelSmeloc]

at the end of the day, I do believe this to be the greatest album made...even though I will prefer at times achtung, no line and pop- then I listen to the joshua tree and i remember that i'm merely a slave to its awesomeness.

Best album ever.

 

[alanah]

It's a great album for sure, but not my favorite.

 

[digitize]

my thoughts too. people called me crazy when i ranked Zooropa ahead of it, but that's really how i feel. JT is still a great album though.....Streets, RTSS, and WOWY rank in my top 10 list.

I also rank Zooropa ahead of JT.

 

[joerags]

The first time I listened to JT in 1987 when I was 14, I fell asleep.

The album was so different. It wasn't the typical pop album of that time (mid to late 1980s). It was serious and depressing, which was unusual for a bunch of guys in their mid 20s. But after a few listens, I loved it. Edge's guitar playing was so full and rich, and Bono's voice was so powerful. Listen carefully to every song and pay attention to Edge's playing and Bono's singing. Their passion is so strong. I was an unusual teenager. Teenagers didn't like U2 back then. Most of them, anyway. But I loved U2 and still do, I am proud to say.

 

[theedgeu2]

I think "good" isn't good enough. This album is GREAT! I love, love, love it! It's their best one in my opinion. I have such great memories with this album.

 

[subnet]

for the listener, its a very introspective album, damn those heavy heavy lyrics

BB said it best

 

[last unicorn]

Joshua Tree? Never heard of that. Is it an album about botanics? Gardening? Who recorded it?

 

[An Cat Gav]

Achtung Baby is my favourite album ever by anybody but it was The Joshua Tree that really turned me into a U2 fanatic in 1987, from beginning to end there is nothing about it that I don't love. An absolutely stunning piece of work.

 

[U2girl]

Not the album that got me into U2, and not the one I tend to play the most, but this is their definitive work.

The album tracks selection and sequencing, the B-sides, the legendary cover...