Tim Sommer rips apart the Joshua Tree.

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No one seriously says WAR is the best album by U2. Most U2 fans generally agree JT is in the top 3 albums by the band. Some seriously think it's one of the best albums of 80's but I think that's pushing it a bit.



While a couple shows in late 87 had 9 JT songs and Tempe having 10, there's a surprising number of 1987 shows that only have 6-7 JT songs. 7 JT songs in shows that have 4 cover songs AND Party Girl?!?!



If U2 thought joshua tree was such an incredible albums why did a number of 1987 setlists pick Stand By Me/C'mon Everybody/People Get Ready/Help/Ballad of Springhill/Party Girl over In God's Country/Trip/One Tree Hill/Mothers/Red Hill Mining Town?



Really?! You think U2 didn't play those songs because they doubted how good the album was?

Bands don't choose songs to play only because they're great; there's factors like can we do that live, will it have the right mood/energy, etc.
 
Really?! You think U2 didn't play those songs because they doubted how good the album was?

Bands don't choose songs to play only because they're great; there's factors like can we do that live, will it have the right mood/energy, etc.

Why else would U2 skip 5 songs from the album in the middle of the tour in Basel, Cologne and Birmingham?

Because the show would fall apart with out half baked covers and/or Party Girl?

Even the band are on record as being insecure of their own material on that tour. Including one of the 2017 fan Q&A regarding the 1987 period.
 
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I'm sure a bulk of The Joshua Tree was played more often than not in 87 anyway, regardless of how confident they were in playing the songs live anyway.
 
40% of all the 1987 setlist were JT material. 10% was covers.

One Tree Hill was only played at 15% of the shows and Mothers at 6% of those shows. Trip was played at 78% of the shows.
 
Still not bad when the average set list length during the 87 JT tour was 19 songs. I think the Tempe shows were 20-22.
 
No one seriously says WAR is the best album by U2. Most U2 fans generally agree JT is in the top 3 albums by the band. Some seriously think it's one of the best albums of 80's but I think that's pushing it a bit.

While a couple shows in late 87 had 9 JT songs and Tempe having 10, there's a surprising number of 1987 shows that only have 6-7 JT songs. 7 JT songs in shows that have 4 cover songs AND Party Girl?!?!

If U2 thought joshua tree was such an incredible albums why did a number of 1987 setlists pick Stand By Me/C'mon Everybody/People Get Ready/Help/Ballad of Springhill/Party Girl over In God's Country/Trip/One Tree Hill/Mothers/Red Hill Mining Town?

Again, look at U2's history and this is what they had done with previous albums back then. I brought out the War album and tour as an excellent example. I know a lot of people who think of WAR as U2's best album, but that was not the issue. The issue was the number of songs being played from the new album in concert. Well, back in the 1980s, U2 would leave a lot of songs from any new album out of the setlist. That is simply what they did back then period and it was not unique to Joshua Tree.

Oh and by the way, WAR was one of the best albums of the 1980s. The Joshua Tree on the other hand is probably the greatest album of all time.
 
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Again, look at U2's history and this is what they had done with previous albums back then. I brought out the War album and tour as an excellent example. I know a lot of people who think of WAR as U2's best album, but that was not the issue. The issue was the number of songs being played from the new album in concert. Well, back in the 1980s, U2 would leave a lot of songs from any new album out of the setlist. That is simply what they did back then period and it was not unique to Joshua Tree.

Oh and by the way, WAR was one of the best albums of the 1980s. The Joshua Tree on the other hand is probably the greatest album of all time.

UF tour was 3% cover songs and Joshua Tour was 10% cover songs.

Play so many cover songs at shows was new for U2 and they were doing it INSTEAD of doing more songs from JT. A couple 1987 shows did have 9-10 JT songs, but many were down to 6.
 
UF tour was 3% cover songs and Joshua Tour was 10% cover songs.



Play so many cover songs at shows was new for U2 and they were doing it INSTEAD of doing more songs from JT. A couple 1987 shows did have 9-10 JT songs, but many were down to 6.



And :shrug: who cares? Why you are trying to turn this into a point is beyond bizarre, even by your standards.
 
what a bizarre argument. A fantastic album doesn't always equal a great album to perform.

Hell...the Beatles couldn't replicate half their songs. Joshua Tree, as we see now, works as a whole album, but only with the listeners living with it for 30 years. The Side B stuff is awesome, but there is a lot of mood in that album.


Great albums do not automatically mean great single song performances. We know he couldn't do RHMT. Skipping Trip was a mistake. One Tree Hill is my favorite song, but it can lag live for casuals. Mothers of the Disappeared is hardly a romper. Exit was a revelation, but it needed a lot of work to become a live song from the album mess.

I doubt, if the Beatles were still playing live, they would have played all of the White Album either. Some albums are about the whole, and some of the parts don't work by themselves in a concert. And wouldn't have without the album becoming so iconic that we were willing to sit on pins and needles to hear it all
 
not too sure it's worth getting worked up about a comment piece in the guardian that says the JT isn't as good as most people believe it to be.

as much as any art can be subjective to a large degree, it's pretty much universally accepted that unless you have a hate on for u2, the JT is considered to be a very important piece of music. one guy getting paid to share his view that contradicts that doesn't change anything
 
I have been feverishly researching this Tim Sommmer guy ever since he criticized my beloved U2 and I still don't have the slightest idea who he is.
 
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I really hate that this guy doesn't like something I enjoy. I bet you guys are mad I don't much care for most of the tracks that didn't make The Joshua Tree and it now ruins your enjoyment of them.

OH WAIT
 
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