Nick66
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Well he makes some good points and it's a well thought out piece...but his conclusion is all wrong. The Joshua Tree is indeed a masterpiece and one of the greatest rock records of all time. Every song. Both sides. And the b-sides are pretty damn good as well.
I do agree with his observation that U2 are basically appropriators....they're just very, very good at it. U2 never invented a genre, or defined it. They didn't really push boundaries (other than their own) and tread much new ground. They simply played in the sandbox that was already built better than pretty much any of their other contemporaries. As a whole they far, far exceeded the sum of their parts as musicians, and The Joshua Tree is an excellent example of that.
I do agree with his observation that U2 are basically appropriators....they're just very, very good at it. U2 never invented a genre, or defined it. They didn't really push boundaries (other than their own) and tread much new ground. They simply played in the sandbox that was already built better than pretty much any of their other contemporaries. As a whole they far, far exceeded the sum of their parts as musicians, and The Joshua Tree is an excellent example of that.
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