Is Joshua Tree overated?

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Joshua87 said:


And have you ever heard the Rattle and Hum version of Exit, Kawai17??
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Yep...i agree, live - some songs take on a whole different feel. I thought Elevation was a pretty forced tune on ATYCLB but live its amazing.
 
No, JT is their best album.
Achtung Baby has more crappy songs .... Zoo Station.... Even better than the real thing...and upper crap Mysterious Ways. Damned, that song sucks!
It's still in my top 5 because of Until the end of the world, One, So Cruel and Ultraviolet
 
I didn't think it was possible to overrate an album as fantastic as The Joshua Tree.
 
There's always gonna be ppl out there who think it's over-rated, purely BECAUSE it's one of (if not THE) best albums of the 80's. So some ppl will always oppose its greatness, just to have a different opinion. But I think the sales, status, and indeed the songs speak for themselves.

(My fave btw would be RTSS):wink:
 
kawai17 said:
I'm wondering if there's anyone else out there sharing a thought I had...but after listening to the latest HTDAAB tracks, I'm beginning to feel like Joshua Tree is overrated, and to a large extent is held in high regard only because of its place in U2 history (being the album that vaulted U2 into superstardom).

Obviously, the first three songs are absolute classics. Its rare to find songs that are now 17 years old and don't sound a day outdated... Running to Stand Still is another great one.

But aside from that, I've always felt there were some real weak tunes (especially on the second half like Trip, Red Hill, Exit). As a whole, I think HTDAAB is much stronger as an entire album than JT, and that JT is absolutely no match for Achtung Baby. When I think of U2's greatest albums, I think I would put this one ahead of JT.

Or am I just on crack...
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*raises hand...

:yes: I've always felt it was a *bit* over-rated. It is the best album of 1987, one of the best albums of the 80's and certainly in the top 100 of all time. However, compared to some of U2's other albums, I think it is lacking a bit. Barring a few exceptions, all the songs blend into each other. And sadly, those "exceptions" don't do much for me (I'm not a fan of that version of "Bullet..." at all and "Trip..." is perhaps the worst U2 song I've ever heard).

So the worship of this album by U2 fans is a bit confusing to me when I think they've produced far superior stuff.

Much like you, in 1987, I often listened to the first 3 songs only and then turned the CD off! :ohmy: It took me a while to get into the other songs. Fortunately, I did and discovered the beauty of "One Tree Hill" (my second favorite U2 song - so the album does have that going for it) and the cool sounds of "Exit". Trouble is, the album/CD was mixed poorly - so to really enjoy the sounds of JT, you need the Gold Mastered version, which I have, but sadly is no longer available.
 
kawai17 said:
I'm wondering if there's anyone else out there sharing a thought I had...but after listening to the latest HTDAAB tracks, I'm beginning to feel like Joshua Tree is overrated, and to a large extent is held in high regard only because of its place in U2 history (being the album that vaulted U2 into superstardom).

Obviously, the first three songs are absolute classics. Its rare to find songs that are now 17 years old and don't sound a day outdated... Running to Stand Still is another great one.

But aside from that, I've always felt there were some real weak tunes (especially on the second half like Trip, Red Hill, Exit). As a whole, I think HTDAAB is much stronger as an entire album than JT, and that JT is absolutely no match for Achtung Baby. When I think of U2's greatest albums, I think I would put this one ahead of JT.

Or am I just on crack...
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I always thought JT was my favourite U2 album, after I saw this thread I put on JT and AB back to back last night, and if anything I came to the conclusion AB might be overrated.

JT is still, IMHO, the best thing U2 have ever done. AB is great, my 2nd fave before I re-listened last night, still 2nd. Both are pretty far ahead of HTDAAB, btu if they'd replaced OSC w. Mercy it would be closer.

So, yes, you're on crack.
 
I was born in 1982 and I never even heard of U2 until Achtung Baby when I remember falling in love with Mysterious Ways. Being that I wasn't around in the days of JT, it is still the best darn music i've heard in my short life.
 
I can't believe people could think Red Hill Mining Town is a weak song. To me this song is an absolute classic.
 
No, definitely not. I was my favorite album of all time for almost 17 years (before the Bomb), so it didn't even take too long to grow on me. And because I ranked it on top for so long, I wasn't looking at it from a historical viewpoint, since there wasn't much subsequent history yet.

Red Hill Mining Town was the only song that hit me at first, and the others quickly grew in stature.

Now, AB took me about 10 years before I considered it a classic. It definitely is, but there are things about it I still don't like - I consider MW one of the most overrated songs of all time, and EBTTRT does little for me. But overall, it is the third greatest U2 album of all time (IMO), with JT now at # 2.

HTDAAB is stronger end-to-end than either of these. And if you include the currently known B-sides, it is clear that the story is far from over. I'm hoping that 20 years from now, and several albums later, we are arguing if HTDAAB is still their best album (since I'm pretty sure in 10 years most of us will agree that it is :wink:).
 
There are one or two tracks on JT that I don't like ("Mothers of the Disappeared" mainly) but that doesn't make it any less of an album. Out of an era of shitty synthesizer pop music, yes, I'd say The Joshua Tree is one of the best albums of all time.
 
petethechopp said:
Not only is JT their best album, but I think you could make a case that cd of itsB-sides would be thier second best
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In fact, there are ambitious fans out there who've put together what they call 'restored' versions of The Joshua Tree, including the B-sides from that album. The band was definitely at the height of their powers then, and it was quite a fertile period.

The original 11-song JT is in no way overrated musically. Many of us may slightly prefer AB, but the band acknowledges that JT is what the band will always be remembered for 100 years from now.

But the restored JT 18-song list is very popular, a great listen, and gives you an appreciation of the band's consistent and prolific output at that time:

1. Where The Streets Have No Name
2. Silver And Gold
3. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
4. Spanish Eyes
5. With Or Without You
6. Luminous Times (Hold On To Love)
7. Walk To The Water
8. Bullet The Blue Sky
9. Running To Stand Still
10. Red Hill Mining Town
11. In God's Country
12. Trip Through Your Wires
13. Sweetest Thing
14. One Tree Hill
15. Deep In The Heart
16. Exit
17. Race Against Time
18. Mothers Of The Disappeared
 
If you look at the 2003 Rolling Stone Magazine greatest albums of all time. JT is #26. U2 is now one of the ten greatest acts of all time. Each such act (except for the Beatles, Stones and Dylan who have several) need to have a defining album that stacks up with the rest of the greatest albums, is representative of who they are and came out when they were influential. For U2 this will be always be Joshua Tree. So critically and historically JT will always be overrated when you compare it to their own catalog.
If you compare JT to what was released in the late 1980's, I don't think it is possible to overrate the album.
 
Sharik said:



In fact, there are ambitious fans out there who've put together what they call 'restored' versions of The Joshua Tree, including the B-sides from that album. The band was definitely at the height of their powers then, and it was quite a fertile period.

The original 11-song JT is in no way overrated musically. Many of us may slightly prefer AB, but the band acknowledges that JT is what the band will always be remembered for 100 years from now.

But the restored JT 18-song list is very popular, a great listen, and gives you an appreciation of the band's consistent and prolific output at that time:

1. Where The Streets Have No Name
2. Silver And Gold
3. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
4. Spanish Eyes
5. With Or Without You
6. Luminous Times (Hold On To Love)
7. Walk To The Water
8. Bullet The Blue Sky
9. Running To Stand Still
10. Red Hill Mining Town
11. In God's Country
12. Trip Through Your Wires
13. Sweetest Thing
14. One Tree Hill
15. Deep In The Heart
16. Exit
17. Race Against Time
18. Mothers Of The Disappeared
Click to expand...



"Height of their powers?" no


Only "slightly prefer AB" er, I think you will find many prefer the '90s opus a great deal!


Not to take away from JT, though, its a classic but not their best.
 
I acctually prefer AB by miles over JT let alone ANY other U2 album. Haven't heard Atomic Bomb yet though :)
 
I think younger fans can't get the fullness of joshua tree. it is very hard to have been introduced to u2 with achtung baby or later, and then go back and try to compare. i'm going to sound like the old fart here, but i remeber going o buy jt the day it came out, and listening to the tape until it would not work anymore. i still think it is u2 most cohesive album start to finish, and with the possible exception of trip through... every song is incredible. even trip fits the ablum perfectly, it just hasn't aged that well. i love achtung baby and depending on the day consider it u2's best- but when asked i still would have to say jt is my favorite and their best album. all that said i do see how 'younger' fans would say its overrated, or not their best.
 
jphelmet said:
I think younger fans can't get the fullness of joshua tree. it is very hard to have been introduced to u2 with achtung baby or later, and then go back and try to compare. i'm going to sound like the old fart here, but i remeber going o buy jt the day it came out, and listening to the tape until it would not work anymore. i still think it is u2 most cohesive album start to finish, and with the possible exception of trip through... every song is incredible. even trip fits the ablum perfectly, it just hasn't aged that well. i love achtung baby and depending on the day consider it u2's best- but when asked i still would have to say jt is my favorite and their best album. all that said i do see how 'younger' fans would say its overrated, or not their best.
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I first heard JT on 2000, after only previously hearing AB, Zooropa, and ATYCLB. I am a fairly young U2 fan, and I can fully appreciate a masterpiece of an album when I hear one. Therefore, I think it comes down to personal taste. Love the Baby, the Bomb, and the tree, but that's because I have good taste in music. Joshua Tree feels like a real journey to me, a real cohesive abum. It just feels perfect to me. :wink:
 
I definitely appreciate the fullness and cinematic atmosphere of Joshua Tree, it is a cast-iron classic, but I just prefer AB's sleeker style and its more rock'n'roll based..also the variety of sounds (distortion, vocal effects etc) is so great on AB.
 
Great album...but overrated in general by the U2 faithful. It is this sort of holy scripture that everything else the band does gets compared to.
 
Defenitely not overated. I can think of other crap albums out there that are overated. As for the best U2 album, well... that can be debated. I love this album but most often then not I find myself skipping to track number 4. Why? I think it's because those first three songs have been over played. Yeah true that those are the singles and are the ones that got the album noticed but I find that that second half is what picks up the album to the hype.
 
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