Why The Joshua Tree Is The Best Album Of All Time...

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Michael Griffiths

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I wrote this for that stupid Rolling Stone poll, but it wouldn't work, so I'll post it here...

My Top 10 Albums Of All Time:

#1. The Joshua Tree -- U2

By making the Joshua Tree, U2 took a huge risk. Bono himself declared in 1987 "that the thought of people waiting for The Joshua Tree is ridiculous. It sounds as though it'll sell three copies." I can see his point. At the time, it sounded like nothing on mainstream radio. Instead, you had an album that sounded like it was derived from some kind of mystical fall-out. No other album I've ever heard has the total embodiment of both an earthiness and, yet also, the other-worldliness through which The Joshua Tree has been woven. It's as though the album understands and replicates, in an organic sense, the line Bono would pen years later on Achtung Baby, in the song 'So Cruel': "Head in heaven, fingers in the mire." On The Joshua Tree, there is a sense that, despite it being "so cruel," life is worth "holding onto," as is conveyed in the song, 'Red Hill Mining Town'. (Perhaps the themes of Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby aren't so different afterall?) From the opening hymn-like organ intro of 'Where The Streets Have No Name' -- as it glides effortlessly into a tidal-wave of relentless explosion -- to the sublime beauty of songs like 'One Tree Hill', there is nothing but perfection; a musically cinematic perfection of an imperfect world striving past the pain and desperation felt throughout this album, and into the metaphysical sense of joy. Bono's falsetto, for example, has never sounded the same before or since The Joshua Tree. There is a mystical quality about it, as though it has traveled for miles and miles through the wide open desserts and dense political jungles and forests throughout this album. The listener is carried through the real life images of American foreign policy ('Bullet The Blue Sky'), the desperation of drug addiction ('Running To Stand Still'), and the very real emptiness behind suicide ('Exit'); yet despite it all, in many of the very same songs you will find an undying, underlying hope, an urge to transcend the very darkness of this album into the silver light found on 'Streets'. Even a nasty little love song such as 'With or Without You' comes from somewhere else completely, the pain of it feeding the very need to reach past the flesh of this album. Nothing on The Joshua Tree sounds commercial, yet it is one of the most commercially successful albums of all time. Somewhere back in 1987, U2 found the very breath of their ability and filled their lungs with it. The Joshua Tree is the sound of the exhale, the consequence of their risk -- the fallout of the mystical -- scattered across miles of terrain. And, on this disc, we are lucky enough to breath it all in again -- to go, to quote Van Morrison, back "into the mystic" -- and to actually take that breath back to where it came from. That's the paradox of The Joshua Tree, and also why it's the greatest album of all time.


#2. Sgt. Peppers -- The Beatles
#3. Achtung Baby -- U2
#4. The Bends -- Radiohead
#5. Songs of Love and Hate -- Leonard Cohen
#6. Blood On The Tracks -- Bob Dylan
#7. OK Computer -- Radiohead
#8. Rubber Soul -- The Beatles
#9. Moondance -- Van Morrison
#10 Fumbling Towards Ecstacy -- Sarah McLachlan

(These top 10s change all the time, but whatever...)
 
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Michael Griffiths said:
Somewhere back in 1987, U2 found the very breath of their ability and filled their lungs with it. The Joshua Tree is the sound of the exhale, the consequence of their risk -- the fallout of the mystical -- scattered across miles of terrain. And, on this disc, we are lucky enough to breath it all in again -- to go, to quote Van Morrison, back "into the mystic" -- and to actually take that breath back to where it came from. That's the paradox of The Joshua Tree, and also why it's the greatest album of all time.

That was simply great Michael, a perfect ending to a marvellous essay on a masterpiece like The Joshua Tree. Congrats and thank you.

Good old Michael Griffiths, ladies and gentleman. ;) I truly hope they publish it. :up:

:love:
 
Michael, that was just brilliant. You are a wonderful writer! Please keep trying to submit your review to the Rolling Stone site. If they don't print it they are idiots!
 
I actually put Achtung Baby! as my first choice. I just have always thought of ot as the stonger album while JTree has the stronger individual songs.
Nice write-up though. :up:
 
i always thought Exit was about committing murder in the name of God/religion:scratch: ...oh well

Very good piece though...but I'd have to say that either Sgt. Pepper or Revolver are the best ever.
 
Beautifully written, it sounds great!

And I think it's awesome that you put Fumbling Towards Ecstasy in your top 10. I love Sarah, and that album is such a masterpiece. It never gets the credit it deserves.
 
While, of course, that was well-written (I would be stunned if I saw anything else from Michael Griffiths :D), I found myself not agreeing with his sentiments.

I have never felt this "other-worldly" sense about JT. There are some brilliant songs on that album, but there are also some that I feel truly date the album, despite the fact that U2 still play them now. Also, I feel some of U2's worst material ever is on that album.

Bono's falsetto, a point stressed by Michael, is virtually non-existent on JT. Yes, it pops up here and there on various tracks, but his falsetto only truly shines in U2's 90's work and beyond. And while Bono's vocals are perhaps the most impassioned and powerful on JT, his "opera-singer" mannerisms give the songs a slight aloofness that make them just a bit inaccessible to me. That is, when I listen to AB or ATYCLB, I feel as if Bono is speaking to me personally (even though I am fully cognizant he is not). His vocals on AB and ATYCLB are outstanding with a very powerful range, but there is also a roughness to them that make them deeply personal - making me feel his pain more. On JT, I feel he is singing on a far grander scale, as if a preacher to his congregation. Some of you may enjoy that aspect, but I always felt as if I was being spoken down to. In contrast, with albums like AB and ATYCLB, Bono's vocals make me I feel I am sharing some of life's stories with a dear friend.

Edge's guitar work is strong, but his overuse of the echo/delay effect also detracts from JT. I felt Edge truly shined on AB, where the echo effect still dominated, but he was able to really use it to its full potential. On albums like "Pop" and ATYCLB, I felt that the Edge truly mastered his skills, mixing all of his talents - including his signature echo effects - into a wave of sounds that just powered the music through my soul. In contrast, while JT has those moments, it is also inconsistent. Some songs soar, others lie flat.

Adam and Larry's skills, while clearly improving throughout the 90's, are certainly powerful on JT. Adam's baseline on something like "With or Without You" is very simple, but it's that elegant simplicity that makes it beautiful. Anything more there would have ruined it. Therefore, I do not feel that these gentleman detract from JT. But I do feel that Bono and Edge have been far better on other albums.

This is why I don't even feel JT is U2's best album, let alone best album ever. I will say that it is the best album of 1987 and one of the best of the 80's, and in my personal Top 20, but not the best of all time.

Nonetheless, thank you Michael for writing a very impassioned view on JT. :yes: I know that more people will agree with you on JT than they will with me.
 
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doctorwho said:
Nonetheless, thank you Michael for writing a very impassioned view on JT. :yes: I know that more people will agree with you on JT than they will with me.

I for one, also belive what you beleive dr.But the first post is so beautiful that I wont say anything, rather I can't say anything.

Great writting like "The Tempest" ;)
 
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Lets not forget that it?s Michael?s opinion. He chose JT as the best album ever and defended his option eloquently and passionately. Something I?m kinda envious sometimes...I mean, I wish I could write like him.

Btw, I would choose AB aswell. Nevertheless it was a pleasure to be able to read Michael?s defense on his fave.
 
I am forever debating in my head between JT and AB....both are masterpieces, and my opinion on which is better changes hourly.

For the Rolling Stone poll, I went with AB as #1 after a coin toss, and JT as number two. My other picks were...

3) Beatles/White Album
4) The Who/Who's Next
5) Radiohead/The Bends
6) Elton John/Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
7) Bruce Springsteen/Born in the USA
8) Pearl Jam/Yield
9) U2/All That You Can't Leave Behind
10) The Tragically Hip/Day for Night

Honourable mention....

Led Zeppelin/IV
Beatles/Sgt. Pepper
Beatles/Revolver
Beatles/Rubber Soul
The Who/Quadrophenia
U2/Pop
U2/Zooropa
Pink Floyd/The Wall
Oasis/What's the Story Morning Glory
Barenaked Ladies/Gordon
 
Although I agree a lot with what doctorwho said, that original post was beautiful! I always enjoy reading why people are so passionate about this or that album, even though I may not fully share their view.
 
The Wanderer said:
yes indeed, well done ishkash, which part were you most impressed with?

I was very much impressed with "agree" and "much" parrt.Agree because its such a hard word to find these days and much because most of the times its "most"
 
Michael Griffiths said:
I wrote this for that stupid Rolling Stone poll, but it wouldn't work, so I'll post it here...

My Top 10 Albums Of All Time:

#1. The Joshua Tree -- U2

By making the Joshua Tree, U2 took a huge risk. Bono himself declared in 1987 "that the thought of people waiting for The Joshua Tree is ridiculous. It sounds as though it'll sell three copies." I can see his point. At the time, it sounded like nothing on mainstream radio. Instead, you had an album that sounded like it was derived from some kind of mystical fall-out. No other album I've ever heard has the total embodiment of both an earthiness and, yet also, the other-worldliness through which The Joshua Tree has been woven. It's as though the album understands and replicates, in an organic sense, the line Bono would pen years later on Achtung Baby, in the song 'So Cruel': "Head in heaven, fingers in the mire." On The Joshua Tree, there is a sense that, despite it being "so cruel," life is worth "holding onto," as is conveyed in the song, 'Red Hill Mining Town'. (Perhaps the themes of Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby aren't so different afterall?) From the opening hymn-like organ intro of 'Where The Streets Have No Name' -- as it glides effortlessly into a tidal-wave of relentless explosion -- to the sublime beauty of songs like 'One Tree Hill', there is nothing but perfection; a musically cinematic perfection of an imperfect world striving past the pain and desperation felt throughout this album, and into the metaphysical sense of joy. Bono's falsetto, for example, has never sounded the same before or since The Joshua Tree. There is a mystical quality about it, as though it has traveled for miles and miles through the wide open desserts and dense political jungles and forests throughout this album. The listener is carried through the real life images of American foreign policy ('Bullet The Blue Sky'), the desperation of drug addiction ('Running To Stand Still'), and the very real emptiness behind suicide ('Exit'); yet despite it all, in many of the very same songs you will find an undying, underlying hope, an urge to transcend the very darkness of this album into the silver light found on 'Streets'. Even a nasty little love song such as 'With or Without You' comes from somewhere else completely, the pain of it feeding the very need to reach past the flesh of this album. Nothing on The Joshua Tree sounds commercial, yet it is one of the most commercially successful albums of all time. Somewhere back in 1987, U2 found the very breath of their ability and filled their lungs with it. The Joshua Tree is the sound of the exhale, the consequence of their risk -- the fallout of the mystical -- scattered across miles of terrain. And, on this disc, we are lucky enough to breath it all in again -- to go, to quote Van Morrison, back "into the mystic" -- and to actually take that breath back to where it came from. That's the paradox of The Joshua Tree, and also why it's the greatest album of all time.


#2. Sgt. Peppers -- The Beatles
#3. Achtung Baby -- U2
#4. The Bends -- Radiohead
#5. Songs of Love and Hate -- Leonard Cohen
#6. Blood On The Tracks -- Bob Dylan
#7. OK Computer -- Radiohead
#8. Rubber Soul -- The Beatles
#9. Moondance -- Van Morrison
#10 Fumbling Towards Ecstacy -- Sarah McLachlan

(These top 10s change all the time, but whatever...)

Wow...very well said. I totally agree with you on everything.

I love "The Joshua Tree"-that album is simply amazing.

Angela
 
Hey everyone, thanks so much for the nice comments.:)

I've revised my submission, changed quite a few things. RS still won't let me submit it for some reason (the web page won't display once I hit the "submit" icon...maybe there's too much traffic?). If anyone has the time, can you read my new version, and tell me if it's too over the top, or if you liked the first one better? If you like, even tell me which parts I can leave out or whatever...Thanks!


By making the Joshua Tree, U2 took a huge risk. Bono himself declared in 1987 "that the thought of people waiting for The Joshua Tree is ridiculous. It sounds as though it'll sell three copies." I can see his point. At the time, it sounded like nothing else on mainstream radio. Instead, you had an album that sounded like it was derived from some kind of mystical fall-out. No other album I've ever heard has the total embodiment of both an earthiness and, yet also, the other-worldliness through which The Joshua Tree has been woven. There is an incredible serenity on The Joshua Tree, despite the harshness and intensity that permeates the record. It's as if the album has indeed been woven through the eye of the storm; it's as though the album understands and replicates, in an organic sense, the line Bono would pen years later on Achtung Baby, in the song 'So Cruel': "Head in heaven, fingers in the mire." On The Joshua Tree, there is a sense that, despite it being "so cruel," life is worth "holding onto," as is conveyed in the song, 'Red Hill Mining Town'. (Perhaps the themes of Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby aren't so different after all?)

From the opening hymn-like organ intro of 'Where The Streets Have No Name' -- as it glides effortlessly into a tidal-wave of relentless explosion -- to the sublime beauty of songs like 'One Tree Hill', there is nothing but perfection; a musically cinematic perfection of an imperfect world striving past the pain and desperation felt throughout this album, and into the metaphysical sense of joy. Songs like 'Running To Stand Still' work so well because you are placed right into someone else's world in such a manner that it becomes your world. The Joshua Tree takes you to the scene of the crime, the very place of confusion, where emotion splits into mood, and allows you to feel fragments coming together again. The Joshua Tree doesn't just tell you about something; it allows one to experience it. There is something going on inside the texture of the album that reveals this. Bono's falsetto, for example, has never sounded the same before or since The Joshua Tree. There is a mystical quality about it, as though it has traveled for miles and miles through the wide open desserts and dense political jungles and forests throughout this album. The listener is carried through the real life images of American foreign policy ('Bullet The Blue Sky'), the desperation of drug addiction ('Running To Stand Still'), and the very real emptiness behind suicide ('Exit'); yet despite it all, in many of the very same songs you will find an undying, underlying hope, an urge to transcend the very darkness of this album into the silver light found on 'Streets'. Even a nasty little love song such as 'With or Without You' comes from somewhere else completely, the pain of it feeding the very need to reach past the flesh of this album. Nothing on The Joshua Tree sounds commercial, yet it is one of the most commercially successful albums of all time.

Somewhere back in 1987, U2 found the very breath of their ability and filled their lungs with it. The Joshua Tree is the sound of the exhale, the consequence of their risk -- the fallout of the mystical -- scattered across miles of terrain. And, on this disc, we are lucky enough to breathe it all in again -- to go, to quote Van Morrison, back "into the mystic" -- and to actually take that breath back to where it came from: we go back into the eye of the storm, back into that stillness that can't be defined by the written word, but can be felt by the right music. Where does the music on The Joshua Tree come from? Some would say U2. Others would say, simply, ourselves. It may be that neither answer is incorrect. It may be from somewhere in that eye, where we face the music on all fronts -- where the storm of the album's landscape, and the music that blows through it, become each other -- forming a sustaining tension, that somehow continually dissolves and, yet, builds on itself. That's the paradox of The Joshua Tree, and also why it's the greatest album of all time.


Oh, I've also changed my mind on my top albums list, too. I forgot one of the most amazing musical experiences of my life: Pink Moon, by Nick Drake. So here's my new list:

2. Sgt. Peppers - The Beatles
3. Pink Moon - Nick Drake
4. Achtung Baby - U2
5. The Bends - Radiohead
6. Songs of Love and Hate - Leonard Cohen
7. Blood On The Tracks - Bob Dylan
8. OK Computer - Radiohead
9. Moondance - Van Morrison
10. Fumbling Towards Ecstacy - Sarah McLachlan
 
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I also wrote up a great one for Achtung Baby and it didn't seem to work, it said try back later. So i don't know if it was submitted or not. I submitted another one since, but without the eloquent review. I would say submit it again Michael. maybe even put a little note in there to them that you weren't sure the first one went through. Great writing. (Although Achtung Baby is better) ;)
 
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That was nice read Michael. JT definitely has some of my favorite U2 songs like Streets, WOWY & OTH, but I actually prefer some of the B-sides from that era to several of the album tracks. I'd take Walk To the Water, Luminious Times, Sweetest Thing & Deep In The Heart over Bullet, Trip Thru, Mothers & Exit if I had the choice, but that's just my opinion. I actually have a greater appreciation of Mothers, Exit & Bullet after watching the JT classic albums special. I didn't realize how much production went into those tunes. I wouldn't rank them among my favorites, but the electonic treatment on Larry's drums on Mother's, for example, was intresting to learn.
 
A friend of mine who is going into publishing and editing, had this to say:

All right, all right. My only criticism would be that sometimes you go overboard on adjectives. For instance, "huge," "total," "incredible," etc. Also, I wouldn't use the word 'mystical' twice in the article--it's a very loaded word. That being said, your paragraph on the mystical, with the quote by Van Morrison, might serve to back this up if you put it higher up in the article. Also, I would change the first line--although it introduces your point well enough, it's fairly dry. The following sentences illustrate your point well enough on their own. On the good side, you display ample emotion and knoweldge regarding U2s music. Can't criticize anything you said--this is certainly your territory, not mine.

Some good pointers in there. I had the same concern about using the word "mystical" twice, but I thought it would be okay because of the whole tying it up thing at the end. It is a fair criticism, though...(Man, detailed writing is tough!)
 
either way, thank you Michael, that was beautiful. you just made me want to go listen to the Joshua Tree again :up:
 
RavenStar said:
I actually put Achtung Baby! as my first choice. I just have always thought of ot as the stonger album while JTree has the stronger individual songs.
Nice write-up though. :up:

Interesting...I've always felt just the opposite.
 
Okay, I think this is the FINAL version (and no, RS still hasn't allowed me in!)...

Why do people love electrical storms? There's a certain spark in the air, a surge of movement that's out of our control, one that allows us to feel as though we are willingly partaking in some form of natural risk. By making the Joshua Tree, U2 took such a risk, and not just artistically or musically. Bono himself declared in 1987 "that the thought of people waiting for The Joshua Tree is ridiculous. It sounds as though it'll sell three copies." I can see his point. At the time, it sounded like nothing else on mainstream radio. Instead, you had an album that sounded like it was derived from some kind of spiritual fall-out. It sounded too natural, too organic to compete with the artifice that was running rampant all over the charts at the time (and still is). No other album that I've heard embodies such an earthiness, while also revealing the other-worldliness by which The Joshua Tree has been designed. Like much of Leonard Cohen's material, for example, there is a spirituality found on this record that doesn't deny the physical. It's a spirituality that isn't afraid of getting its hands dirty. Yet, there is a stillness, a serenity on The Joshua Tree, despite the harshness and intensity that permeates the record. It's as if the album has indeed been woven through the eye of the storm -- as though the album understands and replicates, in an organic sense, the line Bono would pen years later on Achtung Baby in the song 'So Cruel': "Head in heaven, fingers in the mire." The Joshua Tree lives these lines; and as is conveyed in songs like 'Red Hill Mining Town', there is a sense that, despite being "so cruel," life is still worth "holding onto," and sometimes is "all that's left to hold onto..." (Perhaps the themes of Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby aren't so different after all?)

From the opening hymn-like organ intro of 'Where The Streets Have No Name' -- as it glides effortlessly into a tidal-wave of relentless explosion -- to the sublime beauty of songs like 'One Tree Hill', there is nothing but perfection; a musically cinematic perfection of an imperfect world striving past the pain and desperation felt throughout this album, and into the metaphysical sense of joy. Songs like 'Running To Stand Still' work so well because one is placed right into someone else's world in such a manner that it becomes your world -- or at least in a manner that gives you the sense that it could be your world. The Joshua Tree takes you to the scene of the crime, the very place of confusion, where emotion splits into mood and allows you to feel fragments coming together again. This album doesn't just tell you about something; it allows one to experience it. There is something going on inside the texture of the album that reveals this. Bono's falsetto, for example, has never sounded the same before or since The Joshua Tree. There is a mystical quality about it, as though it has traveled for miles and miles through the wide open desserts, the dense political jungles and forests throughout the record. The listener is carried through real life images of American foreign policy ('Bullet The Blue Sky'), the desperation of drug addiction ('Running To Stand Still'), and the very real emptiness behind suicide ('Exit'); yet despite it all, in many of the very same songs you will find an undying, underlying hope, an urge to transcend the very darkness of this album into the silver light found on 'Streets'. Even a nasty little love song such as 'With or Without You' comes from somewhere else completely, the pain of it feeding the very need to reach past the flesh of this album. Nothing on The Joshua Tree sounds commercial, yet it is one of the most commercially successful albums of all time.

Somewhere back in 1987, U2 found the very breath of their ability and filled their lungs with it. The Joshua Tree is the sound of the exhale, the consequence of their risk -- the fallout of the mystical -- scattered across miles of terrain. And, on this disc, we are lucky enough to breathe it all in again -- to go, to quote Van Morrison, back "into the mystic" -- to, in a sense, actually take that breath back to where it came from: here, we go back into the eye of the storm, back into that stillness that can't be defined by the written word, but can be felt by the right music. Where does the music on The Joshua Tree come from? Some would say U2. Others would say, simply, ourselves. It may be that neither answer is incorrect. It could be from somewhere in the middle, from somewhere in that eye, where we face the music on all fronts -- where the storm of the album's landscape, and the music that flows through that landscape, become each other -- forming a sustaining tension, one that somehow continually dissolves and yet builds on itself. And so we are left feeling out of control, yet calm; sad, yet elated; disturbed, yet peaceful; and angry, yet somehow accepting. That's the paradox of The Joshua Tree, and also why it's the greatest album of all time.
 
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doctorwho said:
While, of course, that was well-written (I would be stunned if I saw anything else from Michael Griffiths :D), I found myself not agreeing with his sentiments.

I have never felt this "other-worldly" sense about JT. There are some brilliant songs on that album, but there are also some that I feel truly date the album, despite the fact that U2 still play them now. Also, I feel some of U2's worst material ever is on that album.

Bono's falsetto, a point stressed by Michael, is virtually non-existent on JT. Yes, it pops up here and there on various tracks, but his falsetto only truly shines in U2's 90's work and beyond. And while Bono's vocals are perhaps the most impassioned and powerful on JT, his "opera-singer" mannerisms give the songs a slight aloofness that make them just a bit inaccessible to me. That is, when I listen to AB or ATYCLB, I feel as if Bono is speaking to me personally (even though I am fully cognizant he is not). His vocals on AB and ATYCLB are outstanding with a very powerful range, but there is also a roughness to them that make them deeply personal - making me feel his pain more. On JT, I feel he is singing on a far grander scale, as if a preacher to his congregation. Some of you may enjoy that aspect, but I always felt as if I was being spoken down to. In contrast, with albums like AB and ATYCLB, Bono's vocals make me I feel I am sharing some of life's stories with a dear friend.

Edge's guitar work is strong, but his overuse of the echo/delay effect also detracts from JT. I felt Edge truly shined on AB, where the echo effect still dominated, but he was able to really use it to its full potential. On albums like "Pop" and ATYCLB, I felt that the Edge truly mastered his skills, mixing all of his talents - including his signature echo effects - into a wave of sounds that just powered the music through my soul. In contrast, while JT has those moments, it is also inconsistent. Some songs soar, others lie flat.

Adam and Larry's skills, while clearly improving throughout the 90's, are certainly powerful on JT. Adam's baseline on something like "With or Without You" is very simple, but it's that elegant simplicity that makes it beautiful. Anything more there would have ruined it. Therefore, I do not feel that these gentleman detract from JT. But I do feel that Bono and Edge have been far better on other albums.

This is why I don't even feel JT is U2's best album, let alone best album ever. I will say that it is the best album of 1987 and one of the best of the 80's, and in my personal Top 20, but not the best of all time.

Nonetheless, thank you Michael for writing a very impassioned view on JT. :yes: I know that more people will agree with you on JT than they will with me.
Have you tried using head-phones?
 
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