Joshua Tree, The - U2 > Reviews > U2 at their finest?

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	A great album
Disadvantages:	A couple of weak tracks

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The Joshua Tree released in 1987 is widely acclaimed as the album that finally gave U2 their ticket to superstardom status. Many have proclaimed this album as THE album of the mid 80's,with this album U2 could do no wrong. The Joshua Tree was to show the world that U2 had homed their skills into a more sophisticated sound. The Joshua Tree adds to their unique rock sound a mixture of blues and folk influences in an album, that pays homage to many overtly political issues as well as looking at finding inner spirituality. Gone is the rawness of preceding albums. What The Joshua Tree does is serve up a rich cocktail of different sounds. The politic message is still there but in a more subtler form. What you have to remember is that The Joshua Tree was recorded in the aftermath of Live aid and the famine in Ethiopia of the mid 80's.

~~Where the Streets have no name~~

With a ghost like organ intro "Where the Streets have no name" will draw you into this album. The Edge soon rips into the intro with a stunning performance on guitar, add Bono at perhaps his finest you have a truly awesome start to this this album. On first hearing you'd be lead to believe that this track was going to be a soft gentle track but the talents of both Bono and The Edge soon put paid to that theory. "Where the Streets.." voices the bands search for inner peace and tranquility for all.Bono was to later describe this track as a sketch of trying to break out of a regimented life, of being free and no one judging you on the basis of where you live.

"I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame"

~~I still haven't found what I'm looking for~~

With a slightly more up tempo intro U2 have by now got you hooked on this album. The version on The Joshua Tree of this song is a decent rendition but to get the true meaning of this track you really need to here the gospel version on Rattle and Hum -then you will hear this song in it's true splendor.Musically the track is not U2 at their best. Given the subject matter I personally would have thought a more softer approach would have given Bono the perfect background in which to explore vocally the sensitive subject matter. Unfortunately the track is a jumble of sounds which does on occasions drowns out Bono.With a title like "I still haven't found what I'm looking for you" would be forgiven into thinking this was going to be Bono lamenting about a lost love. The track is actually about the search to find spirituality. The gospel version on Rattle and Hum brings the lyrics alive better than the version found on The Joshua Tree.

"I have climbed highest mountain
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you"

~~With or without you~~

With it's hypnotic semi trance like opener U2 rely heavily on some superb key board playing on this track. With anguish filled vocals Bono laments a relationship breaking down. Vocally Bono is superb as he charts the tale of wondering what you do when a relationship goes wrong. Do you stay or do you go? Do you become a door mat or do you pick up your shattered pride and walk away. I'm sure a million heart broken people have listened to this one at some stage or another. If I had to pick only one track out of this album it would be this one.

"See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
I wait for you......."

"With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you"

~~Bullet The Blue Sky~~

You are rudely dragged out of your melancholy state that "With or With You" will have no doubt have induced by an opening that lets the lovely Larry Mullen loose on his drum kit. Unfortunately all this does is induce a state of high irritation in me. Throw out the track you can definitely hear Larry play but given the nature of this song it might have been more welcoming to have toned Larry down a bit.To be honest this songs full potential of speaking out against injustice is not fully explored in this rather higgledy piggledy track

"And I can see those fighter planes
Across the mud huts where the children sleep
Through the alleys of a quiet city street......"

"And through the walls you hear the city groan
Outside is America......"

~~Running to Stand Still~~

After the ear bashing that was the proceeding track, it's actually good to have your ears soothed again with a wonderful bluesy opener -you can just imagine the boys sitting on some porch in the deep south with the opener to this track. Vocally Bono washes over you with a tender and soothing touch.The closing bars with the superb mouth organ add to the feel good factor of this track.

"She runs through the streets
With her eyes painted red
Under black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway she brings me
White gold and pearls stolen from the sea
She is raging
She is raging
And the storm blows up in her eyes
She will..."

~~Red Hill Mining Town~~

The folk music influence becomes more apparent with the intro to this track, this is soon substituted for a more familiar U2 rock sound. The Bono singing on this track is the Bono of "Unforgettable fire" fame but with just a touch more sophistication. Red Hill Mining Town laments the effect of change. This track is obviously over shadowed by the tracks which were lifted as singles but this track really does deserve more than a cursory listen. By the end of the track you are humming along with Bono.

"Hanging on
The lights go out on Red Hill
The lights go down on Red Hill
Lights go down on Red Hill town
The lights go down on Red Hill"

~~In God's own Country~~

A mish mash of sounds which frankly is irritating, by the end of this anthem to the US you are heartily relieved it's all over.This track unfortunately encases all the musical genres U2 wanted on the album in one track. In Gods own country was also the closing track on the film Three Kings. Unfortunately it's one track I tend to flip past on the play list. If this album has one filler track then "In God's own Country" deserves this accolade.

"Desert sky, dream beneath the desert sky.
The rivers run but soon run dry.
We need new dreams tonight."

~~Trip Through the wires~~

Opening with a mixture of Larry Mullen on drums and some semi decent harmonica playing this track opens again with a semi bluesy feel to it. Much has been said that The Joshua Tree was an album which blended U2's unique rock sound with folk and blues sounds if there is one track on the album that manages to encompass all of this sucessfully then "Trip Through the Wire" has to be the track. Having said this it is by no means a great track, it lacks that certain something. Maybe it's the fact Bono seems to be singing with a degree of lack lustre that just makes this a mediocre U2 track.

"I was broken, bent out of shape
I was naked in the clothes you made
Lips were dry, throat like rust
You gave me shelter from the heat and the dust
No more water in the well
No more water, water"

~~One Tree Hill~~

One Hill Tree opens with a soft gentle but effective South American folk music feel to it.It's the kind of track that grows on you. It's easy to just skip this track on first listening, but once you hear it again and again you actually find it's a very deep and meaningful track. Bono again entertains you with his typical vocal style. Add a soothing and gentle musical backtrack, which builds into an angry climax mid track and you really do have a classic U2 track.

"I don't believe in painted roses
Or bleeding hearts
While bullets rape the night of the merciful
I'll see you again
When the stars fall from the sky
And the moon has turned red
Over One Tree Hill"

~~Exit~~

Opening with a very atmospheric sound which wouldn't be a miss in some thriller film, Bono practically reads the lyrics for the first verse of this song. As the tempo changes up several gears you are greeted with a sound that is best described as angry both vocally and musically.Unfortunately this anger really isn't used to proper effect and by the middle of the track you really are wondering if you are listening to a pre recording practice session.It ends rather abruptly. "Exit" again dwells on the unfairness that is our world.

"His head it felt heavy
As he cut across the land
A dog started crying
Like a broken hearted man
At the howling wing
At the howling wind"

~~Mothers of the disappeared~~

With an opening that practically has you visualizing an empty street with the wind blowing throw it, this track remains a soft sounding gentle track which is an effective tribute to the Mothers of the Disappeared. The Track speaks of the people who lost sons and daughters and relatives under the brutal regime of Pinochet in Chile of the early 70's. U2 handle the issue they are raising with great sensitivity. It's not an in your face political song such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday" was.But you can not escape the fact you are listening to a political song all kudos to them for again pointing out the injustices in this world.On a tour of Chile in 1998 this track was played live in Santiago, given the fact that left wingers and so called enemy's of the state were rounded up and held in football stadiums before "disappearing" the poignancy of this song can not have failed to touch all who saw them play that night.

"Midnight, our sons and daughters
Were cut down and taken from us
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

In the wind we hear their laughter
In the rain we see their tears
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

Night hangs like a prisoner
Stretched over black and blue
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

In the trees our sons stand naked
Through the walls our daughters cry
See their tears in the rainfall"

With 11 tracks and a total play time of 50 minutes this album gives you value for money. With better known tracks such as Where the Streets have no name, I still haven't found what I'm looking for and my personal favourite With or Without you mingling with lesser known treasures such as Mothers of the Disappeared and One Hill Tree it's album that has something for everyone. It is as powerful today as it was 16 years ago on it's first release. In my personal opinion U2 have never surpassed this classic album and probably never will.