U2: The Joshua Tree - 1987
"The wild beauty, cultural richness, spiritual vacancy and ferocious violence of America are explored to compelling effect in virtually every aspect of The Joshua Tree - in the title and the cover art, the blues and country borrowings evident in the music ... Indeed, Bono says that 'dismantling the mythology of America' is an important part of The Joshua Tree's artistic objective" - Anthony DeCurtis
After their two earnest, post-punk, riffy albums, followed by the melodically rocking War and then the more experimental, sometimes ambient The Unforgettable Fire, U2 continued their change of direction with this, their real breakthrough to huge commercial success.
No longer somewhat faceless post-punks, U2, bolstered by an impressive performance at 1985’s Live Aid now became a massive stadium rock band, with a charismatic singer everyone now knew (although he was somewhat derivative, and drew accusations of pretension, and being “up himself”). Paul “Bono” Hewson probably always had that in him, to be honest, but it now came well and truly to the surface.
Bono’s obsession with America was to override the whole album. It is strange how often artists that are so intrinsically left-wing in their politics, humanist in their outlook and generally possessed of a strong social conscience become so obsessed with a country that, at certain times and in certain places, displays a distinct lack of those things. Maybe it is the musical heritage and the natural beauty that was most inspirational, but often it appears that the obsession manifests itself as ranting against America as a concept and the capitalism that built it. Why become obsessed with it then? Strange.
Let's bullet the blue sky, then.....
Anyway, the first three tracks steer clear of those sort of conceits, on the whole, and are three copper-bottomed classics. The build up intro to Where The Streets Have No Name is so uplifting and powerful, one of rock’s best intros. The gospel-influenced I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For is simply as inspirational as it was no doubt intended to be and the slow, bassy throbbing undercurrent of With Or Without You is intoxicating. Everyone knows these tracks now, but it doesn’t stop them being a superb introductory triad to an album. Bullet The Blue Sky is the first politically motivated track, full of searing guitar, Biblical references, an impassioned vocal from Bono and lyrics about American influence in Central America and governmental corruption. In many ways it is the best track on the album. Hard hitting and profound.
Running To Stand Still has echoes of their earlier material with its mournful guitar sound. Red Hill Mining Town is majestic and stately, almost anthemic, perfect for stadium performances, while the riffy intro to In God's Country definitely harks back to the early days.
The upbeat but bluesy I Trip Through Your Wires also shows a real instinct for a hook, that the band were coming up with now far more than before. One Tree Hill has that now typical guitar sound from The Edge employed so effectively on the previous album’s monumental Bad.
The mysterious, rumbling bass-driven Exit and the elegiac Mothers Of The Disappeared end what started off as quite a joyous album on a sombre, bleak, introspective note. In many ways the final half of the album is not very commercial at all - it is brooding and impenetrable at times, in contrast to the radio-friendly rock of the opening three tracks. This is a beguiling, multi-textured album that belies its “monster” status, being deep, dark and inscrutable at many points. It still remains their best album, by far.
