The Joshua Tree
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I have never really been a U2 fan. Only because I have never been big on Bono. But I do have "With or Without You" on my ipod and always thought it was a great song and then, a friend of mine who is from Ireland and given that a U2 fan showed me their song "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own", and I instantly loved that one too.
So today, I decided to give U2 a good chance. I've always wanted to buy the Joshua Tree, and today on my way home from work, I swung by the used CD store and found a copy for $6.99. It was well worth it. The album starts off beautifully. I think after listening to the whole thing my favorite part still has to be the first opening minute or so with that great key intro played to "Where The Streets Have No Name". I was the least disappointed after finishing it, it never failed to catch me off guard and the emotion that just oozes out of these songs is the kind that I love to soak in. "Bullet The Blue Sky" blew my fuckin' socks off...I never expected a tune like that from U2 after hearing everything I had heard from them on the radio and such.
Easily a new favorite in my collection, and well worth my top #10
So today, I decided to give U2 a good chance. I've always wanted to buy the Joshua Tree, and today on my way home from work, I swung by the used CD store and found a copy for $6.99. It was well worth it. The album starts off beautifully. I think after listening to the whole thing my favorite part still has to be the first opening minute or so with that great key intro played to "Where The Streets Have No Name". I was the least disappointed after finishing it, it never failed to catch me off guard and the emotion that just oozes out of these songs is the kind that I love to soak in. "Bullet The Blue Sky" blew my fuckin' socks off...I never expected a tune like that from U2 after hearing everything I had heard from them on the radio and such.
Easily a new favorite in my collection, and well worth my top #10
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7/2/06 - Denver, CO
6/12/08 - Tampa, FL
8/23/09 - Chicago, IL
9/28/09 - Salt Lake City, UT (11 years too long!!!)
9/03/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 1
9/04/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 2
6/12/08 - Tampa, FL
8/23/09 - Chicago, IL
9/28/09 - Salt Lake City, UT (11 years too long!!!)
9/03/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 1
9/04/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 2
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Comments
I was so excited when this album was about to be dropped. Back then U2 was my #1 band in front of RUSH but then U2 took off after this album and I started to lose some interest. Still probably one of their BEST album releases. Just awesome and the tour became massive. I saw the show on that tour where Bono slipped in the rain in DC and fell, broke his arm. Only four songs in in front of 55,000 at RFK Stadium, Wash. DC.
Here's some meaning behind some of the songs from Joshua Tree and the song Bullet The Blue Sky.
Peace
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J2uYVdC6S4
Seeing and hearing that again STILL gives me chills. Awesome.
Peace
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
'06 - London, Dublin, Reading
'07 - Katowice, Wembley, Dusseldorf, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
'09 - London, Manchester, London
'12 - Manchester, Manchester, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen
Anyway, THIS is my all time favorite song from Joshua Tree
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytRekLUX3GE
This song got me through some very black days indeed, way back in the day and just recently too. Thanks to a great friend for reminding me.
*~You're IT Bert!~*
Hold on to the thread
The currents will shift
i enjoy 'trip through your wires' from that album
agreed. one tree hill is a standout there for me. and to the post's creator make sure you get your hands on the rattle & hum dvd sometime soon. the live performances of the joshua tree songs alone make it worthwhile. that version of with or without you ALONE makes it worthwhile.
I totally agree with your post,they have a virtually unblemished catalogue IMO.
People are so blinkered about Bono yet he is only one part of a great band.
I have to say I have a lot of time for the man despite his profile and faults,we've all got them.What I like about him is yes people can call him an arse and a sanctimonious meglomaniac,but I don't think he would disagree.I have read and watched many interviews with the man and when talking about himself his tongue always seems firmly rooted in his cheek.
Jump on the Bono's an arse bandwagon but watch cause he'll be on there before you.
exactly.....in the 80's everyone called him a pompous rock star so with actung baby he decided to fill the role since he could change everyone's attitudes....:)
i was born 6 months after it came out..but have often wondered what it would have been like to have bought it that day and gone home to just put on the record and listen. i just grew up with it so don't have that memorable first listening experience.
The Joshua Tree is the only perfect U2 record with no fillers at all.
Achtung Baby is a very close second however that is the best work of the modernised, reinvented U2 of the 90's!!!
Eddie: Dublin & London
Where I'm not ugly and you're lookin' at me
At least to me anyway. The longevity, the quality, the intelligient music, the passion, the sound. It's all about the music.
As for The Joshua Tree...even though it's actually not my favorite U2 album (that would be The Unforgettable Fire) it's a watershed album that sealed their fates as the band. Always will be in my eyes.
...signed...the token black Pearl Jam fan.
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I feel old as I have this on vinyl.
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Where I'm not ugly and you're lookin' at me
For a modern day comparison this is like the Bends and Ok Computer for Radiohead. One was a straight forward rock album that was an absolute classic, and the other is experimental and weird yet so good and also a classic.
6/7/2003 (***1/2)
7/9/2006 (****1/2)
7/13/2006 (**** )
4/10/2008 EV Solo (****1/2)
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10/6/2009 LA III (***** Cornell!!!)
LOL so do I.Bought on the day of release.Replaced with cd a few years later but still love the vinyl.
One Tree Hill and Red Hill Mining Town are two of my favourites. Oh, and how could I exclude Trip Through Your Wires and In God's Country. And, of course, With or Without You, Where the Streets Have No Names, and Still Haven't Found What I've Been Looking For.
So many great songs! Joshua Tree is a fantastic album!
However, I am going to be of the minority and say that I've never really liked Bullet the Blue Sky.