BY JAY ROBERTS
The Cassette Chronicles is a continuing series of mini reviews and reflections on albums from the 1980’s and 1990’s. The aim of this series is to highlight both known and underappreciated albums from rock, pop and metal genres from this time period through the cassette editions of their releases. Some of the albums I have known about and loved for years, while others are new to me and were music I’ve always wanted to hear. There will be some review analysis and my own personal stories about my connection with various albums. These opinions are strictly my own and do not reflect the views of anyone else at Limelight Magazine.
U2 – THE JOSHUA TREE (1987)
With a reported 25 million copies sold, including at least 10 million here in the United States, the U2 album The Joshua Tree almost certainly needs no little the way of introduction.
Looking at the album’s Wikipedia page, you get the idea that there has been a lot written about the album over the thirty-six years since it was first released. Hell, that page looks like someone wrote a dissertation about the album.
So I don’t think I have to write much in the way of anything approaching critical analysis in this article. I’m sure that how I reacted to the album back in 1987 and then going forward is more in tune with my own personal thoughts rather than going along with the general masses anyway.
But before we get into the album, a bit of my personal history with U2. I didn’t get into the band with their first three albums. I know that WBCN-FM out of Boston was a very early supporter of the band but I didn’t discover U2 for myself until they had that hit single “Pride (In the Name of Love)” off of the album The Unforgettable Fire, which is the predecessor to The Joshua Tree. I remember listening to the song on American Top 40 but I can’t remember how I came to own that particular album on cassette (which I still have in my collection).
That song got me hooked into the band as a fan, but I don’t think anyone was prepared for what was to come when March 9th, 1987 came and The Joshua Tree album hit the shelves. I know I sure wasn’t but from the first time I bought the cassette (which is what I listened to for this article), I was blown away.
The music, which is a lush tapestry of music throughout, is credited to U2 as a whole. Singer Bono is credited with writing all the lyrics. And while a varied set of topics are explored in those lyrics, I figure it is better to let you all decide for yourself what they mean. While I never delved deep into the actual meanings behind each song, I always had my own interpretation no matter how far off those might end up being.
Of course, the band was already popular with four studio releases to their credit already (plus a live release that was recorded in Boston). But everything that came before was just setting the table for what came forth from the recording sessions of The Joshua Tree.
The album opens with a trio of songs that became instant classics for U2 and they were also the first three singles (in a different release order) from the album. (Five singles in all were released with “In God’s Country” being a North American only release and the “One Tree Hill” single only being released in Australia and New Zealand.)
The song “Where the Streets Have No Name” opens up the album and I found that I was instantly captivated by the slow but steady build of the song’s intro before the guitar line from The Edge comes into play. Just as quickly you get the bass (Adam Clayton) and drums (Larry Mullen, Jr.) before the song takes off in full flight with Bono’s vocals. The song is decidedly uptempo, perhaps the most “rocking” of the eleven song track list. The guitar is superb throughout the song and I remember watching the video they made for the song on MTV a lot. As I recall, they were filming a live performance on a rooftop in LA and so many people were showing up to watch them that the police shut down the shoot after they did this song.
The song “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” continues to resonate quite strongly with me even now. The track switches between mid-and uptempo tones and this one became another monster track for U2. I don’t know that I need to say too much more about this other than for anyone who hasn’t heard the song to go check it out for themselves. I think you’ll find yourself pretty captivated by what you hear.
But as much as I think those two tracks are absolute stone cold classics, I wonder if they ended up still ranking just a teensy bit behind “With or Without You”. That song was the first single released from The Joshua Tree and is STILL a megahit with the fan base. It’s a ballad in musical tone and delivery with a little bit of “power” infused later in the song’s run time.
So that’s three for three to start off the album. Killer songs with huge commercial success. But what about the last two songs on Side One? Well, they may not have been singles but neither song is any kind of a slouch or letdown.
You have “Bullet The Blue Sky” which has a thumping rhythmic feel to it. And from the very first time I listened, I thought there was kind of a sneering attitude to the lyrics and how they were delivered at various points in the song. (Again, these are MY interpretations of the songs which are likely to have no basis in reality.) The funny thing I remember most about this song actually has nothing to do with U2 themselves. Rather, I remember seeing Queensryche in concert at the Orpheum Theater in Boston. I forget which album they were touring for but they covered “Bullet The Blue Sky” during the show. Stranger still for me was it wasn’t a particularly good show because singer Geoff Tate was sick and the show was pretty short. It was the first time I can remember being disappointed by their concert performance.
As for the side closing song “Running To Stand Still”, I remember reading the song title on the cassette insert and being intrigued simply because of the title. It’s a slower song, with a decidedly softer musical feel to the song. But still, I loved the song.
As for Side Two, much like “Running To Stand Still”, I was immediately intrigued by the song “Red Hill Mining Town” simply by the song’s title. Then I listened to the song and it was killer. The song briefly opens with a soft focus delivery but quickly grows more forceful, with Bono’s vox at times becoming pretty plaintive in how he sings the lyrics. The underlying rhythm track is solid but when The Edge, Clayton and Mullen, Jr. amp up the music for sections of the song, something special happens. I know the song wasn’t released as a single but I love this one as much as if it had hit #1.
As for “In God’s Country”, it does give a challenge to “Where The Streets Have No Name” for most rocking song on the album. And you know what, it may just outdo it in that particular department. I’m not sure if this is an accurate description but the song opens with this jangly guitar sound and from then on, the song just bulldozes its way across your eardrums. And as good as the vocals from Bono are, I think this song belongs to its musical score just a tad more. The guitar playing is impeccably assured here. Whenever I hear the song, it’s like getting my mind blown all over again.
The way the band composed the songs for The Joshua Tree really varied the types of songs they had to offer listeners. Case in point, the song “Trip Through Your Wires”. I’m not sure how anyone else feels about this one but I think it is an inspired track. You’ve got the bluesy music amped up with the harmonica from Bono. Plus there’s a kind of swing to the band’s performance as well.
“One Tree Hill” was written for a close friend of Bono’s that became a roadie for the band. When he was killed in a motorcycle accident, this song came from Bono’s grief. The funny thing is that while it was never released as a single, I thought it should’ve been back in the day. Of course, that was because I didn’t know the backstory of the song at that time. Still, the song has a kinetic energy that is still evident even now.
As many times as I’ve listened to The Joshua Tree over the years, I never looked into the creative process behind the song “Exit”. So imagine my surprise that the lyrics were inspired by the Norman Mailer book The Executioner’s Song about serial killer Gary Gilmore. It seems like such an odd pairing for U2 but the song is incredible. Plus the music gives you the chills as if it is embodying all the fear that a killer like that would inspire. Of course, there’s much more involved in the song to say the least but it sure gave me at least some new insight into the track.
The album closes out with the song “Mothers of the Disappeared”. It first starts out relatively soft. Bono’s vocals are hushed and the music kind of coasts along without too much forcefulness. As the song goes forth, the music does become a bit more upfront in the mix. While the song is generally about U.S. foreign policy at the time, I always thought of it serving as kind of an elegy for The Joshua Tree album itself. Yes, totally not what was going on in the track but that was my initial impression when I heard the track back in 1987.
As noted before, it has been thirty-six years since The Joshua Tree was first released. It was a commercial success beyond measure and made U2 global superstars. Something that hasn’t changed through all the time that has passed since then. It’s one of the most successful albums ever released. And there’s no real way to deny how influential the album has been on rock music either.
I’m mainly a hard rock and heavy metal fan. Nothing is going to change that. But something else that will never change is that I think of U2’s The Joshua Tree album as one of my personal favorite albums of all time as well. There’s so much going on here that I could spend another thirty-six years listening to the album and still not fully grasp everything that went into creating about as purely perfect a listening experience as you could imagine.
NOTES OF INTEREST: The Joshua Tree album has been given two anniversary reissues. The 20th anniversary version has a bonus disc with 14 tracks including B-sides and more. There’s also a DVD with a concert, documentary and two music videos.
The 30th anniversary edition has a 2 disc version with the 2nd disc being a concert from New York in 1987. The four disc edition has that concert plus a disc of remixes and what appears to be the disc of B-sides from the 20th anniversary edition. I have the two disc edition of this release. I got it when I realized that I didn’t have The Joshua Tree on CD at all.
I’ve only seen U2 in concert once. It was pretty special as my parents got me tickets for my birthday. It was the tour for the Pop album. While there’s been a lot said about that album and the tour over the years, I rather enjoyed U2’s performance on the evening even if I didn’t like the new material they happened to play all that much (Pop is not one of my favorite U2 albums). But the classic songs, KILLER!
Limelight Magazine 