U2 - The Joshua Tree
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Free Music Notes for The Joshua Tree
Free Music Review: "I'm hanging on..."
Hit: 5 Stars
While I myself like U2, I can understand why there are those who do not. Much like the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, their music is essentially unavoidable - hell, even I got burnt out on Where the Streets Have No Name back in the '90s and early '00s, though it's a lot easier to enjoy now that I don't have to hear it on the radio every day. Then again, I don't listen to the radio that much anymore.
Anyway, overplayed as they may be, I consider myself a U2 fan, or should I say an '80s U2 fan. Most of the '80s was a musical wasteland (at least according to my experience - I wasn't alive back then, so I probably don't know the half of it), but U2 brought a ton of sincerity and a will to experiment that made so many of their albums - Boy, War, The Unforgettable Fire - so good. This great Eno production is pretty experimental too, but that's not all I like about it. This one's a triumph of songwriting as much as it is experimentation.
It's tough to pick a favorite on this album when so many songs qualify. The massive hit Where the Streets Have No Name is one competitor - a great build-up, charging verses, soaring choruses. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (another one I heard way too many times, though again I love it now) probably is the weakest of the album's three inescapable hits, but it also has the best hook, and to call it "weakest" isn't exactly an insult to it or anything. Now, With or Without You is the strongest of the three inescapable hits (Where the Streets Have No Name being the third) - forget what I said earlier, I think this is my favorite song on the album, maybe my favorite U2 song period. Some people see Bono as pompous. and while sometimes that's true (the entire October album, for instance), he's as earnest as he ever got. "I can't live... with or without you..." is a lyric with an edge, that's for sure. My favorite part of the song (and maybe album) is when the whole band suddenly kicks in, Bono screams, "Whoa-hoa-hoa-hoa...", and the song unexpectedly becomes a rocker. Then again, the whole song is just perfection. I'm serious. You think Twisted Sister or the Eurhythmics could've dome something that good? I don't. Bullet the Blue Sky and the almost frightening Exit are two of the most intense, compelling songs U2 has ever done; Running to Stand Still is a chilling drug protest - like Bad, but introspective rather than epic. And the propulsive One Tree Hill is yet another personal favorite of mine.
Those are just the top songs, though: it's hard to deny the power of the cathartic Red Hill Mining Town, the fun bluesy stomp Trip Through Your Wires has a great harmonica part; and In God's Country is actually kind of funky, believe it or not.
It's tempting to call this U2's indisputable best album. I can't, though. One song keeps it from that title. Remember all those ambient songs on The Unforgettable Fire, like Promenade/4th of July and Indian Summer Sky? Remember how boring they were? Well, Mothers of the Disappeared is also ambient, and it's also boring. Sure, its intentions are good, but it's just a dull song. The only one on the album, if you ask me. So there's a massively intense smackdown between this and War as U2's best album, but this secured U2's status as a great band - much better than most of their '80s (and most of their '90s and '00s ones - I'd much rather hear U2 than Green Day, Good Charlotte, Limp Bizkit or any of those stupid commercial rock bands today). If you hate U2 with a passion, this probably won't do anything to stop that hatred - indeed, I'm pretty sure its massive success is what brought a lot of people to an anti-U2 stance in the first place. But if you like the group, it's really a hard album to go wrong with. Most fans probably have it in the first place.
Free Music Review: U2's greatest
Hit: 5 Stars
This is U2's finest album, period. I am not even a U2 fan, and I still love every song on this record. This album is just so epic, and the band is in top form. Bono's vocal approach is perfected on this album, and the Edge's(what a dumb nickname) playing is awesome. One of the best album's of the "80's, if not the best, and just a flat-out great album. I know that all serious U2 fans already have this amazing album, but if you are fan of the band, than get this album!Free Music Review: I'm Not A 13 Year Old Kid
Hit: 1 Stars
I despise Johua Tree. I don't know why, maybe it's because it's the CD they sold out on. Every time I hear a song from the God awful CD on the radio it's like hearing someone run their nails down a chalk board.Needless to say I change the station fast.
If you really like U2 listen to their earlier CD's like Boy, War, or The Unforgettable Fire. All That You Can't Leave Behind is pretty good. But if you want a really good U2 CD check out Achtung Baby. It's their best CD in years!
Free Music Review: Men in the desert.
Hit: 4 Stars
You can't help but see a mountain men, desert image when looking at pictures of U2 from the Joshua Tree era. The album cover, as well as some of the songs just put you in this frame of mind. It's certainly a far cry from the image of leather and shades and sexuality that would be adopted years later.
No matter how many people sing the praises of The Joshua Tree, there are some songs that just don't do it for me. One Tree Hill and Mothers of the Disappeared are not really good to me. And I never had an orgasmic experience listening to Where the Streets Have No Name despite it being one of U2's legendary songs. The rest are great; and provide evidence as to why this album has the reputation it does.
Sidenote: Somebody desperately needs to remaster U2's older albums. The sound quality is terrible.
Free Music Review: Satan is alive and well
Hit: 1 Stars
Just the fact that this mess of a CD exists and people bought it shows the power Satan(or whatever name for evil you prefer) is running rampant in the world. I once wrote a song called "Dave Evans Must Die" because the music here is so boring.