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Music is probably the most accessible form of art to people, undoubtedly the most exciting. And the U2 have always known this well. In their over twenty-year career, they have written many beautiful pages in history, timeless masterpieces, but always with one goal: to satisfy the common man, the one who doesn't know the niche bands, those more hidden, often the object of ostentation by the fake connoisseurs.
The four from Dublin are one of the few, very few examples that the quality-sales combination can exist, that these two possibilities can go hand in hand. From them, we have had such demonstrations, from the Boy-October-War trilogy, to The Unforgettable Fire, to the revolutionary Achtung Baby and Zooropa.
Of course, not missing is The Joshua Tree, published in 1987, which very probably represents, together with Achtung Baby, the creative peak of the Dublin band.
The Joshua Tree opens with the spectacular "Where the Streets Have No Name," a song that symbolizes an era, the sacred language of rock and blues. The initial intro is something magical, taking you to distant places, sending a shiver down your spine. But perhaps it's not easy to analyze each song individually. Because, in reality, this album constitutes a unique journey, with its rhythm interrupted only by the power of "Bullet The Blue Sky" and "Exit," dark hymns to hard and pure rock, with Larry Mullen's drumming and Adam Clayton's bass at the forefront. Because we find episodes like "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," a poignant ballad in the pure U2 style; the beautiful "With Or Without You," one of the fans' most beloved tracks, a desperate, dark scream, in which it's hard not to empathize. There's the pearl "Running To Stand Still," a bit melancholic, one of those songs that makes you want to think in the company of the love of your life, perhaps dancing gently to the notes of this song, romantic yes, but with lyrics and poetry that are not clichéd.
Then we find the "country" part of the album, "Red Hill Mining Town," "In God's Country," the latter characterized by a brilliant The Edge, unmistakable with his legendary "screaming guitar" style. "Trip Through Your Wires," to be honest, is perhaps a bit of the album's weak point, something a bit frivolous that doesn't hold up against the other songs. Perhaps a "Spanish Eyes" or a "Silver And Gold," destined for the role of B-Sides in the singles, would have had a greater purpose in this work, which concludes with the sad "Mothers Of Disappeared," dedicated to those missing in the Caribbean war, probably one of the first signs that something was changing in U2's sound. But back then, the confusion of Zoo TV was still far away. Here there is only the soul of rock, its essence, which is not about smashing guitars, it's not about sex, it's not about drugs.
The flaws of this record? Well, more than in the work itself, they are to be found in not entirely excellent production, especially in "Exit," for example, the volume is mixed way too low, preventing full enjoyment of Clayton's bass.
But there must be a reason for that too, and who knows, maybe one day we'll understand it.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (04:38)
I have climbed the highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you.
I have run, I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you.
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for.
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for.
I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her finger tips
It burned like fire
(I was) burning inside her.
I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone.
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for.
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for.
I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colours will bleed into one
Bleed into one.
But yes, I'm still running.
You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross of my shame
Oh my shame, you know I believe it.
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for.
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for.
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for.
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for.
03 With or Without You (04:56)
See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side.
I wait for you.
Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait without you
With or without you
With or without you.
Through the storm, we reach the shore
You gave it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you
With or without you
With or without you.
I can't live with or without you.
And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give, and you give
And you give yourself away.
My hands are tied, my body bruised
She got me with nothing to win
And nothing else to lose.
And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give, and you give
And you give yourself away.
With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you.
With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you
With or without you.
04 Bullet the Blue Sky (04:32)
In the howlin' wind
Comes a stingin' rain
See it drivin' nails
Into the souls on the tree of pain.
From the firefly
A red orange glow
See the face of fear
Runnin' scared in the valley below.
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue
Bullet the blue.
In the locust wind
Comes a rattle and hum.
Jacob wrestled the angel
And the angel was overcome.
You plant a demon seed
You raise a flower of fire.
We see them burnin' crosses
See the flames, higher and higher.
Woh, woh, bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue
Bullet the blue.
Suit and tie comes up to me
His face red like a rose on a thorn bush
Like all the colours of a royal flush
And he's peelin' off those dollar bills
(Slappin' 'em down)
One hundred, two hundred.
And I can see those fighter planes
And I can see those fighter planes
Across the tin huts as children sleep
Through the alleys of a quiet city street.
Up the staircase to the first floor
We turn the key and slowly unlock the door
As a man breathes into his saxophone
And through the walls you hear the city groan.
Outside, is America
Outside, is America
America.
See across the field
See the sky ripped open
See the rain comin' through the gapin' wound
Howlin' the women and children
Who run into the arms
Of America.
05 Running to Stand Still (04:17)
And so she woke up
Woke up from where she was lyin' still.
Said I gotta do something
About where we're goin'.
Step on a steam train
Step out of the driving rain, maybe
Run from the darkness in the night.
Singing ah, ah la la la de day
Ah la la la de day.
Sweet the sin, bitter the taste in my mouth.
I see seven towers, but I only see one way out.
You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice.
You know I took the poison, from the poison stream
Then I floated out of here, singing
Ah la la la de day
Ah la la la de day.
She walks through the streets
With her eyes painted red
Under black belly of cloud in the rain.
In through a doorway
She brings me white golden pearls
Stolen from the sea.
She is ragin'
She is ragin'
And the storm blows up in her eyes.
She will suffer the needle chill
She's running to stand still.
07 In God's Country (02:57)
Desert sky, dream beneath the desert sky.
The rivers run but soon run dry.
We need new dreams tonight.
Desert rose, dreamed I saw a desert rose
Dress torn in ribbons and bows
Like a siren she calls (to me).
Sleep comes like a drug in God's country
Sad eyes, crooked crosses, in God's country
Set me alight, we'll punch a hole right through the night.
Every day the dreamers die to see what's on the other side.
She is liberty, and she comes to rescue me.
Hope, faith, her vanity
The greatest gift is gold.
Sleep comes like a drug in God's country
Sad eyes, crooked crosses, in God's country
Naked flame, she stands with a naked flame
I stand with the sons of Cain
Burned by the fire of love
Burned by the fire of love.
08 Trip Through Your Wires (03:32)
In the distance, she saw me comin' round
I was callin' out, I was callin' out.
Still shakin', still in pain
You put me back together again.
I was cold and you clothed me, honey
I was down, and you lifted me, honey.
Angel, angel or devil?
I was thirsty
And you wet my lips.
You, I'm waiting for you
You, you set my desire
I trip through your wires.
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.
Angel, angel or devil?
I was thirsty
And you wet my lips.
You, I'm waiting for you
You, you set my desire
I trip through your wires.
Oh I need, oh I need
Oh I need, oh I need it.
Oh I need, oh I need
All I need, yeah, yeah!
Thunder, thunder on the mountain
There's a raincloud
In the desert sky.
In the distance
She saw me comin' round
I was callin' out
I was callin' out.
10 Exit (04:13)
You know he got the cure
But then he went astray
He used to stay awake
To drive the dreams he had away.
He wanted to believe
In the hands of love.
His head it felt heavy
As he came across the land
A dog started cryin'
Like a broken-hearted man
At the howling wind
At the howling wind.
He went deeper into black
Deeper into white.
He could see the stars shine
Like nails in the night.
He felt the healing
Healing, healing, healing hands of love
Like the stars shiny, shiny from above.
A hand in the pocket
Fingering the steel
The pistol weighed heavy
And his heart he could feel was beating
Beating, beating, beating,
Oh my love, oh my love
Oh my love, oh my love.
So hands that build
Can also pull down
The hands of love.
11 Mothers of the Disappeared (05:11)
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 heartbeats
We hear their heartbeats.
In the trees our sons stand naked
Through the walls our daughter cry
See their tears in the rainfall.
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Other reviews
By Viva Lì
"The Joshua Tree is their Sgt. Pepper’s."
"An album where every note and every syllable seem to intersect perfectly in a sort of visceral creative knot."
By umb
"The Joshua Tree is a masterpiece of an album, dark yet full of life, sacred yet profane."
"A full, deep, highly inspired album, pushes you to unthinkable reflections but immediately after to moments of pure joy."
By Il Tarantiniano
What on first listen might seem almost trivial, but it has an almost magical touch and is not overrated at all.
U2 remain always... U2!!
By Rax
It’s a miracle that an album with songs sometimes so devoid of ideas manages to be so enchanting and cohesive.
From a certain point of view, 'The Joshua Tree' is the 'Sgt. Pepper' of U2.
By Ocean
The Joshua Tree is one of the greatest masterpieces of sound minimalism.
When 'Streets' starts, something changes and everything falls into place. It’s God entering the stadium.
