The Joshua Tree

The Joshua Tree is an album by U2, released on March 9, 1987 on Island Records (see 1987 in music). It was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. It won the Album of the Year award from the Grammy Awards of 1988.

Related Topics:
Album - U2 - March 9 - 1987 - Island Records - 1987 in music - Brian Eno - Daniel Lanois - Album of the Year - Grammy Awards of 1988

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It continues the sonic experimentation of The Unforgettable Fire. For instance, the album opener, "Where the Streets Have No Name", begins with a soft organ fade-in over which The Edge plays a simple echo-laden arpeggio, ringing each note out twice, an elegant effect that gives the band a deceptively detailed sound. "With or Without You", the album's first single and one of the band's most well known songs, uses a technique called "infinite guitar", developed by Michael Brook, to distort the notes into an eerie wail.

Related Topics:
The Unforgettable Fire - Where the Streets Have No Name - The Edge - Arpeggio - Michael Brook

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It also picks up where the political themes of War left off. "Bullet the Blue Sky" is a fierce attack on the United States' policy of arming rebels in El Salvador. The song has a martial drum beat, thundering bassline, and wailing guitar reminiscent of falling bombs. Bono reportedly told Edge to "put El Salvador through your amplifier". "Mothers of the Disappeared" is an understated lament for the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, the mothers of the thousands of "disappeared"--people who opposed the Videla and Galtieri coup d'état that overtook Argentina in 1976, who were kidnapped and never seen again.

Related Topics:
War - United States - El Salvador - Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo - Videla - Galtieri - Coup d'état - Argentina - 1976

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In addition to the political matter, there are many personal songs, including "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", a song about Bono's inner struggles with faith and temptation, and "One Tree Hill", an elegy written for a friend of the band, Greg Caroll (for whom the album is dedicated), who died in 1986.

Related Topics:
Bono - 1986

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Musically, the band began to incorporate American folk and blues influences into their songwriting, most evident on "Running To Stand Still", a rustic ballad about heroin addiction, and "Trip Through Your Wires", a harmonica-filled blues romp. Rattle and Hum (1988) would examine these influences in greater depth.

Related Topics:
American - Heroin - Blues - Rattle and Hum - 1988

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The Joshua Tree is not only widely considered one of the band's best albums, it is often considered one of the greatest albums ever recorded. It was named by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the band's "three masterpieces" (alongside Achtung Baby and All That You Can't Leave Behind), as well as appearing at #26 on the magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album has sold over 10 million copies in the USA alone and remains the band's best-selling album. It was followed by a successful world tour.

Related Topics:
Rolling Stone - Achtung Baby - All That You Can't Leave Behind - 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - USA

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