History Music / TheJoshuaTree

* LongTitle: "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Where The Streets Have No Name".

Produced by Music/BrianEno and Daniel Lanois, the record featured [[EchoingAcoustics an elaborate production style]] which ramped the richly-layered style of ''The Unforgettable Fire'' up to eleven and represented the culmination of U2's [[SignatureStyle style at the time]]. Bolstered by the band's desire to experiment in the studio, Bono began to favor open-throated vocals over [[PerishingAltRockVoice mumbled lyrics]], [[GenreShift shifting the band]] from a PostPunk act with a post-punk audience to a more overtly AlternativeRock act for more mainstream markets. The music drew from FolkMusic and CountryMusic, as well as ProgressiveRock and IndiePop, which combined pastoral imagery with spiritual ideals. ''The Joshua Tree'' has been described as a loose ConceptAlbum which examines various aspects of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream, without losing sincerity or accessibility in the process. Indeed, the album won the 1988 UsefulNotes/GrammyAward for ''Album of the Year'' and the Grammy for ''Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal''.

''And outside we see the city groan'']]

-->'''"Where the Streets Have No Name"'''

# "Where The Streets Have No Name" (5:38)

# "With Or Without You" (4:56)
# "Bullet The Blue Sky" (4:32)
# "Running To Stand Still" (4:18)

# "Mothers Of The Disappeared" (5:12)

# "Luminous Times (Hold On To Love)" (4:35)
# "Walk To The Water" (4:49)

# "Deep In The Heart" (4:31)
# "Silver And Gold" (4:38)

# "Beautiful Ghost/Introduction To Songs Of Experience" (4:56)
# "Wave Of Sorrow (Birdland)" (4:06)
# "Desert Of Our Love" (4:59)

* NonAppearingTitle: "Exit," "Mothers of the Disappeared" and "Red Hill Mining Town" (the phrase "Red Hill Town" does appear in it, but not the full title). Also, the title of the album never appears in the lyrics.

* RefrainFromAssuming: "Luminous Times (Hold on to Love)" goes the route of having a NonAppearingTitle followed by the refrain in parentheses. "Wave of Sorrow (Birdland)" does the reverse, oddly enough.

* NotChristianRock: "Trip Through Your Wires" uses a lot of Biblical imagery - compare with chapter 25 of Matthew - but stops short of being explicitly religious. It also goes for the gospel-like "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (which is actually about going through a ''crisis of faith'').

Produced by Music/BrianEno and Daniel Lanois, the record featured [[EchoingAcoustics an elaborate production style]] which ramped the richly-layered style of ''The Unforgettable Fire'' UpToEleven and represented the culmination of U2's [[SignatureStyle style at the time]]. Bolstered by the band's desire to experiment in the studio, Bono began to favor open-throated vocals over [[PerishingAltRockVoice mumbled lyrics]], [[GenreShift shifting the band]] from a PostPunk act with a post-punk audience to a more overtly AlternativeRock act for more mainstream markets. The music drew from FolkMusic and CountryMusic, as well as ProgressiveRock and IndiePop, which combined pastoral imagery with spiritual ideals. ''The Joshua Tree'' has been described as a loose ConceptAlbum which examines various aspects of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream, without losing sincerity or accessibility in the process. Indeed, the album won the 1988 UsefulNotes/GrammyAward for ''Album of the Year'' and the Grammy for ''Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal''.

* VariantCover: The CD, LP, and cassette releases of the album each use a different photograph of the band, all taken from the same photo session.

* GospelChoirsAreJustBetter: "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" has a strong gospel influence and features The Edge, Music/BrianEno and Music/DanielLanois providing backing vocals.

** "Bullet The Blue Sky" and "Mothers Of The Disappeared" are protest songs against the USA's backing of right-wing dictatorships in South America during TheEighties. "Mothers of the Disappeared" commemorates the "Madres de Plaza de Mayo", a group of women who protested in the streets and whose children had been "disappeared" by the dictatorial regimes of UsefulNotes/AugustoPinochet in UsefulNotes/{{Chile}} and Jorge Rafaele Videla in UsefulNotes/{{Argentina}}. The song also criticises the UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan administration for backing these regimes. "Bullet The Blue Sky" is critical of the US military intervention during UsefulNotes/TheSalvadorianCivilWar in the 1980's.

* RecordProducer: Music/DanielLanois and Music/BrianEno.

As for its legacy, it was featured in an episode of the documentary TV series ''Series/ClassicAlbums''. In 2014, it was even inducted in the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry for being "culturally, historically and aesthetically important". In hindsight, the album was also one of many whose American success heralded the rise of AlternativeRock as a mainstream force in American music, alongside other releases in 1987 including Music/{{REM}}'s ''Music/{{Document}}'', Music/TenThousandManiacs' ''Music/InMyTribe'', Music/MidnightOil's ''Diesel and Dust'', Music/NewOrder's ''Music/{{Substance|New Order Album}}'', and Music/DepecheMode's ''Music/MusicForTheMasses''. However, this success mostly rested on the band's heavy-handed subject matter and rich instrumentation, which ultimately hurt U2 after the failure of their 1988 follow-up ''Music/RattleAndHum''. The band would soon depart from these styles in 1991's ''Music/AchtungBaby''.

The album had some slight controversy in 1988, after assassin Robert John Bardo claimed he was inspired to kill actress Rebecca Shaeffer due to the song "Exit" on this album, but this accusation quickly blew over again.

* NewSoundAlbum: On this album the band moved to {{Blues}} and CountryMusic.

** "Bullet The Blue Sky" and "Mothers Of The Disappeared" are protest songs against the USA's backing of right-wing dictatorships in South America during TheEighties. "Mothers of the Disappeared" commemorates the "Madres de Plaza de Mayo", a group of women who protested in the streets and whose children had been "disappeared" by the dictatorial regimes of UsefulNotes/AugustoPinochet in UsefulNotes/{{Chile}} and Jorge Rafaele Videla in UsefulNotes/{{Argentina}}. The song also criticises the UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan administration for backing these regimes. "Bullet The Blue Sky" is critical of the US military intervention during the Salvadorian Civil War in the 1980's.

* FilkSong: "Exit" took its inspiration from Creator/NormanMailer's ''The Executioner's Song'', novels by Creator/RaymondCarver, Creator/FlanneryOConnor and Creator/TrumanCapote's ''Literature/InColdBlood''.

Incorporating DarkerAndEdgier subject matter and instrumentation, the album transcended the band's more [[ProtestSong political output]] of TheEighties to incorporate themes of identity, power, and betrayal, which resonated with audiences worldwide. U2's [[SignatureSong most well-regarded hits]] featured on the album, such as "With Or Without You", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Where The Streets Have No Name", received massive airplay. ''The Joshua Tree'' topped the charts in over 20 countries, certifying U2's international stardom.

As for its legacy, it was featured in an episode of the documentary TV series ''Series/ClassicAlbums''. In 2014 it was even inducted in the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry for being "culturally, historically and aesthetically important". In hindsight, the album was also one of many whose American success heralded the rise of AlternativeRock as a mainstream force in American music, alongside other releases in 1987 including Music/{{REM}}'s ''Music/{{Document}}'', Music/TenThousandManiacs' ''Music/InMyTribe'', Music/MidnightOil's ''Diesel and Dust'', Music/NewOrder's ''Music/{{Substance|New Order Album}}'', and Music/DepecheMode's ''Music/MusicForTheMasses''. However, this success mostly rested on the band's heavy-handed subject matter and rich instrumentation, which ultimately hurt U2 after the failure of their 1988 follow-up ''Music/RattleAndHum''. The band would soon depart from these styles in 1991's ''Music/AchtungBaby''.

Incorporating DarkerAndEdgier subject matter and instrumentation, the album transcended the band's more [[ProtestSong political output]] of [[TheEighties the 80's]] to incorporate themes of identity, power, and betrayal, which resonated with audiences worldwide. U2's [[SignatureSong most well-regarded hits]] featured on the album, such as "With Or Without You", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Where The Streets Have No Name", received massive airplay. ''The Joshua Tree'' topped the charts in over 20 countries, certifying U2's international stardom.

* TitleOnlyChorus: "Bullet the Blue Sky" (unless you count the whoo-oo-oo-oos).

As for its legacy, it was featured in an episode of the documentary TV series ''Series/ClassicAlbums''. It ended up at #27 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list of 500 Greatest albums of all time]], #424 on ''Magazine/{{NME}}'s'' [[UsefulNotes/NME500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list of the same name]], and was included in Magazine/TimeMagazine's [[TimeAllTime100Albums list of 100 essential and timeless albums]]. In 2014 it was even inducted in the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry for being "culturally, historically and aesthetically important". In hindsight, the album was also one of many whose American success heralded the rise of AlternativeRock as a mainstream force in American music, alongside other releases in 1987 including Music/{{REM}}'s ''Music/{{Document}}'', Music/TenThousandManiacs' ''Music/InMyTribe'', Music/MidnightOil's ''Diesel and Dust'', Music/NewOrder's ''Music/{{Substance|New Order Album}}'', and Music/DepecheMode's ''Music/MusicForTheMasses''. However, this success mostly rested on the band's heavy-handed subject matter and rich instrumentation, which ultimately hurt U2 after the failure of their 1988 follow-up ''Music/RattleAndHum''. The band would soon depart from these styles in 1991's ''Music/AchtungBaby''.

* NotChristianRock: "Trip Through Your Wires" uses a lot of Biblical imagery - compare with chapter 25 of Matthew - but stops short of being explicitly religious. It also goes for the gospel-like "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".

''And outside we see the city groan.'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"A man breathes into the saxophone, and outside we see the city groan."'']]

''The Joshua Tree'' is the fifth studio album by Music/{{U2}}, released in 1987. Incorporating DarkerAndEdgier subject matter and instrumentation, the album transcended the band's more [[ProtestSong political output]] of [[TheEighties the 80's]] to incorporate themes of identity, power, and betrayal, which resonated with audiences worldwide. U2's [[SignatureSong most well-regarded hits]] featured on the album, such as "With Or Without You", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Where The Streets Have No Name", received massive airplay. ''The Joshua Tree'' topped the charts in over 20 countries, certifying U2's international stardom.

* DrugsAreBad: "Running To Stand Still" is about a heroin-addicted couple.

Produced by Music/BrianEno and Daniel Lanois, the record featured [[EchoingAcoustics an elaborate production style]] which represented the culmination of U2's [[SignatureStyle style at the time]]. Bolstered by the band's desire to experiment in the studio, Bono began to favor open-throated vocals over [[PerishingAltRockVoice mumbled lyrics]], [[GenreShift shifting the band]] from a PostPunk audience to more mainstream markets. The music drew from FolkMusic and CountryMusic, as well as ProgressiveRock and IndiePop, which combined pastoral imagery with spiritual ideals. ''The Joshua Tree'' has been described as a loose ConceptAlbum which examines various aspects of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream, without losing sincerity or accessibility in the process. Indeed, the album won the 1988 UsefulNotes/GrammyAward for ''Album of the Year'' and the Grammy for ''Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal''.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/472a603ab0381af24de3a2438bc7343c.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300: ''A man breathes into the saxophone, and outside we see the city groan.'']]

As for its legacy, it was featured in an episode of the documentary TV series ''Series/ClassicAlbums''. It ended up at #27 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list of 500 Greatest albums of all time]], #424 on ''Magazine/{{NME}}'s'' [[UsefulNotes/NME500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list of the same name]], and was included in Magazine/TimeMagazine's [[TimeAllTime100Albums list of 100 essential and timeless albums]]. In 2014 it was even inducted in the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry for being "culturally, historically and aesthetically important". However, this success mostly rested on the band's heavy-handed subject matter and rich instrumentation, which ultimately hurt U2 after the failure of their 1988 follow-up ''Music/RattleAndHum''. The band would soon depart from these styles in 1991's ''Music/AchtungBaby''.

[[AC: The 20th anniversary edition included the following B-sides and outtakes:]]

# "Luminous Times (Hold On To Love)"
# "Walk To The Water"
# "Spanish Eyes"
# "Deep In The Heart"
# "Silver And Gold"
# "Sweetest Thing"
# "Race Against Time"
# "Beautiful Ghost/Introduction To Songs Of Experience"
# "Wave Of Sorrow (Birdland)"
# "Desert Of Our Love"
# "Rise Up"
# "Drunk Chicken/America"