The Joshua Tree
(11/100 Greatest Albums Ever)

1987’s Joshua Tree was the album that saw U2 consummate their love affair with America. After the European noir of The Unforgettable Fire, their fifth album saw the band embracing the wide open spaces of the States, while Bono’s political bent saw him addressing subjects like Africa (‘Where The Streets Have No Name’), American foreign policy in Central America (‘Bullet The Blue Sky’) and the heroin epidemic in Ballymun (‘Running To Standstill’).
The frontman also proved himself capable of writing the first of many classic love songs that have survived through the years (‘With Or Without You’). Arguably the finest rock album of the 1980s, The Joshua Tree really is the sound of a band at the peak of their powers and assured the Dublin quartet of their place in the pantheon of truly great rock bands.
Every song stands up as a cracker, from the opening strains of ‘Streets...’ right through to the closing refrain of ‘Mothers Of The Disappeared’, The Joshua Tree is quite simply one of the best rock records ever created.