Friday, March 9, 2007

Joshua Tree

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the release of one of rock greatest albums.
When I was young, I remember the video for "With or Without You" on TV and hating because I was just a kid. Now I know better.


When this album came out, U2 had a following with their previous works. But this is truly the album that had launched them into the stratosphere. Before the age of DVDs, not every band had made an album so important that it launched a movie, let alone a major motion picture which was a theatrical release.

For those people who think about U2, they might call to mind some of their antics from the 90's, or when their songs brought comfort after 9-11, but most people remember one of the songs off of "The Joshua Tree".

Every single song off of this album meant something more than just something that you listen to upon a casual jaunt. Taking you to epic places where streets don't have any names to displaying their love of American rock n' roll with "Desire", they had managed to tap the pallets of the imaginations of almost everyone who dared listen. Even the soft spoken, quiet moments that you only share with your closest deepest friends are there too ("Running To Stand Still").

One of the most important things to take away from this album is the time in which it came out. The music of the eighties was usually very superficial and rarely heard if it was not. "The Joshua Tree" not only was one of the best selling albums of its time, but it also showed that even in times where substance is something so lacked, that it can the very thing most hungered for.

Do yourself a favor get this album if you already don't own it.


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