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Tyler: Peter, once upon a time, the earnest-rock Irishmen of U2 released an album that vaulted them from moderate stardom to a kind of glowing rock pantheon. Tonight, we discuss that album: Pop.

I kid!

It’s The Joshua Tree.

Peter: This is a big one! I think I shied away from these classic albums when we were getting started. It’s easier to comment on Ringo the 4th or even Black and Blue. What’s even left to say about The Joshua Tree?

Tyler: I found it a curious album to revisit. It lacks re-playability, not because the music is faulty, but rather because the proceedings are so hymnal and oft-solemn. It’s like going to church.

Peter: Interesting… I had a similar reaction.

Tyler: I mean not to run down the album or, y’know, faith ‘n such. I just wasn’t always in the mood for the anthem-on-anthem symphony that is The Joshua Tree. It may well be their capital-M masterpiece, for sure. But it brings a mood, rather a specific one.

Peter: It’s true. We did Achtung Baby a while back, and that was a lot easier to connect with. For me, anyway.

Tyler: Achtung is raw and angled and full of raucous strange noise and cacophony. Joshua Tree is…well, it’s what we think of when we think of U2. Chiming guitars, lyrics that range from inspirational to political, a kind of perceived optimism that may or may not hold up under scrutiny.

Peter: It’s what they were reacting against with Achtung, I think. It’s all so big. It’s impossible to out-Joshua Tree The Joshua Tree.

Take our opener, for example.

Tyler: “Where The Streets Have No Name” is majestic.

Peter: It is. It sounds massive.

Tyler: I was pretty young when the album was released, but I do remember the rooftop video.

Peter: I don’t know if I’ve seen that… It sounds like something I should have seen.

Tyler: The music video for “Where The Streets…?”

Peter: Yeah. I mean it’s kind of an iconic song and whatnot.

Tyler: Hell, I thought the video was as well. Where were you at the time?

Peter: Under a rock. Apparently.

They had a lot of trouble recording this. The Edge came up with the music and made a demo of it, but when the full band tried to record it they ran into problems. Brian Eno said they spent about half of the Joshua Tree sessions working on “Where The Streets Have No Name.”

Tyler: That’s remarkable.

Peter: At one point Brian Eno wanted to erase what they had and start over. There’s a story about him having to be physically restrained by an engineer, which may be apocryphal, but they definitely struggled with it.

The lyrics are about how there are certain places in the world (like Dublin), where you can guess a person’s religion and socio-economic status by the street they live on. Not surprisingly, Bono is against that! As Elaine from Seinfeld once proclaimed upon being relegated to coach aboard a crowded flight, “Our goal should be a society without classes!”

Also, this was the third single. It only went to number 13 in the US (#4 in the UK), but it’s a classic.

I read a lot about this song!

Tyler: I think U2 would endorse reading.

Peter: You know they’re into reading.

Tyler: A hell of a one-two punch to open an album, following up as things do with “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”

Peter: This was the second single and went to number 1 in the US (#6 UK)!

Tyler: It’s such a good song.

Peter: I like this song a lot. It sounds timeless to me.

It has a real Gospel feel to it. Prior to recording Joshua Tree, Bono spent time with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who introduced him to lots of blues and country music. Like many bands from the UK, U2 were fascinated by the wide open spaces and general mythos of America, particularly those living on the edges of society.

The Edge once (hilariously) described this song as “’Eye of the Tiger’ played by a reggae band.”

Tyler: Oh man. Well played, Edge.

Peter: I still love it. It never gets old.

Tyler: It doesn’t. When “When The Streets…” concludes, the opening notes of “I Still Haven’t…” are stunning, riveting. It’s a beautiful listen from the jump.

And then we have “With Or Without You.”

Peter: You mentioned a one-two, but this album starts with a three-punch combination! (I love getting to use boxing metaphors). “With Or Without You” was the lead single and the band’s first number 1 hit in the US!

It’s funny, this song sounds really dated to me compared to “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” but I mentioned that to a friend once and he felt the complete opposite.

Break the deadlock, Tyler! Which is it?

Tyler: Oh, well, to my ear, “I Still Haven’t…” has a place in my heart that “With Or Without You” can’t reach. It just doesn’t quite get there. I dunno if it’s because “With Or Without You” is dated, or I’ve just grown away from it.

Peter: Fair enough. Yeah, for whatever reason, I can’t connect with this one anymore. It was a massive hit. I’ve heard it enough for a lifetime.

Tyler: It’s always almost a letdown when you get to track four, “Bullet The Blue Sky.” Sudden reminder that there’s more to this album than the opening trio. “Oh yeah, the rest of it.” No shade intended on any songs beyond that first three, they just aren’t…well, they’re not the first three.

Peter: It is hard for the rest of the album to compete. It’s a pretty top-heavy album.

As far as “BTBS,” I am much more familiar with the live version of it on Rattle & Hum. This version is fine but they really lean into it live.

Tyler: “One hundred! Tyoo hundred!”

Peter: I never knew it at the time but that’s supposed to be a Reaganesque figure. I got that it was The Man Behind The Desk or whatever, but I guess I wasn’t thinking too deeply about it at the time. To be fair, I was in elementary school.

Tyler: Bono knows there’s only one color in a royal flush, right?

Peter: Ha! I missed that. “All the colors!”

I was really giving this song a pass when I was ten.

Tyler: “Uno, dos, tres, catorce!”

Peter: That one I caught!

Tyler: That’s some inside-baseball U2 humor right there. We’re hip!

Peter: We’re winking at the audience! Real inside stuff!

Anyway, this song is about US foreign policy in Latin America, which, historically, has been a real shit show.

Tyler: Not the best!

Peter: I don’t know if you know this, but Bono is a bit of an activist. He’s not like ordinary people, Tyler. Bono was always more interested in what bark was made out of, if you know what I mean.

Tyler: He loves the trees! I think.

Peter: As you mentioned, things can get a bit heavy on here. Some might even say preachy?

Tyler: He’s straddling a line, for sure. Do we give him less rope because of the 36 years of public activism since?

Peter: I’m not hatin’. He seems like a solid dude. It just gets to be a bit much on this album. There are more important issues to come!

Tyler: “Running To Stand Still” is up next. I find this one pretty effective.

Peter: It’s pretty. I like it.

But it’s also pretty weighty. This was written about the heroin epidemic in Dublin in the 80s. Fittingly, Bono has acknowledged this song’s debt to Lou Reed.

Tyler: I had no idea.

Peter: Shout out to Wikipedia!

Tyler: “Red Hill Mining Town” isn’t my favorite. Maybe it’s a bit histrionic? That could be harsh.

Peter: Hmm… maybe. It’s also not one of my favorites. It feels sort of strained.

I’m listening now. It is a bit histrionic.

This was supposed to be the second single. It’s interesting to consider a Sliding Doors style alternate universe where this got released instead of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Obviously U2 would still be huge, but I don’t think this one has the legs “ISHFWILF” has.

Tyler: Oh, my word, no it does not.

“In God’s Country,” on the other hand, is top-notch in my estimation.

Peter: Agreed. Great, great tune.

It’s effortless. It’s got that classic U2 sound.

Tyler: Is there some Springsteen in this one?

Peter: I did read on Wikipedia that Bono was very into Springsteen around the time of this album!

I suppose the whole world was, post Born In the USA.

Tyler: All we’re missing is a little Clarence.

Thoughts on “Trip Through Your Wires?”

Peter: Not many. It’s fine. It’s a lesser work.

Tyler: Yeah, it doesn’t soar, unlike the best of what’s here.

I do feel like “One Tree Hill” gets things back on track.

Peter: Was there a TV show named after this song? Like a teen soap opera kind of thing?

Tyler: Yes. Yes there was.

Peter: Huh.

Tyler: It was probably on the WB.

Peter: Yes!

You’re right about the song. It’s better.

Tyler: I also dig the coda. “Oh, great ocean,” so forth.

Peter: Yeah, that bit’s good.

Tyler: Then things get quiet. Like, nigh-impossible to hear quiet. “Exit” takes quite a while to speak up.

Peter: I often listen in the car where the first minute of this is very hard to hear! But if you turn things up, it gets very loud when it actually kicks in!

This has been a Public Service Announcement.

Tyler: Those devils knew what they were doing.

Peter: It’s all very dramatic. This one’s a bit much for me. It’s about a serial killer!

Tyler: Goodness.

It, and especially the closer “Mothers Of The Disappeared,” deliver rather a stark conclusion to the proceedings.

Peter: I think of the 80s as a deeply unserious time. Picture the Flock of Seagulls guy’s hair. That’s how I think of the 80s. But there was serious music going on. This is serious music. This whole album is. I make fun, but it’s a stone cold classic for a reason.

Tyler: Yeah. It must’ve hit like an uppercut at the time.

Peter: It’s a callback!

Tyler: Oh man!

Peter: It’s a boxing callback!

Tyler: Not even my intention. Full circle! Serendipitous! The Joshua Tree!