Joshua Tree - U2 (1987)

ideated from: some birthday-inspired comfort food records.

It’s hard to listen with fresh ears to something seems like you’ve heard a million times before.

Let’s pretend for this exercise that I was not absolutely obsessed with this album, its singles, bootlegs from this tour, and pretty much everything else about this era of U2.

Let’s also pretend that you don’t know U2 for Bono’s endless performative wealthy-rock-star activism, or the band’s endless stadium nostalgia touring, or the fact that they once put an album in your itunes account without asking if you wanted it.

Forget that these songs (especially the first three) are ever-present in waiting rooms and grocery stores and XM channels for old folks.

Just listen to what it is, if you can.

Those first three tracks, some of the band’s biggest hits, and they’re put together as gorgeous Brian Eno-driven soundscapes, with every frequency filled and every corner hiding little sonic details.

The rest of the first side is next-level arena rock. The biggest feature of U2 is that they’ve always been willing to sacrifice individual glory for the sake of the song and its atmosphere, and they do that excellently here.

The second side of the record is not as well-known, but full of great songs, well-rendered in production and fitting perfectly with the more famous parts of the record.

It might seem old or kitschy or cliche, but it’s still amazing.