U2 The Joshua Tree by: Helen Stasa Mon:20-Aug-07 Label: Island Year: 1987 WB rating 77 out of 100

Attempting to capitalise on the early successes of Boy (1980) and October (1981), The Joshua Tree is U2’s seventh album in as many years. And although it contains some tracks with a political theme (such as ‘Mothers of the Disappeared’), it is less overtly political than recent efforts like War (1983) and its associated singles ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ and ‘New Year’s Day.’ Instead, The Joshua Tree is the sound of a band focusing on a more personal realm, most notably a religious search for meaning – the album awash with “angels and devils” (e.g. ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’, ‘Trip Through Your Wires’) and other religious imagery “driving nails into souls on the tree of pain” (‘Bullet The Blue Sky’).

The album begins strongly, with the best tracks occupying the first three slots of the running order. The first song, ‘Where The Streets Have No Name,’ features a sparse introduction, which creates an almost church-like atmosphere. More layers are gradually added, with the song building up beautifully until the guitars and vocals come in, the rhythm section remaining inconspicuous in the background. The rockier ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ follows, with its catchy guitar line propelling the song forward. Cleverly juxtaposed with ‘With or Without You’, the most impressive track on the album, the upbeat, rocky mood of the former is undercut by the sadness of the latter, with Bono’s beseeching voice perfectly capturing the sense of melancholy that pervades the lyrics.

U2’s distinctive sound is the product of two main factors, both clearly evident on ‘Where The Streets Have No Name.’ The first of these is Bono’s unique vocal style, his voice soaring for the high notes, as he sings of how they’re “still building then burning down love.” The second distinctive aspect of the U2 sound is The Edge’s guitar playing, with its deep, chiming quality. When combined, these two factors immediately let the listener know that The Joshua Tree is unmistakably a U2 album.

However, as the album progresses through ‘Bullet The Blue Sky’ and ‘Red Hill Mining Town’ it starts to become obvious that most of the songs sound extremely similar, with little to set them apart. Indeed, it is almost as though U2 have used a write-music-by-numbers approach (or “songwriting for dummies”) guide to compose their tunes. The tracks all seem to follow the same formula, namely:

• A long introduction, preferably with some “edgy” effect such as feedback (‘Bullet The Blue Sky’), blues guitar (‘Running To Stand Still’), or gospel choir (‘Exit’) thrown in to “liven things up”;
• A gradual addition of layers of instrumentation, from drums to bass, guitar then vocals;
• Bono starting out singing in a reasonably restrained way, before launching into a passionate show of vocal histrionics, usually with an overabundance of “oohs” and “aahs” (e.g. ‘One Tree Hill’).

As I have suggested previously, Bono’s distinctive voice is one of the features which set U2 apart, however this is both a blessing and a curse. At best, he is capable of giving his lyrics great emotional depth, such as on ‘With Or Without You’ where the opening verse and chorus are immensely affecting in their sparseness and simplicity. However, on many occasions, the frontman seems to suffer from a lack of restraint, trying too hard to sound soulful and consequently coming across as fake and overwrought.

One example of this is on the folky ‘Running To Stand Still.’ The track, which sounds Dylan-like, is introduced by beautiful blues guitar, and finishes with a gorgeous harmonica line. Yet Bono undercuts the power of the song by vocal exaggerations, whooping and hollering about “singing ha la la la de day”. The effect is distracting rather than moving, the listener too busy focusing on his vocal swooping and soaring to engage with the music or the lyrics. This is a great pity, because the power of many of the songs is weakened by such vocal flourishes.

Certainly, The Joshua Tree is a competent album. Tracks such as ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ and ‘With Or Without You’ are definitely among U2’s best work to date and should see the band go on to greater success. Nonetheless, the lack of experimentation and formulaic song writing, coupled with Bono’s overwrought vocals, detract from the quality of the release as a whole. Although the album contains flashes of inspiration, most especially in the band’s willingness to employ gospel and folk techniques on some of the tracks, overall, The Joshua Tree fails to fulfil the early promise which they have shown.