The Joshua Tree

U2's "The Joshua Tree"; Rock; Island Records

It's weird that I've been waiting all week to review this album and the day I'm supposed to, I don't. If I had to sum up this album in four words: Greatest U2 Album Ever. Finally, they understand the concept of having a melody! Earlier today I was listening to "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" while riding my bike and I felt powerful. Later I listened to "With or Without You" sulking on my couch. There is something about Bono's voice that just carries the heartbreak through. If you've been there before its just that much more painful to relive it again hearing this song. I understand that he is singing about God, not a woman, but even that I get. "One Tree Hill" is a tribute to Bono's personal assistant who was killed in a motor accident while doing an errand for him. The track is a celebration of life but also regretful: Had Bono gone to pick up his motorcycle himself, his assistant wouldn't have died. All in all, the Joshua Tree is an excellent album which will stand the test of time.

Rating: Warrants the Second Coming of Jesus

War; The Unforgettable Fire

U2's "War"; Rock; Island Records

The third album in U2's discography, War, will make you feel at war. The album opens up with "Sunday Bloody Sunday", an observation of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, with the title of the song originating from the Bloody Sunday incident where British troops shot civil rights marchers in Derry. Like "Sunday Bloody Sunday", all the songs on War sound militaristic and gritty which shows development from their previous seemingly uninspired albums. As you can see the pain in a child's eyes as his/her mother is taken from them, you can feel and hear the anger, sorrow, and disdain in the music. 

Somehow my reviews keep getting shorter and shorter. I think I'm running out of words to  use.

Rating: Buy

U2's "The Unforgettable Fire"; Rock; Island Records

What's the obsession with America? I'll never know. In U2's fourth studio album, this mania comes through. The first single "Pride (In the Name of Love), was originally supposed to be about then President Ronald Reagan but decided to change it to be a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights activists in general. [I'll finish the rest of this tomorrow....]

Rating: Buy

U2's Boy; U2's October

U2's "Boy"; Rock; Island Records

The debut album from the now monstrous Irish band, Boy is a rather respectable album. It's definitely not as polished as their other albums, which can be a good and bad thing. The good: it's pure raw emotion that you can hear in Bono's voice. The bad: it's a little less organized than all the others but that's expected of a debut album, especially one conceived in 1980. The biggest problem with the record is that Bono's voice is so monotone that any intended melody refuses to come through. When it comes to his more heartbreaking songs, it makes sense but the album overall is about sex. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that a monotone voice is not very sensual. 

Rating: Download 

U2's "October"; Rock; Island Records

Oh, the dreaded second album! Many bands hit a sophomore slump and it seems as if U2 is one of those bands. October is not bad by any standards, but most U2 albums tend to be a hit or miss and this one is a miss. One thing that is very evident is that Adam Clayton, the bassist, has gotten better, or at least changed his style, since the first record. He fuses together playing with his fingers with slap & pop, usually associated with funk music, on Gloria. But this doesn't distract from the ruling. I suppose what attributed to the ordinariness is that Bono's lyrics were stolen right before the recording session, so he had to remember the lyrics or make them up. I wonder how much better the album would have been if the lyrics were more powerful. The music still would have been nothing to write home about, though.

Rating: Throw Away

Side note: I cannot wait until Wednesday when I get to review the Joshua Tree and Rattle & Hum.

U2 Week

U2 releases their newest album, No Line on the Horizon, on Tuesday. So in honor of the band that started other bands, I'll review two albums from their discography each day starting chronologically from "Boy" to "No Line on the Horizon". Like all my other reviews, I will try to be as unbiased as possible but I can tell you right now that "Pop" is as bad as it gets. Who makes a disco album in the 1990's? Come on!