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U2
The Joshua Tree (1987)
I have a bugbear against U2, simply because their influence and fame far exceeds their abilities. The Edge's nuanced atmospheric playing arose from his technical limitations as much as his musical vision, while Bono originally wanted to play guitar but was demoted to vocalist due to his singular lack of talent. The group's weak link is bassist Adam Clayton, whose monotonous basslines are sometimes worthy of ridicule. In U2's defence, the message they promoted was often more accentuated than their music. They admirably used their musical soapbox for good effect, especially in the 1980s, promoting all sorts of worthy causes. Bono has been a prominent supporter of the Jubilee 2000 Drop the Debt campaign, while the booklet for The Joshua Tree contains information on joining Amnesty International. Despite my bugbear, I'm quite happy to concede that The Joshua Tree is a minor classic. Because of U2's lack of astounding technical ability, they rely on Bono's fervour and excellent voice to stop their records from becoming monotonous. Bono's lyrics are excellent on The Joshua Tree, creating a series of oblique, personal and passionate relationship songs ('With or Without You') or social sketches ('Red Hill Mining Town'). U2 also have the good sense to recruit production team Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, who bring an atmospheric grandeur to proceedings. Due to overexposure, I prefer to skip the first three songs of The Joshua Tree ('Where The Streets Have No Name', 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' and 'With or Without You'), while the last couple of songs are nondescript and float by harmlessly. But the middle of the record is full of grand songs like 'Bullet The Blue Sky', 'Running to Stand Still', 'Red Hill Mining Town', and 'Trip Through Your Wires'. They're full of melody and have a rootsy authenticity (suggested by the title, the place where country-rock legend Gram Parsons overdosed). As a New Zealander, I have a special affinity with 'One Tree Hill', a song inspired by the death of U2's Kiwi roadie Greg Carroll and named after a famous local landmark. While it's not an unmitigated masterpiece, The Joshua Tree gets my vote to go down as one of the better (and most gracefully aged) albums of its decade.
Best of 1980-1990 (1998)
Best of 1980-1990 is pointless, because U2's eighties singles are so familiar from years of overplay at supermarkets, radio stations and Christian parties that there is little point in owning them. This is especially true of The Joshua Tree singles 'With Or Without You', 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' and 'Where The Streets Have No Name', which I have heard so many times that they have lost their impact. Furthermore, the track selection is skewed, with three songs from their first three albums and ten from the next three. If anything I prefer U2's early period where they had energy and youthful idealism to make their material entertaining. The four songs from 1988's Rattle and Hum are massively uneven: 'Angel of Harlem' and 'All I Want Is You' are fantastic, while 'Desire' is bland and 'When Love Comes To Town' descends into self-parody. Ultimately, the longest lasting material on Best Of is from The Unforgettable Fire. 'Pride', the tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., is thrilling no matter how many times I hear it, while 'Bad' and 'The Unforgettable Fire' are the least overplayed tracks on the compilation. The bonus track, 'October', is more interesting than most of the official songs. In the unlikely event that you have never heard U2, Best Of may be a good place to start, but otherwise it would be prudent to buy individual albums. If you prefer their earlier more earnest work, 1983's War is recommended, while if you prefer their later more processed sound, try The Joshua Tree.
Uncle Tupelo can be found on the Wilco page
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Random Album Pick: Talk Talk - Spirit Of Eden
The result of fourteen months of recording in an abandoned Suffolk church, it's certainly not difficult by any stretch of the imagination; it's warm and inviting, filled with rich organic sounds like its predecessor.
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