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from Amazon's website:

Having nearly exhausted their capacity for pop-song politics on War and The Unforgettable Fire, U2 turned toward themes of personal identity and complex relationships on The Joshua Tree. Not that the group was willing to come down off the barricades entirely: "Mothers of the Disappeared" and "Bullet the Blue Sky" turned a jaundiced eye toward Central America and the United States' role there. But the predominant mood here is one of self-discovery and the hunger for something more on tracks like the pulsating "Where the Streets Have No Name" and the gospel-ish "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." The album's masterstroke, however, is "With or Without You," a nasty love song dressed up as an ode of devotion and care. It ranks with the Police's "Every Breath You Take" as the most misread smash hit of the '80s. --Daniel Durchholz




I was a junior in high school when Joshua Tree was released. I didn't understand the big deal surrounding the album and in fact ended up getting sick of all the talk and the constant sounds of  the hit singles on the radio. Bono irritated me for no reason I could explain.

But then last year I was driving home late at night, when the dashboard lights and the quiet hour make everything seem surreal and the mind is more vulnerable to loneliness and heartbreak. "With or Without You" came on unexpectedly on Jack 102.7 and suddenly I found myself bawling like a baby.

I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard, that it perfectly explained how you could both love someone and hate them at the same time. Of course I knew and know U2 is about far more than heartbreak and personal feelings...that they can be tied up in political messages as well...but that song haunted me for days afterward as did "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" when I finally listened (really listened) to Joshua Tree for the first time.

Now I can't imagine not owning the album!