Mar 9, 1987: U2 released their 5th studio album, The Joshua Tree. U2 received four Grammy Award nominations for the album and its songs, winning honours for Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal for The Joshua Tree. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" was nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year, but lost in both categories. U2 were the only act that year to be nominated in each of the "Big Three" categories (Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year). "With or Without You", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" became the group's only number-one singles in the US.
The Joshua Tree is one of the world's best-selling albums, with over 25 million copies sold. U2 commemorated the record's 20th anniversary with a remastered re-release and kicked off a tour in 2017 on the 30th anniversary, where they covered the entire album.
Over the course of recording The Joshua Tree, the band twice paused to participate in benefit concerts. On 17 May 1986, U2 performed at Self Aid in Dublin and in June 1986, U2 embarked on the six-show Conspiracy of Hope tour for Amnesty International.
"Where the Streets Have No Name" has an interesting backstory. It's said that almost 40% of the time spent on the album was on this song. It started as a demo from Edge. The group struggled with the cords, the timing and even the lyrics. To the point Producer Brian Eno tried to stage an accident to erase all the tapes so they could scrap it or just start over. The lyrics were inspired by where a person's religion and income were evident by the street on which they live and thinks about a world where there aren't such divisions, a place where the streets have no name. And of course, you can't talk about this song without mentioning the video. U2 recorded it on the roof of a liquor store at the corner of 7th St. and S. Main St in downtown LA. During the shoot U2 played an eight-song set, which included four performances of "Where the Streets Have No Name". The depiction of the police attempting to shut down the filming due to safety concerns actually happened during filming, just as seen in the video. The video won the Grammy Award for Best Performance Music Video at the 1989 Grammy Awards.
The album was inspired by the open spaces in the United States, in particular, the desert landscapes. Which can be seen in the album cover and sleeve art.
I mean, pick your flavor. So many bangers here.
- Where The Streets Have No Name
- I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
- With Or Without You
- Bullet The Blue Sky
- Running To Stand Still
- Red Hill Mining Town
- In God's Country
- Trip Through Your Wires
- One Tree Hill
- Exit
- Mothers of the Disappeared
My personal Fav
She is ragin'
She is ragin'
And the storm blows up in her eyes.
She will suffer the needle chill
She's running to stand still.
