U2 – The Joshua Tree (1987)
Released: 9 March 1987
Label: Island Records
Producer: Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois
Genre: Rock, ambient, post-punk, roots rock
Length: 50:11
The Joshua Tree is U2’s fifth studio album and their international breakthrough, blending rock, Americana, and atmospheric textures. Produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, the album explores themes of spirituality, politics, love, and American landscapes. It solidified U2 as one of the most influential and commercially successful bands of the 1980s.
Background & Recording
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Recorded between 1986–1987 at Windmill Lane Studios (Dublin) and Canada’s Montreux and Slane Castle, the band aimed to create a more expansive, atmospheric sound while maintaining rock intensity.
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Bono sought to explore the American experience, inspired by U.S. politics, culture, and landscapes, which informed both lyrics and sonic textures.
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Eno and Lanois encouraged textured guitar layers, reverb, and ambient experimentation, giving the album a cinematic feel.
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The album was written in part on touring breaks, reflecting U2’s growing ambition to combine arena rock with thoughtful songwriting.
Tracklist
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Where the Streets Have No Name – 5:37
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I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For – 4:37
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With or Without You – 4:56
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Bullet the Blue Sky – 4:32
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Running to Stand Still – 4:18
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Red Hill Mining Town – 4:51
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In God’s Country – 2:57
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Trip Through Your Wires – 3:32
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One Tree Hill – 5:23
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Exit – 4:13
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Mothers of the Disappeared – 4:39
Notable Singles:
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With or Without You
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I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
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Where the Streets Have No Name
Album Credits
U2
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Bono – Lead vocals, guitar
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The Edge – Guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
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Adam Clayton – Bass guitar
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Larry Mullen Jr. – Drums, percussion
Production & Technical
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Producers: Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois
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Engineers: Flood, Pat McCarthy
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Recorded at: Windmill Lane Studios (Dublin), Slane Castle (Ireland), Montreux (Switzerland)
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Art Direction & Design: Anton Corbijn, Steve Averill
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Photography: Anton Corbijn
Commercial Performance
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Peaked at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart
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Peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200
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Certified 7× Platinum in the UK
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Certified 12× Platinum in the US
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Worldwide sales: Over 25 million copies
The Joshua Tree was U2’s commercial peak of the 1980s, launching them to global superstardom.
Critical Reception & Ratings
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Rolling Stone: ★★★★★ (5/5)
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AllMusic: ★★★★★ (5/5)
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Pitchfork: 9.2/10
Praised for:
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Bono’s emotionally powerful vocals and spiritual lyricism
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The Edge’s signature, delay-driven guitar textures
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Innovative production blending rock, roots, and ambient elements
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Songwriting that balances personal and political themes
Themes & Style
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Spiritual searching: I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, One Tree Hill
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Social and political consciousness: Bullet the Blue Sky, Mothers of the Disappeared
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Love and human relationships: With or Without You, Running to Stand Still
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American landscapes: Songs evoke deserts, small towns, and symbolic imagery, inspired by U.S. travel
Musically, the album combines:
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Anthemic rock
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Ambient textures
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Roots rock influences
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Layered guitar and percussion creating a cinematic atmosphere
Fun Facts
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“Where the Streets Have No Name” was famously recorded live on a rooftop in Los Angeles for the music video.
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Bono has said that the album was inspired by America’s contradictions—beauty, poverty, hope, and violence.
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One Tree Hill is a tribute to Greg Carroll, a New Zealand friend of Bono who died tragically.
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The album marked U2’s first real collaboration with Eno and Lanois as a creative duo, shaping their signature sound for the next decade.
Trivia
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The title The Joshua Tree refers to the tree native to the American Southwest, symbolizing resilience, survival, and desolation.
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Many songs were inspired by political and humanitarian crises, including El Salvador, Northern Ireland, and apartheid-era South Africa.
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The album cover photograph, taken by Anton Corbijn, features a stark black-and-white image of the band in the Mojave Desert, emphasizing isolation and the American landscape.
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The Joshua Tree tour (1987) became one of the most successful tours in rock history.
Did You Know?
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💡 The Joshua Tree was U2’s first album to top the Billboard 200 in the US.
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💡 The band intentionally avoided overproduction, balancing arena anthems with intimate ballads.
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💡 Bono often described the album as a search for meaning in America, combining political commentary with spiritual inquiry.
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💡 The Edge’s guitar tones on the album became definitive of U2’s sound, influencing countless bands.
U2 – The Joshua Tree (1987) Cover Art Information
The cover of The Joshua Tree is one of U2’s most iconic and enduring images, perfectly reflecting the album’s themes of spirituality, desolation, and the American landscape.
The Image
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Features a black-and-white photograph of the band standing in the Mojave Desert, near a Joshua tree, under a stark, expansive sky.
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The image conveys isolation, endurance, and contemplation, matching the album’s lyrical focus on human struggle, faith, and political awareness.
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Each band member is positioned thoughtfully, with Bono slightly forward, emphasizing leadership and presence, while The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. appear integrated but distinct.
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The desolate desert environment reflects themes of searching, spiritual emptiness, and resilience.
Photographer & Design
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Photographer: Anton Corbijn, U2’s longtime visual collaborator
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Art Direction & Design: Steve Averill (Works Associates)
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Label: Island Records
Anton Corbijn’s photography emphasizes contrast, texture, and drama, capturing the band in a way that feels both timeless and cinematic. His work contributed significantly to the visual identity of U2 throughout the 1980s.
Concept & Meaning
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The Joshua tree itself is a symbol of survival in harsh conditions, reflecting U2’s exploration of endurance and faith in the face of adversity.
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The black-and-white aesthetic gives the image a timeless, serious, and introspective quality, mirroring the themes of the album.
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The desert landscape symbolizes both isolation and reflection, evoking the spiritual and emotional landscapes explored in the music.
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The cover connects the album’s political and social concerns with personal and spiritual searching, embodying U2’s artistic ambition at the time.
Trivia & Did You Know?
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💡 The photograph was taken in California’s Mojave Desert in late 1986.
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💡 The band deliberately wore neutral tones, blending slightly into the landscape, emphasizing the environment’s scale over individual presence.
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💡 This was the first U2 album cover to feature a natural landscape prominently, marking a shift from earlier abstract or symbolic covers (The Unforgettable Fire, War).
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💡 Anton Corbijn’s imagery for this album set a standard for rock album photography, inspiring countless artists to use desert landscapes for visual storytelling.
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💡 The cover aligns with the album’s sonic “vastness,” complementing the ambient and anthemic qualities of the music.
