Five Things You Didn't Know About U2's The Joshua Tree

By the time U2 set out to record The Joshua Tree in 1986, the band had already established itself as one of rock’s premier hit machines. Albums like War and Under a Blood Red Sky introduced fans around the globe to the band from Dublin while The Unforgettable Fire solidified their reputation as arena rockers with a conscience. The world was watching: What would U2 do next? 

There was no denying that the band was at the top of their game, but they were also at a crossroads. Extensive touring had taken its toll, prompting the group to do some soul-searching. The result was a move in a new musical direction, one which tempered the band’s punk rock ethos with the plaintive reflection of American blues. When it dropped in 1987, fans embraced the roots-rock sound of The Joshua Tree: the album that went platinum within two days, landed U2 on the cover of Time magazine, and netted them an Album of the Year GRAMMY Award. But did you know that one of the album’s best-known songs was almost erased on purpose? Read on to learn the back story of one of modern music’s most famous records. 

1. The Joshua Tree is a concept album 

The overarching theme of The Joshua Tree is both a love letter to and stinging critique of America. The concept emerged after the band spent five months touring the United States. While making their way across the country, the band was struck by the social, economic, and religious divisions that complicated the American dream. Taking a cue from American writers such as Norman Mailer, Bono set out to capture the gritty reality of the American experience. Songs like Bullet the Blue Sky and I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For explore themes of war, poverty, and the search for meaning in a country whose promise of greatness turns up empty for many under its influence. 

2. A Sopranos actor had a significant influence on the record’s sound

The 1980s were known as a time when celebrities gained an awareness of oppression. This prompted many in the music community to do something about the social injustices that surrounded them. Live Aid, Farm Aid, and Hands Across America were just a few of the mega-events that brought the stars out in droves for a good cause. One project, Sun City, was produced by E Street Band guitarist and Sopranos actor Steven Van Zandt, also known as Little Steven. Sun City’s goal of ending apartheid in South Africa brought together musical giants such as Miles Davis, Peter Gabriel, and—you guessed it—Bono, for a record of blues-saturated rock. The U2 singer was so taken with the rootsy approach of Sun City that it compelled him to explore a new musical path on The Joshua Tree. 

3. Brian Eno almost junked Where the Streets Have No Name 

Producer Brian Eno, who’s worked with legends like David Bowie, Devo, and Coldplay, has said that one single song—Where the Streets Have No Name—took up 40% of the album’s total recording time. Composed by guitarist The Edge, who hoped to capture the swirling cacophony of the band’s live show, the song features complicated chord changes and time signature shifts that vexed U2 in the studio. After weeks passed without a suitable version, Eno nearly erased the tapes in frustration. Luckily, he was physically stopped before he could do any damage and the final track was pieced together from different recordings. To this day, the band maintains that the Where the Streets Have No Name only sounds right when performed on a concert stage. 

4. The Joshua Tree inspired a religious movement 

Many, including Bono himself, have commented on the spiritual themes of The Joshua Tree. But some in the religious community took the album’s songs of spiritual yearning as divine inspiration. In 2004, an Episcopalian pastor named Sarah Dylan Breuer founded the U2Charist in Baltimore, Maryland. And yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like—a religious service where parishioners receive communion to U2 songs. Since its beginning on the Eastern Seaboard, the U2Charist has grown into a world-wide phenomenon—services have been held throughout the US as well as Australia, the Netherlands, and Mexico. 

5. The album took its name from an actual Joshua tree 

As the band became obsessed with America’s literal and metaphorical wastelands, album photographer Anton Corbijn suggested shooting the cover in the deserts of the American Southwest. When Corbijn told the band about one of the region’s native species, a plant known colloquially as a Joshua tree, Bono was taken with its religious symbolism, which spoke to the themes of yearning and faith on the record. They found the perfect backdrop and history was made, immortalizing the twisted branches of the Joshua tree on the cover of one of the greatest albums of all time. 

U2’s The Joshua Tree will be performed live in its entirety on September 22nd as part of Arts Commons Presents’ Classic Albums Live series. For more information, visit artscommons.ca/joshuatree.