"Classic" album appreciation thread - the '80s

[Max Kuehnau]

Frontiers sucks

Damn...I get that it's not on the same level as Escape, but "sucks" is pretty harsh.  The well-known tracks are solid, and Edge of the Blade and Rubicon are GREAT "deep cuts."

By the way, Neal Schon in the pre-Perry days had one hell of an epic afro!

I actually like some pieces on that one quite a bit too, even more so than Escape (among others,Frontiers itself, thanks Steve Smith. Pay attention to how he constructed the groove in that piece and you'll see what i mean)

[The Walrus]

Frontiers sucks

Damn...I get that it's not on the same level as Escape, but "sucks" is pretty harsh.  The well-known tracks are solid, and Edge of the Blade and Rubicon are GREAT "deep cuts."

By the way, Neal Schon in the pre-Perry days had one hell of an epic afro!

Frontiers is heavier and darker than Escape, and to me that's not a good thing; the Journey I seem to like is the Journey that's really sunny and upbeat and Escape is very much that. Frontiers also shows a lot more huskiness in Perry's voice and I'm not a fan of that either. I don't remember enjoying Rubicon whatsoever, and I don't like what's going on with the synths on that record either. But, I also first heard it in 2013 or 2014, when I was 22-23. If I heard it growing up in the 70s, I think my perception would be waaay different.

[bosk1]

Frontiers is heavier and darker than Escape, and to me that's not a good thing; the Journey I seem to like is the Journey that's really sunny and upbeat and Escape is very much that. Frontiers also shows a lot more huskiness in Perry's voice and I'm not a fan of that either.

I think that's right.  And a big part of the reason is that by the time Frontiers was written, Journey was a band that was feeling a LOT more strain in their relationships with each other, with management, with the label, in their personal lives, etc.  And it was a band that, at that point in time, had toured WAY more and for far too long than they wanted.  The strain from all of that was reflected in the music and lyrics.  I'm not saying that to say that you have to like it.  But I'm saying that you are dead on, and there is a real reason for that.

[KevShmev]

Any album with Separate Ways, Send Her My Love and Faithfully is good, on the strength of those three songs alone.

[bosk1]

U2 - The Joshua Tree

Songs:

-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
-Exit
-Mothers of the Disappeared

What an amazing year for music 1987 was.  This album is no exception.  Prior to the Joshua Tree, I knew U2 as just another one of those "new wave bands" that had a few songs/videos I liked.  I was familiar with some of the singles and deep cuts, and had friends who listened.  But I didn't know them.  This album changed that.  As with most of the albums I will be discussing in this thread, this one was unavoidable because the singles were EVERYWHERE after its release.  I played this album nonstop after buying it and love it to this day.  I have a hard time doing an "all time" album ranking, so I cannot say where this album would rank for me.  But it would be hard to do, say, a top 50 and not include it.  Incredible album.  I also had an opportunity to see them in a stadium on this tour.  And while I generally prefer smaller venues, the atmosphere in that stadium was electric.  Some may remember an earlier controversy a few days before where Bono was publicly chastised for spray painting on a huge sculpture/structure in San Francisco.  At the show I attended in Oakland a few days later, Bono invited the artist who had created that sculpture up onstage, and he then "defaced" U2's giant Joshua Tree scrims with a giant paint roller.  It was an amazing moment in an amazing show.  To this day, U2's performance of Bullet the Blue Sky at that show remains one of my most memorable concert moments.

In another related tidbit, in my pop choir class senior year of HS, we had to sing a solo as our final.  I chose Running To Stand Still from this album.

[The Walrus]

This is the only U2 album I've ever heard. It's been years since I heard it, but I picked up a cheap remastered copy for like $5 at Best Buy or Wal-Mart about 10 years ago, and I loved it. From what I remember, I described the album in one word: atmosphere. I remember it had a very clear, almost desolate vibe to some of the songs and it was a lot different than what I expected to hear. I think I'll play this one today, it's been too long.

[bosk1]

That's a really good description.  I think it also unintentionally explains why many (myself included) feel that, despite some really good output, the band have never equaled or topped this album.

[Max Kuehnau]

If I ever were to have a favourite U2 album, this one, The Unforgettable Fire and Achtung Baby would all rotate for that given title. Either way, these were a great run and TJJ is a classic album for more than one reason.

[Stadler]

This is the album that showed me that U2 was something different.

I got to see this in Hartford Civic Center early on in the tour, third row on the floor, and it was transcendent.  Everyone knows the hits, but for me, the strength of this album is in the "lesser" songs, "Red Hill Mining Town", "In God's Country" and "One Tree Hill".  This is also the best that Bono has ever sounded (and while he's still very good, he's never, in my opinion, sounded the same since this tour). 

[King Postwhore]

I was lucky enough to see them on the War tour as a 15 year old and then a few years later on The Unforgettable fire tour.  It was a religious experience.   Bono was talked, it was like a sermon.  He had everyone's attention.  The Joshua Tree was the album that put them in the rare air as The Stones and Pink Floyd being able to play football stadiums on multiple nights.  Fandom became hysteria.

[Max Kuehnau]

I was lucky enough to see them on the War tour as a 15 year old and then a few years later on The Unforgettable fire tour.  It was a religious experience.   Bono was talked, it was like a sermon.  He had everyone's attention.  The Joshua Tree was the album that put them in the rare air as The Stones and Pink Floyd being able to play football stadiums on multiple nights.  Fandom became hysteria.

Hysteria, when you're near. Oh, no, sorry, wrong band (same year though, 1987)

[bosk1]

Challenge accepted. 

[pg1067]

U2 - The Joshua Tree

I have one friend who is a massive U2 fan, but this is a huge NO for me.

I was introduced to U2 via videos on MTV for New Years Day and Sunday Bloody Sunday.  I don't recall having strong feelings either way about the band (although I now love SBS).  The stuff I heard off Unforgettable Fire didn't appeal to me, and by the time Joshua Tree came out, I couldn't stand U2.  They are, IMO, the most overly pretentious band around, and their songs became increasingly bland.  And, honestly, I know a couple songs on this album more from their use on significant episodes of Friends than anything else.

[Grappler]

Journey - Don't Stop Believin' is a classic.   Also love Stone in Love and Open Arms (though prefer Faithfully for a Journey ballad).  Who's Crying Now is also good.  I'm just a casual/greatest hits fan of the band though, so my knowledge stops there.


U2 - Not a fan at all.  That album is frontloaded though.  3 huge songs in a row, and I've never heard a single one after Bullet the Blue Sky.

[pg1067]

Also, when that one album was forcibly downloaded to iTunes, U2 became utterly irredeemable as a band.  Fuck that noise.

[bosk1]

They are, IMO, the most overly pretentious band around

Oh, absolutely.  I couldn't agree more.  But they are also amazing, and this album is the pinnacle.

[romdrums]

Trip Through Your Wires is my underappreciated gem on this album.  I agree with Stadler on In God's Country and Red Hill Mining Town.  The hits are solid, but the deep cuts really make this album a solid listening experience.  This and Zooropa are the only U2 albums I own, and I only have The Joshua Tree on CD, so I don't listen to either of them often, but this album is a classic, and if someone asked me what ten albums I thought defined the 80's, this one would be on that list.

[MirrorMask]

U2 - Not a fan at all.  That album is frontloaded though.  3 huge songs in a row, and I've never heard a single one after Bullet the Blue Sky.

Yeah, that's what I noticed. Even just by name, everyone knows the first three songs. Nothing from song 4 onwards rings a bell for me.

[Stadler]

U2 - Not a fan at all.  That album is frontloaded though.  3 huge songs in a row, and I've never heard a single one after Bullet the Blue Sky.

Yeah, that's what I noticed. Even just by name, everyone knows the first three songs. Nothing from song 4 onwards rings a bell for me.

I totally get the pretension, and I lost a lot of interest from Pop through... maybe Atomic Bomb, and I'm still not totally back in the fold yet, but just for the vocal performance "Red Hill Mining Town" and "One Tree Hill" (especially the latter) are worth the ten plus minutes to get through (13 if you include "In God's Country").

[Lowdz]

Is there anything at all worth visiting in the pre-Perry Journey days? I've heard a lot about it but have never listened; for that matter I don't know any Santana, either, so I don't know if that matters (although Santana is an artist I should be much more familiar with). I'm not big on hard rock Journey which is why I dislike Frontiers so much. But Escape, man, that is just flawless good old fashioned rock.

Do a little quick research; find "Nickel and Dime" from "Next" on Spotify or wherever.  It might remind you of a band I know you're fond of.

Now that was a nice little surprise. That was VERY good, and not at all what I expected from Journey. Going to listen to more throughout the day/evening.

Wow, never heard that before. I hear Xanadu in there.
Schon is a great guitar player. So lyrical and yet able to shred when he wants to. I was very surprised by his solos on the Hear n Aid song. Along with Yngwie, he really stood out.

[KevShmev]

The Joshua Tree is an obvious classic, and while it is not my favorite album of theirs - that would be Achtung Baby - it is still up there.  Rattle and Hum is what took me from being someone who liked U2 to someone who loved u2, but The Joshua Tree had a big hand in crossing that bridge as well. 

Side 1 is probably one of the best album sides of the 80's, and Side 2 is full of really nice deep cuts. 

The only tinny tiny drawback for me is that several songs here, while all really good on the album, became much better live, most notably Where the Streets Have No Name, Bullet the Blue Sky and Exit.  And I love the live version of Running to Stand Still that they did on the Zoo TV live DVD, with the different musical arrangement underneath the normal vocal melody, although it's hard to beat that original.

U2 has their share of haters, but they have a big place in the soundtrack of my life, and I will always be a big fan.

[Cool Chris]

Never got into U2 though liked some of their bigger hits. Couldn't have told you what was on this album past the third song with a gun to my head.

[TAC]

Obviously, U2 was never in my wheelhouse, but I always respected them as a band. I really have always liked New Year's Day and Sunday Bloody Sunday.

I actually saw this tour at the Boston Garden.

[King Postwhore]

Shit Tim.  I never knew that. Wife a fan?

[TAC]

Shit Tim.  I never knew that. Wife a fan?

I met my wife 9 years later!

[King Postwhore]

Jesus H!

I outed you!  Lol

[TAC]

My gf was a fan, but not a big one. It was really something to go do and experience. It was a great concert.

We also saw them in '92 in Foxboro. One of the meat cutters at Star Market that I knew did security there (and at Great Woods) and he got us right next to the stage. I wish I took pictures. We were literally 20 feel from The Edge, (the guitarist that is, lol).

[TAC]

I outed you!  Lol

Never, motherfucker!

[King Postwhore]

 

I had beers with Bono in Worcester, Massachusetts in an Irish bat. No joke. It felt like a dream talking to him.

[Stadler]

I had beers with Bono in Worcester, Massachusetts in an Irish bat. No joke. It felt like a dream talking to him.

Was he cool?   

When I was last in Ireland (2000, 2001), we met a guy that claimed to know him from when he was a kid.   The guy was a piece of work - he held his red wine with the stem in his fist, and it sloshed around like there was a typhoon in the glass.  I had red wine blots all over my shirt - and in that drunken, loud Irish accent, all he could say was what a fine lad he was.  He kept telling us to go to the Clarence Hotel (then owned by Bono and Edge) as they had just renovated it and supposedly often drank there, but it it didn't happen.   I tried to get my then-wife to meet him for her 40th, but I couldn't pull it off either. 

[jingle.boy]

Joshua Tree took U2 from being a great band, to being God-tier. 

That's a really good description.  I think it also unintentionally explains why many (myself included) feel that, despite some really good output, the band have never equaled or topped this album.

Ayup.  While it's not in my personal Top 10 or even Top 50, I would classify it as one of the 'best' Classic Rock albums of all time - Top 10 material imo.  Probably the most notable/recognizable ROCK album from the 80s after Back in Black.

[Stadler]

They are SO GOOD live, too.  Not in the same way as DT, but Bono belongs in the top tier of rock front men to be sure.

And for the record, I'm ignoring the "Pop/Mephisto" years; I'm just talking as a singer and front man; that Joshua Tree show, I can remember just staring at him as he commanded the stage.  When he stood there, and yelled out "Outside is America... Outside is HARTFORD CONNECTICUT!", as cheesy as it sounds, it gave me goosebumps.  It was like a sermon, almost.

[bosk1]

They are SO GOOD live, too.  Not in the same way as DT, but Bono belongs in the top tier of rock front men to be sure.

I completely agree. 

[King Postwhore]

I had beers with Bono in Worcester, Massachusetts in an Irish bat. No joke. It felt like a dream talking to him.

Was he cool?   

When I was last in Ireland (2000, 2001), we met a guy that claimed to know him from when he was a kid.   The guy was a piece of work - he held his red wine with the stem in his fist, and it sloshed around like there was a typhoon in the glass.  I had red wine blots all over my shirt - and in that drunken, loud Irish accent, all he could say was what a fine lad he was.  He kept telling us to go to the Clarence Hotel (then owned by Bono and Edge) as they had just renovated it and supposedly often drank there, but it it didn't happen.   I tried to get my then-wife to meet him for her 40th, but I couldn't pull it off either.

He was so down to earth.  Just wanted to get a pint of Guinness.  Got to chat for 5 minutes and left him alone.  I'll never forget clinking our glasses together.

[jingle.boy]

That's fuckin awesome!