I'm writing a paper on U2's Joshua Tree album. Does anyone think that it influenced society in any way?

Answer 1

This is more of a revolutionary album for U2 than it was for the face and state of music. This album did not revolutionize music the way that the beatle's "Sgt peppers", nirvana's "nevermind", or led zeppelin's epic "stairway to heaven" did, but in it's own way, it was very significant. you'll have fun with this paper.
basically, U2 began exploring america with this album. they wrote about the themes of desolation and tried to incorporate american blues and folk music into the musical aspect of it. it worked really well and it became their first MAJOR MAJOR big hit that sent them to be hte first band ever to grace the cover of TIME magazine in 1987. This catapulted U2 into superstardom, even though they were already pretty well known for their previous work such as "pride" and "sunday bloody sunday" from their previous albums "Unforgettable Fire" and "War" respectively.
indirectly, you could say that the album influenced society because now that U2 had all this attention and credibility, they were able to refocus their celebrity and attention to someplace that needed it more than they did: Africa. When interviewed about his motives for all his humanitarian work for that continent, Bono often replies that because of all the fame and attention U2 receives, he didn't want to waste it. Now that they had the spotlight, they wanted to shine it on Africa and let the world know that they need help. Because U2 were now in a respected position, that led the way and made it possible for Bono to go lobby politicians and be credible in his activism. Because of all his efforts to persuade world leaders to cancel the debt that African nations owed them, African nations can now do so much more with that money for themselves. Debt cancelling was a MAJOR MAJOR success for Africa. A lot of other things such as Live 8, the One campaign to make poverty history, and Product(RED) were launched for the same reason. To bring awareness and (in the case of product red) help make it easier for normal citizines to contribute money to this cause. do you think any of this would happen if U2 weren't the respected musicians with credibility? if some random person had the same motives as Bono and did the same amount of research and wanted to talk to president Bush about cancelling the debt of African nations, would he even get close to the white house? I think it's becuase Bono is so well respected that people take him seriously when he wants to lobby for these kinds of things. You could argue that it's all thanks to their amazing success and burst into the big scene with the release of Joshua Tree.
The album is a great testament to the timelessness of U2's music. it was written in 1987, but doesn't sound anything like the stereotypical 80s music sound. Its themes, lyrics, and inventive musicality makes it a lasting classic album for our culture. This is more of an influence in music instead of society and people. A great example of how U2's music speaks right to the heart and touches everything with a beating heart is from a recent release: U218 singles special edition. This package came with a 10 song dvd from their Vertigo Milan stop on 07-21-05. During "I still haven't found what I'm looking for", you can visibly see the band members standing there in appreciation and awe as they listen to the entire audience of 45,000+ people singing back the lyrics to them, word for word. How powerful a feeling that must be. To go to a foreign country where english is not the first language, and yet still have every audience member know every word to your lyrics. it must feel amazing, and it just goes to show how U2's music has no boundaries.

Joshua Tree paved the way for much success in the U2 camp, and it also laid a foundation for success to come. Although the times after Joshua Tree were rocky because Bono and Edge wanted their next album to be experimental and dance beat orientated, and larry and adam wanted to stick to more joshua tree-like stuff, it caused a rift in the band. they had to reevaluate everything and had a serious talk about what they expected out of eachother. with this, one of the greatest songs of our time, "One" was born, and it paved the way for the entire "achtung baby" album, another masterpiece in the U2 catalog. this album was able to sound new and inventive, yet still signaturely U2. it's pure genius. yeah, anyway, everyone seems to get hte feeling that "one" is a happy song, but it's actually about the bitterness of a relationship, about how sometimes, we need to work out our problems and we can't just give up. "we get to carry eachother", not we HAVE to carry eachother. lol sorry, i think this paragraph was a little off topic ;]

note: it's one thing to say that it influenced society, and another thing to say that it influenced music history. make sure you differentiate between the two in your paper, because they're kinda not the same thing =)

Answer 2

Seems that people are listening to Bono's political views as he is constantly being invited to meetings with heads of state and religious leaders all over the western world.
I think this bands music has influenced the youth of Ireland and the rest of the UK to take a look at their parents' predjudice and violence and has been instrumental in backing off the violence somewhat in the next generation.
When they play around Dublin it looks like 100,000 people come to hear them.

Answer 3

I fell in love with Bono and U2 on the stay help stay overall performance; replaced into it 1986? I for this reason observed them stay at Elland highway in Leeds in approximately 1988 and at Roundhay Park in 1996. I fell out of love with Bono whilst he began to positioned on those stressful tinted glasses and pretending he's the 2d messier

Answer 4

Nope, just more of Bono's ramblings. Shame too, their first 2 albums were awsome then he got full of himself and started to think people actually cared that much about his political views.

Answer 5

Not like "Sergeant Pepper" or "Dark Side of the Moon".

It's just good music!

Answer 6

Yes. very political.

Answer 7

no...also that's a horrible toppic for a paper. chose something that's batter.