My 50 Favorite Albums (continued)

I've taken my time adding another record to this list.  It is, as my brother Rod said in his comments, "a monumental task".  It is also, as my friend Bob said in his comments, " An age old effort, which never fails to satisfy".  I hope its more of the latter and less of the former for all of our sakes.

With that said, I am going to add a new album to the list every week until I get to 50 (albums not years!).  That should make it less "monumental" and more "satisfying", at least for me.

This week's addition, spurred on in part by U2's ubiquity on the public airwaves and on my private airwaves this week, is their finest album, The Joshua Tree.

I know that Ted and Tony have a preference for Unforgettable Fire, driven at least in part by U2's greatest song, Bad.  And Bob is a fan of Achtung Baby.  I like that record too and I also really like All That You Can't Leave Behind.

But The Joshua Tree is the U2 record I never can get enough of, like The Stones' Exile, and so that's why it ends up on my 50 favorite list.

Comments

[simon]

how could you forget nevermind :(

[Tony Alva]

You're off to a good start... the U2 pick doesn't hurt anybody's feelings. It is truly a great record worthy of a high spot on the list.

Ironically, your brother helped me produce an hour long radio show my senior year in college at the bequest of my dept head who was fascinated by popular music, and my whole love affair with the recording arts. He had stopped listening to pop music after the Beatles broke up and therefore had no exposure to anything current (he was a film professor). One day as I was turning in some work at his office, he was firing me up about today's music and obviously was very skeptical that anything contemporary could match anything the Beatles did. I'm sure it was affirmation he was silently feeling when I answered "Sgt. Pepper's" to his query about the greatest record ever recorded. He then asked a challenging question, "Is there anything that has been released in the last 12 months that you think will stand the test of time and be considered great on par with Sgt. Peppers?" It only took me a minute to respond, "U2's Joshua Tree". I dropped a tape off for him to listen to and he loved it. He was so enamored by the Joshua Tree that he asked me to do an hour segment for the radio station called, "The Greatest Records of All Time". The Joshua Tree was what I featured.

[Bob Struble]

No argument at all. I like Achtung better, but this is clearly a Top 10 of all tiume pick. I love Fire as well, it may have higher high points including Bad, but is a bit too uneven to rate this high.

Another note on Joshua Tree: it is probably the most overtly faith inspired great album of all time, even for U2.

[jackson]

Bob is right, 'Fire' is uneven, and it's simply a window in time for me, it puts me in a place I like. 'Tree' is a much more well rounded album. Good choice Fred. I geuss we all wait with baited breath for next week.

[zombyboy]

I can't really disagree with the choice--although for me it's a tossup between Achtung Baby and Joshua Tree. I'm surprised to see All That You Can't Leave Behind mentioned in the same group, though. While I won't say it was a disappointment, exactly, it doesn't match up well with any of the three others that you noted.

For that matter, I think How to Dismantle is a better album.

But, of course, I'm also the kind of guy that thinks Rattle and Hum was brilliant in its own way...

[andy]

Agreed on Joshua Tree; I can listen to it over and over without growing tired of it.

Other CDs that would make my list (because 50 presents room for a wide range of greatness):

Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet
Ten - Pearl Jam
In My Tribe - 10,000 Maniacs
Purple Rain - Prince
March - Michael Penn
Use Your Illusion II - Guns n' Roses
Listen Like Thieves - INXS
Copper Blue - Sugar
The Bends - Radiohead
Boomtown - David & David

...based on a quick review of what I've rated highly on my Launchcast station.