Achtung Baby is a difficult album -- one that seems the result of considerable soul-searching lyrically.

'Charged with the same politics that has set U2 apart from the bland pack of lyricists that abound in rock music today...'

Rattle and Hum, the title of both U2's brand-new album of the 1987 tour and the energetic performance documentary film released last week, is the sound of the band making contact: with music, with tradition, with their audience, with one another.

'Rattle and Hum is an expression of U2's urge to have it both ways'

The Joshua Tree tops US charts where it stays for 9 weeks

U2: Band on The Run

The Joshua Tree becomes the fastest selling record in UK history.

'U2 is what the Rolling Stones ceased being years ago - the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world...'

My guess is that U2 will be remembered as the most influential band of the late '80s and early '90s. ...

'More than any other U2 album, though, The Joshua Tree has the power and allure to seduce and capture a ...

Jack Nicholson introduced the band to a packed Wembley Stadium.

This album features some stunning rock and evokes a haunting mood while leaving the spirit neither fed nor abused...

Who needs to make good LPs when you're this popular? U2 rank as one of the world's top bands but their albums are all pretty smelly...

The Unforgettable Fire has a lot to live up to - and it's this listener's verdict that it does so, unequivocally...

Blessed are the music makers: a truly unique guitarist, a fiery vocalist, and a rhythm section that can do just ...

This is not a 'bad' album, but neither is it the irrefutable beauty the band's fans anticipated...

An album of confident excitement, the work of a band completely secure about their powers... Bill Graham reviews Under A Blood Red Sky

Stairway to Heaven for smart people-even if it is played a tad too fast-and it kicks Under a Blood Red Sky over the rainbow...

A kind of grace through simplicity...

This is U2's most developed and mature album both lyrically and musically...

In spite of itself War is another example of rock music's impotence and decay...

'Complementing U2's lyrical growth is a newly developed dark sense of humour, which the band uses to striking effect throughout ...

A Celebration goes to No 47 in the UK charts

U2's contribution to the progress of rock is that they've divorced guitar heroics from the idea of a dazzling guitar hero.