The first time I heard With Or Without You something strage happened . . . I somehow knew the lyrics having NEVER HEARD THE SONG ! It was mystical, otherworldly and spiritual . I was attending University at the time. As I listened to the entire record I felt grounded and comforted during a very turbulent time of life. It made me desire God.

In the summer of 1987, I was fourteen years old and freshly graduated from elementary school. The extent of my musical tastes at that point consisted primarily of film soundtracks and synth-heavy mid-80s pop: a-ha, Mr. Mister, Thompson Twins and the like. It was nice background, but none of it had really "consumed" me as a listener. I knew -of- U2, but few songs had yet to cross my radar. I bought "The Joshua Tree" during a trip from California to visit family in New England. I think I bought it on the strength of the TIME magazine article ("Rock's Hottest Ticket"), not quite knowing what to expect of it. What I do vividly remember is lying in bed late at night, unable to sleep because of the difference in time zones and the sweltering New England heat. I popped the tape into my Walkman and heard that sweeping intro and the resonating, escalating chords of Edge's guitar on "Where Streets Have No Name." I was absolutely transfixed; it was like nothing I'd ever heard before. I played the first few tracks, torn between the temptation to rewind and play them back again immediately, and letting the album play out to take me where it would. I ended up letting it play through, savoring each track and being impressed with how different each was from the last: the sweeping dynamics, the loud and the soft, the power and the fragility; the whole thing as vast and expansive as the landscape that produced the joshua tree itself. I don't remember how much time passed, but I played the album through a few times back to back, marveling at different bits of it each time. My lack of sleep that night ended up having little to do with time zones or humidity. I didn't get a chance to see U2 live until some years later on the Zoo TV tour (and several times since), but it was still an incredible experience, and I am very much looking forward to the upcoming anniversary tour. I never went back to mid-80s pop.

I was just 20 years old in 1987, working in Down Town Los Angeles and that was the year U2 perform live on the top of the roof singing their song "Where The Streets Have No Name!" I get a called from my cousin saying 'what are you doing? Come out and see that U2 are performing live!" I was shock and I just couldn't leave based on my duties, but I heard them on the radio with Kiss-FM - And it was such a great feeling and now after 30 years I will be turning 50 and it will be a awesome memories again when I see them in Pasadena!!! Thank you for great music!!

I purchased the vinyl version on the first day The Joshua Tree was available. I went home and played it on the turntable, and at the same time, recorded the album onto cassette tape. Being that the 'With Or Without You' video was the only song being played prior to the album's release, this album was the most anticipated record that I had ever looked forward to hearing for the first time. Little did I know that after listening to the entire album, how much my life was going to reflect the hysteria and love in which U2 and the Joshua Tree received soon after. Each time I listened to the album, the spectrum of musical genius and the brilliant expression within the lyrics, led me to find tickets to the Joshua Tree tour, which was going to be in L.A. two weeks after the release date. Now, thirty years after, I still feel the same feelings as when I did when I listened to the Joshua Tree for the first time on March 9, 1987!

The night the Joshua Tree came we waited rather impatiently , was with my Nephews & A few friends all Big U2 fans were waiting outside this Massachusetts record shop, not knowing the magic we were about endure. I bought the album on Cassette tap. at 12:01AM unwrapping the cassette as we walked to the car. So we popped the Cassette into my Pioneer with Alpine speakers . 1st song "Streets" 2nd song "Still Haven't Found..." And 3rd Song With or Without you .I agree with u2 fan above ,The best 3 songs ever to start a album ,then "Bullet " Runnin to stand still " I was totally blown away ,Then probably my favorite U2 song of all Red Mill Mining Town .Oh my God !!! that song was like "wow" when me & friends are together we were usually rowdy and quite loud , but i think listening to this album calmed us all down . then the rest of the album was just Icing on the cake.....My Favorite Album by far...Can't wait for June 25th 2017 @ Foxboro Ma....

At the time U2 seemed to be hitting the headlines with tracks from earlier albums, Pride (in the name of Love) Sunday Bl@@dy Sunday, these songs caught my attention brought me to buy the Joshua Tree. The rest is history, the album, every track tells a story, every track captures something in someone. The tracks are timeless, the album has secured it's place in history. It started a lifelong connection to U2, every new album greatly anticipated and appreciated, every move U2 made greatly observed, and every concert that was possible to get to, I went. Like a lifelong partnership, for over 30 years U2 and the Joshua Tree have been part of my journey, and in a tiny, tiny, tiny way I have been part of theirs. I'm not sure what or if the next 30 years will bring, but I look forward to continuing the journey for as long as I am able.

I first saw U2 in Rochester NY in 1983 when they played at the RIT hockey rink. Fast forward to 1987 and I'm working in Chappell music...my favorite band had gone "commercial". That whole summer, while partying in the Hamptons, we sang With or Without You as loudly (and probably very off key) as possible. The sound of The Edge's guitar moves me in a way no other song or instrument ever has or will. It's unexplainable, but magical!!!

I emigrated from Ireland in February 1987. Moved to London and felt really homesick and lonely, finding it very difficult to settle into such a hectic and impersonal city. A month later the Joshua Tree was released and everything changed. Overnight U2 were the hottest thing in town, and by association, everything Irish was in vogue. Suddenly it was hip to be Irish in London. Never looked back from that moment. Cheers.

Months before this album was released - at 6:55 p.m. on Jan. 31, 1987, to be exact - my brother, David, died after enduring a horrible, painful two years suffering from AIDS. I wandered emotionally and spiritually in the intervening weeks and months, struggling to come to terms with the fact that not only was my brother's life cut short, but that I would live the rest of mine without him. When U2 released Joshua Tree, I was in a deep depression, unsure of what to do with the rest of my life. I had a college degree and a teaching credential earned during my David's illness, but teaching no longer interested me. I saw it as tainted by his struggle. When my grandmother died a few months after my brother and left me $5,000, I decided to take a solo trip to Europe. I took with me a Walkman and a handful of cassette tapes. I don't remember what the other ones were, but one of them was Joshua Tree. I remember because I played it over and over as I rode trains and stayed in hostels all over Europe and the UK. The music and the lyrics sustained and inspired me, often when I needed it most. Thirty years on, they still do. As a result, the album and my brother are forever linked in fond remembrance.

Yes, I was 13 or 14 and I was playing billar with friends in my Hometown. Suddenly, on a TV screen, four guys started to play a live version of I still haven't found and I was shocked. It was a report of U2's live perfomnace in Madrid in 1987. I could not finish my billar play because I was felt in love with his music. This summer of 1987 I spent it listening all tracks of the Joshua Tree album and it will be a pleasure to meet this songs live again next July in Barcelona in my 6th U2 concert

My first U2 concert, I was 16 years old, was amazing. It was in November 1981 in Holland (Leiden and Rotterdam). I hardly knew the band and a friend took me. It was a memorable concert and me and my friends ended up drinking a beer backstage with Bono in Leiden. He even rode my friends bike like a true Dutchmen at the Holiday Inn the next day! Two days later we went to a second concert in Rotterdam (we got backstage passes). After the concert we had drinks in a bar with Adam, Steve Lillywhite and some more people. We had so much fun and they were so kind. That was more than 35 years ago. I am now 51 and still fan. Albums I love most are the first albums like Boy and October. I am going to the concert in Brussels next summer. Can't wait!

Thank you U2 for all of the songs that have given me a reason to live, when I've been at my lowest ebb, and only your music saved me from hurt and pain, again and again! THANK YOU!

I was a senior in high school in a smallish Texas town outside of Dallas in 1987. I had already seen a U2 show and the experience solidified me as a fan to this day. The year before, on a road trip with family from home to California, I went through 24 hours of AA batteries on my Walkman listening to Boy, Gloria, War and The Unforgettable Fire. I knew every beat by heart. The morning of the day the single With or Without You was released, I had learned of the unexpected death of my best friend. Best Friend doesn't fully explain the depth and joy of our friendship. It was a platonic M/F pairing and we were soulmates. I was not in the popular crowd, but in the "new wave/freaks" clique and struggling with how to identify as a gay person in the pre-internet, pre-acceptance world of the 80s. Losing her almost destroyed me. I found a solace in the lyrics of Bad, but the pain lingered and wasn't diminishing. I have a bittersweet memory of one of my friends playing the song for me. The music box bells of the intro, the swell of the emotional lyrics, the words Bono was singing just ripped the scabs off and I bled tears. I needed it, but I still hurt. When the full album was released, I had car trouble and was relying on friends to drive me to the store to purchase my CD. Not being as high a priority, they got me there at almost closing and I was told they had sold out. My heart sunk. As I was leaving, the clerk called out to me. "Here," he said. "I will sell you the one I set aside for me. I've listened all day and you're clearly a fan." I looked him in the eye and thanked him...fan to fan. When I got to my room, closed the door turned off the lights, put the disk in the try and put my headphones on, my life was forever changed. My touchstone for music was revealed, never to be undone. From the first, barely heard organs of WTSHNN to the haunting and vivid dance of Mothers of the Disappeared. I knew I had just experienced genius. A solitary and almost religious experience, the sounds and the lyrics washed over me and I found the tools, armor, concepts I needed to help me decipher where I was and what even life and death meant to me. I heard what I needed to hear, just as another would hear something completely different. It is not just an album to me, it is a flag in the landscape that stands in my mind to this day. It is a landmark that I cling to when I wander around in my mind and revisit my former self from that time. He and I share this music, these words, the love and friendship of these four men. It sounds dramatic, but it saved my life. I let it save my life. The power it has over me is as strong today, 30 years through time. I cherish this memory, this music and this era of U2. There's more to the story, and it bookends nicely, almost fatefully with the tickets I have for the anniversary tour in May. When the tour came to my town in 87, me and my friend Sherry as freshly-graduated kids could not afford to buy tickets. We decided to go down to the venue in Fort Worth, TX, loiter outside and hope the walls were thin enough to glean something of the show. Sitting outside, it appeared we were the only two with the idea. Probably because in reality, we heard nothing of what was going on inside. As we started coming to terms, three girls approached in a rush as the show has just started. One came up and explained in a desperate tone, "I have an extra ticket. One of our friends was too sick to come and asked me to try to sell it to recoup the money." We explained we had nothing to help her with. We sat and watched as the other to paced impatiently seeing that besides the two of us, there was no one else in sight. They gave up and started to go inside. I yelled, "Hey! Are you just going in with the ticket? Why not let us have it if you can't sell it? Don't waste it!" She whined, "Do you really want it?" I kept my normally sarcastic personality muzzled and just squeaked out, "Yes." She reluctantly handed me the ticket and she and her impatient friends disappeared inside the venue. Then I slowly turned, ticket in hand, and my friend Sherry and I made eye contact. She sighed and said, "Walk me back to my car at least." My heart raced. I walked her safely back to her car in the dark and SPRINTED back, found my seat and once again had a personal and solitary Joshua Tree experience. I was blown away by the night's events and my 2nd life-changing U2 show. I called Sherry the next day, trying to balance my review between my joy and not rubbing it in her face. We decided to catch lightning in a bottle and return that night for the 2nd show in Fort Worth (this show made it into Rattle and Hum). For an unknown reason, this night was entirely different. The sidewalks surrounding the venue were FULL of fans without tickets. They were socializing loudly and there was a very carnival feel to the night. I found Sherry, with her boyfriend that I didn't know would be there. I chit chatted and we eventually drifted apart in the crowd. I happened upon another high school friend, there with her art gang of Starck Club regulars, fashion-forward beauties and brooding, gel-haired angels. She swooped me up and immediately spoke of their "plan" to get into the venue by pooling the groups cash and bribing an usher/doorman. (Remember, 1987, pre cloud, pre-handheld scanners, etc.) There were 5-6 of us and once counted we had just over $200 cash...since we had not had to announce our contributions, no one was aware I had only put in a mere $5, but it was all I had in the world. We called the doorman over, relayed our proposition to him bluntly and he simply walked away. A moment later he walked back and said, "Do you see that woman I was just talking to?" My heart jumped. We'd been ratted out. He continued, "She is my boss. When she walks away, this is how it will go down. You walk single file, first in line hands me the cash, you enter and then you're on your own." The plan went off without a hitch and once inside we scattered to the four corners, never to see each other again that evening. I came in randomly right near the stage, scanned the crowd and jumped right into an empty seat closest to me. No one ever showed up to claim the seat I chose and that I sat in (most of the time) and had my third personal, solitary and emotionally expanding Joshua Tree experience. The moment with BB King that is captured in Rattle and Hum is the night I am speaking of and the camera angle and distance is roughly from the very position I was seated in. That recording means the world to me. The perfect storm surrounding this album and the events that lined up to put all of this in my path was astounding. I swore to Sherry, "One day I'm gonna pay you back for letting me have that ticket on the first night." We have laughed about it for 30 years. It gave me an incredible satisfaction to make the call a couple of months ago to let her know I had a ticket to the anniversary tour and it was specifically for her...with one caveat. You just have to walk me to my car, dear friend. My friend, Robin, whom I lost just before the album's release, live in the lyrics. She lives in the notes and in Bono's voice. She is stitched in every track. But to this day, I shed a tear for her every time I hear these lines from One Tree Hill, I'll see you again when the stars fall from the sky And the moon has turned red over One Tree Hill. We run like a river runs to the sea We run like a river to the sea. And when it's raining, raining hard That's when the rain will break my heart. I know no one will read this. It was written to that boy back in 87. You made it. This album didn't save you alone. Your strength, your tenacity, your creativity and humor pulled you here. Keep living, for you and for her. She is still alive in me.

Back in 1987 on the heels of The Unforgettable Fire I couldn't wait to see where U2 was going next and knew I wanted to be along for the ride. My expectations for the Joshua Tree were through the roof before it came out. When With or Without You hit the radio as the first single I thought it was a solid song but there was a part of me that felt slightly disappointed that I wasn't absolutely blown away by this song. And then I bought the album and everything changed. For me the true greatness of the Joshua Tree, the heart and soul of the Joshua Tree, were the songs that never sniffed the radio back in '87. Specifically in ny opinion the top 6 songs on the Joshua Tree in order were and are: 1. Running to Stand Still--to me this is still the greatest song U2 has ever done that stands the test of time so incredibly well 30 years later. In my mind I've travelled to and from the depths of Seven Towers 100's of times over the last 30 years via this song. No matter what may have been going on in my life time after time this song always resonated with me so strongly and somehow brought me comfort despite the heartbreaking theme. Lyrically, vocally, and musically I just don't know how this song can be topped. An absolute master piece. 2. Exit--you know you have a truly great album on your hands when you find your favorite songs on said album to be ever changing and you're constantly finding yourself discovering new songs and facets of songs. The first time I listened to Exit I didn't quite what to make of it. I had never heard another U2 song like it or any other group for that matter. Exit took time to grow on me and it was actually seeing the live McNichols Arena performance of the song in Rattle and Hum that took the studio version of the song to a completely different level for me. While Bono's vocals are spot on per the usual this song is all about the two separate balls out musical explosions from Edge, Larry, and Adam. Edge's guitar working its way up to crescendo, Larry absolutely hammering the drums, and Adam's bass holding it all together. 3. Bullet the Blue Sky--Bullet is one of the few U2 songs where I actually prefer the studio version to any live version I've ever heard. From the get go of Larry's opening drum Bullet is in your face and unrelenting. It's also my favorite Adam bass line of all time. As usual Bono's lyrics painting a crystal clear picture of what's unfolding and making his case for how you should feel about it. And to top it off that Edge riff that was made iconic to U2 fans thanks to Bono's use of the strobe light during the song in Rattle Hum. I remember ready my a quote from Bono about how he asked Edge to channel the horrors of San Salvador through his guitar and that's exactly what he did. 4. Red Hill Mining Town--the start of side 2 of the record....scorch the earth, set fire to the sky. Bono's vocals in the chorus, "I'm hanging on, I'm hanging on." Phenomenal. Once again unlike anything I had heard from U2. 5. Mother's of the Disappeared--such hauntingly sad subject matter about the atrocities of the Pinochet regime made to feel somehow, someway uplifting in a way only U2 can do it. When I would listen to the Joshua Tree from start to finish and end with Mothers of the Disappeared I would always feel like I had been on this amazing emotional journey ("it's a musical journey") and that the way I felt as I heard this song fade out was that there was no better song to end this journey. 6. One Tree Hill--Rainin', rainin' in your heart! Need I say more? That vocal is insane. I also love the quiet pause before "oh great ocean....". Then that quietness feeds right into the subdued I tro of Exit before it explodes in your face. Like a puzzle all of the songs on the Joshua Tree all work so well together and even the song sequencing couldn't be any better. Can't believe it's been 30 years!!!

I will never forget the album and concert that changed my life. Thanksgiving Day 1987 Pete Mavavich Assembly Center was the venue. It was taboo to leave the family on holidays or important events so I had to sneak out. The power of the performance was palpable, a true religious experience. I recall they ended the show with 40 as the crowd sang. The band was long gone but the crowd continued on. Finally as the crowd began to exit we reluctantly made our way out only to fine the audience on the ramps picked up the hymn and we continued "how long to sing this song". I am proud to say I will see the 30th anniversary concert with my son and another generation will continue to sing this song. God Bless U2

I bought my copy of the Joshua Tree chromium tape at Musicland in Alton, IL, and headed out on a road trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama, for Spring Break. We played it for hours and hours. Unfortunately, the trip home was Joshua Tree-less, as someone stored the cassette right beside the CB antenna magnet, thus erasing what was on the tape! A week later I was able to get another copy.

This homage to "The Joshua Tree" is mesmerizing! Thank you for sharing.

30 years ago...March 9, 1987, I was a senior in high school. Immediately after my last class ended I headed straight for my local mall to a music store called "Camelot Music". I went there solely to pick up the new U2 release on cassette on its first day of release. I had recently "broken" up with a girl and was starting to face the reality that high school graduation was looming large and I had no idea what I wanted to major in heading into college. Both of those things were weighing heavy on my mind and "The Joshua Tree" couldn't have come at a better time. Even though I had no idea what had inspired Bono to write such poignant lyrics, I could still make some of them local to me (which is the beauty of songwriting). Lyrics that were spot on after a break up like "our love turns to rust" (Where The Streets Have No Name), "love, has seen its better day" (Red Hill Mining Town) and "on a bed of nails she makes me wait" (With or Without You) to a lyric that seemed perfect facing an uncertain future beneath a seemingly lowering sky "and through the walls we hear the city groan" (Bullet the Blue Sky) to a lyric that provided immediate inspiration "we'll punch a hole right through the night" (In God's Country), this album became a great friend. 30 years later the events of that time seem irrelevant and almost laughable but the beauty of that album is just as strong as when I got back home on March 9, 1987 and retreated to my room, dropped the cassette in my Walkman and hit play. #JT30

I was 13 when the Joshua Tree came out, and though I remember hearing I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For and With or Without You on the radio, I missed the significance of the moment. When I was 18, I got a CD player for my birthday. By that time I had fallen in love with a boy that loved U2 and I too, came to love the band. The first CD I purchased was Rattle and Hum (K-Mart didn't have a very big music selection) and I bought the Joshua Tree shortly thereafter. I remember being at parties with friends and making them listen to Red Hill Mining town so that they could not just hear, but feel the emotion in Bono's plaintive wail of love being slowly stripped away. I saw U2 for the first time in Tampa during the Zoo TV tour my Freshman year of college with that boy I used to love. If I close my eyes and let go, I can still feel the raindrops on my face and hear Where The Streets Have No Name in my ears. And though relationships, places and people come and go, the Joshua Tree has been a constant source of strength, healing and understanding in my life. Through every breakup, every heartache and every joy; there is a song for every feeling and I truly can't imagine my life without the richness of its music. I will be in Dublin this summer for my 10th show, and even though I have never met Larry, Adam, Edge or Bono, they are family because of the weight their music and words have in my life. I cannot wait to hear these songs played on that stage that night. It will be a chance for my 13 year old self to catch up on what she missed 30 years ago.

Joshua Tree changed everything for me. It was a big bang theory that triggered a spark in my soul and then everything changed - my thoughts, my way of life, what honesty and truthfulness means when it comes to relations and just being a better human being. Joshua Tree takes me back to the days of my university when I was building dreams. As Bono mentioned 'Dreams sowed...', I was sowing my dreams - to find a better job, a better life partner, so something remarkable in life like U2, but still remain humble. I was 21 years old when I first experienced Joshua Tree. I am 45 now with kids grown up quite a much. I have Joshua Tree mug and its box showing 'U2', placed on my corporate desk. It is a lifeline that is like air that I breath. Every single time - talking over the conference calls, attending meetings, making crucial decisions and so much more. The line that sunk in my mind and heart for ever is 'I see seven towers, but I only see one way out. You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice...' And there is not a single time that I can't cry without weeping when I hear 'Running to stand still'. One wish I do have - meet U2 in person in this one life. I wanna hug Bono and convey my thanks for such an honest masterpiece called Joshua Tree. Bono, I have so much to say if I meet ever meet you. God bless U2!

The Joshua tree came out when I was 13. I have cloudy memories of hearing it on the radio and knowing it resonated, but I mostly missed its significance. When I was 18, I got a CD player for my birthday. I had fallen in love with a boy that loved U2, and naturally, the first CD I bought was U2. K-mart in Bellview, Florida had a limited selection so my only option was Rattle and Hum. Joshua Tree was purchased shortly after and I remember being at parties with friends putting in the CD and admonishing them to listen so that they could understand the greatness of songs like Red Hill Mining Town and not just hear, but feel, the plaintive wail of love being slowly stripped away. One of the defining moments of my life was seeing U2 in Tampa during the Zoo TV tour with that boy that had introduced me to U2 (We had long since broken up, but it was only appropriate to see them with him, as he introduced us...)And the Joshua Tree has been there for me, through every break-up, every heartache, every joy. There is a song for every feeling and I can't imagine my life without its music. I will be in Dublin this summer for my 10th show and even though I have never met Larry, Adam, Edge or Bono, they are family and I can't wait to hear this album played on that stage.

I remember buying it and listening to it in my parent's room on the cassette player / alarm clock with my big brother. I was 13 and he is 6 years older than me.... So music was a common ground for us then, and now. We go to every u2 concert together.

This album came out on my 18th birthday. To say the least, this was what I wanted as a present. It was perfect from start to finish. My friends and I spent "senior skip" day listening to it over and over. I have listened to it every year since and yes I am now 48 years old. U2- you must play Where the Streets Have No Name first on this tour. I have read interviews where you are thinking of saving it until the end. If you do this you completely miss the point. I saw several shows on the Joshua Tree tour and opening with that song is what set the night off into the stratosphere. Not opening this 30th anniversary tour with this song will not allow those that didn't see the original tour to experience this titillation. Life long fan

I couldn't get it until Augest 87 as I was in a young offenders institute. Thank God for medium wave radio. The tracks that were played on the radio gave me hope for the future. I didn't think The Unforgettable Fire could be touched.

October 13, 1987 at Three Rivers Stadium Pittsburgh PA I had bronchitis and a fever. I was so sick I slept through the first two acts. It was unseasonably cold but that didn't stop me for coming alive singing and dancing when U2 took the stage. The next day I had no voice but it was worth it. So looking forward to the upcoming tour

I was in Belfast the night the album was released at midnight and I got it signed by all 4 members, I was just 16, the album has been with me ever since; can't wait for the new tour

The Joshua Tree album wrote the story of my life, and that of my wife and family. "With or Without You" really struck a chord with us, as did "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", but the track that stills resonates today is "One Tree Hill". We decided to try looking for what we wanted in New Zealand and, the day that we arrived, we stood atop One Tree Hill itself looking out over Auckland thinking that we had at last found what we were looking for.

I was in college at the time. U2 was already an underground darling with legendary shows are Red Rocks and the US Festival. Back then the myth of rock and roll was alive and well. Smart rockers had a platform and U2 took advantage of that mantle and still uses it today. Anyways; The Joshua Tree combined the harder edge music that America likes along with smart lyrics that Americans could identify with and still do to this day. A timeless album.

30 years ago on 3/9/87 I was a senior in high school. Immediately after my last class ended I headed straight for my local mall to a music store called "Camelot Music". I went there solely to pick up the new U2 release on cassette on its first day of release. I had recently "broken" up with a girl and was starting to face the reality that high school graduation was looming large and I had no idea what I wanted to major in heading into college. Both of those things were weighing heavy on my mind and "The Joshua Tree" couldn't have come at a better time. Even though I had no idea what had inspired Bono to write such poignant lyrics, I could still make some of them local to me (which is the beauty of songwriting). Lyrics that were spot on after a break up like "our love turns to rust" (Where The Streets Have No Name), "love, has seen its better day" (Red Hill Mining Town) and "on a bed of nails she makes me wait" (With or Without You) to a lyric that seemed perfect facing an uncertain future beneath a seemingly lowering sky "and through the walls we hear the city groan" (Bullet the Blue Sky) to a lyric that provided immediate inspiration "we'll punch a hole right through the night" (In God's Country), this album became a great friend. 30 years later the events of that time seem irrelevant and almost laughable but the beauty of that album is just as strong as when I got back home on March 9, 1987 and retreated to my room, dropped the cassette in my Walkman and hit play. #JT30

I remember seeing the Joshua Tree tour at RFK stadium. I will never forget them opening with 'The Streets Have No Name' and the stadium going nuts! Also Bono slipped on stage in the rain that night and broke his arm!!! He kept singing though!!!