U2’s 1987 album The Joshua Tree broke records for Dire Straits, The Smiths and Michael Jackson to be named Best Album of the 1980s in a new BBC poll
Listeners to BBC Radio 2’s Sounds of the 80s voted for the album, which won Best Album at the Grammy Awards in 1988, the best record of the decade in a poll to mark the National Album Day Today
The Joshua Tree made the Dublin number one of the biggest bands in the world with the help of hits such as With or Without You and Where The Streets Have No Name, and I Still Havn’t Found What I ‘Search
In what was a very masculine and very white top 20, Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms came in second, followed by the eponymous debut of The Stone Roses in 1989
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The only woman who made the top 20 is Kate Bush for her album Hounds of Love, which takes the 11th position
U2 took over The Joshua Tree on the road from 2017 to 2019 to mark their 30th anniversary and the tour included a show at Croke Park in 2017
The group performed 66 shows on two stages of the tour in front of 3,279,712 people, which cost $ 390 at the box office8 million
Speaking about the results of the new poll, the guitarist of The Edge said he believes the world is back in a similar political situation in the late eighties
“It feels like we’re out there in a way Politics are just as polarized as ever,” he said “We had the privilege of playing The Joshua Tree live all over the world over the last few years and it’s almost like the album has come full circle
« We’re thrilled that people continue to connect with these songs, night after night, year after year »
In the UK, The Joshua Tree was the ninth best-selling album of the 1980s and was overtaken by artists like Bad by Michael Jackson and No Jacket Required by Phil Collins
National Album Day will have its own ’80s theme, with record stores filled with limited editions of classics like ZZ Top’s Eliminator, Paul Simon’s Graceland, Cyndi Lauper She’s So Unusual, Prefab Sprout’s Steve McQueen and the debut eponymous Duran Duran album
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U2, The Joshua Tree, Grammy Award for Album of the Year, The Edge, Michael Jackson, Bono
World News – UK – U2’s Joshua Tree named best 1980s album in poll
