No Line on the Horizon was officially released today, and it’s a solid record for the most part. But it’s not on the list. The Joshua Tree, however, is.
Maybe it’s not Irish music. It's not even Celtic rock. Most likely, it’s not their most “Irish” record. In fact, it’s named after a park in Southern California, its songs are rooted in blues and gospel traditions, and Bono’s lyrics draw heavy inspiration from the New World, both North and South. Even “In God’s Country,” which Bono set out to write about Ireland, ended up being about the U.S.
No matter. It’s one of the best rock records by one of the best rock bands of the past and present centuries, and though two of the bandmates were born across the Irish Sea, U2 cannot be thought of without reference to the land where all four were raised, so they deserve to be on this list.
Truthfully, it's not even my favorite U2 album, but it charges out of the gate with crowd-pleasers like “Where the Streets Have No Name” * and “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and picks up emotion as it goes. It's a classic because the songs are at once new and familiar, and its themes are epic. It’s awesome. So if you don’t own it, you probably should, and this is a pretty good time of year to buy it.
Download:
U2 – “Bullet the Blue Sky” (Mediafire link)
*I’m told “Where the Streets Have No Name” is the unofficial theme song of the Baltimore Ravens. Let’s pretend we don’t know that.
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