The Joshua Tree (studio album)
by U2
Best album of 1987 (
U2 bestography
The Joshua Tree is ranked as the best album by U2.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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The Joshua Tree track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
11
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
The Joshua Tree rankings
Latest 20 charts that this album appears in:
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The Joshua Tree collection
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The Joshua Tree ratings
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 2,455 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
85/100  | 10 hours ago | Trooper44 | | 80/100 |
85/100 | 5 days ago | NYAndreas | | 55/100 |
75/100 | 11/11/2025 15:54 | Exist-en-ciel | | 67/100 |
85/100 | 11/08/2025 02:57 | MachineGunPhilly | | 94/100 |
90/100 | 10/13/2025 08:26 | davidhuret | | 76/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 82.7/100, a mean average of 81.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 82.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.9.
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The Joshua Tree favourites
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The Joshua Tree comments
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Album of the year at the Grammys in 1988
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Opens with three absolute all-time bangers -- and follows with a fourth often-underplayed gem.
This has one of the greatest beginnings of all time to any record with 3 absolute classics in a row that start off the release in style. The height they reach at the start isn't reached again throughout the rest of the release but none of the remaining songs are poor and there are quite a few that fly under the radar a little as well. One example of this for me is Trip Through Your Wires which seems to get stuck in my head every time I listen to this album. The chorus on this song just stands out and I think Bono gives a brilliant vocal performance on here as well. Bono is also extremely consistent throughout the whole record with this being his strongest display in my opinion. The instrumentation is probably at its best as well or is at least at its most infectious with some of the guitar work being of a significant quality and it is also extremely memorable. The Edge is fantastic throughout and the partnership he has with Bono is something truly special with them making this an exceptionally cohesive listen. Despite this, I do find the ending to drag out a bit especially the final two tracks which feel like they could be cut as they are pretty average. Overall, this is the groups best work as it has their greatest songs as well as their best performances making it an essential part of musical history.
The best first three songs of an album ever.
The rest of the album is pretty mediocre.
Well done, but frontloaded and quite boring for me, I prefer their earlier stuff. First four tracks are amazing but then it becomes more and more dull.
Good album
My favourite U2 Album. Side one is as good as it gets and side 2 isn’t too bad either. This Album took U2 to another level and they were never to match it again. Favourite songs Where The Streets Have No Name, Bullet The Blue Sky and Red Hill Mining Town.
There is a reason this album and the songs on it blew up. It is much much more than the first few tracks, this track shows a band at the absolute peak of their powers.
It was the record that turned U2 into the global behemoth that they still are to this day, and it's without question one of the most iconic and original sounding records of the 1980s
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