The "Joshua Tree" Side 2 Poll

I love these tracks. Can't really decide but i'm leaning towards One Tree Hill or In God's Country or Red Hill Mining Town. Possibly Trip Through Your Wires. Fuck. So good. I'd rather hear these than the more famous tracks on the A side.

Love "Red Hill Mining Town". There's a couple more good ones (In God's Country), but they kind sound dated now (Exit, MotD).

Exit sounds dated how? That song still melts my face off.

voted "Mothers of the Disappeared" for the vocoded drums

Also, I disagree with this entire premise that Side 2 is somehow inferior to Side 1.

Would vote for "One Tree Hill" -- great U2-Eno groove -- until Bono's yelling.

One Tree Hill vs Red Hill Mining Town but it's all grebt except Exit

Love "Exit" and "Mothers." Has U2 ever done anything else as, well, intense as "Exit?" Also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuFMoWV1cns&feature=fvw

has Bono ever worn anything as intense as those clothes?

"One Three Hill" for me, just ahead of "Red Hill Mining Town".

x-post Yeah, that's got to be one of those rare "oh my God I really do look like an idiot" moments for Bono.

Red Hill Mining Town

in gods country

x-post Yeah, that's got to be one of those rare "oh my God I really do look like an idiot" moments for Bono.

"rare"

Rare bit of self-awareness for Bono, that is.

The intro of "In God's Country" is still pretty great.

All these songs are good, went for "One Tree", always loved that guitar tone.

"Mothers," easy.

"One Tree Hill" yelping and all. Fave song from this album.

i think these are mostly pretty boring songs, but "exit" is kind of a jam.

I only remember "Trip Through Your Wires".

I can't believe I'm voting in a U2 poll! Basically, I hate them. But this side happens to have the one song of theirs that I love: "In God's Country" (used well in Three Kings).

From Wikipedia:

The order of the songs in the track listing was devised by singer Kirsty MacColl. MacColl, wife of producer Steve Lillywhite, was brought into the studio one day as the album was being mixed, and was asked to come up with an order for the songs on the album, beginning with "Where the Streets Have No Name" and ending with "Mothers of the Disappeared". She listened to the songs and created a track listing simply by putting the songs in order of her favourites. The band felt that her ordering of the songs, despite being a listing of her favorites, was an excellent sequence for the album

I do quite like One Tree Hill, although it took the blatant rewrite that is Gideon by My Morning Jacket for me to realise it.

I only remember "Trip Through Your Wires".
^this

"Red Hill Mining Town", like the last time we did this. Side 2 kills Side 1.

I can't believe I'm voting in a U2 poll! Basically, I hate them. But this side happens to have the one song of theirs that I love: "In God's Country"

My feelings exactly. Apart from the voting bit, suckers.

I disagree with this entire premise that Side 2 is somehow inferior to Side 1.

OTM

no, that premise is pretty much correct

what is funny to me is that when this album was the go-to album people played at parties (lol all my friends were play-a-whole-side-of-an-album-at-the-party types back then), I thought, fuck, I am oppressed by this album I hate so fuckin' much, but viewing this poll I see that I was only oppressed by side 1 - I am blissfully unaware of the evils of side 2

regardless of what you think of the joshua tree -- has there ever been a more frontloaded "classic" album? Like J0hn says, for most people, that first side *is* the album ...

oh oops, geir noted that in the first post! never mind.

kind of overused the 'hill' thing on this side didn't they

what is funny to me is that when this album was the go-to album people played at parties (lol all my friends were play-a-whole-side-of-an-album-at-the-party types back then), I thought, fuck, I am oppressed by this album I hate so fuckin' much, but viewing this poll I see that I was only oppressed by side 1 - I am blissfully unaware of the evils of side 2

That's because almost every song on side 2 is criminally boring, especially when played in sequence (I only noticed "Trip Through Your Wires" when a MN radio station started playing it as their token U2 cut because the station manager was bored with the singles).

For me, I see side 2 as the one that can actually be discovered and rediscovered and have some freshness to it.

I refuse to see it as the better side - just the fact that the first side has "With Or Without You", "Running To Stand Still" and "Where The Streets Have No Name" on it... - but there are still some nice songs on side 2 as well.

"in god's country" without a second-thought... the "solo" or whatever is so evocative for me... sounds dumb but it really reminds me of driving through the joshua tree-specked desert to san diego with my parents at dusk; it one of the 5 or 6 cassettes they had in the car..

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.