U2 -Rattle and Hum (2LP/Gat)
U2 – Rattle and Hum captures U2 at the end of the extraordinary period that followed The Joshua Tree, combining new studio recordings with live performances from their hugely successful American tour. Released in 1988, it finds the band exploring the roots of American music and paying tribute to many of the artists who had influenced them.
The album includes some of U2's finest songs, with "Desire" delivering a raw, Bo Diddley-inspired blast of rock and roll, while "Angel of Harlem" celebrates American soul and was recorded at the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis. "All I Want Is You" provides one of the album's most beautiful moments, gradually building from a restrained love song into a sweeping orchestral finale. "When Love Comes to Town" features a memorable collaboration with blues legend B.B. King.
Live recordings add another dimension, including powerful performances of "Pride (In the Name of Love)", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Bullet the Blue Sky". Rather than functioning as a conventional studio album or straightforward live record, Rattle and Hum deliberately mixes the two, creating a sprawling document of a band discovering and celebrating the music that helped shape them.
Rattle and Hum was enormously ambitious and remains one of the most fascinating releases in U2's catalogue. Part studio album, part live album and part musical road trip, it captures the band at their late-'80s peak while beginning to search for the new direction that would eventually lead to Achtung Baby.