They just knew they wanted to do something different. They didn't have any idea what they wanted to do. They went to the Hansa Studios which is where Bowie recorded those records with Brian Eno.

Bowie really got into a fascinating part of his career at that point.

Because that's where David Bowie went with Brian Eno towards the end of the '70s to make the trilogy of records that included records like Heroes. So it wasn't a huge coincidence that the ended up in Berlin in 1990 to start to make the record that became Achtung Baby. So I think working with Brian Eno, who worked with Bowie a lot in the '70s. They reflected on bands like Joy Division, but they also reflected on someone like David Bowie. They really wanted to be an important band. That was the thing that really drove them. The European PhaseĪchtung Baby started their European phase. What they did next was really fascinating. This was the biggest break they'd taken in that first ten years of their career. He said 'We're not gonna be around for the next few years, we're gonna take a break and dream it all up again' – words to that effect. On that Rattle & Hum tour, Bono said a really interesting thing on stage. People were still interested in what they were doing, but critics were going 'you're kind of getting a little retro here. They were almost going backwards in a way. They weren't expanding their sound like they did with The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree. They were really fascinated with America and that continued on with Rattle & Hum at the end of the '80s.Īt this stage of U2's career, they started to draw a bit of criticism. The Joshua Tree front cover was taken in the deserts in California and they were writing songs at that stage of their career about Martin Luther King. They were really getting into a lot of the iconography of America. This second part of the trilogy for U2 was that they were exploring the American influence that was really fascinating them. Then came The Joshua Tree, which was the album that really put them on the map in the States. They teamed up with Brian Eno but also with Daniel Lanois, who was really important at sculpting the sound of U2 over those next few records. For instance, he came in and completely changed the way Talking Heads sounded after their initial records. Brian Eno was a master of doing that with other bands. The band really wanted to reshape what they were doing. Their response back to Brian Eno was 'We don't particularly like who we are either, that's why we want you to work with us'. He said he didn't particularly like what they did and that he wasn't particularly interested in working with them. It's really funny to think that Brian Eno wasn't interested at all. U2's The Joshua Tree tour is a feat of grand ambition - but can it silence the haters?

U2 the joshua tree cover lake mead