Seven ages of rock - a history of rock music over the past 50 years

U2 appear on cover of Time

27 April 1987

One month since the release of their fifth album 'The Joshua Tree', U2 find themselves at the top of the Billboard US album charts. Time magazine put them on the front cover and declared them 'Rock's Hottest Ticket.' It was the moment where U2 moved from being the "biggest underground act in the world" to finally making a connection with the American audience; and that meant unprecedented record sales.

Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno's production helped the album achieve a soaring ambience that lifted U2 above the other posturing artists in the charts. 'The Joshua Tree' saw U2 being much more ambitious and eclectic in their song writing. The moving "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" captured the prevailing backlash against consumerism, while the epic "Where The Streets Have No Name" evoked the American desert landscape as effectively as Anton Corbijn's sleeve photography.