10 Songs The Artists HATED Recording
5. Where the Streets Have No Name - U2
When it comes to defining moments in rock history, U2's the Joshua Tree is one of the albums that everyone seems to bring up. After years of building themselves up as a force of nature in the rock world, these Irish lads had finally come out with a bonafied classic that seemed both rooted in nostalgia and current all at the same time. The excitement starts from the very beginning with "Where the Streets Have No Name," but the actual execution almost sucked the soul out of the band.
No one can forget the Edge's pristine delay effects on the opening, but it took the band hours to finally dial in the construction of the song. Working with Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, the band had all of the barebones essentials of the songs, but no means to actually make the song come alive.
It ended up getting so meticulous that the band actually had the tempo, effects, and construction of the song written out on a blackboard like in a classroom. The tension was so bad that one of the producers threatened to erase the entire song in protest. Instead of taking it out on each other, everyone finally took a deep breath and let the music flow, leading to one of the greatest openings on any album. "Where the Streets Have No Name" might be timeless, but if U had buckled under the pressure, the world might have lost one of the band's greatest hits.