20 Most IMPORTANT Classic Rock Albums Ever Made

When describing the sound of the 80's, it often comes down to the sound of the keyboards running amok. Even if you were the hardest hair metal band in existence, chances are you would find some type of squelchy keyboard making its way onto your song. That neon-colored sound does have its place in history, but the Joshua Tree is one of those rare 80's albums that sounds like nothing else.

In an attempt to reconnect with the heart of rock and roll, U2 came up with an album that felt both like a relic of the past and pointing towards the future at the same time. With every passing track, the band tears at the sound of rock music to mold it into something completely new, from the blown out atmosphere of "Bullet the Blue Sky" to the lush layered guitars that open "Where the Streets Have No Name."

These songs clearly have an edge to them, but tracks like "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" fees like an updated version of the gospel tunes from a bygone era. It can be a bit much to digest on first listen, but once you pick apart the layers of these tracks, you realize that U2 weren't just one of the biggest bands in rock. Their sound might have even had the capacity to reshape the music world as a whole.