4 U2 on stage Chapter BEFORE READING 1 The story so far. See how much you can remember of the previous chapter filling in the blanks using the appropriate words given below in scrambled order. follow cover tour reunification aid authorities drumming desert issues breakdown gradually poor film out dream THE JOSHUA TREE dates back to 1987. It sold more than 16 million copies. U2 had just been to the USA to take part in the Conspiracy of Hope tour in (1) ........................................... of Amnesty International, when they came back to Dublin to record the new album. The album title came from a small town in California s Death Valley, while on the (2) ................................................ is a photo taken in the Californian desert.The (3) ................................................................. in general and the Death Valley in particular represent the feeling of loss coming from the death of a dear friend of theirs. Many of the album s songs reveal U2 s commitment to social and political (4) ....................................................., such as the 1984-85 miners strike in Britain, and the sufferings of Argentinian mothers whose children had been taken away in the night by the (5) .............................................................. never to be seen again.THE JOSHUA TREE was followed by RATTLE AND HUM which is both an album and a (6) ........................................................ As an album, it had been intended as a collection of impressions of America, and was deliberately sequenced to (7) .............................................. the soundtrack of the film. The movie was conceived as a documentary of U2 s THE JOSHUA TREE (8) .............................................. of America, and a celebration of the American rock n roll (9) .............................................., taking in some of their heroes, such as Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. Although interest in the film was high in the first weeks after the release, it was soon (10) .............................................. of most cinemas and received unfavourable criticism. Having received a (11) .............................................. reception from many music critics, the band decided to stay out of the music scene for a while in order to find new ideas. The result was ACHTUNG BABY, released in 1991 and recorded just after the (12) .............................................. of the two Germanys. Full of the anguish of broken relationships, perhaps a reflection of The Edge s recent marital (13) .............................................., the album pointed in a new musical direction. Dominated by Larry s heavy and prominent (14) .............................................., giving a more industrial sound, the songs (15) ................................................. evolved into the mainstay of the Zoo TV set which was to go round the world over the next couple of years. 54