Rattle and Hum is the title of both U2's sixth album and the rockumentary about the US leg of the Joshua Tree tour. Overwhelmed by the great success of their master album The Joshua Tree, U2 wants to underline their dignity as a rock band with Rattle and Hum. In an effort to link their own musical roots to that of American rock, they embrace blues rock and country music with varying degrees of
… success. While Rattle and Hum is partly a tribute to the great musical legends of the 1960s (The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix), the ambitious double album quickly becomes controversial in the press. The rather directionless sequence of songs is also criticized, given the mishmash of live tracks from the tour, studio recordings of new material, covers and collaborations with other musicians (BB King). Anthony Decurtis pointedly remarks in Rolling Stone that Rattle and Hum is the sound of 'four men who still haven't found what they're looking for'. In the years that follow it will appear that they will soon find it (again). (JWvR)more