26) The Joshua Tree

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"America's the promised land to a lot of Irish people," U2 singer Bono told Rolling Stone. "I'm one in a long line of Irishmen who made the trip." On U2's fifth full album, the band immerses itself in the mythology of the United States, particularly the wide-open spaces and possibilities of the Western frontier, while guitarist the Edge exploits the poetic echo of digital delay, drowning his trademark arpeggios in rippling tremolo. While many of these songs are about spiritual quests -- "Where the Streets Have No Name," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" -- U2 fortify the solemnity with the outright joys of rock & roll, although one of the most moving songs is "Running to Stand Still," a stripped-down slide-guitar ballad about heroin addiction.

Total album sales: 10 million

Peak chart position: 1

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