Why Did Bono and the Edge Pivot After Joshua Tree?

The Edge says the pivot after the Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum happened because they were being robbed of aspects of who they were. The work did not reflect them, and neither did people's understanding and perception of them.

They can get very heavy and very deep. When they are together working they have a lot of fun, laugh a lot at each other and at themselves, and fail a lot. The Edge says they are comfortable with failing, because you do not get somewhere great unless you are prepared to fail.

He feels a little bit of a responsibility to address what they see going wrong with the world, but they cannot do it incessantly. On the album they touch the subject lightly and skip names, because they do not want finger wagging. They want to draw attention to an antidote, something better. Tell somebody they should not do something, he says, and it is going to be a struggle.