Desperation and dedication led an innovative Irish band from the back streets of Dublin to international notoriety.

U2 came from a country that was rocked by political and social turmoil. This was an issue that each of the members became immersed in, so the group's earlier music possesses a certain urgency to react to the anarchy but at the same time find a way out of the madness through stardom.

The early '80s was a time when being "too political" could be damaging to one's career, particularly a band balancing on the very edge of pop as U2 was. However, the group kept doing what they knew to be something of substance and meaning. From 1980 to 1984, the group released four albums, followed by massive tours that ended up as live albums in the end. 1984 marked a major turning point in the music of U2. That's when producer Brian Eno came into the picture.

After a hiatus from the recording studio brought on by the group's touring schedule, U2 met with Eno and produced what many critics have called both U2's finest album to date and also its worst album to date in terms of band credibility. "The Joshua Tree" marks the transition for a band that had been together for nearly a decade by the time it was released in 1987.

The album's first four tracks, "Where The Streets Have No Name," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," "With Or Without You" and "Bullet The Blue Sky" are some of the more memorable songs off of the album. As a whole the album's subject matter has taken a 180-degree turn and become a self-reflective piece, demonstrating singer/songwriter Bono's poetic mastery as a lyricist.

This, combined with Brian Eno's highly sensitive ear for good sound and instrumentation, has produced an album that is not only the band's musical masterpiece but has set the standard by which other such pop bands to follow were measured. "The Joshua Tree" is simply put an all-around well-produced and written piece of music. It is the point in U2's career when it becomes clear that the band had reached a point where they succeeded at almost everything they attempted.

In the late '90s, Bono became an increasingly recognized advocate for the fight against world hunger and has pushed for aid to developing third-world nations. Bono has invested his own money to helping the cause, and is performing what some might call a selfless act with no regard for fame or fortune. He already has these things.

It is his involvement with hunger relief and humanitarian missions to Africa and Asia that has placed him on a list of candidates in line for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. Bono was on last year's list as well but was beat out by Jimmy Carter. Perhaps this year will be different.