With it being the month of St. Patrick’s Day, I thought that I might review some albums from some great Irish bands. In this article I will be reviewing U2’s The Joshua Tree, the Cranberries’ No Need To Argue, and Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak.

U2’s The Joshua Tree is an album that was released in 1987 that has sold over 25 million copies worldwide. This is one of the bestselling and most popular albums of U2’s discography. It really is no wonder this album has been so successful with such great tracks including “Where The Streets Have No Name,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and “Without or You” (and that is just to name a few off this album). U2 has become a great influence for other bands including Coldplay, Kings of Leon, and Arcade Fire. U2 is one of those bands that are quite recognizable through their sound with Bono’s iconic voice and The Edge’s incredible guitar playing; it really makes the band and this album stand out and attract listeners.

Next, we have the Cranberries’ No Need To Argue, which was released in 1994, the second album released by the group. As The Joshua Tree is to U2, No Need To Argue is the one of the most popular albums, if not the most popular, of the Cranberries’ discography. It is an album most well-known for songs including “Zombie” and “Ode To My Family.” The Cranberries, similar to U2, have a distinct sound, primarily by means of the vocals of the late Dolores O’Riordan. The Cranberries were already successful with their preceding album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? which has the other popular tracks “Linger” and “Dreams,” but with Argue having the very successful track “Zombie”, the group shot to true stardom.

Lastly, but certainly not least, we have Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak. Released in 1976, this album would become a grand success for Thin Lizzy by becoming a commercial breakthrough in the United States. Thin Lizzy is most well-known for their song “The Boys Are Back In Town,” which is on Jailbreak, along with other great songs including the title track “Jailbreak” and “Cowboy Song,” a personal favorite of mine. Thin Lizzy seems to get the short end of the stick when it comes to the rock genre in the 1970’s despite their influence on the genre. This album is very much worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of classic rock or if you’re interested in getting into the genre.