My favourite U2 album is Achtung Baby, but The Joshua Tree would definitely make my top three. It's a masterpiece, as you say. And yes - great music is often a time machine, interwoven with when we first heard it (as you so vividly describe here). Leaving all that aside, anyone who can't at least appreciate the musical brilliance of the one-two-three punch of Where the Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, and With or Without You (my personal favourite) is either 1) a snob embracing the current horrid trend of U2 bashing, or 2) in need of urgent medical attention.

Also, Running to Stand Still. Nothing need be added to that statement.