Rattle and Hum - Reception

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
The New York Times	(unfavourable)
Robert Christgau	(B+)
Rolling Stone
Sputnikmusic

After the success of The Joshua Tree, the album received a generally mixed reception. Writing in Rolling Stone, Anthony DeCurtis said, "The album ably demonstrates U2's force but devotes too little attention to the band's vision." The album received an 8/10 marking in the NME review from Stuart Baillie, but was controversial as Mark Sinker originally gave it a much poorer review, which was pulled in favour of Baillie's more positive one. Sinker left NME shortly after.

Roger Ebert slammed the film, saying that the concert footage was poorly lit and monotonous, with little use made of the crowds. However, review partner Gene Siskel was more sympathetic, praising the music and finding the footage of the Harlem gospel choir particularly moving.

"Rattle and Hum was conceived as a scrapbook, a memento of that time spent in America on the Joshua Tree tour. It changed when the movie, which was initially conceived of as a low-budget film, suddenly became a big Hollywood affair. That put a different emphasis on the album, which suffered from the huge promotion and publicity, and people reacted against it." —The Edge

U2's 1987 album The Joshua Tree brought the band critical acclaim, great commercial success, and high exposure, but it was the beginning of a backlash against them. They were accused of being grandiose, over-earnest, and self-righteous. The criticism increased the following year with their continued exploration of American music on Rattle and Hum motion picture and companion album. The film's director Phil Joanou called the picture "pretentious", while critics called the record "misguided and bombastic". Many of them interpreted the band's intended homage to American music legends as an attempt to place themselves as peers with rock's all-time great artists.

Despite the criticism, the album was a strong seller, continuing U2's burgeoning commercial success. It hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, remaining at the top spot for 6 weeks, and reached No. 1 in the UK and Australian charts. In the UK, it sold 360,000 copies in its first week, making it the fastest-selling album to that date (and held the record until the release of Oasis's Be Here Now in 1997). However, the album's sales were a far cry from the massive sales of The Joshua Tree.

In 1989 while at a press tour in Sydney, Australia (where the band was touring with B.B. King and working on demos for the follow-up album Achtung Baby), Bono stated "making movies: that's the nonsense of rock & roll," which Rolling Stone magazine claimed was almost an apology for the film. "Playing shows is the reason we're here" he finished.

The film currently ranks 67% on the critical review collecting website Rotten Tomatoes, meaning that 67% of critics gave the film a positive review.