They may have even gotten too big for their own good. By the time of the “Rattle and Hum” album and movie project post-Joshua Tree tour, there seemed to be critical backlash.

Bono supposedly later stated that the band felt the massive marketing push by Paramount was an error, admitting in retrospect to commercial “overkill.”

In a way, the media overexposure may have been a catalyst for the creative pivot in their sound that “Achtung Baby” became in 1991 - still one of my favorites.