Collaboration with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois gave the band a more lyrical and open sound, evident on The Unforgettable Fire (1984) and The Joshua Tree (1987), by wich they became superstars, and Rattleand Hum (1988). A third stage,inspired by industrial and contemporary sounds in popularmusic in was introduced with Achtung Baby (1991), followed by Zooropa (1993) and POP (1997). These records were also followed by spectacular stage shows. Their latest recording, All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000), indicates a kind of "returning to the roots".

I became interested in U2 when writing my master thesis uin theology. In this thesis I attempted at an theological analysis on their music, both finding a group that extensively quoted from the bible and other texts from christian tradition, but also added a contemporary angle to such traditions.