Graham, Bill: The Joshua Tree. In: Hot Press; 12. März 1987. [2]
"With or Without You" has perhaps his most controlled vocal, building from an almost conversational first verse over a bare rhythm section to a soul-baring confession. "And you give yourself away," he sings – a line which may be the key to the U2 ethos, to the heart of a band who have consistently preached their own brand of self-surrender.
austinchronicle.com
Beets, Greg: Music-Review: U2 – The Joshua Tree. In: Austin Chronicle; 30. März 2001. [3]
Then came "With or Without You," the strategic lead-off single whose melodic bassline and quasi-romantic delivery covered up the lyrics' tortured indecision almost as well as the Police's "Every Breath You Take" whitewashes stalking. […] even if "With or Without You" trod too deeply into Simple Minds territory, the band's ability to convey emotion via consummate soundscaping shone on the stark addiction tale, "Running to Stand Still" and the sorrowful, album-closing elegy, "Mothers of the Disappeared."
Easlea, Daryl: U2 – The Joshua Tree – Album Review. BBC, 7. Dezember 2007. [1]
The third track (and lead single), “With Or Without You”, is the unique selling point of the album; it brings together the threads of the album’s openers “Where The Streets Have No Name”, and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and demonstrates quite how capable as a group they had become. When the 'and you give yourself away' section explodes, it was like a metaphor for what was about to happen to their career.
Josh Tyrangiel: All-TIME 100 Albums: The Joshua Tree. In: Time Magazine. 25. Januar 2010, abgerufen am 15. Oktober 2020. “With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” could be played under a revival tent, while you can road trip in the open space between the Edge’s guitar notes. Bono sings at or near the top of his range through out, […]
[…] "With or Without You," […] at that moment it was something no one had heard of before, although it’s since become a kind of format or style, and even for us we now accept it as kind of established. But when we first released it, it was like, „Will anyone play this?“
But for every predictably roaring anthem there’s a spare, inventively arranged tune, such as “With or Without You,” a rock & roll bolero that builds from a soothing beginning to a resounding climax.
