Basically like you said in your page intro, it's become so easy to hate U2 that the quality of their prime albums has become somewhat obscured. It probably doesn't help that certain entities (i.e., Rolling Stone) tend to way way overrate their albums. Besides obviously ridiculous moves like giving their last 2 albums 5 stars, it's not too uncommon to see Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby rated as all-time great albums.

So far, I basically agree with your takes. I'd give Joshua Tree a D rating without much hesitation and several others pretty high grades as well. They can be inconsistent, but there are plenty of times they deserve all the hype they've gotten ("New Year's Day," "Where the Streets Have No Name"). I imagine once their public persona starts to fade a bit, their 80s work will continue to hold up pretty well.