Originally , the third single from The Joshua Tree was meant to be the song " Red Hill Mining Town " , but " Where the Streets Have No Name " was released instead , in August 1987 . The single was released on 7 @-@ inch , 12 @-@ inch , cassette and CD single formats . Three B @-@ sides were featured on the single , including " Race Against Time " , " Silver and Gold " , and " Sweetest Thing " , except for the 7 @-@ inch release , which only featured the latter two tracks . The 12 @-@ inch single featured " Race Against Time " on side A of the record ( despite being a " B @-@ side " ) , and the cassette single featured all four tracks on both sides of the tape . Although not as successful as the album 's first two singles , the song did chart well . In the U.S. , the song peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 11 on the Album Rock Tracks charts . The song reached number four on the UK Singles Chart , and it topped the Irish Singles Chart .