The Joshua Tree

[grayhank]

Since music is talked about quite abit here I'd like to discuss one of my all time favorite albums. Most U2 fans would agree that The Joshua Tree is by far their best work and I have to agree wholeheartedly. I just picked up the Limited Edition Remastered Box Set edition of this classic album. It has a hefty price tag of $39.99 at places like Costco but I believe it to be worth every penny.

I stopped listening to the standard pressing that came out in 1987 because over the years it just seemed faded and flat by my listening standards. After listening to this remastered version it seems crisp and new again especially on my favorite tracks: "Bullet the Blue Sky" and "In God's Country".

This box set contains 3 disks consisting of : The original album, Single B-Sides and unreleased songs together on 1 disk and a DVD of U2 Live From Paris Concert. The DVD disk also includes a documentary and a couple of music videos.

Also included with the set is a hardbound 56-Page book of pics, liner notes and lyrics. There is also a set of 5 Photo Lithographs.

It's a very nice package and the remastering of this album has been long overdue. Good Stuff!

[Sideshow Spock]

Gonna have to pick that up. The Joshua Tree came out my senior yr of HS, and it blew me away. I still remember being on a bus/field trip to Albany NY for a civics class and listening to the album over and over on my walkman. I saw them live for the first time the next year, and it remains one of my favorite concert experiences.

[thunderbolt]

Saw that deluxe set at Spec's, but the 40 dollar price tag turned me off. I'm a pretty big U2 fan, but I'm not going to get sucked in by every money making gimmick that the label or whoever throws out there. Just like the greatest hits records and then a best of last year.

[txteach]

In my humble opinion, this is when U2 sold out. Everything before this album I love, everything after it sucks. Maybe it's that I miss the edgyness of songs like surrender and I threw a brick through a window. Now their music is too pop to me.

[grayhank]

I lost interest in them after Auchtung Baby was released. Do I think they sold out? Sure...but so what. I've never understood the idea of not liking someone just because they've become popular. If the music is good I'll listen to it. After watching the DVD of the Paris Concert I suddenly have renewed interest in them again and will probably investigate some of the later albums I passed on (Zooroopa, Pop and Atomic Bomb).

It was great watching the concert DVD, it was like running into an old friend that you haven't seen in years. I was encapsulated by the raw energy of the band and how the four members fuel the fire in each other. Bono's voice is strained at times but he comes through on just about every song. This concert was actually filmed in 1987 so it is comprised of songs from their first album to The Joshua Tree itself. When you see and hear them doing "Sunday Bloody Sunday" you know they OWN the song.

[txteach]

Greyhawk, true, they sold out, so what. The problem is their music wasn't edgy for me. I saw U2 as heavy in 1982. In 1989 they were just another pop band to me.

[joshvox]

I own this set as well, the album is great, and the paris concert is great. I had most of the B-sides on the second album, except for a few things that had never been released before, which are decent, but nothing to write home about. Just buy the re-mastered album if you don't want to put up the forty bucks, the tracks sound alot better than the originals, well worth it if you are a fan of the band. I'm not sure I would go as far as saying U2 "sold out" with this album, although I don't think they have ever been shy about expressing their desire to be well liked the world over. They saw a chance to be what was missing in the world of popular music at the time, they jumped on it and succeeded brilliantly. It’s great music, a great album, very well done, I don't think it's their best though--that distinction belongs to Achtung Baby in my opinion.

[English Paul]

I picked the very same box set up just before Christmas. I was blown away by it - especially the DVD. The sound and picture quality is fantastic and I also found it quite moving. The Paris concert was filmed on the 4th of July. I was at the gig before on the 1st of July at Leeds United Elland Road football stadium. I was about 15 and still at school. My parents got permission to take me out of school that wednesday afternoon to go see U2 - it was just the coolest thing ever. I went on my own as nobody else I knew at the time liked U2. That DVD brought back so many wonderfull memories.

[EllaJames]

That seems like something I might have to get. I have evrything by U2 on vinyl. I love Joshua Tree, but I actually think one of my favourite albums is Under a Blood Red Sky: Live.

[Blue Meanie]

Though not their best album, ("War" in my opinion is their best album), Joshua Tree is in the top 3 of their catalog. Deserved every award that was bestowed upon U2 that year. I was in my senior year in high school and wrote a preview of the record for my school newspaper. The local radio station WBAB actually had a show, when they still played new music, that would preview albums weeks before they came out and they played about half the album...and I was sold on the record. The tracks to me that stick out on this LP, besides the hits, was "Bullet the Blue Sky", "In God's Country". and "Running To Stand Still". The B-sides to the singles that weren't available on the LP were just as good if not better than the songs that were on the LP. "Silver and Gold", "Walk To The Water (Luminous Times)" , "The Sweetest Thing" (Which they destroyed when they re-issued it on the Best Of CD). On that note, which version do they have on this set???

Had the pleasure of seeing them kick off the US Tour at Nassau Coliseum (2 of the 1st three nights) that year...and it was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. As for them selling out...they didn't really sell out...they just became popular. The thing with U2 is that every LP up to about Achtung Baby was a step forward...Joshua Tree was just the one in that run that just EXPLODED!!

This should be a hint to Island Records (Or whatever label they are on now) to go back and re-master the albums. Funny thing was that I was thinking of bouncing my vinyl of Joshua Tree and the singles down to CD when this box set came out about a month or 2 ago.

[grayhank]

The Sweetest Thing is the original B-Side single version. I'm hoping "The Unforgettable Fire" gets the remastered treatment. The title track is actually my favorite of all U2 songs. It's just one of those songs that I can play over and over, it's pure passion.