U2 - Joshua Tree (Remastered / Expanded) (Deluxe Edition) (2CD)
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Music CD Cover
Artist: U2Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Deluxe Edition, Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2007-11-20
Music Label: Island
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Where The Streets Have No Name
- I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
- With Or Without You
- Bullet The Blue Sky
- Running To Stand Still
- Red Hill Mining Town
- In God's Country
- Trip Through Your Wires
- One Tree Hill
- Exit
- Mothers Of The Disappeared
- Luminous Times (Hold On To Love)
- Walk To The Water
- Spanish Eyes
- Deep In The Heart
- Silver And Gold
- Sweetest Thing
- Race Against Time
- Where The Streets Have No Name (Single Edit)
- Silver And Gold (Sun City)
- Beautiful Ghost/Introduction To Songs Of Experience
- Wave Of Sorrow (Birdland)
- Desert Of Our Love
- Rise Up
- Drunk Chicken/America
Free Music Notes for Joshua Tree (Remastered / Expanded) (Deluxe Edition) (2CD)
Free Music Review: 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Well Worth Getting - Especially For The B-sides!
Hit: 5 Stars
In his liner notes, The Edge wrote that the B-sides, finished a few months after the Joshua Tree was completed, "(are) without a doubt the finest U2 work ever not to be included on an album." I was quite gratified to read this as I've felt this way ever since I collected them on vinyl as a teen in the 80s. These tracks alone make the 20th Anniversary JOSHUA TREE album well worth getting. But the whole package, like all of the U2 deluxe editions released so far, is fantastic. It's a wonderful, well-constructed booklet in a sturdy sheath that contains beautiful photographs, excellent liner notes and the lyrics to each song on the original album plus the lyrics to "Wave of Sorrow (Birdland)."
I have to admit that the remaster sounds less than perfect to me - I'm no audiophile but it sounds like it has a bit too much sonic compression - it's very flat sounding. However, The Edge himself was in control of the job. Since he was involved, I trust it came out the way U2 wanted it to. There's something about the sound that doesn't seem quite right to me, but it still sounds acceptable enough and I expect that a good sound system and equalizer could make it sound perfect for the average listener. Still, I am disappointed in the way CDs are remastered these days. I don't see why they can't make a seperate master for downloads and a decent one with dynamic range for CDs.
I'm sure everyone reading this already knows that THE JOSHUA TREE is often considered to be one of the best records of all time and a strong candidate for U2's best album ever, so this review will focus on the bonus disk. The first seven tracks were originally released as B-sides in the 80s and the last five tracks are unreleased cuts taken from THE JOSHUA TREE sessions. Coincidentally, this review was posted on the 24th anniversary of the album's original release date!
Breakdown:
"Luminous Times (Hold On To Love)" - U2 is known for being an incredibly soulful rock band. Bono strives to "reveal rather than conceal" as he once put it, and this song ranks among their most heartfelt and emotive. The drums are powerful, lurching, and the keyboards, guitars and vocals evoke fiery passion. *****+
"Walk To The Water" - is one of U2's most unusual recordings and a top-three personal favorite of mine. Its sound is strange - kinda murky, kinda trippy. Adam contributes a meandering bass line while Larry pounds out a quasi-trip-hop beat (before trip-hop even existed!). The guitar parts are clean and meticulously picked, at turns contemplative and soaring. Bono's vocals alternate between melodic spoken words and passionate pleading. *****+
"Spanish Eyes" - a strident rocker, very cool but not really one of their best written or most compelling songs, although all the band members turn in solid performances. All the classic U2 elements are in place and Edge's ringing guitar sounds great. Bono's vocals are a little out of control, but he sounds pretty cool regardless. ***3/4
"Deep In The Heart" - This is a mysterious sounding track, similar in mood to "Walk To The Water." It's loaded with echo, very spacey and atmospheric. The rhythm is solid, yet it has this sort of open-ended quality. Another favorite. *****+
"Silver And Gold" - one of U2's most hard rockin, straight-up rock n' roll tracks ever! It's much better than the original version created for the SUN CITY album (see below). Edge's staggered, heavily reverbed guitars are so cutting. *****+
"Sweetest Thing" - really is a sweet song, a sweet love song. It gently rocks and swings along to a simple repeating keyboard riff. Bono wrote this song for his wife as an apology for having to work in the studio on her birthday. There's a re-recorded version out there, adorned with prettier instrumentaton and background vocals, but this is the original. ****
"Race Against Time" - is a driving, vaguely Middle Eastern-sounding track, way off the beaten path. It reminds me of Pink Floyd's "On The Run" from THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON with its scattered feel and runaway train pace. Adam Clayton is a good melodic bass player although he's hardly a virtuoso, so I've always suspected his bass part was speeded up for this track. It's mostly instrumental although Bono adds some chanting and sings the words in the title. ****
"Where The Streets Have No Name (Single Edit)" - The opening track on THE JOSHUA TREE, this is without a doubt one of U2's greatest songs - so great in fact that I imagine most people have little use for this truncated version. ****1/2
"Silver And Gold (Sun City)" - first appeared on the 1985 SUN CITY album which was created by several artists as a protest against apartheid in South Africa. "Silver and Gold" was written by Bono during those sessions and features additional guitar by Keith Richards and Ron Wood of The Rolling Stones. This is supposedly Bono's first attempt to write a blues song. It was recorded right after it was written, and to be honest, it shows. Bono hasn't yet found the groove of the song and the Stones' guitars, while cool, just sound kinda tacked on. The U2 rock version is far superior. **3/4
"Beautiful Ghost/ Introduction To Songs Of Experience" - a failed experiment in which the band tries to put some poetry by William Blake (18th century poet and artist) to music. It's a valiant attempt, with subtle and moody atmospherics created with a few elongated Eno-esque tones. Bono picks out a melody for the words that seems fitting, but his vocals sound rather awkward and somehow just don't flow very well. **1/2
"Wave Of Sorrow (Birdland)" - is a compelling song with a classic U2 keyboard sound. It was completed 20 years after the music was first laid down after Bono contributed new vocals and lyrics. ****1/4
"Desert Of Our Love" - a great song with a very cool, kinda funky beat (or U2's approximation of funk at least!) - great drums and piano chords and an acrobatic vocal from Bono. Although it was well recorded, it definitely sounds like a demo - but a very enjoyable one! ****1/2
"Rise Up" - has a jaunty, slightly country feel, very optimistic with touches of banjo here and there. The spirit is willing, but the song itself is less than compelling. ***
"Drunk Chicken/ America" - another strange experiment - this time Bono recites a segment from Allen Ginsberg's beat poem "America." The track is only a minute and a half long. It has a strange sort of mechanical sound. Larry's drums are arty and very cool sounding. On the first few listens, Bono's vocal sounded really awkward to me, but they sound kinda cool now that I've gotten used to them. I do find the piece kind of intriguing. It's interesting, but ultimately just a footnote in U2's huge canon of incredible songs. ***1/4
Joshua Tree (Remastered / Expanded) (Deluxe Edition) (2CD) Poster
The deluxe package comprises The Joshua Tree CD, and a Bonus Audio CD. The bonus audio CD features b-sides and rarities from the Joshua Tree sessions. The 2-CD format also includes a 36 page bound book, featuring liner notes by Bill Flanagan with a special essay by The Edge, previously unseen photos by Anton Corbijn and handwritten lyrics by Bono.Having nearly exhausted their capacity for pop-song politics on War and The Unforgettable Fire, U2 turned toward themes of personal identity and complex relationships on The Joshua Tree. Not that the group was willing to come down off the barricades entirely: "Mothers of the Disappeared" and "Bullet the Blue Sky" turned a jaundiced eye toward Central America and the United States' role there. But the predominant mood here is one of self-discovery and the hunger for something more on tracks like the pulsating "Where the Streets Have No Name" and the gospel-ish "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." The album's masterstroke, however, is "With or Without You," a nasty love song dressed up as an ode of devotion and care. It ranks with the Police's "Every Breath You Take" as the most misread smash hit of the '80s. --Daniel Durchholz
U2's most successful album (their first No. 1 album and the 1987 Grammy award-winner for Album of the Year) is also their most dour. From the stark, black and white cover photography, with U2 looking like missionaries (or at least M*A*S*H extras), to the existential angst at the heart of each track, The Joshua Tree is one long, atmospheric wail at the abyss. Producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois turn in an austere production that heightens the drama substantially. --Rob O'Connor
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