U2 - Joshua Tree (Remastered / Expanded) (Super Deluxe Edition) (2CD/DVD)
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Free Music Notes for Joshua Tree (Remastered / Expanded) (Super Deluxe Edition) (2CD/DVD)
Free Music Review: A classic album gets the royal treatment
Hit: 5 Stars
Nearly 21 years after the original release of The Joshua Tree, the CD version of the album has finally gotten its due. In what must be considered an embarrassment of packaging riches, this new "Super Deluxe" 20th Anniversary Edition of the album more than does justice to the original album art (poorly served on previous CD releases), and the music has been given a spanking new mastering, supervised by none other than The Edge. The "Super Deluxe" edition comes in a sturdy, 6" x 8" x 1.5" box with fully restored cover art. Inside is a 56 page hardcover book containing liner notes, lyrics, pictures, single-sleeve art, technical information, and a number of essays, including ones by Bono, Daniel Lanois, Adam Clayton, Anton Corbijn, Brian Eno, and The Edge. An embossed envelope contains five more Corbijn photos, printed on 5" x 7" sheets of textured, "antique" paper. The three discs all come in their own mini-LP gatefold sleeves: the album disc is in a quasi replica of the original LP sleeve, whereas the bonus CD and DVD are in similar sleeves featuring alternate photos. No detail has been overlooked - even the CD labels are patterned after the spindle label on the original LP. This is a truly "super deluxe" package.
But what about the sound? While the original 1987 mastering was never great, much of what has been lambasted over the years as murky sound is really intrinsic to the original recording and/or mix. It is important to note that this is a remastered version of the original mix, not a remixed version of the original session tapes. Thus, the overall qualities of the original mix remain, such as dense atmospherics and an ambient soundscape. However, this version definitely improves matters. The volume is roughly 50% greater than on the original mastering, and the continual tape hiss that was present even in between tracks on the original CD has been removed. (Some hiss intrinsic to the original analog tapes remains, but is greatly reduced from the original mastering.) Overall, instrumental textures are fuller, and bass response is improved. Audiophiles will also be happy to note that a visual analysis of the waveforms reveals no clipping. Comparison between this release and the mastering on Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's Gold Ultradisc II release (out of print) reveals very little difference between the two. Whatever differences are present are extremely subtle, and a judgment as to which version presents better sound becomes more a matter of splitting atoms than splitting hairs. Generally speaking, though, all but the most critical and particular listeners can feel confident they are getting the best sounding version of this album yet released with this new mastering.
The 14-track bonus audio disc contains a number of b-sides and unused tracks from the period that have previously been available elsewhere, but have never been collected in one place before. Six of the fourteen tracks were either previously unreleased or were very rare prior to this release. The songs range from excellent to barely worthy of release ("Drunk Chicken"), but are all worth having if you are any sort of completist. For those who have always imagined that The Joshua Tree was the best double album never made (an erroneous notion, as Edge makes clear in his essay), the bonus disc provides them the perfect opportunity to construct their own version of the fabled opus.
The concert presented on the DVD goes a good distance toward filling a gap that has existed in the U2 catalog for the last two decades - namely the absence of a full-length concert video from The Joshua Tree Tour. This video (the liner notes say it was filmed, but industrial-size video cameras are clearly visible onstage) features the entire concert U2 performed in the Paris Hippodrome on July 4, 1987, minus three cover songs (the concert openers "Stand By Me" and "C'Mon Everybody," and a rendition of "Help!" that they played between "Electric Co." and "Bad"). The band is in top form, playing a classic lineup of their songs, many of which have not been heard on later tours. Notably, they did not perform "Where the Streets Have No Name" at this concert, an omission that occurred a number of times on the European leg of the tour. The video direction is refreshingly plain, avoiding the overly moody lighting Phil Joanou employed in Rattle and Hum (the Paris footage was directed by Gavin Taylor), and without the short-attention-span jump cuts of the band's recent concert videos. The sound is an excellent LPCM stereo mix - not surround, it's true, but every bit as good as you would expect from a live album on CD. The sound is actually better than either the live tracks on the Rattle and Hum CD, or the fan club only release of the 1989/1990 New Year's concert at the Point Depot.
The documentary, "Outside it's America," basically plays like Rattle and Hum's little brother, only in color and not as well shot - and, frankly, not as interesting. On the other hand, it does not have the myth-making posturing that so marred Rattle and Hum. Both this documentary and the concert video show a more human, down-to-earth, less "god like" side of the band. Still, the documentary has a lot of footage that will likely be of interest to die-hard fans only. (It is worth noting that the documentary was directed by Barry Devlin and Meiert Avis, not Phil Joanou, and therefore is not an assemblage of rejected Rattle and Hum footage, as has been speculated elsewhere.) The two music videos are fair makeweights, but are hardly essential. The selling point of the DVD is without question the concert video, which many fans will find invaluable, making this set an easy choice over the two-disc Deluxe edition.
On the whole, this is an outstanding issue that more than makes good on its promises. Thoroughly recommended.
Free Music Review: Para fans y algo más
Hit: 5 Stars
No hay mucho que agregar sobre "The Joshua Tree" que es uno de los productos que integran éste pack. El disco es simplemente una obra maestra de la música popular del siglo xx y ésta edición es la misma que la original de 1987 (que esté superrecontraremasterizado es algo que al oído común no le importa mucho). Aparte del disco original trae otro con las caras B de los singles que incluye temas que ya habían sido publicados en "The Best Of 1980-1990" (joyas como "Luminous Times", "Walk To The Water", "Spanish Eyes" y "Sweetest Thing", temas tan brillantes como los que entraron en "Joshua") y agrega otros que se nota porque nunca habían sido lanzados antes ya que no llegan al nivel del resto de la obra musical de los irlandeses, pero para los fans siempre son bienvenidos.
También viene con unas fotos que, de nuevo, para fans puede estar bien, aunque a mi que me considero uno de ellos no me aportan nada más que una especie de nostalgia innecesaria.
Las joyas son el libro y el DVD. El primero puede pensarse exclusivo para fans, pero en realidad algunas opiniones vertidas en él son un retrato perfecto de uno de los dos mejores momentos de una gran banda, y además de una de las épocas del siglo más controversiales. Y por supuesto de la "Gran América", ésa que se ama y se odia pero que no se puede obviar, y cuando un artista se ve inmerso en ésa idea, el resultante es, como lo decía antes, una obra maestra. Todo tiene sentido, todo encaja a la perfección, y si quedaba alguna duda, el libro la despeja sin recurrir a comentarios obvios o que sólo puedan entender los fans de la banda. No quedan dudas de que te puede gustar o no Bono, pero es el artista popular más sagaz de nuestros tiempos, y ésos fueron sus primeros pasos hacia su particular madurez músical y filosófica.
El dvd nos muestra un documental divertido por momentos, con los integrantes de la banda en la diaria, zapando, tomando (mucho), viajando por USA (mucho), trayendo algunos video clips poco vistos ("Spanish Eyes", "In God's Country") y mostrandolos como si aún no entendieran muy bien de que se iba a tratar todo a partir de éste disco para U2. Aún hoy hay veces que parece que no lo entienden, aunque lo saben. Bono sabe que su palabra pesa para bien o para mal.
El video alternativo de "With Or Without You" es muy similar al conocido, pero el de "Red Hill Minnig Town" es una curiosidad y dirigido por Neil Jordan (a las fans de aquel Bono les va a encantar).
La frutilla de la torta es es el recital en Francia. Para fans y no tanto, muestra a la banda en su mejor forma, la voz de Bono como nunca y manejando a la audiencia como sólo él sabe, y encima una sorpresita en medio de "With Or Without You" (que además es una de las mejores versiones en vivo del tema junto con la de "Rattle And Hum").
En definitiva, para fans es indispensable, y para los que no lo son tanto pero quieren conocer un poco como U2 transmutó de una rebelde banda de rock a un ícono cultural, éste es un buen medio para hacerlo. Además nos muestra como es que de un particular momento de la historia, de la política mundial y de los sueños rotos y los vividos, puede nacer la más bella música de nuestros tiempos.
Free Music Review: A Beautiful and Well-Considered Re-Packaging of a Classic
Hit: 5 Stars
The recent surge in repackaged classic albums has resulted in confusion regarding their collective merit, especially when compared to the original releases. Most repackagings offer a few extra tracks and improved audio but little more. Also, the extra tracks are usually extraneous to the original product, providing little of interest to anyone except hardcore fans. Every now and then, though, a re-released package manages to surpass the original release not because it reinvents the original album, but because it expands on that album's innate strength. The original version of "The Joshua Tree" sold over 20 million copies and won a Grammy for Album of the Year. It is arguably U2's strongest album, but there is no argument that this re-packaging expands on that album's vision in every way.
The package itself is beautiful, consisting of a hardcover sleeve encasing two disks in a well-constructed box. The booklet contains excellent liner notes by critic Bill Flanagan as well as the Edge, with reproduced lyrics fleshed out by a generous collection of additional photos and artwork, including detailed listings of all related singles and their respective chart positions. Flanagan's essay describes how the band utilized the landscape of American deserts that so impressed them while touring the country as a canvas to convey their own personal visions, while The Edge provides a more practical perspective on the details involved in recording these now-classic tracks. The remastered sound adds a clarity that becomes the meticulous production of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, but the real highlight (other than the album itself) is the compilation of recordings associated with the original album. Every B-side from every single (or 12", or CD single) appears on the bonus disk, as do all of the artfully constructed remixes, singles edits and five previously unreleased tracks, all artistically valid in their own right. I own an original copy of this album on vinyl, but this CD package reinvigorates the listening experience and updates the historic relevance of this great album. If you can afford it and want to own the visual accompaniment as well, another package exists that contains a third DVD disk of all related videos. The re-issued version of "The Joshua Tree" is not solely for dedicated fans. It is for everybody. A Tom Ryan
Free Music Review: U2 - The Real Fantastic 4
Hit: 5 Stars
All the memories are coming back of this amazing breakthrough album, "The Joshua Tree." Included in this collection is a 56 page hard bound book, the remastered album & also the b-sides & rarities disc:
"Luminous Times (Hold on to Love)"
"Walk to the Water"
"Spanish Eyes"
"Deep in the Heart"
"Silver & Gold"
"The Sweetest Thing" (1987 B-side version)
"Race Against Time"
"Where the Streets Have No Name" (single edit)
"Silver & Gold" (Sun City version) - Bono with Keith Richards & Ron Wood
"Beautiful Ghost"
"Wave of Sorrow" (Birdland)
"Desert of Our Love"
"Rise Up"
"Drunk Chicken"
"America"
If that's not enough it also includes a dvd of U2 Live from Paris - live at the Hippodrome de Vincennes in Paris, France on July 4, 1987. The song set is as follows:
"I Will Follow"
"Trip Through Your Wires"
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
"MLK"
"The Unforgettable Fire"
"Sunday Bloody Sunday"
"Exit"
"In God's Country"
"The Electric Co."
"Bad"
"October"
"New Year's Day"
"Pride (In the Name of Love)"
"Bullet the Blue Sky"
"Running to Stand Still"
"With or Without You"
"Party Girl"
"40"
The dvd will also have other special features.
U2 know how to make great dvd's & this one is no exception. I can't wait to start reliving the songs again, & see the live concert from the tour. They definitely are the best band in the world, past & present. My only hope now is they do the same treatment for "Rattle & Hum" & "Achtung Baby." Especially the latter. Hey, dream out loud.
Free Music Review: Joshua Tree Remastered
Hit: 5 Stars
Do you remember where you were in 1987, if you were born then? I do. I was living in Canada, playing in a band, hoping to make it big like a million others. I was listening to the radio, trying to think of good songs to cover to help pad out our play list, as we hadn't written many originals. Then "With or Without You" came on the air. It was totally different to anything I had heard in a while. I'd had a similar feeling when I heard KISS, then the Sex Pistols, some of the early New Romance music, but this made the hairs on my arms stand up. I had to have more. So I listened to hear who it was, and was surprised it was U2. I had heard snippets of their earlier albums, but I must admit at the time I was into hair band metal, Iron Maiden, Scorpion's, that sort of thing. Well I had to have more!
I went to the local record shop, and bought The Joshua Tree on vinyl and cassette (for the car!). Boy did it change me. I still liked the other stuff I was into, but this changed my whole direction of music, until Pearl Jam came along in 1991. If I was stuck on an island with only 10 albums, The Joshua Tree would be on that list.
I was excited to hear it was being remastered and reissued for the 20th anniversary. The extras are great too, and it is a must have for my collection. Sadly, my vinyl copy is long gone (I still have the liner notes and picture though!), and I think I wore out my cassette tape. My CD is well used, so this will be a welcome addition to my collection!