This
year marks the 30th anniversary of one of U2's most pivotal albums,
"The Joshua Tree." In 1987, U2 was a rock band on the verge of
superstardom. Their last studio album "The Unforgettable Fire" cracked
the top 20 on the Billboard album chart and their single "Pride (In The
Name Of Love)" was the band's first top 40 hit single. As U2 entered the
studio to record their follow-up album, they made "The Joshua Tree"
with their hearts. The music, the lyrics and the overall vibe of the
album signaled a welcome change for U2 from new wave, post-punk band to
mainstream, arena rock band.
To
celebrate the 30th anniversary of "The Joshua Tree," Universal Music is
releasing a 4CD or 7LP box set complete with an 84-page, full color
hardbound book. The first disc contains the original remastered "Joshua
Tree" album. While most of the singles from this album have been heard
hundreds of times on the radio, the treasure is re-discovering the songs
like "Running To Stand Still" and "In God's Country." The vinyl version
of the box set contains the original album as a double-LP.
An
unreleased concert from 1987 at Madison Square Garden is included on
CD2 of the box set. The sound is amazing as you feel the surge in energy
from the audience as U2 lead off with their new single "Where The
Streets Have No Name" and their classic single "I Will Follow." The show
also contains gems from "The Joshua Tree" album that have not been
performed live since this time. Songs like "Trip Through The Wires" and
"Exit" are great to hear live among past hits like "Sunday Bloody
Sunday" and "New Year's Day." The highlight of the live show is when U2
invite a choir to sing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" with
the band. Listening to this live portion of the box set will transport
you back to 1987 when U2 were on the rise of becoming the biggest band
in the world. This is also featured as a double-LP in the vinyl version
of the box set.
The
next two discs, or 3 vinyl LPs contain brand new remixes of six of the
album's 11 songs, along with outtakes and B-sides. Some of the remixes totally
disguise the songs as with Jacknife Lee's version of "Bullet To Blue
Sky" and Flood's "Where The Streets Have No Name." Longtime fans will
certainly enjoy the outtakes with rare songs like "Wave Of Sorrow (Birdland)"
and "Desert Of Our Love," while "Drunk Chicken/America" is as truthful
now as it was in 1987. It is also nice to have all of the B-sides from
"The Joshua Tree" singles in one place as early versions of "Silver And
Gold" and "Sweetest Thing" highlight this part of the box set.
The
hardbound book contains many unseen photos from The Edge's personal
archive of his photography session in the Mojave Desert. The new "Joshua
Tree" album will also be released as a 2CD deluxe edition which
contains the original album and the live show from Madison Square
Garden. U2 are currently on tour promoting the 30th anniversary of "The
Joshua Tree" album by playing songs from the entire album. For a
complete list of shows and to find out more about the new super deluxe
version of U2's "The Joshua Tree," please visit u2.com.
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