It had been two years since U2 released an album and how could they possibly top the politically charged The Unforgettable Fire? An album that produced one of their greatest singles of all time, the Martin Luther King Jr. tribute, “Pride” and proved to be a good follow up to the War album from the previous year. Yet who could have been prepared for the musical journey that would be The Joshua Tree. When The Joshua Tree appeared on the charts it took it by storm and single by single they won over America and the world. It made four guys from Ireland the biggest band in the world and included three of their biggest singles, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", “With Or Without You” and “Where The Streets Gave No Name”.
Everything about this landmark album holds up even today. From the songs to the beautiful black and white photography from their longtime photographer, Anton Corbin, all is rich in beauty and full of deep dark imagery. Now after all these years, Island has re-released the seminal album in two expanded edition sets for the twentieth anniversary.
All eleven tracks are here on disc one, remastered and sound better then ever. On disc two is where it gets interesting. The fourteen bonus tracks of b-sides and unused tracks have all been available but it’s nice to finally have them collected in one special edition. Tracks like “Spanish Eyes” and the Sun City version of “Silver and Gold” (with Keith Richards helping on guitar) make this worth the price right there.
If that still isn’t enough, you can also buy the three disc set that includes a concert DVD from the Paris Hippodrome back in July 4, 1987. The footage isn’t as polished as the Rattle and Hum film we are all use to seeing, but is still a nice show of thirteen songs of a band in their prime.
The Joshua Tree special edition is for anyone who remembers this album as their soundtrack for 1987. It’s also an album that shows why U2 is one of the few bands from that era that is still around trying to push the envelope with each new album.
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