The Joshua Tree[2 CD][Deluxe Edition]

Note: this is a review of the 2007 "Super Deluxe" remastered 2-CD/DVD set.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 improves matters. There is a substantial increase in volume, but generally not to the point of clipping. A visual analysis of the waveforms reveals only a handful of clipped peaks throughout the album. 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, which indicates to me the engineers on this remaster used discretion with their techniques, and did not go overboard. Overall, instrumental textures are fuller, and bass response is improved. Also, 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 reduced from the original mastering.) Generally speaking, 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.

I grew up listening to them but this is officially the first U2 album i bought, back then i used to listen to them thru my father's record. I became a fan during my high school days and The Joshua Tree brings back those teenage memories. I can only be objective on the construction of the package, not on the contents of the CD because i'm a huge fan. The design of the box is of high quality, love the minimal yet powerful silhouette of the Joshua Tree rendered with a gold leaf-like material. The gatefold style of the CD packaging gives it a vinyl feel but i find the slip-in design to cause friction that creates small minor scratches on the disc, for a more secured casing i suggest CD jackets, but you have to cut it for it to fit in the cardboard pocket. The box for the four CDs is well constructed with high-quality printing and with a metallic effect. Love the layout of the large lyrics book with photographs and a review. The Anton Corbijn prints are superb, visual people like me will surely love those compositions, they're printed on high quality (i think) fine-art paper. The coffee table book of Edge's photographs during the Joshua Tree photoshoot is a high-quality hardbound, the binding is excellent, printed in a thick and high-quality paper. Look for the piece of paper that has a link of the digital download of the songs, very helpful if you want it in your phone or computer, make sure to look for it, because it might fall off the box while opening, mine got crumpled inside as i slipped back the contents. I love the materials used, high-quality printing, superb photography from Anton and Edge, i like the design and layout, this is obviously a collector's item for fans like me.

Talk about a late arrival (me as a U2 fan). I am a very recent "alert" U2 fan thanks to seeing Bono's most fabulous Surrender book memoir tour in person; then watching tons of concert videos and interviews, getting Songs of Surrender CDs (a work of art in their own right) and finally getting this CD set! I have of course heard many of these originals on the radio in the past but was not clued in to details. Now I am. So I'm late to the party but glad to be here. I am very happy to have this CD set, and also am reaffirmed in the unique value that Songs of Surrender also has, for certain moods.

The set is in excellent condition and arrived in print time

The Joshua Tree is indeed a U2 classic, a must for all the fans. However, if you think about buying this new remastered version, please make sure you buy the Super Deluxe Edition with DVD. The concert in Paris on this DVD is worth all the money. In fact I was surprised by the sonic quality of recording of the concert and I also liked the atmosphere of the DVD a lot. It is now my third most favourite U2 DVD after exciting Elevation Tours concerts in Boston and Slane Castle. I wonder if there is more concerts like this being shot and not released, because if so, I would definitely like to have them too!However, DVD is not the only thing. I enjoyed remastered version of CD and thought that also B-sides were quite extensive and enjoyable. And the whole box of the materials, the book, sleeves for CDs and postcards were just well done and make it a definitive gift item. I wish that also Achtung Baby and All That You Can't Leave Behind would receive similar treatment later on.In the age of downloading of songs from internet, this is a way to go: making a hard copy of CD a real experience. Than this is even better than a real thing!