The Joshua Tree [VINYL]

Product Information

Every soul stirring stadium singalong is culturally momentous, capturing the very essence of the era whilst sounding conversely caustic and canorous.

The Zeppelin-esque 'Bullet The Blue Sky' and the wickedly haunting 'Red Hill Mining Town' and the Joshua tree inspired 'In God's Country' make this album the most celebrated album of the eighties. Haters be a hating, there's no denying Daniel Lanois took the band into the stratosphere and all it took was a trip to California.It contain a double page info sheet with lyrics on one side and a pic like a poster to the other side. Thanks to critical and public excitement generated by successive hit singles, popular MTV videos and exuberant live performances, U2 were on the cusp of international stardom. It won the 1988 Grammy award for Album Of The Year and saw the band on the cover of Time magazine billed as 'Rock's Hottest Ticket. I've owned a US pressing, two separate Canadian pressings and currently the 2019 German 2 x Vinyl, Reissue, Remastered 30th Anniversary Edition and none is better than this UK early version I now proudly own. Quite simply, all involved, including the recording personnel, are operating at the peak of their powers, and the results are not merely an extension of "The Unforgettable Fire".

The super deluxe edition box set (which is also available as a 7LP vinyl set) includes a remastered version of the album (update: there is a suggestion, but not official confirmation that they are using the 2007 remaster), 17 tracks performed Live at Madison Square Garden in 1987 (featuring most of the album), a disc of new remixes and a B-sides and outtakes CD. The text "Recorded and Mixed at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin" (on back cover) is in the same text block of "Drums, Keyboards.Its savage beauty and ominous disposition, courtesy of Bono's superb songwriting, is pervasive, but not to the extent that it becomes overwhelming. From the compelling opening salvo to the more intimate though no less blissful and catchy subsequent tracks, the album flows incredibly well and sustains its most distinctive elements without becoming too bombastic or stately.