Great review. I have the 20th box set. I had this one in my amazon wish list. I took it off after your review. I already have it on Spotify anyway for the live and remixes.
Great review! Being a long time U2 fan and owning every box set released, here is what I think would have been the "Ultimate" Joshua Tree 30th Set: Audio Content: The remastered recording of course, the B-Sides AND instead of one full length show (even though this set's show is not complete) a disc of different live tracks from different shows (US, Europe, etc.) which they did with the Fan Club U222 tracks...an audio interview disc, and disc of audio demos / outtakes. Video Content: All the Joshua Tree videos and live videos from different shows. A dvd of different interviews of making the record (Eno, Lanois, U2 themselves, crew, etc.) and other musicians talking about the impact of the record & U2 on music at the time. Dvd of sound checks, footage of the band in studio, on the road...just anything U2 fans might find unique to the set. Reproduction tickets of the '87 tour, buttons, post cards of the tour posters of that time, and reissues of the singles with pic sleeves that they did on the 7" records. Both included in the vinyl and cd sets. Just my two cents. If Achtung Baby could have the "Uber" Edition there's no reason why this album shouldn't have had one. The Achtung edition had a pair of Bono's Fly Sunglasses...the Uber Joshua Tree version could have a replica harmonica!
Saw both shows that U2 played last month in Pasadena and they are, hands down, the greatest live band I have ever seen (and I have seen a lot). They played the entire Joshua Tree album from front to back and it was amazing and overwhelming! As far as this box set goes, I'm not interested because most of this material has already been released on the 20th anniversary edition.
Completely agree with everything you say especially on the rattle and Hum blu ray and other versions of the songs right from the first takes like the Beatles stuff give us more not what we already have
I have a question, just got the Joshua tree Lp box set, used the digital download and imported the songs into iTunes. Has any one had any problems when importing the songs into iTunes? My issue I am having is when I imported all 3 albums they only showed up as the songs with no name just the song title and no cover art or album to separate them. All the songs from all 3 albums were all jumbled up when Imported them into iTunes. Has any one had this issue and is their a way to fix it? I have imported other albums that I have digital downloaded and they have imported fine like I bought it straight from iTunes. thanks
I was hoping this was a video on the sound quality of the vinyl box set. Have you guys heard anything about the vinyl ? I really enjoyed your video ! Both of you had great points. I have to agree with Anthony S. This box set should have included a Hi-res version of JT on Blu-ray and/or SACD to be enjoyed in all its full glory in 5.1 perhaps, but definitely in stereo. This could have also been on a download card like it was on the Led Zeppelin Super Deluxe Box sets in 24/96 high resolution. What was the quality of the down load card in the JT vinyl boxset ?
Neither of us have heard the vinyl set. As for the download card...As for the download card....I will have to ask Robert since it was his set.....butI don't remember there being a download card with the CD set. TJ
On the live show at the Garden, the version of Bullet was mixed because at the end it’s the same ending that was done on Bullet on one of the Denver shows. It’s the same speech just with stuff edited out of the Denver version. Listen to the original Garden show on UA-cam and you’ll see.
also really think they should do a re master of "rattle&hum" soon!! be spectacular to see what b side songs all included on that?? not to mention the countless filmed footage not being in rattle&hum the movie at the time which has come about over the yrs on bootleged dvd's rattle&hum rough cut which was great footage
Why didn't U2 put together a much more inclusive set for their 30th anniversary of The JT... because pure and simple, it's just a cash grab from their fans. If they would have spend the time to put together a set that includes a bluray of the album with a 5.1 mix (uncompressed), a very nice book (like in the Sgt Pepper release), all of their videos remastered along with interviews (past and present), and maybe a brand new documentary... this would have all cost them money. Their goal was to make money here... and not spend money. I hear bands constantly talking about how bad the record companies have been to them over the years (and many people would agree with them on this), but maybe (just MAYBE) bands and artists should look at themselves in the mirror a bit here... because a case can also be made that bands/artists have also taken advantage of their fans in the past also. The 30th anniversary of The JT is just that... U2 taking advantage of their fans. I always enjoy listening to your thoughts about music. Thanks for all your effort here.
Great review guys. A fan since 1983. Some valid points about re-issues, the live set being out there already, they could've gone a little deeper into the vault, considering there were so many multi-track live recordings made for the Joshua Tree tour. We also know there were a lot of tracks written, recorded that may have been included. The rumour I heard a few years back, that U2 were planning a boxset with unreleased tracks, maybe that's what they are keep material for?
I don't usually see "reviews", but I fall on this video (a year later, I know...) and I wanted to add or reply a few items regarding the Boxset and it's content: First of all, the album: You can't listen to any difference between the 20th Anniversary and this one just because they used the same master on both: the one made by The Edge in 2007 - it's noticed on the credits of the album itself in the booklet that comes in it. Second item: the B-Sides and outtakes that are both in this set and on the 20th Anniv. edition, yep, they are pretty much the same, but the big difference here was that the 2007 version was only available on the 2 CD+DVD package, while this set is made available on both CD and Vinyl LP formats -- the Vinyl Box Set it's not that much expensive (I think only 20-30 USD over) and has the content spanned on 7 heavyweight vinyl LP's, and believe me, its way more beautiful than the CD version of the box, as every piece has it's own cover jacket and inner sleeves: Original album on 2 LPs, the Live Concert on 2 LPs and the 2017 Remixes, B-Sides and Outtakes, all part of the same set made in 3 LPs with a beautiful embossed cover. Has the same hardcover photography book and print folder as well, and pretty much identical outter Box. So, yes, this set was pretty much planned for the LP format (as many tracks where never released on that format) and made available also on CD mainly because it's the best selling format on the market and cheaper to make. I still prefer the 20th Anniv. set, which is in my opinion U2's best package for a single album (in terms of content quality vs price value). But this set is a must, on vinyl... on CD not so much. PS: regarding Rattle And Hum: the band does not have the rights on the film (and soudtrack I think), it's Paramout Pictures. You can still find the Blu-ray version made in 2006, and the HD-DVD (this one is way cheaper). They won't be doing a re-release with bonus content for it since Paramount won't issue the rights to them.
Rattle & Hum would be amazing as a boxset. There are a lot of songs that haven't seen the light of day from those sessions - I think I read a while back about the version of 'Love Rescue Me' that is performed solely by Bob Dylan. At the time Island couldn't get the rights from Capitol to secure Dylan for that track - he did however sing the backup vocals for the studio version. I'm a Dylan freak and would love to hear that version over everything else from those sessions.
Hi...I'm a U2 fan of South Korea. This box set doesn't know me whether there will be the how many big worth. An album seemed to have a worth to me more in the 20th anniversary and it seems to be practical. If their fans, it will not be bad..but think of one which of course I purchase maybe that price of this was reasonable if they added the documentary disk here more. I'd like to ask me to them. "Why didn't you put the documentary disc ? Why NOT Remastered in 2017? Why 2007 Remastering? Why is it expensive?" Thanks for your great review!
I'm a big U2 fan I already have the 25th anniversary edition so this redundant to me. My problem with this and all super deluxe sets is why would you need 4 disks of stuff from a 11 track album like the Joshua tree for example. Sounds like overkill. But hey people will by it and the record companies know it. Your reviews are top notch though.
I have the 20th anniversary box and very happy with it. So no need for this one. Btw, The Joshua Tree is no. 3 in my top 50 list of my favourite 80s albums!
The Actung Baby boxset is a far superior package IMO.They even give you an alternative version of the album which is realy worth checking out,also lots of docs of the zoo tv stuff.Also i think Rattle and Hum was made in conjuntion with Paramount so they may have legal issues there.
Where the streets, Edge early demo..? Maybe they think it really isn't worth while listening to it..I mean,the bandmembers had their idea's about this early demo..(read below.) During a break for U2’s sessions for The Joshua Tree, guitarist the Edge was working independently on a demo. Tinkering with guitar, bass, keyboards and a drum machine, Edge became fascinated by this sketch - a tune led by twinkling, arpeggiated guitar lines that shifted time signatures, twice. The first day that recording for the next album resumed, the guitarist gleefully introduced the demo cassette. To his dismay, his bandmates weren’t quite as thrilled. “Edge had created ‘Streets’ on a four-track and he’d started with this, kind of, muso stuff,” bassist Adam Clayton recalled . “I have to say, at the time, I didn’t appreciate probably the hours of thought that had gone into such an idea. It just seemed like a way of f---ing the band up.” Although the guitarist had figured out the glistening intro and outro portions of the song and crafted a part that would cross over from 3/4 time to 4/4 time, the middle portion was still pretty loose. With producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, U2 set to work (and work… and work) on creating a fully realized song from the idea. Lanois remembers playing music teacher and walking Edge, Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. through endless chord changes on a blackboard while Eno began to go a little crazy. The album sessions had come to revolve around a solitary song - one that the producer felt was going nowhere. A famous story involves Eno, at the end of his wits, about to erase weeks of work only to be stopped by a recording engineer. “There’s a misinterpretation in that story… That version [of ‘Streets’] had quite a lot of problems,” Eno said. “What we kept doing was spending hours, and days, and weeks - actually, probably half the time that the whole album took was spent on that song, trying to fix up this version on tape. It was a nightmare of ‘screwdriver’ work. And my feeling was that it would be much better to just start again. I’m sure we would get there quicker if we started again. It’s more frightening to start again, because there’s nothing. So my idea was to stage an accident, to erase the tape, so that we would have to start again.” Whether he stopped himself, or was prevented by a tea-toting engineer, Eno failed to go through with wiping the tape. Everyone persevered and eventually stitched together the final version that is heard on The Joshua Tree. In addition to the four members of U2, Eno can be heard playing the ambient synthesizers at the “Streets”’ beginning and Lanois contributed extra percussion. The creative team grew so fond of the track, that they soon agreed that “Where the Streets Have No Name” was the ideal lead-off song for the album.
when you say that in the eighties style was more important than substance what do you mean? do you mean the visual aspect was more important than the message of the Music?
I mean that the visual aspect became more important than the music you where making. I think it all came to head when we had music videos where the closing credit would state the the song was performed by one person and but then visualized by another....In other words the person performing the song wasn't considered good enough looking to be in the video of their own performance (and I am not just talking about Milli Vanilli).
damn all in all i dont see why they did not put out the first dvd show from tempe,az asu 4/2/87 even the full filmed show from the new jersey meadowlands 5/15/87 pro filmed by jimmy ivoine @ the time........of course they should have re done the" 87 island records uk promo joshua tree pizza box set" only 250 copies made in 87 same for the uk promo joshua tree holdall carry bag by island records best of the best!!!!! i do own a holdall carry bag
The deficiency of new material on this set is why I didn't buy it, after owning the very good 20th anniversary edition. I would love to hear Eno and Lanois' original mix for "With or Without You" that wasn't a pop song. I just bought the 2-CD set to get the Madison Square Garden audio. U2 should put out far more concert footage; they're bloody stingy on that front.
If U2 had the slightest bit of respect for their fans they'd have released the live album from this separately - it's basically 20th anniversary edition plus a live album. How many more copies of JT do they expect us to buy? 40th anniversary? 50th anniversary? 60th? Didn't buy this as a point of principle.
This Box Set is way over priced & not worth spending the $$$$$$ on a LOT of things that have already been released or is obtainable through other means, the only interest to me is the Book.
Love Bono’s voice in the remixes. You really get to hear how good it was on the JT
Keep up the good work . I love what you Guy's do . Anilise the whole package . This is what real music fans need .
Glad to be of service
Thanks for the great review Bros. haha!
U2 Joshua tee. Madison square garden. Tour 2019
Great review. I have the 20th box set. I had this one in my amazon wish list. I took it off after your review. I already have it on Spotify anyway for the live and remixes.
Great review! Being a long time U2 fan and owning every box set released, here is what I think would have been the "Ultimate" Joshua Tree 30th Set: Audio Content: The remastered recording of course, the B-Sides AND instead of one full length show (even though this set's show is not complete) a disc of different live tracks from different shows (US, Europe, etc.) which they did with the Fan Club U222 tracks...an audio interview disc, and disc of audio demos / outtakes. Video Content: All the Joshua Tree videos and live videos from different shows. A dvd of different interviews of making the record (Eno, Lanois, U2 themselves, crew, etc.) and other musicians talking about the impact of the record & U2 on music at the time. Dvd of sound checks, footage of the band in studio, on the road...just anything U2 fans might find unique to the set. Reproduction tickets of the '87 tour, buttons, post cards of the tour posters of that time, and reissues of the singles with pic sleeves that they did on the 7" records. Both included in the vinyl and cd sets. Just my two cents. If Achtung Baby could have the "Uber" Edition there's no reason why this album shouldn't have had one. The Achtung edition had a pair of Bono's Fly Sunglasses...the Uber Joshua Tree version could have a replica harmonica!
Saw both shows that U2 played last month in Pasadena and they are, hands down, the greatest live band I have ever seen (and I have seen a lot). They played the entire Joshua Tree album from front to back and it was amazing and overwhelming! As far as this box set goes, I'm not interested because most of this material has already been released on the 20th anniversary edition.
Completely agree with everything you say especially on the rattle and Hum blu ray and other versions of the songs right from the first takes like the Beatles stuff give us more not what we already have
I have a question, just got the Joshua tree Lp box set, used the digital download and imported the songs into iTunes. Has any one had any problems when importing the songs into iTunes? My issue I am having is when I imported all 3 albums they only showed up as the songs with no name just the song title and no cover art or album to separate them. All the songs from all 3 albums were all jumbled up when Imported them into iTunes. Has any one had this issue and is their a way to fix it? I have imported other albums that I have digital downloaded and they have imported fine like I bought it straight from iTunes. thanks
I was hoping this was a video on the sound quality of the vinyl box set. Have you guys heard anything about the vinyl ? I really enjoyed your video ! Both of you had great points. I have to agree with Anthony S. This box set should have included a Hi-res version of JT on Blu-ray and/or SACD to be enjoyed in all its full glory in 5.1 perhaps, but definitely in stereo. This could have also been on a download card like it was on the Led Zeppelin Super Deluxe Box sets in 24/96 high resolution. What was the quality of the down load card in the JT vinyl boxset ?
Neither of us have heard the vinyl set. As for the download card...As for the download card....I will have to ask Robert since it was his set.....butI don't remember there being a download card with the CD set. TJ
On the live show at the Garden, the version of Bullet was mixed because at the end it’s the same ending that was done on Bullet on one of the Denver shows. It’s the same speech just with stuff edited out of the Denver version. Listen to the original Garden show on UA-cam and you’ll see.
also really think they should do a re master of "rattle&hum" soon!! be spectacular to see what b side songs all included on that?? not to mention the countless filmed footage not being in rattle&hum the movie at the time which has come about over the yrs on bootleged dvd's rattle&hum rough cut which was great footage
What I want is the full release of the Denver shows and the Tempe show from Rattle and Hum.
Why didn't U2 put together a much more inclusive set for their 30th anniversary of The JT... because pure and simple, it's just a cash grab from their fans. If they would have spend the time to put together a set that includes a bluray of the album with a 5.1 mix (uncompressed), a very nice book (like in the Sgt Pepper release), all of their videos remastered along with interviews (past and present), and maybe a brand new documentary... this would have all cost them money. Their goal was to make money here... and not spend money.
I hear bands constantly talking about how bad the record companies have been to them over the years (and many people would agree with them on this), but maybe (just MAYBE) bands and artists should look at themselves in the mirror a bit here... because a case can also be made that bands/artists have also taken advantage of their fans in the past also. The 30th anniversary of The JT is just that... U2 taking advantage of their fans.
I always enjoy listening to your thoughts about music. Thanks for all your effort here.
+Anthony S You are welcome. You made a lot of great suggestions in your comment.
Great review guys. A fan since 1983. Some valid points about re-issues, the live set being out there already, they could've gone a little deeper into the vault, considering there were so many multi-track live recordings made for the Joshua Tree tour. We also know there were a lot of tracks written, recorded that may have been included. The rumour I heard a few years back, that U2 were planning a boxset with unreleased tracks, maybe that's what they are keep material for?
I don't usually see "reviews", but I fall on this video (a year later, I know...) and I wanted to add or reply a few items regarding the Boxset and it's content:
First of all, the album: You can't listen to any difference between the 20th Anniversary and this one just because they used the same master on both: the one made by The Edge in 2007 - it's noticed on the credits of the album itself in the booklet that comes in it.
Second item: the B-Sides and outtakes that are both in this set and on the 20th Anniv. edition, yep, they are pretty much the same, but the big difference here was that the 2007 version was only available on the 2 CD+DVD package, while this set is made available on both CD and Vinyl LP formats -- the Vinyl Box Set it's not that much expensive (I think only 20-30 USD over) and has the content spanned on 7 heavyweight vinyl LP's, and believe me, its way more beautiful than the CD version of the box, as every piece has it's own cover jacket and inner sleeves: Original album on 2 LPs, the Live Concert on 2 LPs and the 2017 Remixes, B-Sides and Outtakes, all part of the same set made in 3 LPs with a beautiful embossed cover.
Has the same hardcover photography book and print folder as well, and pretty much identical outter Box.
So, yes, this set was pretty much planned for the LP format (as many tracks where never released on that format) and made available also on CD mainly because it's the best selling format on the market and cheaper to make.
I still prefer the 20th Anniv. set, which is in my opinion U2's best package for a single album (in terms of content quality vs price value). But this set is a must, on vinyl... on CD not so much.
PS: regarding Rattle And Hum: the band does not have the rights on the film (and soudtrack I think), it's Paramout Pictures. You can still find the Blu-ray version made in 2006, and the HD-DVD (this one is way cheaper). They won't be doing a re-release with bonus content for it since Paramount won't issue the rights to them.
Rattle & Hum would be amazing as a boxset. There are a lot of songs that haven't seen the light of day from those sessions - I think I read a while back about the version of 'Love Rescue Me' that is performed solely by Bob Dylan. At the time Island couldn't get the rights from Capitol to secure Dylan for that track - he did however sing the backup vocals for the studio version. I'm a Dylan freak and would love to hear that version over everything else from those sessions.
+ItsNotDarkYet Good suggestion. At the very least a deluxe multi (CD) disc set would be nice.
Hi...I'm a U2 fan of South Korea.
This box set doesn't know me whether there will be the how many big worth.
An album seemed to have a worth to me more in the 20th anniversary and it seems to be practical.
If their fans, it will not be bad..but think of one which of course I purchase maybe that price of this was reasonable if they added the documentary disk here more.
I'd like to ask me to them.
"Why didn't you put the documentary disc ? Why NOT Remastered in 2017? Why 2007 Remastering? Why is it expensive?"
Thanks for your great review!
Where do I find the Audio download card?
I'm a big U2 fan I already have the 25th anniversary edition so this redundant to me. My problem with this and all super deluxe sets is why would you need 4 disks of stuff from a 11 track album like the Joshua tree for example. Sounds like overkill. But hey people will by it and the record companies know it. Your reviews are top notch though.
Thanks
I have the 20th anniversary box and very happy with it. So no need for this one.
Btw, The Joshua Tree is no. 3 in my top 50 list of my favourite 80s albums!
The Actung Baby boxset is a far superior package IMO.They even give you an alternative version of the album which is realy worth checking out,also lots of docs of the zoo tv stuff.Also i think Rattle and Hum was made in conjuntion with Paramount so they may have legal issues there.
Thanks for the heads up on that.....I never did get to check out the Actung Baby box set. - TJ
No bother TJ ,i dig your channel and you convinced me to make my wallet lighter by buying the Pepper box set,its only glorious and worth every penny.
Where the streets, Edge early demo..? Maybe they think it really isn't worth while listening to it..I mean,the bandmembers had their idea's about this early demo..(read below.)
During a break for U2’s sessions for The Joshua Tree, guitarist the Edge was working independently on a demo. Tinkering with guitar, bass, keyboards and a drum machine, Edge became fascinated by this sketch - a tune led by twinkling, arpeggiated guitar lines that shifted time signatures, twice. The first day that recording for the next album resumed, the guitarist gleefully introduced the demo cassette. To his dismay, his bandmates weren’t quite as thrilled.
“Edge had created ‘Streets’ on a four-track and he’d started with this, kind of, muso stuff,” bassist Adam Clayton recalled . “I have to say, at the time, I didn’t appreciate probably the hours of thought that had gone into such an idea. It just seemed like a way of f---ing the band up.”
Although the guitarist had figured out the glistening intro and outro portions of the song and crafted a part that would cross over from 3/4 time to 4/4 time, the middle portion was still pretty loose. With producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, U2 set to work (and work… and work) on creating a fully realized song from the idea.
Lanois remembers playing music teacher and walking Edge, Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. through endless chord changes on a blackboard while Eno began to go a little crazy. The album sessions had come to revolve around a solitary song - one that the producer felt was going nowhere. A famous story involves Eno, at the end of his wits, about to erase weeks of work only to be stopped by a recording engineer.
“There’s a misinterpretation in that story… That version [of ‘Streets’] had quite a lot of problems,” Eno said. “What we kept doing was spending hours, and days, and weeks - actually, probably half the time that the whole album took was spent on that song, trying to fix up this version on tape. It was a nightmare of ‘screwdriver’ work. And my feeling was that it would be much better to just start again. I’m sure we would get there quicker if we started again. It’s more frightening to start again, because there’s nothing. So my idea was to stage an accident, to erase the tape, so that we would have to start again.”
Whether he stopped himself, or was prevented by a tea-toting engineer, Eno failed to go through with wiping the tape. Everyone persevered and eventually stitched together the final version that is heard on The Joshua Tree. In addition to the four members of U2, Eno can be heard playing the ambient synthesizers at the “Streets”’ beginning and Lanois contributed extra percussion. The creative team grew so fond of the track, that they soon agreed that “Where the Streets Have No Name” was the ideal lead-off song for the album.
when you say that in the eighties style was more important than substance what do you mean? do you mean the visual aspect was more important than the message of the Music?
I mean that the visual aspect became more important than the music you where making. I think it all came to head when we had music videos where the closing credit would state the the song was performed by one person and but then visualized by another....In other words the person performing the song wasn't considered good enough looking to be in the video of their own performance (and I am not just talking about Milli Vanilli).
when you open up the first disk there should be $80. tucked inside. I feel it would make a big difference.
LOL. Thanks for giving me such a good laugh.
damn all in all i dont see why they did not put out the first dvd show from tempe,az asu 4/2/87 even the full filmed show from the new jersey meadowlands 5/15/87 pro filmed by jimmy ivoine @ the time........of course they should have re done the" 87 island records uk promo joshua tree pizza box set" only 250 copies made in 87 same for the uk promo joshua tree holdall carry bag by island records best of the best!!!!! i do own a holdall carry bag
The deficiency of new material on this set is why I didn't buy it, after owning the very good 20th anniversary edition. I would love to hear Eno and Lanois' original mix for "With or Without You" that wasn't a pop song. I just bought the 2-CD set to get the Madison Square Garden audio. U2 should put out far more concert footage; they're bloody stingy on that front.
If U2 had the slightest bit of respect for their fans they'd have released the live album from this separately - it's basically 20th anniversary edition plus a live album.
How many more copies of JT do they expect us to buy? 40th anniversary? 50th anniversary? 60th?
Didn't buy this as a point of principle.
This Box Set is way over priced & not worth spending the $$$$$$ on a LOT of things that have already been released or is obtainable through other means, the only interest to me is the Book.
That's kinda how I felt....But I am not interested in the book enough to get the set.
these two planks talking about gross earnings typical bull its all about the songs the deluxe doesnt matter the album was the deluxe