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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 and the music
has been given a spanking new mastering,
supervised by none other than The Edge.
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 definitely improves
matters. The volume is roughly 50% greater than
on the original mastering.
Overall, instrumental textures are fuller,
and bass response is improved.
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 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.
Click here to
purchase.
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