The Joshua Tree

Can you believe that it has been 20 years since U2 first released The Joshua Tree? I still remember hearing the songs from U2's groundbreaking album on the radio and seeing the videos on MTV as a young girl, and how they were so very very different from anything else I was hearing. I was already a fan of U2. Pride (In the Name of Love) is the first U2 song I have clear memories of hearing, but I am sure I had probably heard some of their music from the War album before all of that.

But The Joshua Tree changed everything for me...the emotion of With or Without You...the plodding Gospel search of I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For...the relentless drive of Where the Streets Have No Name...the imagery of the desert of In God's Country...the desperation of Exit...the violence and anger beneath the surface of Bullet the Blue Sky...the sadness and despair of Mothers of the Disappeared...the running rivers of One Tree Hill...the confusion of Trip Through Your Wires...the need to hang on in Red Hill Mining Town...the lonely desolation of Running to Stand Still...

It seemed like, in a way, they took all what was found in Bad from The Unforgettable Fire and turned it into a whole album. "This desperation, dislocation, separation, condemnation, revelation, in tempation, isolation, desolation. Let it go and so to find a way." In expounding on all of the components in this one song, U2 managed to achieve recording the album that would essentially define their careers.

Today, a remastered version of The Joshua Tree has been released for sale. They are releasing a box set among other versions of the album. And while I already own every U2 album, I will likely have to purchase this one as well.