Ten years after the
release of its landmark 1987 album The Joshua Tree, U2 was desperate to make
the world forget about its former, earnest self. But disco grooves and gigantic
lemons—like the giant lemon prop they used onstage, though the same term
applies to 1997's Pop—couldn't erase the sand-'n'-cowboy-hats image
seared into the public consciousness, and eventually U2 came around to
re-creating the soaring anthems of The Joshua Tree. So while the ill-fated
PopMart tour marked the 10th anniversary of the band's most commercially
successful record, its 20th birthday is being celebrated with a re-mastered
version, available in several packaging combinations.
In spite of U2's best
efforts on its last two records, The Joshua Tree could never be made
today. With its stark cover—four deadly serious twentysomethings staring
into the desert—the album exists in a parallel, irony-free universe. But
even though The Joshua Tree is one of the most aggressively unfunny records
ever made, it's also one of rock's most powerfully moving experiences, nakedly
emotional on a deeply personal level, yet sweepingly universal in a way few
bands even shoot for.
The extras included in the
deluxe editions are less essential. A disc of B-sides and rarities (most
already collected by U2 diehards) suggests that the right songs made the final
record. The DVD offers the documentary Outside It's America, a fly-on-the-wall look
at U2 at the peak of Joshua Tree mania that's about as interesting as staring at a
fly on a wall. A complete concert from Paris in 1987 is better, capturing U2
(awkwardly, at times) as it was becoming the biggest group in the world. While
U2 doesn't always live up to that billing in the concert footage, The Joshua
Tree
remains its statement of greatness.