There is within music an ability to tap into the raw, revelatory power of beauty; music can give itself to the unknown whisper of the eternal in ways that other forms of art only hint at. The collage of sounds communicates something deep to the heart and, when combined with the presence of the voice, can be downright liberating. Few individuals, let alone bands, ever really reach a point where they are that open to the Unknown that it can give itself so freely through their music. U2 has done so time and again, but never with the level of directness and sincerity as they accomplished on the Joshua Tree.

A joshua tree is a real tree that thrives despite the dry environment it lives in. The image - the icon - of life amidst its seeming absence, embodied in the joshua tree, is one that is fully appropriate to U2 - particularly at the end of their first decade. U2, like the joshua tree, stood in stark contrast to its environment: ascetic, prophetic and disarmingly (some would say "naively", but let the tension stand) sincere. (Their foray into the realm of post-modern sampling, irony and sarcasm was an identity crisis fully in line with where they stood in the 80s: cynicism is frustrated optimism.)

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", the second song, really expresses the kernel of The Joshua Tree; every other song fleshes it out in some way or another. The album is, in the end, about distance: "I have run, I have crawled, I have scaled these city walls only to be with you: But I still haven't found what I'm looking for." While one may take this to be an admission of defeat - and distance whispers of despair as much as consummation - doing so is incorrect: "I'm still running," Bono sings. The song is an expression of hope more than anything.

Faith is a raw and disarmingly rough beauty; it looks within and it looks without. "Bullet the Blue Sky" and "Mothers of the Disappeared" give full expression to U2's long-time political engagement, while "With or Without You" gives a glimpse into U2's more tender side. "With or Without You" may very well be the best love song of the 80s. "One Tree Hill", a deeply personal song about the death of a friend, moves with passion and rugged grace - and, again, with hope: "I'll see you again when the stars fall from the sky and the moon has turned red over one tree hill."

I look forward to the day when my children ask me, "Dad, did you ever listen to U2?" Not only will I have stories to tell about live concerts, but I will be able to relive with them the goosebumps that certain songs will inevitably bring. If rock is dead, U2 was its apex. And U2 has yet to be eclipsed.

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 (poorly served on previous CD releases), and the music has been given a spanking new mastering, supervised by none other than The Edge. The "Super Deluxe" edition comes in a sturdy, 6" x 8" x 1.5" box with fully restored cover art. Inside is a 56 page hardcover book containing liner notes, lyrics, pictures, single-sleeve art, technical information, and a number of essays, including ones by Bono, Daniel Lanois, Adam Clayton, Anton Corbijn, Brian Eno, and The Edge. An embossed envelope contains five more Corbijn photos, printed on 5" x 7" sheets of textured, "antique" paper. The three discs all come in their own mini-LP gatefold sleeves: the album disc is in a quasi replica of the original LP sleeve, whereas the bonus CD and DVD are in similar sleeves featuring alternate photos. No detail has been overlooked - even the CD labels are patterned after the spindle label on the original LP. This is a truly "super deluxe" package.

But what about the sound? 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, and the continual tape hiss that was present even in between tracks on the original CD has been removed. (Some hiss intrinsic to the original analog tapes remains, but is greatly reduced from the original mastering.) Overall, instrumental textures are fuller, and bass response is improved. Audiophiles will also be happy to note that a visual analysis of the waveforms reveals no clipping. Comparison between this release and the mastering on Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's Gold Ultradisc II release (out of print) reveals very little difference between the two. Whatever differences are present are extremely subtle, and a judgment as to which version presents better sound becomes more a matter of splitting atoms than splitting hairs. Generally speaking, though, all but the most critical and particular listeners can feel confident they are getting the best sounding version of this album yet released with this new mastering.

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 songs range from excellent to barely worthy of release ("Drunk Chicken"), but are all worth having if you are any sort of completist. For those who have always imagined that 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.

The concert presented on the DVD goes a good distance toward filling a gap that has existed in the U2 catalog for the last two decades - namely the absence of a full-length concert video from The Joshua Tree Tour. This video (the liner notes say it was filmed, but industrial-size video cameras are clearly visible onstage) features the entire concert U2 performed in the Paris Hippodrome on July 4, 1987, minus three cover songs (the concert openers "Stand By Me" and "C'Mon Everybody," and a rendition of "Help!" that they played between "Electric Co." and "Bad"). The band is in top form, playing a classic lineup of their songs, many of which have not been heard on later tours. Notably, they did not perform "Where the Streets Have No Name" at this concert, an omission that occurred a number of times on the European leg of the tour. The video direction is refreshingly plain, avoiding the overly moody lighting Phil Joanou employed in Rattle and Hum (the Paris footage was directed by Gavin Taylor), and without the short-attention-span jump cuts of the band's recent concert videos. The sound is an excellent LPCM stereo mix - not surround, it's true, but every bit as good as you would expect from a live album on CD. The sound is actually better than either the live tracks on the Rattle and Hum CD, or the fan club only release of the 1989/1990 New Year's concert at the Point Depot.

The documentary, "Outside it's America," basically plays like Rattle and Hum's little brother, only in color and not as well shot - and, frankly, not as interesting. On the other hand, it does not have the myth-making posturing that so marred Rattle and Hum. Both this documentary and the concert video show a more human, down-to-earth, less "god like" side of the band. Still, the documentary has a lot of footage that will likely be of interest to die-hard fans only. (It is worth noting that the documentary was directed by Barry Devlin and Meiert Avis, not Phil Joanou, and therefore is not an assemblage of rejected Rattle and Hum footage, as has been speculated elsewhere.) The two music videos are fair makeweights, but are hardly essential. The selling point of the DVD is without question the concert video, which many fans will find invaluable, making this set an easy choice over the two-disc Deluxe edition.

On the whole, this is an outstanding issue that more than makes good on its promises. Thoroughly recommended.

This is the ultimate edition of "Joshua Tree". Yes, it's not cheap but who cares as long as it makes you happy? And I was happy indeed as soon as I got my hands on this delux box (the box being nice and sturdy, too).

The album itself doesn't need an introduction. I guess most of the people reading this already have it. It is still worth buying the remastered version of the album though because it does sound great. Speaking of the bonus CD, most of these songs have already been released in one form or another - although it seems like they got cleaned up a little for this release, too ("Silver And Gold" definitely sounds more clear and crisp than any other version I heard). Only the last 5 songs on the bonus CD were actually new to me. "Beautiful Ghost" is a somewhat moody instrumental/spoken word composition. "Wave of Sorrow (Birdland)" is a pretty decent song, I can easily see it on the album itself. "Desert Of Our Love" is a more lighthearted, sorta-raggae song (yeah, I know it's not raggae, it just feels like it). "Rise Up" is OK to me. "Drunk Chicken/America" is another instrumental/spoken word meditation based on Allen Ginsberg's poem "America". My overall impression of the CDs: worth buying for the sound quality, the "new" songs "Birdland" and "Desert of Our Love" are worth a listen.

The DVD includes the July 4th, 1987 concert at Hippodrome de Vincennes, Paris, France, "Outside, it's America" documentary and "With Or Without You" (alternative take) and ""Red Hill MiningTown" videos.The concert is as good as any other Joshua Tree stadium concert gets, the video and audio quality are just fine (not Dolby, true, but definitel ybetter than your average bootleg VHS to DVD transfer - after all, it`s a bonus DVD, not a separate DVD release, so it's OK, I was quite satisfied). Some people are surprised that there is no "Where The Streets Have No Name" in the concert - well, that's because, believe it or not, it wasn't played that day - which makes it one of the "noncanonical" Joshua Tree concerts (most of the Joshue Tree concerts started with the song). The DVD contains pretty much the whole concert except for a couple of cover songs U2 played that night. "Outside, it's America" is sort of a band home video while on Joshua Tree in the US. I guess it was some of the "Rattle and Hum" footage which didn't make the cut. The documentary is great for U2 fans - though, it may be not as exciting for casual listeners of the band. Among the scenes in the documentary are shooting and the canonical versions "Where The Streets Have No Name" and "I Still Haven't Found" videos as well as the rare "In God's Country" and "Spanish Eyes" videos, plus some scenes from the road: flying, buyng cowboy boots and hats, shooting for the "Time" cover, rehearsals and playing some americana in what looks like a pub in Houston, Texas. Now, it's not in the main menue but if you fiddle with your DVD player remote you can access an unannounced bonus: The Dalton Brothers support performance in Los Angeles on November 18th, 1987. Who the heck are The Dalton Brothers, you ask? Why, Alton, Luke, Duke and Betty Dalton? It's a prank U2 played in some of their concerts: they dressed up in silly wigs, cowboy gear and dark glasses - Adam wearing a skirt, of course! - and pretended to be their own support band. The video/audio quility is not great, but it's still such a nice surprise for the fans of the band.

The box also contains a nice glossy hardcover book with band members', Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno etc. thoughts on the album, song lyrics (some of them handwritten by Bono) and some lesser-known photos and 5 more photo prints, which I think was a nice touch for this kind of edition.

To sum up: this edition is a must have for U2 fans. I only wish "Achtung Baby" got a similar treatment!

The Joshua Tree is one of those rare albums that came at the perfect time in a band's career, when everything that made them an excellent band converged to make them rank among the best of all time. They had certainly had fine albums before: The excellent debut, Boy; the underappreciated October; the brilliant War; and the more experimental album, The Unforgettable Fire (plus a couple decent live albums along the way). But this is the one that launched them to the stratosphere, both artistically and commercially.

The opening suite is about as good as it gets in music: Where the Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, and With or Without You. All of these are more than just great rock hits: they're part of the fabric of our time. Outside of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band, I can't think of a more amazing beginning to an album. The instant those echoed notes of Where the Streets Have No Name start to fade in, you know - whether it's the first time you've heard it or the thousandth - that you're in for a transcendent musical experience. There aren't many songs or albums that deserve this kind of excessive praise (Sgt. Pepper, Blood on the Tracks, Automatic for the People, Exile on Main St., Songs in the Key of Life, to name a few) and this is one of them.

Not only are the opening tracks incredible, and well-known to all, but the album continues with series of songs both hard-hitting, stunningly beautiful, totally heart-felt, and wonderfully pure, sometimes all at once. The production by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno is textured, nuanced, and completely appropriate for every song. This new, remastered version only enhances the production.

The second disc gives an even fuller picture of the band's sound from this peak era, expanding what was hinted at on the b-sides disc of their 1980-1990 greatest hits collection.

This edition exists for those who are unable or unwilling to shell out the money they're asking for the super-deluxe edition, which includes a concert dvd. For some of the more visually-oriented fans, that's definitely the edition to get. Others, who tend to watch a concert dvd only once or twice, but listen to cds (or ripped music on their computer or mp3 player) may find this the better deal. I, for one, think it's fantastic that the option exists. Rather than force people who want the second disc of Joshua Tree-era songs to pay a rather high price for the full cd/dvd package, fans can opt to buy only the remastered album and second disc.

The bottom line for me is that this is one of the greatest albums of all time, and this new edition has found a way to improve its presentation. With any luck, this deluxe edition will become the new standard for how artists release anniversary editions of their classic albums.

This is the only album I ever owned in which I wore out the vinyl copy AND the cassette and so had to get it on CD. I was always a U2 fan going back to "War" and "The Unforgettable Fire", but I know that a lot of people see this as their watershed album which, of course, it was. However, I also think the more recent U2 albums have been unfairly compared to this one, which if you think about it is silly since we should appreciate bands that don't stick with a successful formula just because it works and this album is as much of a departure from U2's early work as "Pop" is from this one. All that aside, this is why you should own this CD:

1) The production of Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno - listen to "Where The Streets Have No Name" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" with headphones and you'll hear what sonic layering can be in the hands of masters. 2) An uncanny match of lyrics and music - in the liner notes it says that "One Tree Hill" was written upon a friend's death. I would like to think that if I were ever in a similar situation I could come up with something that would evoke half the emotion that song does. 3) No bad spots - when was the last time you bought an album that was completely listenable all the way through?

I do think it's a shame that U2 has not been able to recapture the overall karma of this album in their subsequent years (not that they haven't tried) but I think the biggest testament to this album is that I have bought it for friends and relatives ranging in age from 45 to 17 and they all love it. That's one awesome album.