The following excerpt is from from Hot Press, December, 1987, from an article by Bill Graham with an interview with Edge and Bono:
[Edge:] "... For instance, we disagreed vehemently about what songs should go on the album. If Bono had his way, 'The Joshua Tree' would have been more American and bluesy, and I was trying to pull it back."
That compromise led to the later flood of new B-side tracks. Bono will argue that "the album is almost incomplete. 'With or Without You' doesn't really make sense without 'Walk to the Water' or 'Luminous Times'. And 'Trip Through Your Wires' doesn't make that much sense without 'Sweetest Thing.'
In an interview with Radio One in Dublin with Dave Fanning, Bono talks about how they originally thought of releasing a double album, but there were so few good double-album releases (he mentions Bob Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde" as being a good one). He also felt that their pared down version of "The Joshua Tree" was almost "too much" for one listen as it was released.
According to a U2 fan site, the "Restored" Joshua Tree Album would look something like this:
Side A:
Where The Streets Have No Name
Silver And Gold (Studio Version)
I Still Haven't Found...
Spanish Eyes
With Or Without You
Luminous Times
Walk To The Water
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running To Stand Still
Side B:
Red Hill Mining Town
Race Against Time
In God's Country
Trip Through Your Wires
Sweetest Thing
One Tree Hill
Deep In The Heart
Exit
Mothers Of The Disappeared
As a boy, I cannot think of anything that had a bigger impact on me musically than U2's fifth studio album "The Joshua Tree". It was one of the first records my parents ever let me buy, as well as one of my very first concert experiences.
I remember being drawn in by the album's unique ambient production, completely different to anything that what was going on recording-wise in the late eighties. And the songwriting was so pure and distinct, that it made me want to learn to write music of my own.
(Brian Eno & Danial Lanois - Producers)
One of the great things about revisiting this music twenty years later is that in it's simplest of interpretations, I'm reminded how timeless these songs truly are. But even more so, how every single song on the album is significant. Tracks like "Mothers Of The Disappeared" and "One Tree Hill" are as much a part of the Joshua Tree experience as "Where The Streets Have No Name" and "With Or Without You".
Jamestowne's 20th Anniversary Acoustic Tribute to the Joshua Tree was originally intended to be a live tribute. Kip and I had studied the album end to end so that we could play it in irish pubs over the summer around town, and remind people that it's actually been "twenty years" (haha).
But when we recorded a few demos (to get the gigs), and created this page to promote the shows, U2 fans from all over the world caught on to what we were doing, and have ever since been extremely encouraging. So much so that we decided to finish the rest of the album, which I must say has been an absolutely amazing experience.
One of the highlights had to be going town to Kip's to record some of his guitars, and when we started to work on "Exit", there was this strange churping noise coming from outside the room we were recording. Sure enough, it was a couple of crickets (if you're familiar with the original U2 version, you'll hear crickets on that one as well...lol).
Anyway, with all that this tribute has become, at the very least, it is intended to be an acknowledgement...that songwriters and musicians like U2 are one in a billion. And even rarer is a body of work like Joshua Tree, which has become an important part of musical history.
Hey Jamestowne - hope you're having a beautiful week! I absolutely love your "One Tree Hill" video! I put it on my page for my friends to see... You really have a unique cool take on the Joshua Tree album!
a href="http://www. host-style. com" target="_blank">.. Hey jimmy, I hope you are well... good vibration for your music... i send you bubbles with kisses... marilyn
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