The other day my Joshua Tree boxed set arrived! At last! Seemed like forever since I ordered it. It was worth waiting for... a sumptous black and gold delight, with lots of goodies inside. A 56 page book filled with lyrics (some a copy of Bono's original hand written words, complete with scribbles); an envelope with 5 postcard pictures inside; and of course 3 discs... the remastered Joshua Tree, a CD with B-sides from the day, and some extra tracks... and finally the DVD I had been waiting for with bated breath!
I'll read the book soon, but for now I am obsessed with the music and the images. Many years ago I had a jumpy, scratchy video of part of a concert from Paris. Now I have it all (or most of it) in glorious, glitch-free technicolor!!! It's a real treat. Now, don't get me wrong, throughout his changing images and hair, I have always loved Bono best when he looks as he does "now", in the moment, because for me that is the "real" him. Even though sometimes he has REALLY tested my loyalty, like in 1988/89 when he had that too long dark hair, and in 1994/95 when he sported that pointy, devil-like beard and took to wearing tweed and grandad cardigans, and that cap that made him look like a Polish farmer or something (not that I am knocking Polish farmers, but they are not my romantic fantasy!).
But anyway, in this new (old) DVD, he looks glorious.... all long, lustrous hair (oh the colour, that lovely warm red) and 80's waistcoat and boots - gotta love the 80s! His face is unlined (weren't we all 20 years ago?!) and pure, and as always it is so weird to see Bono in the early days, before the map of his travels and experiences was drawn on his face. We've seen him grow up before our very eyes, and turn into the tireless campaigner he is.
So he leaps and dances and winks his way through the Paris gig, and it's great fun. Really good fun and wonderful to have something from that era that is such good quality.
The bonus videos on the disc are the alternative version of "With or Without You" (not very impressive in my opinion) and "Red Hill Mining Town" which is a great song, but the video has more cheese than a packet of Quavers! Very funny. But everyone looks so good in it. Adam is almost unrecognisable at the beginning! I just hope that no canaries were hurt in the filming because they are flapping all over the place and appear to be thrown in all directions!!!
There is a hidden video or "Easter Egg" as they are known, on the DVD. From the menu select "Videos" and when you get to the screen with the videos titles on, scroll up and highlight the line ABOVE "U2". Press enter and it will prompt you for a password. Enter "Betty" and you will get a couple of tracks from The Dalton Brothers.
Finally, the new songs on the bonus CD are great. I love "Wave of Sorrow". The music was created in the Joshua Tree sessions 20 years ago, but the lyric and vocal are from now, and you can really tell. It is so NOW, and again so "in the moment" that it is impossible to mistake it for old Bono. He had never had all those experiences 20 years ago, and then, he was deep into his American (both north and south) phase. "Wave of Sorrow" is a photograph of Africa.
"Rise Up" is another one I like on first playing but I need to listen to it more. That sounds to me so like Bruce Springsteen, and I know Bono was hanging out with him then and was influenced. America again... and you can't get more American than Bruce.
So that's my two cents and first impressions of the remastered Joshua Tree offering.
Opinions welcome.
2 comments:
Yes, he does look good in a vest, and that hair!! Wonderful days, the Paris DVD catches that moment in time perfectly
It's so funny watching him in concert from those days because he is almost a different person. So enthusiastic (not that he isn't full of energy now, but then it was more naive and innocent almost). It was like he was this big lumbering thing with no direction on stage, and that was great to watch. Nowadays he is much more of a polished showman, although he does still have some of that spontaneity. But I suppose what I am talking about is youth and energy!
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