Northern Wish

So U2 are releasing the 20th anniversary edition of The Joshua Tree. I remember hearing With Or Without You which was the first single from the album, in my parent’s kitchen while cleaning up after dinner the day it wase released to radio. I was somewhat unimpressed. It seemed a bit twee to me at the time. I always tend to like album tracks for most bands that I really am in to. I bought The Joshua Tree (album not CD) the day it came out and listened to it in headphones. It was one of those moments where you listen to something for the first time and you know Immediately that you are listening to an absolute classic album. I felt the same way the first time I heard Automatic For The People by REM and Grace by Jeff Buckley. It doesn’t happen often. Anyway I always preferred songs like “One Tree Hill”, “Mothers Of The Disappeared”, “Exit”, “Running To Stand Still”, and “Bullet The Blue Sky” to the singles such as “With Or Without You” or “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”.
With U2 I always like the obscure stuff over the singles. Things like “The Ocean”, “Elvis Presley And America”, “Promenade”, “Heartland”, “Hawkmoon 269″, “God Part2″, “Scarlet”, “Kite”, “Wild Honey”, “Zoo Station”, “Ultaviolet Light”, “Babyface”, “Zooropa”, “Surrender”, “40″, “Drowning Man” etc. These are the songs I want to hear in concert.

When I was in Grade 10 Cary Levine sold me a cassette copy of bsides from some of their early singles. Things I had never heard of and probably never would have heard until the dawn of the Internet had I not bought it from him. I paid $20 for a 90minute tape containing such songs as “Touch”, “Treasure”, “J.Swallow”, “Another Day”, “Boy/Girl”, “Trash, Trampoline and the Party Girl”, ”11 O’Clock Tick Tock” and the one that really stuck out for me which was “A Celebration”.

“A Celebration” is almost an unknown song in the U2 cannon. It was a 45 rpm single which was released between Boy and October. It was performed for the first time on February 25 1982 and has not been performed since March 1 1983.  I’m not sure why it has been lost but I have a feeling that the band are not comfortable with the religious aspects of the lyrics but who knows. Here is the video for the song
Here is the tracklisting for the 20th Anniversary Edition of The Joshua Tree. It comes out November 20 2007. 

2 CD & DVD Special Edition. Includes a 56 page hardback embossed book.

Disc: 1
1. Where The Streets Have No Name
2. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking
3. With Or Without You
4. Bullet The Blue Sky
5. Running To Stand Still
6. Red Hill Mining Town
7. In God’s Country
8. Trip Through Your Wires
9. One Tree Hill
10. Exit
11. Mothers Of The Disappeared

Disc: 2
1. Luminous Times (Hold On To Love)
2. Walk To The Water
3. Spanish Eyes
4. Deep In The Heart
5. Silver And Gold
6. Sweetest Thing
7. Race Against Time
8. Where The Streets Have No Name
9. Silver And Gold
10. Beautiful Ghost/Introduction To Songs Of Experience
11. Wave Of Sorrow (Birdland)
12. Desert Of Our Love
13. Rise Up
14. Drunk Chicken/America

DVD:
I Will Follow (Live From Paris)
Trip Through Your Wires (Live From Paris)
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (Live From Paris)
MLK (Live From Paris)
Unforgettable Fire (Live From Paris)
Sunday Bloody Sunday (Live From Paris)
Exit (Live From Paris)
In God’s Country (Live From Paris)
The Electric Co. (Live From Paris)
Bad (Live From Paris)
October (Live From Paris)
New Year’s Day (Live From Paris)
Pride (In The Name Of Love) (Live From Paris)
Bullet The Blue Sky (Live From Paris)
Running To Stand Still (Live From Paris)
With Or Without You (Live From Paris)
Party Girl (Live From Paris)
“40″ (Live From Paris)
Outside It’s America - 40 minute Documentary
With Or Without You - Music Video, Alternative Version
Red Hill Mining Town - Music Video