The 1987 release of U2's landmark album The Joshua Tree was one of those rare events in music that altered its course forever. Certainly it changed things for the band. Some would say it probably pushed Bono a whole lot further along in his quest to save the world. Although on that point I'd simply argue Bono's Messiah complex was already pretty well established.
No, what The Joshua Tree did was put U2 on the map for real and for good. This was no longer simply the biggest cult band in the world. With The Joshua Tree, U2 actually found itself in that unique part of the rock and roll stratosphere reserved for the likes of the Beatles, the Stones, Springsteen, and Dylan. U2 had become important.
On this documentary DVD, part of the Classic Albums Series from Eagle Vision, the making of what became U2's career making record is discussed at great length by everyone who was involved. There are interviews with all four members of U2 as well as manager Paul McGuinness and producers Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Steve Lillywhite. Elvis Costello even gets in on the act here — describing how he queued up for the midnight sale of Joshua Tree just like all of the other U2 fans the day of its release.
If you are bored by things like minute production details and record producer tech-speak, you'd be best advised to steer clear of this DVD. However, if you are one of those fans who dissects his music down to every single note played, there is a virtual candy store of information waiting here for you. In fact, a great deal of this DVD is actually set before a recording console where knobs are twiddled and sounds you never heard before (or never made it to the final mix) are explored for the very first time.
The recording process for "Where The Streets Have No Name" makes for a particularly fascinating story. Said to have driven producer Brian Eno to the brink of madness (he seriously pondered an "accident" destroying the master tape), Lanois, Eno, Bono, and Edge take turns recalling how the song took "hours, days, weeks" to finish. Eno even claims this single song accounted for half of the time spent on the entire record. Back to twiddling the knobs, individual parts of the song are then dissected. Steve Lillywhite plays a part he quite hilariously refers to as when "U2 became Depeche Mode."
Article comments
1 - SFC SKI
For me, after "War" U2 became a lot less fun to listen to. I ignored them until "Achtung Baby" came out, enjyed it immensely, then ignored them again. That being said, I really like these "Making of..." videos, I am sure I'd like this one as well; good production is always worth listening to.
2 - Glen Boyd
Just be prepared for a whole lot of tech-speak Ski, If you are into that kind of thing, I guarantee that you'll like this video.
-Glen
3 - SphinxMontreal
Adam calls the "Joshua Tree" the first techno record. Obviously, he has never heard of Kraftwerk, who was producing "techno" music a decade earlier in the late '70s.
I'll save my cash for something of value and take a pass on this one. Although their music is some of the best around, these guys are just a total bore on camera (Rattle and Ho-Hum Boredom anyone?).