Joshua Tree

There is no remaster of this title to date (other than the MoFi mid 90's effort). The whole U2 back catalogue is in serious need of remastering.

I've owned the gold CD. It was OK but I'm listening to the latest Japanese release which is pretty nice and much, much less than the gold. Maybe $30, check CD Universe.

U2 sound quality has always been a little deficient. A deliberate "edge" sound to their music and poorly defined bass makes a great sound in a pub or in the car but less so on an audiophile system. Most of it has a real "garage" rough sound to it - I believe this is all intentional. Some albums are better than other - the long time Daniel Lanois collaboration is mainly responsible for this...Daniel is well respected for an amospheric or gritty sound ( rather than polished ) - he does Bob Dylan stuff too.

There is very little you can do, like the Stones - there is a roughness in the sound that U2 puts out (although the Stones did have an interlude in well recorded sound with Emotional Rescue and Tattoo You) I think Rattle & Hum is U2 at their peak.

If you prefer great sound in rock/pop then you must choose other artists (who deeply care about sound quality) and their sound engineers....Mark Knopfler/Chuck Ainlay for example. Tom Petty ( a sound fanatic). INXS (crazy about sound quality). Trevor Horn is probably the most famous engineer for his polished sound (remember Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Duran Duran Rio, Buggles Video Killed the radio Star, Grace Jones ,Seal, Simple Minds etc...all that highly polished stuff from the 80's). Alan Parsons is another famous engineer ( Pink Floyd ). An then there is Steely Dan....

Not to belabor the point, but you get the idea....IMHO Bono doesn't like being upstaged by anything or anyone ( including his backing band ) ...this may explain the U2 sound quality - nothing distracts from Bono!!!

Thanks all, was just getting tired of the audiophile fare of Dire Straights & gang. Will try the Jap release Rja. I wouldnt have Bono any other way, his obession with himself is part of his charm.

Shardone makes some good points but I have to disagree with the theory of seeking out and listening to music based on what is recorded well. I mean if this was the norm, we would all be listening to Dire Straights, Patricia Barbara, and god knows who else all the time. I cannot think of anything more lame or painful.

Sometimes you just have to meet the music halfway as it is not recorded perfectly. I mean I would love to see the U2 stuff re-mastered as well but change my musical tastes because it may sound thin due to age, come on.. Music is paramount, not the recording quality.

KiD