"The Joshua Tree Singles Vinyl Collection: 1987 & 2017" - U2

Collection

Track Listing:

Background Information

This is the 2017 fan club gift from U2.Com. The digital downloads came under the name “The Joshua Tree Singles Vinyl Collection: 1987 & 2017” but the title on the physical release is “The Joshua Tree Singles: Remastered & Live”. The gift contains eight tracks, the four studio tracks from The Joshua Tree that had been used as singles in North America from 1987, and the same four songs recorded live in concert on the third leg of The Joshua Tree 2017 Tour. The physical release consists of four 10-inch vinyl records with one of the studio tracks on side A, and the same song live on side B. The label on side A contains a photograph by Anton Corbijn from 1987, and on the reverse is a photo from the 2017 tour taken by Ross Stewart. The four singles are “With or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Where the Streets Have No Name,” and “In God’s Country.” Each of the four were released as singles in North America.

The 2017 fan club gift should have been released in December 2016, however a notice that the gift would be delayed was posted at that time, with no details on the gift. Subscribers could then choose from the previous gift, or the unknown 2017 gift when resubscribing. The 2017 fan club gift from U2.Com was announced on May 3, 2017. Due to the songs being taken from live performances on an upcoming tour, the announcement said the set would not start to ship until September in one location, and Autumn in another.

On October 5, 2017, with little fanfare, U2.Com made the eight tracks from this vinyl set available for download on U2.Com. All eight files were downloadable as one zip file under the name, TheJoshuaTreeSinglesVinylCollection_1987and2017.zip. The eight song files are all encoded at 320kbs in mp3 format. Each file comes with a digital embedded artwork file, and the art is unique for each ‘single’ in the set. The encoding of the files was done using iTunes version 12.5.5.5. The individual tracks are numbered 1 through 8 in the set. The title of the set in the digital file is The Joshua Tree Singles Vinyl Collection: 1987 & 2017. At the time it was announced that the physical copies of the vinyl would not begin shipping until December.

The first physical copies of the gift began arriving on December 8, 2017. The four 10-inch records are packaged in plain black inner sleeves, and ship inside of the outer picture sleeves. The four picture sleeves are packaged together, and wrapped with an outer cardboard wrap which lists the name as “The Joshua Tree Singles: Remastered & Live”. The entire set was then stretch wrapped. As we write this, at the end of December 2017, not all subscribers have received their copies of the vinyl, and this is to be expected, as in past years it has taken approximately three months for most subscribers to report they have their vinyl after the first copies start arriving.

At least one U2.Com subscriber is reporting that the four vinyl set has shown up with the wrong vinyl packed in the set, with multiple copies of one title, and another missing. (In this case two copies of “With or Without You” and no copy of “In God’s Country”.) We would suggest opening these if you want to be sure that you have the full set, and not taking it for granted. (Thanks Andrew).

In early January U2.Com posted a note on their site regarding the lateness of the vinyl gift, “Following dispatch of initial orders, there were unexpected delays in production of the four 10” discs which form the new limited edition collection The Joshua Tree Singles Vinyl Collection: 1987 & 2017. Production is now underway again and dispatch of the gift will begin again in early February.” At that time approximately 78% of fans had not received their vinyl.

Liner Notes

With or Without You: Music: U2. Words: Bono. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Recorded by Flood. Assisted by Pat McCarthy. Mixed by Steve Lillywhite.

With or Without You (Live from the Joshua Tree Tour 2017): Music: U2. Words: Bono. Recorded by CJ Eiriksson. Recorded at Gillette Stadium, Boston, MA on the 25th June 2017. Mixed by Declan Gaffney

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For: Music: U2 Words: Bono. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Recorded by Flood. Additional engineering by Dave Meegan. Assisted by Pat McCarthy. Mixed by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno.

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (Live from the Joshua Tree Tour 2017): Music: U2. Words: Bono. Recorded by Richard Rainey. Recorded at FedEx Field, Washington, DC on the 20th June 2017. Mixed by Declan Gaffney.

Where the Streets Have No Name: Music: U2. Words: Bono. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Recorded by Flood with Pat McCarthy. Mixed by Steve Lillywhite. Mix Engineered by Mark Wallace.

Where the Streets Have No Name (Live from the Joshua Tree Tour 2017): Music: U2. Words: Bono. Recorded by Joe O’Herlihy. Recorded at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, KY on the 16th of June 2017. Mixed by Declan Gaffney.

In God’s Country: Music: U2. Words: Bono. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Recorded by Pat McCarthy / Flood. Mix Engineered by Dave Meegan.

In God’s Country (Live from the Joshua Tree Tour 2017): Music: U2. Words: Bono. Recorded by Alastair McMillan. Recorded at The Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL on 11th June 2017. Mixed by Declan Gaffney

Executive Producer and Creative Director: Gavin Friday. Production Manager: Nadine King. Mastering: Scott Sedillo, Bernie Grundman Mastering, Hollywood. U2.com: Sebastian Clayton, Martin Wroe, Django Bayless, Tim Honan.

Artwork

Photography: Anton Corbijn. Live photography from The Joshua Tree Tour 2017: Ross Stewart. Sleeve design and art direction: Shaughn McGrath at AMP Visual. Original cover design: Steve Averill.

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