News Update: Joshua Tree downloads and another “Best Thing” video

Original Story by Don Morgan (2017-10-06)

Here’s a quick update on a couple of developments in the U2 arena this week.

First, U2.com announced yesterday that the audio downloads for The Joshua Tree Singles Vinyl Collection: 1987 & 2017 are now available to subscribers. To download the tracks, you need to be logged in to your U2.com account and you need to have selected the vinyl set as your Fan Club gift. The downloads are accessible via your account page as a zip file containing all eight tracks.

The eight tracks, which are all in mp3 format, include the 2007 remastered album versions of “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 song is paired with a corresponding live version, all of which were recorded on US dates of The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 in June. The tracks are labeled as follows:

*With Or Without You (Live from The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 Recorded at Gillette Stadium, Boston, MA on the 25th June 2017)
*I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (Live from The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 Recorded at FedEx Field, Washington, DC on the 20th June 2017)
*Where The Streets Have No Name (Live from The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 Recorded at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, KY on the 16th June 2017)
*In God’s Country (Live from The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 Recorded at The Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL on the 11th June 2017)

These live tracks, along with their studio counterparts, will be available in physical format on a set of four 10-inch vinyl records. In announcing the availability of the downloads yesterday, U2.com said “Production of the physical release, the vinyl singles, is now underway and we will have news on delivery times in the next few weeks.”

Speaking of live tracks from the tour, we also recently hinted that U2 would be contributing to another compilation beyond the previously announced T. Rex tribute album. Details for that second project were announced earlier this week. The album is called The Joshua Tree—New Roots, and it is a various artist compilation being released on 27 October by Universal Music Ireland and 2FM in support of LauraLynn, Ireland’s Children’s Hospice. The project features a variety of up-and-coming Irish artists covering all 11 tracks from U2’s Joshua Tree album. In addition, U2 themselves have contributed an exclusive bonus track to the project, a live version of “Red Hill Mining Town” recorded at one of the Amsterdam shows in July. The Joshua Tree—New Roots will be available in digital and CD formats. Full track list and cover art below:

1. Gavin James-Where The Streets Have No Name
2. Imelda May-I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
3. Picture This-With or Without You
4. All Tvvins-Bullet the Blue Sky
5. Kodaline-Running To Stand Still
6. Aine Cahill-Red Hill Mining Town
7. The Academic-In God’s Country
8. The Strypes-Trip Through Your Wires
9. The Coronas-One Tree Hill
10. Fangclub-Exit
11. Lyra-Mothers of the Disappeared
12. U2–Red Hill Mining Town–Live from The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 EXCLUSIVE BONUS TRACK

Finally, on October 5 U2 released a fourth video for “You’re the Best Thing About Me.” You can watch the clip below. This new “documentary” version, directed by Georgian filmmaker Tatia Pilieva, follows the original lyric video ( released September 6), the “Kygo vs. U2” version (released September 16), and the New York version (released September 27). As has been reported, a fifth video for “You’re the Best Thing About Me” was shot in Amsterdam during the European leg of the Joshua Tree 2017 Tour. That version remains unreleased as of this writing. We’re putting together an entry for the “documentary” version in our Videos section. We’ll also have more details on the Joshua Tree live singles in our digital releases section soon. Stay tuned!

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