Reviews
 Keep It Simple
Van Morrison
Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
Another Country
Tift Merritt
Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward
Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (DVD)
Juno – Music from the Motion Picture
Various Artists
Yes - Their Definitive Story
Day and Night Driving
Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
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U2
The recent surge in repackaged classic albums has resulted in confusion regarding their collective merit, especially when compared to the original releases. Most repackagings offer a few extra tracks and improved audio but little more. Also, the extra tracks are usually extraneous to the original product, providing little of interest to anyone except hardcore fans.
Every now and then, though, a re-released package manages to surpass the original release not because it reinvents the original album, but because it expands on that album’s innate strength. The original version of “The Joshua Tree” sold over 20 million copies and won a Grammy for Album of the Year. It is arguably U2’s strongest album, but there is no argument that this re-packaging expands on that album’s vision in every way.
The package itself is beautiful, consisting of a hardcover sleeve encasing two disks in a well-constructed box. The booklet contains excellent liner notes by critic Bill Flanagan as well as the Edge, with reproduced lyrics fleshed out by a generous collection of additional photos and artwork, including detailed listings of all related singles and their respective chart positions. Flanagan’s essay describes how the band utilized the landscape of American deserts that so impressed them while touring the country as a canvas to convey their own personal visions, while The Edge provides a more practical perspective on the details involved in recording these now-classic tracks. The remastered sound adds a clarity that becomes the meticulous production of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, but the real highlight (other than the album itself) is the compilation of recordings associated with the original album.
Every B-side from every single (or 12”, or CD single) appears on the bonus disk, as do all of the artfully constructed remixes, singles edits and five previously unreleased tracks, all artistically valid in their own right. I own an original copy of this album on vinyl, but this CD package reinvigorates the listening experience and updates the historic relevance of this great album. The re-issued version of “The Joshua Tree” is not solely for dedicated fans. It is for everybody.
Grade: 
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