Should "Heartland" have been on The Joshua Tree?

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I agree totally. TTYW should have been for RnH, however, the earlier version heard from their performance before the album was released was a bit different... it just shows how their songs develop and don't necessarily turn out the same song as they started.
Just look at Ultraviolet! You get Light My Way, The Fly, and Lady with the Spinning Head from that one song that never came to fruition, just birthed various other songs.

Anyway, I much prefer Heartland to TTYW, it's a top song :D.

WHYWHY.
 
1. Heartland used with the word as ?leftover? kind leaves a bad taste in my mouth. According to The Edge in the book Into The Heart the song Heartland was already ?on? JT but replaced with Trip at the last minute.

2. As David pointed out Heartland was produced by Lanois and Eno. As we know Lanois and Eno were not involved with R&H.

3. Some people have expressed their opinion that JT is a ?masterpiece? and that it?s ?perfection.? I do not disagree. But at the same time it does not mean that I or others by adding a track (already intended for it) or by changing the track order or even adding other songs from the JT recording sessions are claiming to be superior to U2! or have the intention of ?messing up? the album or that it represents a form of criticizing the album or etc. It can be a way of appreciating it in a new light. It can be a means of gaining a different perspective on it.

4. I agree with Popmartijn that likely the band chose Trip not because it is superior to Heartland but because it ?lightened? up an already heavy / intense / serious album (U2 tends to do that on a regular basis and generally at the same place in an album i.e. Throw Your Arms / Some Days / Miami / Wild Honey.

5. The intensity of the vocals particularly at the end of it shares a similarity with the vocals of Red Hill and the end of One Tree Hill. So the band may have felt that the addition of Heartland may have been pushing too much of this ?passion.?

6. Maybe they felt the album was already too critical of America? I find that the lyrics of Heartland are veiled criticism of America (?She feels like water in my hand - Freeway like a river cuts through this land - Into the side of love - Like a burning spear - And the poison rain - Brings a flood of fear? = some negative images there with crucifixion / poison rain (acid rain?) / flood of fear). And then there is Bono?s vocal delivery near the end of it. It expresses an intense frustration and yearning. At this part the way Bono pronounces / screams Heartland sounds more like Hardland. America began as a fertile land for both its natural resources and incredible beauty as well as for freedom / liberty / and the pursuit of happiness. Yet it has turned into a Hardland ? dried up ? wasteland ? a desert (figuratively and literally) ? hardened soil (pollution / pesticides ? acid rain) and hardened land (concrete ? asphalt ? super highways ? parking lots) ? the hardened heart of America through Reaganomics (the raping of the land / the increase of the disparity between the rich and poor / the oppression of Third World countries (i.e. El Salvador / Nicaragua / Chile / and Argentina).

7. JT with 12 songs. Why not? (Though not necessarily always the case) hey - the more the better. 12 tracks is not excessive number for a album. At least it allows a fairer comparison to U2?s other Legend Album > Achtung Baby with 12 tracks. I do not know the time limitations of vinyl records so maybe it was also a matter of JT already being too long of an album?

8. I believe Heartland is an excellent song and that it fits lyrically / vocally / and musically on JT.

Side A

Streets
Still Haven?t Found
WOWY
Bullet
Running Stand Still
Red Hill

Side B

Heartland
In God?s Country
Trip Through Your Wires
One Tree Hill
Exit
Mothers
 
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I do not believe that a R&H studio album desperately needs Heartland. With a track list like this it could have been a strong album. Definitely a different type of U2 album with a handful of blues-rock influenced songs mixed in with a handful of country-rock influenced songs. (Still debating the placement of Angel Of Harlem [maybe Lovetown should be moved to follow it])

R&H Studio Album

1. Desire
2. Hallelujah Here She Comes
3. A Room At The Heart Break Hotel
4. Hawmoon 269
5. She's A Mystery To Me
6. Slow Dancing
7. All I Want Is You (Edit [the last part with the violins])
8. Angel Of Harlem
9. Van Diemen?s Land
10. Love Rescue Me
11. When Love Comes To Town (Live From The Kindgom Mix)
12. God Part II

* A majority of the R&H songs were written on the JT Tour including She?s A Mystery To Me (apparently there is a U2 studio recording of it from Sun Studios session. Instead we have the only full band and live version which is from December 30th 1989. At least it is soundboard quality.) and Slow Dancing (I?ve chosen Bono?s version found on the Stay single). (Live From The Kindgom Mix) is an official mix. An excellent one with better drums and other features. For those who do not care too much for the original version I highly recommend this version.
 
U2Soar said:
* A majority of the R&H songs were written on the JT Tour including She?s A Mystery To Me (apparently there is a U2 studio recording of it from Sun Studios session. Instead we have the only full band and live version which is from December 30th 1989. At least it is soundboard quality.)

Just to add, there's also a full band live version from Rotterdam, 6 January 1990 (which is even better IMO as it also features backing vocals from BB King's band).

Oh, and suggesting the edited All I Want Is You is of course heresy! :D

C ya!

Marty
 
Thanks Popmartijn for pointing that out. I forgot about it. According to FLOM the Rotterdam version of Mystery Girl is rated as ?very good audience recording? (though this concert may have remastered by now?). It is a very good performance with Bono hitting the high notes at the very end of the song better than Dublin. Dublin has horns played throughout whereas as you noted Rotterdam has the backing vocals of 2 women throughout.
 
madonna's child said:
There are a lot of people that consider JT a masterpiece and would never tamper with perfection. Your opinion?

Heartland is an amazing song, but it doesn't belong on The Joshua Tree. I consider JT a masterpiece and would never tamper with perfection. :D
 
typhoon said:
In any case, I think the flaws often define a work as strongly as its merits. "4th of July" is hardly the most interesting thing on The Unforgettable Fire, for instance, but I wouldn't take it off because it's so much a part of the album's mood. It's an insubstantial track on its own, but it makes the album a better whole.

I think "Trip Through Your Wires" fits perfectly where it is (and it's hardly the only moment on the album where they channel American folk and blues music; it's just the most obvious). It's the sweet that goes with the sour on what is lyrically a bummer of a record (and it may be a weak spot lyrically, but this is an album remarkable as much for mood as poetry).
yep I totally agree


U2girl said:


Let's keep the ATYCLB knocing in one thread shall we?
if only that would happen
fat chance I know, but it would be nice
 
We could just introduce a totally 1984 way of life here at Interf too ;)

Anyway...lol I adore Heartland, and agree with the idea of it fitting on JT, but then I think of the R&H video and it worked great in there too. Actually from the video perspective it deems to work a whole lot better for many reasons, which everyone here is familiar with so I wont wank on. :p
 
Surprises me that no one's mentioned it, but it was omitted at the last second because they wanted a song they could play live and 'heartland' was not that song.
For all the popular impressions the "joshua tree" leaves about being about/of/within the American landscape it deals mostly with other countries (as mentioned above); some dealing with the 'products' of American foreign policy ('Bullet') but none specifically set within an American landscape.
'In God's County' and 'Streets' although always linked with America seem relate more directly to Africa--Ethiopia specifically.
'Running to Stand Still' = Ireland.
'Mother's..." = Chile
'One Tree Hill" = New Zealand, etc., etc.

Personally I like "heartland" much more than TTYW...but I think they made the right decision...Rattle N' Hum is more directly American to me and "heartland" fits right in like foam on the head of a Guinness.
 
You need your head examining if you think you can just tamper with The Joshua Tree. Stop fucking up the tracklisting, Heartland was the only standout track on 'R+H' apart from God Pt. II. So that is where it shall stay. :madspit:
 
Originally posted by
Heartland was the only standout track on 'R+H' apart from God Pt. II.

Hawkmoon 269?
 
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I believe there is a number of wonderful tunes on R&H.

A R&H Studio Album

1. Desire (2:59)
2. Hallelujah Here She Comes (Best Of?4:00)
3. A Room At The Heart Break Hotel (Best Of?4:34)
4. Hawmoon 269 (6:22)
5. She's A Mystery To Me (4:13) (Live - Dublin 1989 or Rotterdam 1990)
6. Slow Dancing (3:20) (Bono's Stay single acoustic version)
7. All I Want Is You (Single Edit 4:14)
8. Angel Of Harlem (3:49)
9. Van Diemen?s Land (3:06)
10. Love Rescue Me (6:23)
11. When Love Comes To Town (Live From The Kindgom Mix) (7:28)
12. God Part II (3:15)
 
Look at my little thread that could! I've never had a thread I've started go to four pages, I'm so proud! Anyway, to continue the discussion...

I agree with U2 Soar, a studio version of Rattle and Hum would have been really strong. I think the inclusion of live material makes the identity of the album really confusing.
 
Off topic: I like R&H exactly the way it is. It's a very strong album in my opinion, very different from the other U2 records in terms of songwriting and the dynamics of the album is different from anyone else?s records because of the live songs that, in my humble opinion, sound really good with the studio stuff. Hawkmoon 269, Angel Of Harlem, Desire, God Part II, All I Want Is You are among their best songs ever. One of my favorites.
 
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