Should "Heartland" have been on The Joshua Tree?

[madonna's child]

I read somewhere that Heartland was a leftover from the Joshua Tree sessions. I think you can tell, it doesn't really match up with the sound of the recordings done specifically for Rattle and Hum. I think The Joshua Tree would maintain a more fluid sound had Heartland been put on it and Trip Through Your Wires been taken off and saved for Rattle and Hum. (I think TTYW has a much more "American" sound that the band was looking for on Rattle and Hum.) So my ideal JT track list would be:

Where the Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
With or Without You
Bullet the Blue Sky
Running to Stand Still
Red Hill Mining Town
Heartland (I think it would sound better here then after IGC)
In God's Country
One Tree Hill
Exit
Mothers of the Disappeared

But, of course, there are a lot of people that consider JT a masterpiece and would never tamper with perfection. Your opinion?

 

[david]

yeah i would have replaced trip through your wires with it

 

[MrBrau1]

No, Heartland is garbage.

 

[martha]

Heartland isn't as good as Trip.

 

[Axver]

TTYW is a really poor track and I cannot comprehend why it was put on JT instead of other quality stuff - not just Heartland, but some b-sides too. Heartland is one of U2's best songs and DEFINITELY should've been on JT. Tamper with perfection? JT's not perfection. Or if it is, it'd be even more with Heartland. TTYW is horrid ... but fun sometimes.

 

[intedomine]

Mmm Yeah heartland is a lot better than ttyw, and as much as i love the joshua tree, theres another track id wouldnt mind swapping wit a bside....

Luminous Times for Exit.....that would make the album u2's greatest for me....

STREETS
STILL HAVENT FOUND
WITH OR WITHOUT YOU
BULLET THE BLUE SKY
RUNNING TO STAND STILL
RED HILL MINING TOWN
IN GODS COUNTRY
HEARTLAND
ONE TREE HILL
LUMINOUS TIMES
MOTHERS OF THE DISAPPEARED

wow...that is one heck of a track listing.......exits good, but its bside material

 

[Bunbury]

Wow, question for the ages. Which tracks should have been on JT?
I have always thought Heartland should have been on JT instead of RH, but besides that I think the other b-sides doesn't really fit with the theme of JT. I thik the other b-sides were at a different vibe.

 

[MrBrau1]

Exit gives the album it's balls.

 

[BluberryPoptart]

I don't give a hoot about "balls" Exit does not fit in with the rest of the album and I don't like it. Replace it with Heartland.

 

[typhoon]

But, of course, there are a lot of people that consider JT a masterpiece and would never tamper with perfection. Your opinion?

Beatles fans have similar discussions over how much better Sgt. Pepper's would have been if "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" were included. One of the more poignant observations I've read about this is that even these two songs could hardly have made a five-star album a six- or seven-star album. That is to say, it's perfect for what it is; I tend to think that discussions like this are meaningless. Would the Mona Lisa be more perfect somehow if someone fixed the crooked background? At what point does a fan-mutated tracklist stop being the artists' vision and start being the fan's vision? Does that make it a different piece of art altogether?

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).

 

[discothequeLP]

TTYW is so great live! The band really proves why they put it on the album, or maybe their making up for the SUCKY album version, but on the JT tour, that song rocked the house.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

I like it on R&H but I guess it would sound fine on JT too, but I would never replace it for TTYW. TTYW is a great track, great harmonica, awesome solo, good drumming, hypnotic bass, cool lyrics and fun singing. I would add Heartland to the track list:


Where The Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
With Or Without You
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running To Stand Still
Heartland
Red Hill Mining Town
Trip Through Your Wires
In God's Country
One Tree Hill
Exit
Mothers Of The Disappeared


Having it just after RTSS would sound really good I think, very smooth. I would also change the sequencing, I would have TTYW after RHMT and IGC after TTYW. If I HAD to replace a song on the record I would take RHMT off and put Heartland. I don't know why people like RHMT so damn much.

 

[martha]

All this talk of replacing Trip and Exit with Heartland, another damn slow song! I guess too much rock on a U2 lp makes some people uncomfortable.

Must be the ATYCLB fans.

 

[MrBrau1]

Luckily, the band are smarter than the fans. JT w/Heartland instead of Exit or Trip would blow.

 

[sue4u2]

Really, why does anything have to be replaced. Just keep adding till there are 15 - 16 songs. (My wish for the next album!)

 

[Popmartijn]

All this talk of replacing Trip and Exit with Heartland, another damn slow song! I guess too much rock on a U2 lp makes some people uncomfortable.

Must be the ATYCLB fans.

Actually, I think that was also one of the reasons the band argued against including Heartland on The Joshua Tree. Trip Through Your Wires is a bit more lightweight (in mood, not in quality) and is some much needed relief from all the sorrow on the rest of the tracks.
Should it had been replaced by Heartland, the the album would've become too heavy (according to the band).

C ya!

Marty (really likes Trip Through Your Wires and thinks Exit is the best song on The Joshua Tree)

 

[U2girl]

All this talk of replacing Trip and Exit with Heartland, another damn slow song! I guess too much rock on a U2 lp makes some people uncomfortable.

Must be the ATYCLB fans.

Let's keep the ATYCLB knocing in one thread shall we?

I think Heartland would fit on JT nicely, maybe even more on that album than Rattle and Hum. Not replacing any songs, just added.

 

[U2zoogirl]

I think that heartland is in its right place.... cuz I think that Rattle and hum is like a trip book, where you can tell all your traveling experiences, and heartland, for me, is a song about the impression that the USA left in U2...

 

[BluberryPoptart]

I think Heartland fits better on it because JT was kind of a theme album, the American west, the desert, Route 66, the mood music. Exit and Mothers have nothing to do with the rest of the album and sound out of place. IMO they kind of ruin the feel of it. That's why I skip them. Heartland would go perfectly with the spirit, feel and subject matter of IGC and RHMT.

 

[OzAurora]

no way, I think Heartland is one of those unique U2 songs, in that it is a gem of a song- it could of been a single and it is sometimes overlooked. I think it fits in nicely with the overall theme of Rattle and I think that had it been on JT, then maybe the overall impact of the song might of been lost cause there are a lot of heavywieght songs on JT, so Heartland just might of been overshadowed and then there would of been one less of a reason to own a copy of Rattle, which is not the best U2 album, by any stretch. But at least with heartland on it, it is just a little more magical


oh and for trivia sake, I really like Trip- I can never understand the bashing that this song gets, maybe I am just a sucker for harmonicas!

 

[Rachel D.]

"Heartland" is my favorite U2 song. "Trip Through Your Wires" is a corny disaster that RUINS The Joshua Tree. It sticks out like a sore thumb, while "Heartland" would have added more beauty. Though I will admit that if I go a long, long time without hearing it, TTYW sounds OK. A LONG, LONG time.

 

[rafmed]

Heartland is a leftover, The Joshua Tree is great as it is, period.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

Being named HeartlandGirl, I should probably weigh in on this...

I like the idea of adding Heartland to JT more than replacing Trip with Heartland. I think it would have worked. That being said, I also like having Heartland on R&H. My feelings about it are like U2zoogirl's--it fits the theme of traveling in America. Once, as I was driving through Mississippi into Tennessee and getting ready to drive across the Mississippi River, I listened to R&H and put it on Heartland right as I drove across the river. Especially in that situation, Heartland really fits perfectly on R&H.

And for the record, since the song keeps getting mentioned here, I just want to say that Exit is also probably my favorite song on JT.

 

[~*Buffalo*~]

I wouldn't replace it. Heartland is one of the best songs on R&H and it would have been a lesser album if it hadn't have been included. JT is good as it is (although I never listen to the last two songs, and I don't actually think of them as JT songs!) TTYW is a great song and yes, maybe it does sound more like a R&H track but I'm happy with where it is.

 

[Saracene]

I consider JT a masterpiece but I don't think it's perfect. I don't mind Trip Through Your Wires at all, but I'd definitely throw away the sluggish bore that is "Exit". What a horrible sloppy mix, too.

I guess "Heartland" could fit on JT reasonably well, but personally for me it's a bit of a frustrating song. It starts out beautiful and promising and then that terrible bit comes along when Bono reaches out for the notes that just ain't there and sounds like his throat is full of sand and dust. Maybe it adds something for some people, but it just makes me cringe. Especially considering how powerful, fluid and "golden" his voice is on the other R&H songs.

 

[BrownEyedBoy]

Joshua Tree is good and it would have definitely been better with Heartland on it. Keep the rest of the songs in it- only difference is Heartland is now in it.

 

[intedomine]

"Heartland" is my favorite U2 song. "Trip Through Your Wires" is a corny disaster that RUINS The Joshua Tree. It sticks out like a sore thumb, while "Heartland" would have added more beauty.

Very much agreed, TTYW just seems to drag on without inspiring a lotta eardrum seduction like one tree hill and heartland

....it is a very very very ordinary u2 track, and IMO, would be more at home on the comparatively weaker album, Rattle and Hum especially considering the mood of song....


TTYW, as matter of opinion, is weaker than probably all the tracks off October....

 

[Popmartijn]

I think Heartland fits better on it because JT was kind of a theme album, the American west, the desert, Route 66, the mood music. Exit and Mothers have nothing to do with the rest of the album and sound out of place. IMO they kind of ruin the feel of it. That's why I skip them. Heartland would go perfectly with the spirit, feel and subject matter of IGC and RHMT.

Actually, I think Exit and Mothers quite well fit the theme of The Joshua Tree. The way I look at it, Exit describes the emotional/spiritual desert of a man going over the edge (no pun intended of course). Mothers is the closing song that while incredibly sad, also contains a bit of hope (We hear their heartbeat). It's kinda like a desert where there this flower is starting to grow.

C ya!

Marty

 

[U2Kitten]

I have always thought it belonged on JT.

 

[david]

It should HAVE BEEN ON THE JOSHUA TREE! It was, afterall, produced by Eno and Lanois.