U2

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When I first heard the song "Gloria", my initial reaction was to lump U2 in with all those no-hit wonders that filled the early music video days (The Burning Sensastions, The Swingers, etc...) Yet even before the song had ended, something told me that wasn't the case. Further listenings to the War songs increased my interest. Slowly but steadily, I became the consummate U2 fanatic, at its peak reaching nearly the same obsessiveness that I directed towards Genesis. (Another incentive was the cute boy "Radar", who graces the covers of many U2 albums and singles--especially their singles!) As all bands do, they eventually wimped out...

"Shadows and Tall Trees (The Early Demo's)" (bootleg)

1. "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" (3:48)
2. "Touch" (3:34)
3. "Another Day" (3:45)
4. "The Dream is Over" (3:00)
5. "Out of Control" (4:00)
6. "Boy/Girl" (3:30)
7. "Stories for Boys" (2:49)
8. "A Day Without Me" (3:42)
9. "No Mans Land" (3:53)
10. "Twilight" (4:44)
11. "Another Time/Another Place" (4:47)
12. "Lost on a Silent Planet" (2:20)
13. "Secret Mission" (4:23)
14. "Shadows and Tall Trees" (4:40)
15. "The Fool" (3:34)
16. "Like a Song"--demo (3:34)
17. "Surrender"--demo (4:11)
18. "I Will Follow"--live (3:54)
19. "Sunday Bloody Sunday"--demo (4:34)

First off, just let me say that the recording quality here STINKS!! Tons of surface noise, "tape crinkling" noises, in a couple points even sounding like whoever made this CD is fiddling with the mixer levels in the middle of recording...on the other hand, it *does* contain one long-sought-after track ("Another Day"), plus several tracks I've never even HEARD OF before ("The Dream is Over", "No Mans Land", "Lost on a Silent Planet", "Secret Mission" & "The Fool"), as well as including the songs from their "3" EP, the "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" single (although those two songs are so badly distorted, I'd be better off listening to my crappy vinyl...), and a few interesting demos of Boy songs. I'm not sure if "I Will Follow" is the same as the B-side of "Gloria" or not. The three War demos are quite a bit different, with Bono singing the female vocal parts on "Surrender". (They're also recorded at three times the volume of the other tracks...VERY painful when wearing headphones!!)

"Boy"

1. "I Will Follow" (3:36)
2. "Twilight" (4:22)
3. "An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart" (8:16)
4. "Out of Control" (4:13)
5. "Stories for Boys" (3:02)
6. "The Ocean" (1:34)
7. "A Day Without Me" (3:14)
8. "Another Time, Another Place" (4:34)
9. "The Electric Co." (4:48)
10. "Shadows and Tall Trees" (4:36)

U2 sure sings a lot about boys, don't they? Kinda makes you wonder... I got this album some time after getting into U2's music. "I Will Follow" of course is a classic tune, and "Electric Co." is one of my favorites ("Boy, stupid boy...") The slower songs, in particular "Shadows" and "The Ocean", I've never really cared for.

And to further prove that Americans are the most idiotic people alive, here's an interesting tidbit I found in the official U2 FAQ:

2.1.5 Wait, I don't see a boy on the "Boy" cover!!

{SL} That's probably because you have the US release of the album, which has been censored/edited to avoid child abuse implications.

[RA] The cover was changed in the States because of "a vague worry at the label that there might be a homosexual impression left from the boy's waist-up nakedness." (Ellen Darst)

[Ge] It was Warner's in the USA that changed the cover of Boy for fear of paedophilia claims.

"October"

1. "Gloria" (4:13)
2. "I Fall Down" (3:40)
3. "I Threw a Brick Through a Window" (4:55)
4. "Rejoice" (3:37)
5. "Fire" (3:50)
6. "Tomorrow" (4:37)
7. "October" (2:22)
8. "With a Shout" (4:03)
9. "Stranger in a Strange Land" (3:56)
10. "Scarlet" (2:54)
11. "Is That All?" (3:01)

Legend has it that the original lyrics to this album were stolen by an overzealous fan, so Bono had to ad lib most of the lyrics. Whether that's true or not, it shows. Except for "Gloria", of course, none of these songs rank among my favorites.

"War"

1. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (4:38)
2. "Seconds" (3:24)
3. "New Year's Day" (5:38)
4. "Like a Song..." (4:48)
5. "Drowning Man" (4:12)
6. "The Refugee" (3:40)
7. "Two Hearts Beat as One" (4:00)
8. "Red Light" (4:09)
9. "Surrender" (6:01)
10. "'40'" (2:08)

U2 really hit their stride with this album, though many songs took me awhile to get into (it was the first U2 album I ever bought.) "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is of course the ultimate anthem, and I get a kick pointing out how similar that title is to Black Sabbath's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath". :) "New Year's Day", with that video in the snow, and "Two Hearts" are also classics here. (The liner notes incorrectly lists "Two Hearts" as being 5:00 long.) The lesser-known tracks stand out as well: "Like a Song" rocks hard, "Drowning Man" wails like no tomorrow, and "Surrender" is pleasantly low-key. The beautiful "40" is taken from Psalm 40 in the Bible, betraying U2's Christian roots (something I think they've strayed from in future releases.) Totally unflattering picture of Radar...

"New Year's Day (long version)" (single)

1. "New Year's Day"--long version (5:36)
2. "Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop)" (3:24)
3. "Fire"--live (3:45)
4. "I Threw a Brick Through a Window/A Day Without Me"--live (6:58)

"Long version" means that they added an extra beat to the bridge, just before the guitar solo, which is REALLY annoying... However, "Treasure" is an exceptional B-side, and the live tracks are also quite fine. Oh, and did I mention what a cutie Radar is?

"Under a Blood Red Sky" (live EP)

1. "Gloria" (4:44)
2. "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" (4:43)
3. "I Will Follow" (3:42)
4. "Party Girl" (3:21)
5. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (5:26)
6. "The Electric Co." (4:58)
7. "New Year's Day" (4:36)
8. "'40'" (3:45)

I waited years for this piddly little EP to be rereleased as a "special edition" with the full Red Rocks concert, but finally gave up. (The videotape version contains about six extra songs.) The only real items of interest here are "11 O'clock Tick Tock" and "Party Girl", two ultra-rare singles that are IMPOSSIBLE to find on CD. Also, U2 likes to mix up their live versions: "Electric Co.", for example, has a completely different intro, and "Sunday Bloody Sunday" adds an extra chorus at the end. "New Year's Day", on the other hand, sounds pretty lousy since The Edge plays both piano AND guitar, and obviously can't do both at the same time!

"The Concert" (2CDR bootleg; Red Rocks, July 1983)

A bootleg of the entire Red Rocks show, with even more songs than the Under a Blood Red Sky videotape! Fantastic soundboard quality, albeit with a few minor dropouts here and there. "40" appears to be abruptly cut off, though.

"The Unforgettable Fire"

1. "A Sort of Homecoming" (5:26)
2. "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (3:47)
3. "Wire" (4:15)
4. "The Unforgettable Fire" (4:52)
5. "Promenade" (2:31)
6. "4th of July"--instrumental (2:11)
7. "Bad" (6:06)
8. "Indian Summer Sky" (4:16)
9. "Elvis Presley and America" (6:22)
10. "MLK" (2:34)

U2 tripped up their fans here by releasing an album of slower, less accessible tunes after their basically rock-oriented War. I still like it, except that "Pride" really gets on my nerves after being overplayed to death, and would you believe the video for the title track was ALSO filmed in the snow?? What originality... "Bad", a song about heroin addiction, is the best song here (plus I like how Bono would introduce the song in concert: "Some thing are good, this song is 'Bad'.") That song has also been covered by Dream Theater.

"Pride (In the Name of Love)" (single)

1. "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (4:40)
2. "Boomerang I"--instrumental (2:47)
3. "Boomerang II (Vocal)" (4:48)
4. "4th of July"--instrumental (2:24)

Huh..."Pride" here is LONGER than the album version!! Funny, I never realized that.

"The Unforgettable Fire" (single)

1. "The Three Sunrises" (3:52)
2. "The Unforgettable Fire" (4:52)
3. "A Sort of Homecoming"--live (4:06)
4. "Love Comes Tumbling" (4:44)
5. "Bass Trap" (5:13)

I think somebody must have dumped all his U2 singles after buying their Best of 1980-1990 collection, because I found this one mixed in with a few Rattle and Hum singles. Silly fool, he didn't realize this has the LONG version of "Bass Trap" -- or else he didn't care.

"Wide Awake in America"

1. "Bad"--live (7:59)
2. "A Sort of Homecoming"--live (4:04)
3. "The Three Sunrises" (3:46)
4. "Love Comes Tumbling" (4:41)

Talk about a total RIP-OFF release -- 2 live tracks plus 2 outtakes, three of which appear on various incarnations of the Unforgettable Fire single and/or greatest hits compilations. Only "Bad" here is exclusive, and it's a pisser of a version, with the Rolling Stones/Lou Reed medley edited out (or simply not sung, but I've never heard them sing that song in concert without the medley!) Plus, it's priced as a FULL CD, even the used cost is $6.99!! If I wasn't so anal about upgrading all my crappy vinyl, I never would have bothered with it.

"The Joshua Tree"

1. "Where the Streets Have No Name" (5:37)
2. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (4:37)
3. "With or Without You" (4:56)
4. "Bullet the Blue Sky" (4:32)
5. "Running to Stand Still" (4:18)
6. "Red Hill Mining Town" (4:52)
7. "In God's Country" (2:57)
8. "Trip Through Your Wires" (3:32)
9. "One Tree Hill" (5:23)
10. "Exit" (4:13)
11. "Mothers of the Disappeared" (5:14)

An absolute classic, starting out powerfully and getting better and better as it goes along. Some of the songs here are quite emotionally evocative, namely "Red Hill Mining Town" (covered by Dream Theater) and "One Tree Hill". I'm definitely sick of "Still Haven't Found..." by now, but only because I've heard it on the radio about a billion fucking times; still, I'd consider this easily one of the best albums of the 1980's.

(Oh yeah, watch the "With or Without You" video carefully...you can *definitely* see that woman's nipple!)

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (single)

1. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (4:36)
2. "Spanish Eyes" (3:14)
3. "Deep in the Heart" (4:30)

Yet another CD single by U2...

"Where the Streets Have No Name" (single)

1. "Where the Streets Have No Name" (4:46)
2. "Race Against Time" (4:04)
3. "Silver and Gold" (4:36)
4. "Sweetest Thing" (3:03)

I've been collecting U2 singles ever since I was into the band, since their non-album songs are usually pretty good. In fact, I've got nearly all of them on CD now, the only ones missing (that I know of, and not counting miscellaneous live tracks) are "Celebration", "Things to Make and Do", "J. Swallo" and "Sixty Seconds in Kingdom Come". (Oh, I've also got "Maggie's Farm" on the Live for Ireland compilation.) I've heard that U2 once released a limited edition CD package of ALL their early singles for something like $200, but I've never seen it anywhere, can somebody verify this??

"Rattle and Hum" (movie sountrack)

1. "Helter Skelter"--live (3:07)
2. "Van Diemen's Land" (3:06)
3. "Desire" (2:58)
4. "Hawkmoon 269" (6:22)
5. "All Along the Watchtower"--live (4:24)
6. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"--live (5:53)
7. "Freedom for My People" (0:38)
8. "Silver and Gold"--live (5:50)
9. "Pride (In the Name of Love)"--live (4:27)
10. "Angel of Harlem" (3:49)
11. "Love Rescue Me" (6:23)
12. "When Love Comes to Town"--featuring B.B. King (4:14)
13. "Heartland" (5:02)
14. "God Part II" (3:15)
15. "The Star Spangled Banner"--Jimi Hendrix live, instrumental (0:43)
16. "Bullet the Blue Sky"--live (5:37)
17. "All I Want is You" (6:30)

Believe it or not, I've never watched this movie...this is an uneven album, mostly comprised of outtakes (I think) and live tracks. "Helter Skelter" begins with Bono saying, "This is a song Charles Manson stole from The Beatles, and we're stealing it back!" How fucking presumptuous. And what's with cribbing that famous "Star Spangled Banner" solo by Jimi Hendrix? (And I was about to mention that "All Along the Watchtower" is another Hendrix cover, but of course it's not...Bob Dylan wrote that song.)

"The Best of 1980-1990" (limited edition 2-CD version)

I wonder if the fact that they only covered the era when they were actually GOOD is any indication of the band's lack of confidence in their current, musically deficient slop? Well let's forget about the CD with all their "hits" and focus on the 2nd CD of rare tracks & B-sides:

First of all, this is the type of compilation that makes me want to SCREAM. On the bright side, *all* of their Rattle & Hum B-sides are present; Joshua Tree is also well represented, the only omissions being "Race Against Time" and "Deep in the Heart". I was surprised to find "Bass Trap" here (from "The Unforgettable Fire" 12-inch single), but was mortified to discover that it's an EDITED version, almost 2 minutes shorter than the original! The "Boomerang" b-side tracks from "Pride" are completely ignored, as is "Sixty Seconds in Kingdom Come" from a rare, double-7" single I was lucky to find (although, it might be the same as "Bass Trap", I have a hard time listening to that crappy vinyl single because the groove is cut so close to the center, the damn needle retracts every time I try to play it.) As for everything up to War, only two tracks are included -- "Endless Deep" from the "Two Hearts Beat As One" single, and "...Party Girl", the B-side of "A Celebration", a song which was NOT released on any album and yet it's ignored here as well!! And guess what...the total length here is only 59:something, which means there's AT LEAST FIFTEEN MINUTES OF SPACE they could have filled up with more cool stuff!!!! "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" and the aforementioned "Celebration" certainly come to mind...

I should also mention that I was FORCED to buy this thing (after spending over $400 that same month...ack) when I read a cryptic message on a U2 site somewhere that said this limited edition would only be available for a week...(which turned out NOT to be a lie, since CDNow no longer lists it...) Oh yeah, the week this album came out, the 2-CD version debuted at number TWO on the Billboard album chart, while the 1-CD version started out at #22 or someplace. Kinda tells you what the fans REALLY want, eh??

"Achtung Baby"

1. "Zoo Station" (4:36)
2. "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (3:41)
3. "One" (4:36)
4. "Until the End of the World" (4:39)
5. "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" (5:16)
6. "So Cruel" (5:49)
7. "The Fly" (4:29)
8. "Mysterious Ways" (4:04)
9. "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World" (3:53)
10. "Ultra Violet (Light My Way)" (5:31)
11. "Acrobat" (4:30)
12. "Love is Blindness" (4:23)

At first I was thrilled by this CD, but it grew stale on me REAL quick. Not sure if it's because my musical tastes had changed or that the band had wimped out finally. "The Fly" and "Until the End of the World" are comparable to U2's older, classic material, but there's just TOO MANY radio-friendly songs here! Ah, shudder...

"The Fly" (single)

1. "The Fly" (4:29)
2. "Alex Descends into Hell for a Bottle of Milk/Korova 1" (3:37)
3. "The Lounge Fly Mix" (6:28)

The only Achtung Baby single I own, and Lord only knows when...or if...I'll get the other ones.

"Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me--music from the movie Batman Forever" (single)

1. "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" (4:47)
2. "Themes from Batman Forever"--instrumental (Elliot Goldenthal) (3:39)
3. "Tell Me Now" (Mazzy Star) (4:17)

I wrote the band off after Zooropa, which I listened to in-store and thought was the WORST piece of crap I'd ever heard. But something must have happened, because this song from the stupid Batman Forever movie is a fantastic rocker! Maybe their next album will be worth listening to...

...well, maybe I spoke too soon. Pop is out, and just the title makes me shudder...plus I saw the video for "Discotheque" and at first wondered, what the hell, did the Village People reuinte?? I'm not at all happy with the Euro-disco sound of that song, and if it's indicative of the whole CD, I've a feeling I'll pass on it...

on crappy vinyl:
• "Three" (7" EP)
• "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" -- 7" single b/w "Touch"
• "I Will Follow" -- 7" single b/w "Boy/Girl" (live)
• "A Day Without Me" -- 7" single b/w "Things to Make and Do"
• "A Celebration" -- 7" single b/w "Trash, Trampoline & the Party Girl"
• "Gloria" -- 7" single b/w "I Will Follow" (live)
• "Fire" -- 7" single b/w "J. Swallo"
• "Two Hearts Beat as One" -- double 7" single b/w "Endless Deep"
• "The Unforgettable Fire" -- dbl. 7" w/"60 Seconds in Kingdom Come"

videotapes:
• "Under a Blood Red Sky"

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