albums

Rattle And Hum

Rattle And Hum Front Sleeve

Rattle And Hum
Front Sleeve | Purchase Album

Release Date: October 11, 1988

Highest Chart Position: UK: 1 USA: 1

Liner Notes:

Produced by: Jimmy Iovine. Manager: Paul McGuinness. Words: Bono. Music: U2. Except: The Star Spangled Banner: Performed by Jimi Hendrix, Freedom For My People: Performed by: Sterling Magee on Guitar/Percussion and Adam Gussow on Harmonica. Sound post production for the album and movie done at A&M Studios, Hollywood. Post production engineering by: David Tickle. All live recording by Remote Recording Services (The Black Truck) operated by David Hewitt with Phil Gitomer, Fritz Lang, J.B. Matteotti. Additional Engineers Don Smith, Rob Jacobs, Randy Staub, Bob Vogt and Marc De Sisto, assistant engineers Brian Scheuble, Ethan Johns. Additional overdubbing at Conway Recording with assistants Richard McKernan and Gary Wagner. Mastered by Arnie Acosta, A&M Mastering Studios/LA. Studio Crew: Sam O'Sullivan, Cheryl Engels, Fraser McAlister, Des Broadbery. Music Production Co-Ordinator: Fregg McCarty. Product and Art Co-Ordinator: Anne-Louise Kelly. Principle Management: New York Director: Ellen Darst, Keryn Kapan, Sheila Roche, Debbie Bernadini. Dublin Director: Anne-Louise Kelly, Barbara Galavan, Suzanne Doyle, Jackie Bennett, Cecilia Coffey, Brigid Mooney, Cillian Guidear, Marc Coleman. Camp Commandant: John Clark Tour Manager: Dennis Sheehan. Assistant to Dennis Sheehan: Theresa Pesco.

Track List:

  1. Helter Skelter (3:07)
  2. Van Diemen's Land (3:06)
  3. Desire (2:59)
  4. Hawkmoon 269 (6:22)
  5. All Along The Watchtower (4:24)
  6. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (5:53)
  7. (Freedom For My People) (0:38)
  8. Silver And Gold (5:50)
  9. Pride (In The Name Of Love) (4:27)
  10. Angel Of Harlem (3:49)
  11. Love Rescue Me (6:23)
  12. When Love Comes To Town (4:14)
  13. Heartland (5:02)
  14. God Part II (3:15)
  15. (The Star Spangled Banner) (0:43)
  16. Bullet The Blue Sky (5:37)
  17. All I Want Is You (6:30)

Catalog:

  • Australia: Island 842 299-2
  • Brazil: Island 842 299-1
  • Canada: Island CIXD-1204, Island A2 91003, Island ISL2-1204 (Brown Vinyl)
  • Germany: Island, 303 400-1, Island 303 400-2
  • Israel: Island BANU27
  • Japan: Island R36D-2117B, Island PHCR-1707
  • Sweden: Island U2 7
  • UK: Island U2 7, Island CIDU 27, Island 353 400, Island 842 299-5 (Digital Compact Cassette), Island U27 Rattle and Hum "Flight Case" (Promo / CD, LP and CASSETTE in Flight Case with Leather Tag / 300 Copies)
  • USA: Island 91003-1, Island 91003-2, Island 91003-4, Island 422 842 299-2

Media Review:

Review: Rattle and Hum

3 stars (out of 5)

By Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Functioning as both the soundtrack to the group's disastrous feature-film documentary and as a tentative follow-up to their career-making blockbuster, Rattle and Hum is all over the place. The live cuts lack the revelatory power of Under a Blood Red Sky and are undercut by heavy-handed performances and Bono's embarrassing stage patter; prefacing a leaden cover of "Helter Skelter" with "This is a song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles, and now we're stealing it back" is bad enough, but it pales next to Bono's exhortation "OK, Edge, play the blues!" on the worthy, decidedly unbluesy "Silver and Gold." Both comments reveal more than they intend -- throughout the album, U2 sound paralyzed by their new status as "rock's most important band." They react by attempting to boost their classic rock credibility. They embrace American roots rock, something they ignored before. Occasionally, these experiments work: "Desire" has an intoxicating Bo Diddley beat, "Angel of Harlem" is a punchy, sunny Stax-soul tribute, "When Loves Come to Town" is an endearingly awkward blues duet with B.B. King, and the Dylan collaboration "Love Rescue Me" is an overlooked minor bluesy gem. However, these get swallowed up in the bluster of the live tracks, the misguided gospel interpretation of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and the shameful answer to John Lennon's searing confession "God," "God, Pt. 2." A couple of affecting laments -- the cascading "All I Want Is You" and "Heartland," which sounds like a Joshua Tree outtake -- do slip out underneath the posturing, but Rattle and Hum is by far the least-focused record U2 ever made, and it's little wonder that they retreated for three years after its release to rethink their whole approach.

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Jonathan published on October 11, 1988 7:56 AM.

Desire was the previous entry in this blog.

Rattle And Hum (Film) is the next entry in this blog.

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