U218 Singles
Front Sleeve | Purchase Compilation
Release Date: November 17, 2006
Highest Chart Position: UK: 4 USA: 12
Liner Notes:
Beautiful Day: Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Engineered by Richard Rainey. Assisted by Chris Heaney. Additional production by Steve Lillywhite. Mixed by Steve Lillywhite. Additional engineering by Tim Palmer and Stephen Harris. Synthesizers / programming by Brian Eno. Backing vocals by The Edge and Daniel Lanois. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For: Written by U2. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Engineered by Flood. Mixed by Daniel Lanois. Pride (In the Name of Love): Written by U2. Produced and engineered by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. Additional engineering: Kevin Killen. With Or Without You: Written by U2. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Engineered by Flood. Mixed by Steve Lillywhite. Vertigo (Radio Edit): Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono with The Edge. Recorded by Carl Glanville. Assisted by Chris Heaney. Mixed by Carl Glanville and Steve Lillywhite. Backing vocals by The Edge. Synthesizers by Jacknife Lee. New Year's Day (Special Edition): Written by U2. Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Engineered by Paul Thomas. Mysterious Ways: Produced by Daniel Lanois with Brian Eno. Engineered by Flood. Additional engineering by Robbie Adams. Assisted by Shannon Strong. Mixed by Flood, The Edge and Daniel Lanois. Assisted by Shannon Strong. Additional percussion by Daniel Lanois. Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of: Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Engineered by Richard Rainey. Assisted by Chris Heaney. Mixed by Tim Palmer in Scream Studios, Los Angeles. Assisted by Jay Goin. Synthesizers by Brian Eno and Bono. Additional guitar by Daniel Lanois. Brass: Paul Barrett. Where The Streets Have No Name (New Mix): Written by U2. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Recorded by Flood with Pat McCarthy. Mixed by Steve Lillywhite. Mix Engineered by Mark Wallace. Sweetest Thing (Single Mix '98): Written by U2. Produced by Steve Lillywhite and Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Recorded by Joe O'Herlihy and Pat McCarthy. Additional recording and mixing by Steve Harris. String arrangement by Daragh O'Toole. Strings: Una O'Kane, Nicola Cleary, Aengus O'Connor, Nicholas Milne. Special Thanks to Ali Baba. Sunday Bloody Sunday: Written by U2. Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Engineered by Paul Thomas. One: Produced by Daniel Lanois with Brian Eno. Engineered by Flood. Additional engineering by Robbie Adams. Assisted by Shannon Strong. Mixed by Flood. Assisted by Shannon Strong. Additional keyboards by Brian Eno. Additional Guitar by Daniel Lanois. Desire: Written by U2. Produced by Jimmy Iovine. Recorded by Paul Barrett. Mixed by Shelly Yakus and Rob Jacobs. Walk On (Radio Edit): Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Engineered by Richard Rainey. Assisted by Chris Heaney. Additional Production: Steve Lillywhite. Mixed by Steve Lillywhite. Additional engineering: Stephen Harris. Assisted by: Alvin Sweeney. Elevation: Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono. Synthesizers: Brian Eno and The Edge. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Engineered by Richard Rainey. Assisted by Chris Heaney. Mixed by Tim Palmer. Assisted by Alvin Sweeney. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own: Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono. Produced by Chris Thomas and Nellee Hooper. Recorded by Carl Glanville. Mixed by Nellee Hooper. Engineered by Greg Collins and Simon Gogerly. Additional engineering by Simon Osbourne. The Saints Are Coming: Performed by U2 and Green Day. Written by Richard Jobson and Stuart Adamson. Produced by Rick Rubin. Recorded by Greg Fidelman. Mixed by Chris Lord-Alge. Windows In The Skies (Album Version): Produced by Rick Rubin. Engineered by Greg Fidelman. Mixed by Andrew Scheps. String Arrangement by Dawn Kenny. I Will Follow: Written by U2. Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Engineered by Paul Thomas.
Liner Notes (DVD):
U218 Vertigo//05 Live From Milan - Filmed On 21st July 2005 In San Siro Stadium, Milan, Italy. Aspect: 16:9. Language: English. Duration: 57 Mins. Approx. DVD-Format: 1xDVD-9. Mastered at Abbey Road Studios, London. DVD Authoring, Design & Compression by Abbey Road Interactive, London. A Solo Too Production for U2 Limited. Proceeds from "The Saints Are Coming" will be donated to Music Rising and will be used to work with musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the Gulf region. All tracks published by Universal Music Publishing B.V. except Blue Mountain Music (UK), Mother Music (IRL), except "The Saints Are Coming" published by EMI Virgin Music Ltd.
Track List:
- Beautiful Day (4:05)
- I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (4:37)
- Pride (In The Name of Love) (3:49)
- With Or Without You (4:56)
- Vertigo (Radio Edit) (3:10)
- New Year's Day (Special Edition) (4:18)
- Mysterious Ways (4:02)
- Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of (4:32)
- Where The Streets Have No Name (New Mix) (4:47)
- Sweetest Thing (Single Mix '98) (3:01)
- Sunday Bloody Sunday (4:40)
- One (4:36)
- Desire (3:00)
- Walk On (Radio Edit) (4:29)
- Elevation (3:49)
- Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own (5:06)
- The Saints Are Coming (3:22)
- Window In The Skies (Album Version) (4:07)
- I Will Follow (3:37) (Bonus Track)
Track List (Vertigo//05 Live From Milan DVD):
- Vertigo (4:22)
- I Will Follow (4:12)
- Elevation (6:22)
- I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (5:39)
- All I Want Is You (5:09)
- City Of Blinding Lights (5:46)
- Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own (5:22)
- Miss Sarajevo (6:42)
- Original Of The Species (5:02)
- With Or Without You (Incl. Credits) (8:59)
Catalog:
- Argentina: Island / Mercury 1713542, Island / Mercury 1713551 (Includes DVD)
- Brazil: Island / Mercury 60251713542
- Canada: Island / Mercury 0251713542, Island / Mercury B0008028-10 (Includes DVD)
- Europe: Island / Mercury 0602517135932 (Includes DVD)
- Indonesia: Island / Mercury 171 354-6, Island / Mercury 0602517135482
- Japan: Island / Mercury UICI-1051, Island / Mercury UICI-9015 (Includes DVD)
- Korea: Island / Mercury DU9430/171 354-2, Island / Mercury DB9432/171 354-6
- Malaysia: Island / Mercury 0602517135420, Island / Mercury 0602517135468, Island / Mercury 0602517135482
- Mexico: Island / Mercury 1713542
- Philippines: Island / Mercury 060251713546
- Poland: Island / Mercury 0602517135444
- Singapore: Island / Mercury 06022517135468
- South Africa: Island / Mercury SSTARCD 7060
- Taiwan: Island / Mercury 0251713551 (Includes DVD)
- Thailand: Island / Mercury 171 354-6, Island / Mercury 171 354-2
- UK: Island / Mercury U218 - 0602517135505 (Double 12" Vinyl), Island / Mercury 0602517135499
- USA: Interscope / Mercury B0008027-02, Island / Interscope B0008028-10 (Includes DVD)
Media Review:
Review: U218 Singles
4 stars (out of 5)
By Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
U2's first two greatest-hits albums neatly divided themselves by decade, with the first covering the '80s and the second summing up the '90s. Their third hits comp, 2006's U218 Singles, is at once more ambitious and more concise, offering an overview of their first 26 years on a single disc comprised of 18 tracks -- and since two of those are new songs, that leaves just 16 songs to tell their whole story. That's not much space for a band with a career as lengthy and ambitious as U2, so it's inevitable that some painful cuts have been made. Nothing from October, Zooropa or Pop is here, and unless you're buying various import editions that have "I Will Follow" as a bonus track, there's nothing from Boy, either. There's only one cut each from The Unforgettable Fire and Rattle and Hum -- and bucking conventional wisdom, none of their three widely accepted masterpieces -- War, The Joshua Tree, or Achtung Baby -- provide the most songs here. No, out of all their albums the one that dominates U218 Singles is All That You Can't Leave Behind, their 2000 comeback from the depths of the misguided Pop, and one of two records that they've released since their last hits compilation, The Best of 1990-2000.
The other record they've released since then is How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, which provides two songs here -- or, as many as there are from War and Achtung Baby. What this means is that this compilation skews very heavily toward latter-day U2 -- eight out of 18 tracks, a full 44 percent of the collection, are from 2000 on, which means that U218 Singles presents the classicist version of the band, featuring the anthems from U2 at their peak, plus the highlights from when U2 were trying their best to sound like U2 at their peak. They did it quite well, of course, from both a commercial and artistic standpoint, sometimes writing songs that stood proudly alongside "Pride (In the Name of Love)" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (as in "Beautiful Day") and sometimes not ("Elevation"). When it's all mixed together, it paints a portrait of a band that's a little slicker and streamlined than it often was, and it's hard not to miss the big-hearted yet moody band that made "Bad," "Gloria," and "A Sort of Homecoming," not to mention the middle-aged Euro experimentalists responsible for "Numb" and "Stay! (Faraway, So Close)," two essential components of the band that has been forced aside by the arena rock pros on display here.
Then again, U2 always were the best arena rockers of their generation, and for those who love the spectacle and sound of the band in full flight, U218 Singles serves up that side of the band quite well, along with two new entries that find the band continuing the assured, even-handed sound of Atomic Bomb: a cover of the Skids' "The Saints Are Coming," recorded with Green Day and rewritten to vaguely address the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and "Window in the Skies," an anthemic pop number that relies too heavily on synth strings yet is saved by the band's sturdy songwriting and reliable performance. As such, it might not cover all the bases, but it covers enough of the major ones to be a good summary for fellow travelers who just know U2 from the radio, and it's also a good one-stop introduction to the basics for neophytes.
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