The Passengers - Original Soundtracks 1 (1995)

"Original Soundtracks 1" (also known as Original Soundtracks) is a 1995 album recorded by U2 and Brian Eno, as a side project, under the pseudonym Passengers. It is a collection of songs written for mostly imaginary movies (the exceptions being songs for Ghost in the Shell, Miss Sarajevo, and Beyond the Clouds). U2 and producer Brian Eno formed Passengers as a warm-up for U2's 1997 album, "Pop". Their original intention was to record a soundtrack for Peter Greenaway's 1996 film The Pillow Book. Though the plan did not come to fruition, Eno suggested they continue recording for imaginary films. At this time, the US charts were dominated by movie soundtrack albums and singles. Once Eno pointed out that it would not be a real ploy for radio airplay, but a spoof of one, U2 agreed to the concept.

U2 had frequently improvised in the past, and in the "Original Soundtracks 1" sessions they engaged in free-form jamming to video clips from various films. Eno stated, "Listening to the original improvisations as they came off the floor, you feel the excitement of the process ... You have to be careful not to disturb the organic flow of the thing." The group brought in producer Howie B to cut down and mix some of the tracks after several hours of jam sessions had been recorded.

 

01.  "United Colours"  - 5:31

02.  "Slug"  - 4:41

03.  "Your Blue Room"  - 5:28

04.  "Always Forever Now"  - 6:24

05.  "A Different Kind of Blue"  - 2:02

06.  "Beach Sequence"  - 3:25

07.  "Miss Sarajevo" (featuring Luciano Pavarotti)  - 5:41

08.  "Ito Okashi" (featuring Holi)  - 3:25

09.  "One Minute Warning"  - 4:40

10.  "Corpse (These Chains are Way too Long)"  - 3:35

11.  "Elvis Ate America" (featuring Howie B)  - 2:59

12.  "Plot 180"  - 3:41

13.  "Theme from The Swan"  - 3:24

14.  "Theme from Let's Go Native"  - 3:07

15.  "Bottoms (Watashitachi No Ookina Yume) (Zoo Station Remix)" (Bonus Track)  - 4:11

Released:  7 November 1995

Recorded:  Westside Studios, London, England and Hanover Quay Studios, Dublin, Ireland, 1995

Genre:  Experimental Rock, Ambient, Electronica

Length:  58:03

Label:  Island

Producer:  Brian Eno

All music composed by:  Passengers (Brian Eno, Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, and Larry Mullen, Jr.)

Personnel

Bono - vocals, additional guitar, piano

Adam Clayton - bass guitar, additional guitar, percussion, narration

The Edge - guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Corpse," church organ

Brian Eno - strategies, sequencers, keyboards, backing vocals, guitar, treatments, mixing, chorus voices, vocals

Larry Mullen, Jr. - drums, percussion, rhythm sequence, rhythm synthesizer

Luciano Pavarotti - tenor voice

Holi - vocals

Howie B - mixing, treatments, scratching, and rhythm track

Craig Armstrong - string arrangement

Paul Barrett - string arrangement

Des Broadbery - sequencer

David Herbert - saxophone

Holger Zschenderlein - additional synthesizer