November 09, 2022

U2 - U218 Singles (2006)

U218 Singles is a greatest hits album by Irish rock band U2, released in November 2006. In most markets, the album contains 18 songs: 16 of their most successful and popular singles, and two new songs. 
The 17th track is a cover version of the Skids' "The Saints Are Coming", recorded with Green Day to benefit Hurricane Katrina charities. 
The 18th and closing track was a new song entitled "Window in the Skies". 
In some markets such as the United Kingdom, an extra song, "I Will Follow", was included as the opening track. A DVD compilation of music videos from throughout the group's career entitled U218 Videos was released concurrent to U218 Singles.

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. 

The art direction and design for U218 Singles was handled by Shaughn McGrath. Many different photographs were used in the album's packaging with front and back cover photographs taken by David Corio and Anton Corbijn, respectively with booklet photographs by Corbijn, Paul Slattery, Andrew McPherson, Colm Henry, Matt Mahurin, Pennie Smith, and Sheila Rock.


Track listing

1.  Beautiful Day  (From the album: All That You Can't Leave Behind) (2000) - 4:05 
2.  I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For The  (From the album: Joshua Tree) (1987) - 4:38 
3.  Pride (In the Name of Love)  (From the album: The Unforgettable Fire) (1984) - 3:48 
4.  With or Without You  (From the album: The Joshua Tree) (1987) - 4:56 
5.  Vertigo  (From the album: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb) (2004) - 3:10 
6.  New Year's Day (Japanese single version)  (From the album: War) (1983) - 4:17 
7.  Mysterious Ways  (From the album: Achtung Baby (1991) - 4:02 
8.  Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of  (From the album: All That You Can't Leave Behind) (2000) - 4:31 
9.  Where the Streets Have No Name (Single version)  (From the album: The Joshua Tree (1987) - 4:46 
10.  Sweetest Thing (Single mix)  (From the album: The Best of 1980–1990) (1998) - 3:00 
11.  Sunday Bloody Sunday  (From the album: War (1983) - 4:40 
12.  One  (From the album: Achtung Baby) (1991) - 4:35 
13.  Desire  (From the album: Rattle and Hum) (1988) - 2:59 
14.  Walk On (Edited version)  (From the album: All That You Can't Leave Behind) (2000) - 4:26 
15.  Elevation  (From the album: All That You Can't Leave Behind) (2000) - 3:47 
16.  Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own  (From the album: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb) (2004) - 5:05 
17.  The Saints Are Coming (with Green Day)  (New song; originally by Skids from Scared to Dance) - 3:21 
18.  Window in the Skies  (New song) - 4:08 
19.  I Will Follow  [UK Bonus Track]  (From the album: Boy) (1980) - 3:38
20.  Smile  [iTunes Bonus Track] - 3:16


Companies, etc.
Credits

Notes
Released:  20 November 2006
Recorded:  1980–2006, new material recorded in September 2006 with Rick Rubin in France and at Abbey Road Studios 
Genre:  Rock, Pop 
Length:  1:21:32

Label - Mercury, Interscope 
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