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U2 Reissues

July 23rd, 2008 Posted by: Dust Devil

Hello everybody,

The reissues of Boy, October and War from U2 were released yesterday. I’m actually listening to disc 2 of the Boy disc as I’m writing this, after listening to disc 2 of both the October and War reissues last night.

U2 was one of my favorite bands back in junior high and high school. Boy, October, War, The Unforgettable Fire (my favorite) and The Joshua Tree comprised an exceptional string of full-length albums to open a career, maybe second to only Echo and the Bunnymen. Then, they released the dreadful Achtung Baby (my opinion) and put on the excessive Zoo TV tour which I had the misfortune of seeing in 1992. I have not purchased a U2 record or seen them live since.

There was no way I would pass up the opportunity to get the reissues of the first three discs and all I can say is wow! It was wonderful to get reacquainted with classics such as I Will Follow, New Year’s Day and Gloria, but the treat is in disc 2 of each reissue.

Do not waste your time only buying the single CD version. Pay the extra money and get the discs, all of them, with the second disc. The disc folks, do not merely download it, you will be missing out on the exceptional packaging that comes with each reissue. You will be treated to some great b-sides (the USA version of New Year’s Day is phenomenal), some stellar singles that were not on the albums (A Celebration and 11 O’Clock Tick Tock may be two of their best tracks) and lots of live tracks, which was definitely where U2 would shine the most. I saw them six times over the years and other than the last concert I mentioned earlier, put on some of the best concerts I have had the honor of seeing.

Happy listening!

Cheers!
The Dust Devil

Filed under: My Take, In The News, Cheers and Jeers