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U2 Album: “18 Singles (Deluxe Version)”
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18 Singles (Deluxe Version) |
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Release Date:2006-11-21
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Type:Album
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Genre:Rock, Mainstream Rock, Adult Alternative
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Label:Universal
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Explicit Lyrics:No
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UPC:602517138957
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Review - :
{$U2}'s first two greatest-hits albums neatly divided themselves by decade, with the first covering the '80s and the second summing up the '90s. Their third hits comp, 2006's {^U218 Singles}, is at once more ambitious and more concise, offering an overview of their first 26 years on a single disc comprised of 18 tracks -- and since two of those are new songs, that leaves just 16 songs to tell their whole story. That's not much space for a band with a career as lengthy and ambitious as {$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. [{^U218 Singles} was also released as a deluxe edition that contained a live show from the {^Vertigo} tour as a bonus CD.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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