u2 Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

U2 “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”

sfilzen — Wed, 25 May 2022 16:54:14 +0000

U2 “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” released 35 years ago today, May 25th, 1987. 12″ single on Island Records. The track was the second single from their international smash The Joshua Tree. Like the first single “With or Without You,” it hit #1 in the US (it went to #6 in the UK). It also was nominated for two Grammys and is ranked high on many publications “best of” lists. It’s anthemic and epic, like most U2 songs, conjuring up big open spaces and sweet melancholy set to The Edge’s signature jangle and Bono’s gospel-inspired vocals. The backing choir vocals came from The Edge and producers Brian Eno (!) and Daniel Lanois.

On the B-side the 12″ single is “Spanish Eyes,” a rough rocker as compared to its A-side that is more reminiscent of U2’s earlier recordings, while “Deep in the Heart” is more U2-emotive and sparse.

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U2 “The Joshua Tree”

sfilzen — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 17:56:37 +0000

U2 “The Joshua Tree” released 35 years ago today, March 9th, 1987. Island Records. I got this copy on April 19th, 1987: I generally do not record the exact day that an album comes into my collection but this was my “Easter basket” that year, hidden cleverly behind a large piece of artwork in my parents’ living room (I was just shy of 16 and found it in like 2 minutes) so that makes it easy to remember. This is also the last U2 album I was actually excited about; they have had plenty of great songs since but my interest in owning their records halted abruptly after my profound disappointment in Rattle and Hum.

The Joshua Tree marked U2′s ascension from “heroes to superstars” (Rolling Stone), generated their only #1 singles in the US (“With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”) and became one of the world’s best-selling albums of all-time, earning placement in the National Recording Registry by the US Library of Congress. It was their 5th LP and went to #1 virtually everywhere, including the US and the UK. It’s also tangled up in a lot of teenage angst, heartbreak and joy for me as being 15 almost 16 is super-complicated. Thirty-five years later, I still really love it – every single soaring, over-the-top jangled note. Besides the two #1 singles, I particularly love “Where the Streets Have No Name” (#4 UK, #13 US), “Running to Stand Still,” “In God’s Country” (#44 US) and “One Tree Hill.” “Mothers of the Disappeared” is also beautiful but so devastatingly sad that it’s difficult to listen to, especially knowing that it’s about the the Madres de Plaza de Mayo whose children were “forcibly disappeared” at the hands of the Argentine and Chilean dictatorships. (Wiki)

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U2 “October”

sfilzen — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 17:30:01 +0000

U2 “October” released 40 years ago today, October 12th, 1981. October, their second album (no. 2 in the UK and no. 104 in the US) solidified U2′s epically big and soaring anthemic post punk sound with a heavy emphasis on religion and spirituality. “Gloria,” with its soaring chorale chorus (“Gloria, in te domine”), is one of the strongest tracks on the record; it went to #55 on the UK single charts. “Fire” was another single (#35 UK). The album also has an air of beautiful sadness, particularly on “Tomorrow” about which Bono said, “[Its] influences: primarily Joy Division, Invisible Girls. A great example of how you can write a song and not know what you’re writing about. ‘Tomorrow’ is a detailed account of my mother’s funeral. But I had no idea when I was writing it.” U2 wrote much of October while touring the US for their first album, Boy, but bad luck plagued the band: Bono lost the lyrics for the album backstage during a show and the songwriting process needed to be rushed along in order to keep the studio recording schedule. Producer Steve Lillywhite stated the recording sessions were “completely chaotic and mad.”

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U2 “Boy”

sfilzen — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 16:21:47 +0000

U2 “Boy” released 40 years ago today, October 20th, 1980. North American version with alternate album cover, Island Records. U2′s debut LP went to #52 in the UK and #63 in the US. Boy is generally darker and more post-punk sounding than their later stridently earnest anthemic pop work, Boy does hint at that direction with its signature U2 sound: Edge’s distinctive style of guitar (on Boy influenced by Siouxsie and the Banshees and Television) and Bono’s soaring vocals. They released two singles from the album: the new wave-tinged “A Day Without Me” and “I Will Follow” (two of my favorites). “I Will Follow” went to #20 in the US in ‘81 and its re-release in ‘83 hit #81. I also really like “Twilight,” the rockers “Out of Control” and “Stories for Boys,” the atmospheric “The Ocean” and the Banshee-esque “Shadows and Tall Trees.”

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U2 “New Year’s Day”

sfilzen — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 22:11:59 +0000

U2 “New Year’s Day” 1983, 12″ single. Happy New Year, 2020! “New Year’s Day” was the lead single from U2′s third album War (released in February ‘83). It was U2′s first top 10 in England (it went to #2 in their native Ireland) as well as their first international hit, going to #53 in the US, #36 in Australia and #41 in Canada. This 12″ features the “Long Version” – which is just 4 seconds longer than the album version so it pretty much sounds exactly the same. Also included on the 12″ is another big U2 anthemic track, “Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop)” plus live versions performed in Werchter, Belgium on July 4th, 1982: “Fire,” “I Threw a Brick Through a Window” (both from October) and “A Day Without Me” (from Boy).

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U2 “The Unforgettable Fire”

sfilzen — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 20:37:08 +0000

U2 “The Unforgettable Fire” released 35 years ago today, October 1st, 1984. Island Records. U2′s fourth studio LP, the Brian Eno-produced The Unforgettable Fire went to #1 in the US and to #12 in the US. For many, me included, The Unforgettable Fire was the band’s turning point: it was mind-blowing with its heartfelt social commentary, soaring Edge-jangle guitar and Bono’s distinctive anthemic voice on the singles that went big like “Pride (In the Name of Love)” (#3 UK, #33 US) and “The Unforgettable Fire” (#6 UK). But as good – or better – are some of the other tracks like “A Sort of Homecoming,” “Wire,” “Indian Summer Sky” (love the chugga-chugga guitar on that one) and most especially “Bad” which is one of my favorite U2 songs ever – U2′s performance of “Bad” at Live Aid was my personal unforgettable moment of 1984.

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U2 “Rattle and Hum”

sfilzen — Wed, 10 Oct 2018 14:52:09 +0000

U2 “Rattle and Hum” released 30 years ago today, October 10th, 1988. Island Records, gatefold double LP. A mix of live performances from their 1987 The Joshua Tree tour, new material (“Desire,” the lead single released from the album which hit #1 in the UK and #3 in the US and “Angel of Harlem,” U2′s tribute to Billie Holiday, went to #9 in the UK and #14 in the US) and covers meant to pay tribute to rock-n-roll legends (The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” leads off the album. Also included is Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” though I’ve always preferred Jimi Hendrix’s version). A low-budget yet big-release rockumentary movie accompanied the album. (80′s powerhouse film critics Siskel and Ebert had a split decision on the film, Ebert calling it poorly lit and monotonous while Siskel praised the music as uplifting.)

I was pretty excited when this album came out, purchasing it just after its release. However, I remember being disappointed, not appreciating its Americana flavor sprinkled with gospel choirs (“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”) and the blues (“When Love Comes to Town,” a duet with B. B. King) and finding it grandiose and pretentious. A critic for the New York Times called it egotistical and embarrassing. As I listen to it now, 30 years later, I don’t think it’s necessarily embarrassing but I do agree with Allmusic’s critic Stephen Erlewine who states Rattle and Hum is U2′s “least focused record.”

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U2 “The Joshua Tree”

sfilzen — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 20:13:05 +0000

U2 “The Joshua Tree” released 30 years ago today, March 9th, 1987. I wrote about this album two years ago, but the anniversary of its release warrants a revisit. The Joshua Tree is a sublimely realized album and arguably the most important release for the band: it marked U2′s ascension from “heroes to superstars” (Rolling Stone), generated their only #1 singles in the US (“With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”) and became one of the world’s best-selling albums of all-time, earning placement in the National Recording Registry by the US Library of Congress.

Here is what I wrote in 2015:

U2 “The Joshua Tree,” gatefold, released on this day March 9 in 1987. Island Records. I received this album soon after its release in ‘87 as an Easter present from my parents. My dad has a quirky talent for treasure hunts so every Easter he’d hide an Easter basket (when I was little) and then something more mature (like a U2 record) as I got older. (He now has upped his game considerably for his grandson and the treasure hunts have become elaborate 1-2 hour searches.) I was just shy of 16 years old in March ‘87, knew his hiding style well and found “The Joshua Tree” after about 10 minutes of searching behind a large canvas painting that hung in our living room.

The Joshua Tree is a true classic: most of the songs are still musically relevant and fresh after almost 30 years so it’s no surprise that it is one of the world’s best-selling albums of all time. Tinged with longing and sadness, it is perfect for road trips and/or wallowing in the depths of any kind of personal loss. “With Or Without You” was always a go-to song during adolescent heartbreak, as was “Running to Stand Still,” which still gives me literal chills. “Where the Streets Have No Name” evokes the expanse of the American west perfectly, while “Bullet the Blue Sky” punches that west in the gut. But with “In God’s Country” and “One Tree Hill” the love for our wild open spaces comes back with a feeling of hope and optimism and I want drive fast through mountains and deserts, windows down and the sun shining.

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U2 “Pride (In the Name of Love)”

sfilzen — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 21:10:58 +0000

U2 “Pride (In the Name of Love)” alternate limited edition 12″ single/EP, 1984. Includes on Side A, along with “Pride,” the instrumental “Boomerang I″ and the vaguely 80′s techno “Boomerang II.” Side B is “11 O’Clock Tick Tock (long version),” which was originally released as a non-album single in 1980, and that single’s b-side “Touch,” also on U2′s 1980 album Boy. Today, January 16th, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and this hit U2 song is one of the most successful King tributes recorded (#3 in the UK and #33 in the US, U2′s first top 40 hit). The quote on the back cover is incredibly poignant for 2017 – “I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.”

One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come he to justify
One man to overthrow

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed up on an empty beach
One man betrayed with a kiss

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

Early morning, April four
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

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U2 “Boy”

sfilzen — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 19:06:23 +0000

U2 “Boy” released on this date, October 20th, 1980. Island Records, North American cover. U2′s debut LP, Boy reached #52 in the UK and #63 in the US, propelled by their first hit single, the soaring “I Will Follow.” The entire album showcases U2′s penchant for recording BIG music, songs meant to take up vast amounts of space, echoing large in the aural field and their raw emotions ripping huge heart holes. Wiki says, “The album’s theme is the psychological nature of the transition of adolescence from childhood to manhood, with lyrics and atmospheric music examining a dawn of sexuality (“An Cat Dubh”), the entry into adolescence (“Twilight”), mortality (“Out of Control”), the exile from one’s past enforced by the passage of time (“Into the Heart”), mental disturbance (“The Electric Co.”) and youthful ambition (“The Ocean”). “I Will Follow” focused on the trauma of the early death of Bono’s mother when he was a young teenager. The album’s lyrics possess several literary references, “Shadows and Tall Trees” taking its name from a chapter title in the dystopian William Golding novel Lord of the Flies, and “The Ocean” mentioning Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Grey.”

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