Matt McGee ([email protected])
Sat, 14 Nov 1998 00:48:23 -0800
For those scoring at home (or even if you're alone), here's two more
reviews of the "Best Of" album. Not too long, I hope, so I'll include both
here.
Matt
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from: Rocktropolis
U2 The Best of 1980-1990 (Island)
It may be hard to remember, but before "Lemon," before they became
ego-imprisoned rock stars with an overweening interest in hanging out with
supermodels, U2 used to be quite good, actually. If the band's superlative
two-disc Best of package (the limited- edition release that also includes
B-sides) does nothing else, it highlights the ultimate hollowness of the
band's current Dark Period, which they will hopefully soon be leaving. The
first disc includes every hit (except for a curiously missing "Two Hearts
Beat as One") from "I Will Follow" to "All I Want Is You," and will serve
to remind everyone who loves U2 why they once had good reason to do so. But
it's the second disc, which contains previously import- only rarities like
"Dancing Barefoot and "Everlasting Love," that is truly indispensable:
After all, who wouldn't rather hear an obscure gem like "Hallelujah, Here
She Comes" than the fine- but- overplayed "Pride" for the fifty millionth
time? Disc Two also contains the beyond- wonderful original version of the
cult classic "Sweetest Thing" -- compare that to the recently redone
version on Disc One that is a tarted-up and unlistenable atrocity. U2 would
be well off to leave the past alone. At this point, it's all most fans have
left.
-- Allison Stewart
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Newsday (New York, NY)
November 12, 1998, Thursday, ALL EDITIONS
BODY:
U2 "The Best of 1980-1990" (Island)
It's been two decades since the Dublin quartet U2 set out to become nothing
less than the world's biggest rock band, with singer Paul (Bono) Hewson
scaling PA systems and Dave (The Edge) Evans providing stadium-size guitar
riffs in small clubs and pubs - even as such antics jarred with the
post-punk avant-garde in which the group announced itself. With U2's
commercial and artistic stature long since recognized, now comes the first
compilation of those "early" years.
Most of the music has endured well, from the youthful excitement of 1980 s
"I Will Follow" to the singles from 1987 s classic "The Joshua Tree" -
"With or Without You," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and
"Where the Streets Have No Name" - all remain brave and rewarding attempts
to imbue stadium rock with human frailty. Other songs inspire or frustrate
according to one's desire for rock bands as self-appointed ministers of
truth: "Pride (In the Name of Love)," "New Year's Day" and "Sunday Bloody
Sunday" are political anthems full of chest-beating self-righteousness that
can discomfort precisely because they overflow with so much passion.
Early buyers will get a second CD of B sides from the same era. Unlike the
overtly commercial A sides, this makes for abstractions and amusements
aplenty, from the enthralling ("The Three Sunrises" and "Trash, Trampoline
and the Party Girl") to the experimental ("Bass Trap" and "Walk to the
Water") and the bizarre (covers of "Everlasting Love" and "Unchained
Melody").
Curiously absent are early singles "Gloria," "A Celebration" and "Fire,"
whose inclusion would have helped define the group's development. But
compensation comes with "Sweetest Thing," an unfinished B side from 1987
that's now finished and promoted to A-side status.
An effortlessly simple singalong that looks set to be a major hit, it's a
useful reminder as U2 enters its third decade with an unchanged lineup and
unrivaled track record that you don't have to shout to be heard. - Tony
Fletcher
_________________________________
Matt McGee / [email protected]
@U2 Web Page Curator
http://www.atu2.com
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