Unforgettable Fire: Re-Release October 2009

[jmelrose]

Thanks to your posting, I saved around $20 over Amazon's price and got it TODAY. Bought mine over the Best Buy website as well, got the email 25 minutes later, and am importing the Lossless audio into iTunes now.

Thanks!

[jw]

TUF is on sale TODAY (Monday) at Best Buy!...to my surprise, I got an e-mail a few minutes [after ordering] saying "Your order is ready for pickup."  I went to Best Buy thinking MAYBE they'd get a copy from the back for me, but the shelves were already stocked with tons of the Super Deluxe, Deluxe and Standard versions.  So I guess they're just selling this a day early.  At least my local store (Colorado Springs) is.

Time to take off the shrink wrap and dive in!

Well, I helped you and now you've helped me!  Same thing is true with the Tulsa, OK store so I'm imagining this is U.S.-wide.  Packaging is every bit as lovely as THE JOSHUA TREE Deluxe's was.  I'm telling you, seeing U2 live last Sunday and now, a week later, getting a hold of this treasure a day early...it's been a great month to be a U2 fan for me!

No way!  I went to two Best Buys yesterday - in Tulsa - no TUF.  I even asked the guy up front about it but he was clueless - referred me to customer service which had 3 or 4 people in line.  My wife was waiting outside in the car so I didn't want to take the time to find somebody who could do something.  I'll be going back today...

[morgan1098]

No way!  I went to two Best Buys yesterday - in Tulsa - no TUF.  I even asked the guy up front about it but he was clueless - referred me to customer service which had 3 or 4 people in line.  My wife was waiting outside in the car so I didn't want to take the time to find somebody who could do something.  I'll be going back today...

Something was screwy with the release date for ALL new releases this week.  I was at four different stores yesterday (two Best Buys, Target, Costco) and they ALL had the "new releases" for Tuesday out and for sale (Target and Costco didn't have U2, but they did have Sting and Michael Jackson, the other two "big" new releases for this week).  Did the record companies and stores get together and switch new release day to Monday for some reason?  Obviously, if they did, not all the stores got the message...

[God, Part II]

No way!  I went to two Best Buys yesterday - in Tulsa - no TUF.  I even asked the guy up front about it but he was clueless - referred me to customer service which had 3 or 4 people in line.

I bought mine at the 71st and 169 location; I don't know how many were put out in the CD section, but at the customer service desk, there were four clearly on display at the rear counter...well, three after I left...that was at about 4:00 p.m. CST yesterday...

[Z000]

By the way, if you're looking for just the 2-disc deluxe edition, get it from Best Buy by October 31. After that, the price jumps from $19.99 to $29.99. That could well have been the case with Boy, October, and War, but I wasn't interested in those enough to track them up to release like this one. I wish I had though, because I've had a hard time bringing myself to pay $29.99 for the deluxe Boy.

Things I found interesting on TUF:

The box itself calls it the "Celtic Dub Mix," so we can all stop wondering if that's an official name or not. Strangely enough the A Sort of Homecoming remix is just labeled "Remix." The liner notes say "Daniel Lanois Remix" though, and call the Kevorkian Remix of Wire "Kevorkian 12" Vocal Remix." Based on the production credits I figure the Dub Mix was just Kevorkian's instrumental version. The long version of "4th of July" is called "Single Version" but 11 O'Clock Tick Tock gets no subtitle.

[Z000]

After listening, I love all the new tracks. Disappearing Act is probably my favorite of them, though I think you can tell that a lot of it was redone recently. It sounds in part like something from their current work. (This made me realize how much I wish their current stuff was less like HTDAAB and more like TUF, sonically speaking).

Another oddity: 4th of July has about seven seconds more fading at the end than the iTunes Plus version. But 4th of July (Single Version) has about nine seconds less fading out than the iTunes Plus version. Maybe that's why they changed it from "Long Version" to "Single Version" -- because the previously released "long version" is longer!

[God, Part II]

Another oddity: 4th of July has about seven seconds more fading at the end than the iTunes Plus version. But 4th of July (Single Version) has about nine seconds less fading out than the iTunes Plus version. Maybe that's why they changed it from "Long Version" to "Single Version" -- because the previously released "long version" is longer!

Then the iTunes Plus version is very likely the full-length version found previously on the Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs 24K Gold CD of UF.  There are three versions of this track:

Studio Version Short (2:17) 
     The Unforgettable Fire Album - U2 
 Studio Version Long (2:24) 
     Pride (In the Name of Love) Single - U2 
 Studio Version Longer (2:39) 
     The Unforgettable Fire Album Gold Pressing - U2 
     Singles Pac 3 - U2 
     Sampler Cassette 1985 Promo - U2 

[Trevor]

if you are talking about the itunes plus from the complete u2 is the same of tuf mfsl edition... the one on the new remaster is the same of the pride single...

[jw]

No way!  I went to two Best Buys yesterday - in Tulsa - no TUF.  I even asked the guy up front about it but he was clueless - referred me to customer service which had 3 or 4 people in line.

I bought mine at the 71st and 169 location; I don't know how many were put out in the CD section, but at the customer service desk, there were four clearly on display at the rear counter...well, three after I left...that was at about 4:00 p.m. CST yesterday...

I looked in the normal cd section for the single/double cds.  When there were none there, I figured the box set wouldn't be around anyplace either (sometimes they put the box sets in unusual locations).  From what you saw, it sounds like they had it out, but not actually stocked.  Oh well.  I just got it the next day.

[dagobah]

I think I'm the last person to discover these two versions of Pride (In The Name Of Love) are different:

- the one on the The Unforgettable Fire album (3:48)
- the Single Version that is now available on as a bonus track on the Remastered Version on The Unforgettable Fire (4:40)

From about 3:20 to 3:33 of the Single Version, I noticed something new.  Is that little section the only difference between the 2 versions?  Bono seems to be saying a few new lyrics.  If I'm hearing this correctly, then I would think this would require the Lyrics Section of this website to list a Single Version of Pride (In The Name Of Love) ....... kind of like the song Please is listed separately as both a Studio Version and a Single Version.  Here are my specific questions:

1 - Is that little section the only difference between the 2 versions?
2 - If not, what are the other differences?
3 - Is the new Bono part something that requires a set of lyrics for the Single Version of Pride (In The Name Of Love)?

Forgive me if this has already been discussed thoroughly .....

[Brad]

No way!  I went to two Best Buys yesterday - in Tulsa - no TUF.  I even asked the guy up front about it but he was clueless - referred me to customer service which had 3 or 4 people in line.

I bought mine at the 71st and 169 location; I don't know how many were put out in the CD section, but at the customer service desk, there were four clearly on display at the rear counter...well, three after I left...that was at about 4:00 p.m. CST yesterday...

I looked in the normal cd section for the single/double cds.  When there were none there, I figured the box set wouldn't be around anyplace either (sometimes they put the box sets in unusual locations).  From what you saw, it sounds like they had it out, but not actually stocked.  Oh well.  I just got it the next day.

I had preordered and already received my discs, but I was at the mall (Seattle area) yesterday evening and thought I would check out what they had in stock.

Best Buy - CD: 1 copy, Deluxe: 0 copies, Boxset: 1 copy.
Target - Zero. Zip. Nada. Nothing.
Borders - CD: 1 copy, Deluxe: 0 copies, Boxset: 0 copies.
FYE - CD: 1 copy, Deluxe: 1 copy, Boxset: 0 copies.

So, four stores, only five copies total and only one each of the deluxe and the boxset. Don't know if they had sold out or just hadn't bothered to stock them in the first place. I recall that when the last round of remasters was released, these stores had multiple copies of the deluxe versions.

They all had plenty of stock of "This is It." 

[morgan1098]

I think I'm the last person to discover these two versions of Pride (In The Name Of Love) are different:

- the one on the The Unforgettable Fire album (3:48)
- the Single Version that is now available on as a bonus track on the Remastered Version on The Unforgettable Fire (4:40)

From about 3:20 to 3:33 of the Single Version, I noticed something new.  Is that little section the only difference between the 2 versions?  Bono seems to be saying a few new lyrics.  If I'm hearing this correctly, then I would think this would require the Lyrics Section of this website to list a Single Version of Pride (In The Name Of Love) ....... kind of like the song Please is listed separately as both a Studio Version and a Single Version.  Here are my specific questions:

1 - Is that little section the only difference between the 2 versions?
2 - If not, what are the other differences?
3 - Is the new Bono part something that requires a set of lyrics for the Single Version of Pride (In The Name Of Love)?

Forgive me if this has already been discussed thoroughly .....

I'm not sure whether the extra "lyrics" in the single version are worthy of inclusion on the web site.  To me, it just sounds like Bono improvising a bit, but not really singing any substantive words.

But yes, that extra section is the only difference between the single version and the album version (although maybe the single version takes a bit longer to fade out, too?).  In the liner notes, Edge says that the guitar solo is "longer" in the single version, but actually there are two separate guitar solos.  The second solo is the extra part, with the new "lyrics" by Bono.    It's kind of jarring to hear the single version after being so familiar with the album version for so many years (especially since the album version, and not the single version, is the one you always hear on the radio...)

Speaking of extra parts, I noticed that the mix of the "Unforgettable Fire" music video on the DVD is slightly different than the album version.  During the intro, you can hear Bono humming and mumbling something while the keyboards are playing.

[dagobah]

Morgan1098, thanks so much for the quick and detailed response.  I agree with everything you said.  Concerning what Morgan1098 said about which version gets played on the radio ...... in September 1984, did Island Records distribute the Single Version to radio stations so they can play it?  And if so, did radio stations actually play the Single Version, but then eventually end up playing the Album Version (as they do now)?

I was just reading the Wikipedia page for the album The Unforgettable Fire.  In the “Album and single releases” section, it states Pride (In The Name Of Love) was released in November 1984.  I then read the Wikipedia page for Pride (In The Name Of Love) and it states that the single was released in September 1984.  To confirm the correct date, I checked my book “Into The Heart: The Stories Behind Every U2 Song” (1998; author Niall Stokes), which states the Pride (In The Name Of Love) single was released in September 1984.  I have no idea how to edit Wikipedia, so I will leave that to someone who does.

Does anybody know the answer to my question about which version of Pride (In The Name Of Love) was played on the radio back in September 1984?

[Brad]

I'm pretty sure the US 7" radio promo had the single version on one side and the album version on the other, so I guess it would be up to the radio programmer to decide whether to play the longer or shorter version. I can remember hearing Pride on the radio in 1984, but I sure can't recall which version.

I would guess that most radio plays these days are either off of the Best Of CD or U218 Singles, both of which are obviously the album version.

[dagobah]

Thanks for the quick reply, Brad.

After doing a little research, I discovered that U2 performed these songs at the Conspiracy Of Hope concert (New Jersey; June 15, 1986):

MLK
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Bad
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Maggie’s Farm
Help
Sun City (U2 joined by other musicians)

The DVD in the Limited Edition Box Set Of The Unforgettable Fire only includes:
MLK
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Bad

Does anybody know why the other 4 songs weren’t included on the DVD?
Does anybody have any good guesses?