Will There Ever Be DE's or SDE's of R&H or Pop?

[Panama Jack]

Okay, so the boys have released several Deluxe Editions and Super Deluxe Editions of certain albums over the years. The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby have even now gotten 2 SDE's each.

I was thrilled to get a somewhat unexpected SDE of ATYCLB (even if it could have been done better), and one can assume that with Vertigo, CoBL, and other classic staples that HTDAAB will get a DE or even SDE someday.

But what about Rattle & Hum and Pop? Will they EVER get some DE or SDE love? There are some truly amazing B-sides and remixes from that era that deserve to be collected as boxed sets.  I think the R&H film is bogged down by rights issues, but what about doing a release of just the music from that era? And will U2 ever revisit Pop besides a remastered vinyl?

[Aaron]

From what I understand they won't touch Rattle and Hum unless Paramount is on board. There's too much risk in doing anything with it if Paramount wants to get pissy.

Pop? While I'd love to see it I've been told not to hold my breath. That it's so far down on the list of things they'd consider that it's probably never going to happen.

[dagobah]

From what I understand they won't touch Rattle and Hum unless Paramount is on board. There's too much risk in doing anything with it if Paramount wants to get pissy.

Pop? While I'd love to see it I've been told not to hold my breath. That it's so far down on the list of things they'd consider that it's probably never going to happen.

I'm not too upset about the Rattle And Hum situation . . . . . . but I am pretty disappointed about the Pop situation.  If a 25th Anniversary Edition of Pop were being released in 2022, we would know by now.

The "anniversary" releases are all over the place:
The Unforgettable Fire - 25th
The Joshua Tree - 20th and 30th
Achtung Baby - 20th and 30th
All That You Can't Leave Behind - 20th

I don't know about Canada or Europe . . . . . but in the U.S., a 25th anniversary seems more relevant.  To me, a 30th anniversary sounds stupid.  Looking at the pattern, I wonder if they will release . . . . . . in 2024 . . . . . a 20th anniversary edition of How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

[sawheaton]

I don't know about Canada or Europe . . . . . but in the U.S., a 25th anniversary seems more relevant.  To me, a 30th anniversary sounds stupid.  Looking at the pattern, I wonder if they will release . . . . . . in 2024 . . . . . a 20th anniversary edition of How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

My guess is they aren't trying to celebrate any particular anniversary. Likely has more to do with what their work schedule is like and how they can promote it. For example when they did the release of Boy/October/War during the Vertigo tour they routinely played those songs as part of the setlist. That one also saw several other artists doing covers of those early U2 songs. Do you think it was coincidence that in 2009 they do an anniversary release of The Unforgettable Fire and on the 360 tour play a couple songs from the album every night? Then in 2011 when they come back for a second round of 360 it is basically and AB tour with I think sometimes more AB songs played than NLOTH. Coincidence again that they released the AB 20th Anniversary packages? For TJT they just plain created a whole tour for the album. For ATYCLB they obviously couldn't tour so it fit a space of putting something out there in an otherwise dead zone. Likely just a project to work on while everybody was taking a COVID vacation and stepping back from touring for a few years.