It's fun scouring for the latest tidbits of information!
Not very productive to real life, but definitely fun. Feeling genuinely excited about a new U2 release is something that I didn't think was going to happen again.
That said, the only missing piece of the puzzle now is the three additional tracks that Billboard said the band set aside for retail exclusives. Where will these show up? Here are my guesses:
Target--In the US, Target has generally emerged as the king of bonus tracks. They scored a big victory recently with the deluxe edition of Coldplay's new album with three bonus tracks. Even though they have publicly stated that they won't sell CDs in their stores that were previously online, I think they could come around in this case. I wouldn't be surprised to see the deluxe show up there with two or maybe even all three bonus tracks.
Best Buy--Best Buy's bonus incentives have been pretty weak lately. Still, I could see them getting a bonus track for the deluxe SOI.
Amazon--There have been quite a few recent CD releases with amazon exclusive bonus tracks. The latest Paul McCartney album is a good example.
Barnes and Noble--they still offer the occasional CD with exclusive tracks, but I'd say it's a long shot for the U2 album.
Indie Stores--This is also a long shot, but it's something I'd really like to see happen. Considering the album's themes of growing up as a band in Dublin in the 1970s, this would make perfect sense. It would be AWESOME to have an indie store exclusive with all three bonus tracks. Plus, it would lessen the sting that indie stores undoubtedly felt from the free iTunes release. On the other hand, there probably aren't enough indie record stores even operating any more to justify this.
That's my take from a US-centric perspective. Hopefully we'll know soon!
