Author Topic: The Best of 2000-2010 and other U2 releases in the coming months/years  (Read 6641 times)

osullic

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Just about 20 years ago (!) The Best of 1980-1990 was released. And of course, a few years later, The Best of 1990-2000. Do you expect to see The Best of 2000-2010 released anytime soon? Does it even make sense to release things like this anymore, now that it seems people consume their music through Spotify and the like? I still like physical formats - box sets and (I'm slightly embarrassed to admit it because maybe it means I'm old) even CDs.

Alongside that potential U2 release, what is the likelihood there will be a DVD/Blu-ray release of one of the recent Joshua Tree tour concerts? I saw them in Dublin, and would love to have a special edition release of this, along with whatever bonuses might come with it. I'd love to see those miniature films again that were shot by Anton Corbijn and projected behind the band as they performed. Again though, maybe we've seen the last of physical video releases - I admit it really is an obsolete format. (Edit: I just saw this article... https://www.u2songs.com/news/u2_filming_south_american_shows_for_the_joshua_tree_2017_tour)

And what about a remaster/reissue of Rattle and Hum? I was never sure if this one would come along with the other back-catalogue reissues - wasn't there some issue that it was Paramount who owned the rights to it or something, so it couldn't be reissued like the others?

Lastly, I guess Songs of Ascent will never come, right?

I'm expecting the band to take an extended sabbatical after the current tour finishes. And I guess the record label will want to continue making money from them, so I'm positive we will continue to see periodic U2 releases, whatever form they take. There are ideas for releases, as I just mentioned, but I don't know if the market demand for them is there.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2018, 04:09:51 AM by osullic »

Aaron

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Re: The Best of 2000-2010 and other U2 releases in the coming months/years
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2018, 06:07:34 AM »
Some great questions here.

The original contract for the compilations was a separate contract sitting on top of their existing one. It was for three compilation albums to be produced over a 10 year period. They did "The Best of 1980 - 1990," "The Best of 1990 - 2000," and "18 Singles" which fulfilled that particular compilation. I'm not sure we will ever see a "The Best of 2000 - 2010" as there is so little content there. Most of the ATYCLB singles ended up on 1990 - 2000. That leaves HTDAAB and NLOTH, and they don't seem to be in any hurry to revisit NLOTH. That being said they could certainly do another compilation like 18 Singles, revisiting some of the more recent music. A compilation that includes the songs from the more recent albums as well as a few earlier hits to make it interesting to people...but they are not under contract to do one currently that I'm aware of.

The Joshua Tree video will be released. The sound was mixed last summer for the release, and will feature the concerts from Mexico, as well as some footage from San Diego. Originally we were told to expect this one before Christmas but it looks like they are now looking at early Spring for a release instead. And, if you believe Anton, it will get a limited run in theatres as well! They have also filmed Washington DC, and will be filming Berlin for a E+I home video release.  They are hoping to use the Berlin footage from what I understand, feeling that the Washington video may feel too much like the earlier video with the same stage, same songs, and same videos even. They also have done some filming with 360 cameras - capturing the performance at Newark and at the Apollo Theatre.  That footage should show up somewhere down the road I'm told.

Remaster of Rattle and Hum...the remastering group that worked on the early remasters - Boy through Achtung Baby - was dismantled. The more recent Joshua Tree box set wasn't done by the same group, nor have the vinyl releases. I'm told that originally there were some plans for a bit of a celebration of Rattle and Hum this fall that have since been decided not to happen.  Part of that would have seen a new version of the album on vinyl, which has now been pushed back. There was no plans for a box set like other albums I'm afraid - just the vinyl. The Paramount issue as I understand it is that the band is only allowed to reissue the album, they can tweak the audio, they can release it on super sparkly coloured vinyl, they can hand sign every edition, but they can't alter the album substantially, i.e. they can't add new tracks.

Songs of Ascent? I spoke to Danny Lanois about this one direct. He said the album is there and could be released tomorrow. The only song that has been taken from it is "Every Breaking Wave" but it could be released otherwise. But the band have seemed to back off from talking about it.  They seemed to want to release it / work on it...but it may be a while before we see it if they have newer ideas they want to pursue.

U2Joshua

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Re: The Best of 2000-2010 and other U2 releases in the coming months/years
« Reply #2 on: October 24, 2018, 09:51:06 AM »
You spoke (speak?) to Lanois, directly?  Whoa....  that's amazing!!!  How / when did that happen?!?!  :o

Anam

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Re: The Best of 2000-2010 and other U2 releases in the coming months/years
« Reply #3 on: October 24, 2018, 04:24:36 PM »
There must be some life in the box set/ reissue market for so many to keep getting released. I'm with you on the CDs Aaron; the great CD revival of the next decade is going to be glorious!

miryclay

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Re: The Best of 2000-2010 and other U2 releases in the coming months/years
« Reply #4 on: October 24, 2018, 05:21:34 PM »
You spoke (speak?) to Lanois, directly?  Whoa....  that's amazing!!!  How / when did that happen?!?!  :o

Ive spoken to Lanois a bunch of times as well and he is very approachable. He isn't really an attention seeker and more so a quiet genius as we all know. I wouldn't say he has great knowledge of U2 recording editions or anything like. He seems to be an in the moment type person and a hard worker. When speaking about JT last year he had difficulties remembering song names (which is a genius trait). 

U2Joshua

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Re: The Best of 2000-2010 and other U2 releases in the coming months/years
« Reply #5 on: October 24, 2018, 08:22:02 PM »
...When speaking about JT last year he had difficulties remembering song names (which is a genius trait).

...whoa!  That's amazing! :-)

Panama Jack

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Re: The Best of 2000-2010 and other U2 releases in the coming months/years
« Reply #6 on: October 24, 2018, 09:14:53 PM »
I've always wondered if a "Best of 2000-2020" was possible...

miryclay

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Re: The Best of 2000-2010 and other U2 releases in the coming months/years
« Reply #7 on: October 25, 2018, 04:57:33 AM »
...When speaking about JT last year he had difficulties remembering song names (which is a genius trait).

...whoa!  That's amazing! :-)

It's common for muscians to identify songs by their melody and not their title.

osullic

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Re: The Best of 2000-2010 and other U2 releases in the coming months/years
« Reply #8 on: October 27, 2018, 08:58:47 AM »
I'm just going to put it out there... buried in a thread on a fan site :D but whoever puts together these box sets, if you're looking for ideas for what to include in a deluxe version of the Joshua Tree 2017 tour video, I'd love a reprint of the tour programme from the original 1987 tour :)

And you can take for granted that I'd like to see Anton Corbijn's tour backdrop films as extras!
« Last Edit: October 27, 2018, 11:42:53 AM by osullic »

morgan1098

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Re: The Best of 2000-2010 and other U2 releases in the coming months/years
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2018, 10:23:24 AM »

Remaster of Rattle and Hum...the remastering group that worked on the early remasters - Boy through Achtung Baby - was dismantled. The more recent Joshua Tree box set wasn't done by the same group, nor have the vinyl releases. I'm told that originally there were some plans for a bit of a celebration of Rattle and Hum this fall that have since been decided not to happen.  Part of that would have seen a new version of the album on vinyl, which has now been pushed back. There was no plans for a box set like other albums I'm afraid - just the vinyl. The Paramount issue as I understand it is that the band is only allowed to reissue the album, they can tweak the audio, they can release it on super sparkly coloured vinyl, they can hand sign every edition, but they can't alter the album substantially, i.e. they can't add new tracks.

Although I can't find it now, I think we confirmed in another thread that R&H and Pop WERE remastered by the same team that did the other remasters several years ago. ("Remastering directed by the Edge.") That's why the Edge credit showed up in the recent MFiT releases. But yeah, like you said, the reissue campaign was abandoned before R&H and Pop were turned into physical deluxe sets.  Boo.

Aaron

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Re: The Best of 2000-2010 and other U2 releases in the coming months/years
« Reply #10 on: October 29, 2018, 02:21:08 PM »

Remaster of Rattle and Hum...the remastering group that worked on the early remasters - Boy through Achtung Baby - was dismantled. The more recent Joshua Tree box set wasn't done by the same group, nor have the vinyl releases. I'm told that originally there were some plans for a bit of a celebration of Rattle and Hum this fall that have since been decided not to happen.  Part of that would have seen a new version of the album on vinyl, which has now been pushed back. There was no plans for a box set like other albums I'm afraid - just the vinyl. The Paramount issue as I understand it is that the band is only allowed to reissue the album, they can tweak the audio, they can release it on super sparkly coloured vinyl, they can hand sign every edition, but they can't alter the album substantially, i.e. they can't add new tracks.

Although I can't find it now, I think we confirmed in another thread that R&H and Pop WERE remastered by the same team that did the other remasters several years ago. ("Remastering directed by the Edge.") That's why the Edge credit showed up in the recent MFiT releases. But yeah, like you said, the reissue campaign was abandoned before R&H and Pop were turned into physical deluxe sets.  Boo.

They were remastered by the Edge...you are correct there. As were the more recent releases like The Best of 1990-2000

But I was talking about the team who did the research on what tracks to include, the research on the songs, and pulled together all the extras and drove these sets, etc.  That effort was under Nick Stewart, and his team handled Boy, October, War, UABRS, TUF, the first release of The Joshua Tree in 2007, and the Achtung Baby box set. That group that worked on those projects is no longer together.

It was a completely different team that put together the newer Joshua Tree set, done under the direction of Gavin Friday.