U2 / Pop and other vinyl reissues
Universal Music/Island Records will reissue remastered vinyl versions of U2‘s Pop and All That You Can’t Leave Behind albums next month, alongside a vinyl reissue of the 1985 Wide Awake In America EP.
Pop was the band’s ninth studio album and was originally issued in 1997, reaching number one in over 30 countries around the world, including the UK and America. It continued U2’s ‘reinvention’ – which started in the early nineties with Achtung Baby and Zooropa – and was produced by Flood with Howie B and Steve Osbourne. Pop delivered four top ten singles in the UK, but despite this success the band were apparently not totally satisfied with the final product, and post release they constantly fiddled with tracks, re-recording and remixing many of the songs for various single and compilation releases. The new reissue is remastered and pressed on double black 180g vinyl. It comes in a gatefold sleeve and has as download card.
All That You Can’t Leave Behind was the first U2 album of the new millennium, issued three and a half years after Pop. Their 10th studio album pulled back from all the experimentation and returned to a more traditional sound. It was no coincidence that the album was produced by old muckers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. The album benefitted from the enormous success of the first single Beautiful Day which was a massive hit virtually everywhere (except in the USA, interestingly). Like Pop, the vinyl reissue is newly remastered and pressed on 180g black vinyl. It comes with a 16-page booklet and a download card.
The Wide Awake In America EP was only ever issued in America and Japan, in 1985, although it was reissued internationally on CD in the late eighties. Two tracks (A Sort Of Homecoming and Bad) are live recordings from the The Unforgettable Fire tour in late ’84 while the other two (The Three Sunrises and Love Comes Tumbling) are studio recordings issued as B-sides on the 12-inch of The Unforgettable Fire single. The vinyl reissue uses the 2009 remasters created for the The Unforgettable Fire reissue of that same year. Again, 180g black vinyl and a download card.
All three vinyl reissues will be released on 13 April 2018. Pop is rather pricey in the UK at the moment, but that’s likely to come down fairly quickly (with Amazon’s pre-order price guarantee you’ll only pay the cheapest price between ordering and shipping, of course).
Pop 2LP vinyl reissue
Side 1
Discothèque – 2017 Remaster
Do You Feel Loved – 2017 Remaster
Mofo – 2017 Remaster
Side 2
If God Will Send His Angels – 2017 Remaster
Staring At The Sun – 2017 Remaster
Last Night On Earth – 2017 Remaster
Side 3
Gone – 2017 Remaster
Miami – 2017 Remaster
The Playboy Mansion – 2017 Remaster
Side 4
If You Wear That Velvet Dress – 2017 Remaster
Please – 2017 Remaster
Wake Up Dead Man – 2017 Remaster
All That You Can’t Leave Behind 2LP vinyl reissue
Side 1
1. Beautiful Day
2. Stuck In A Moment That You Can’t Get Out Of
3. Elevation
4. Walk On
5. Kite
6. In A Little While
Side 2
1. Wild Honey
2. When I Look At The World
3. Peace On Earth
4. New York
5. Grace
Side A
1. Bad (Live) – Remastered 2009
2. A Sort Of Homecoming (Live) – Remastered 2009
Side B
1. The Three Sunrises – Remastered 2009
2. Love Comes Tumbling – Remastered 2009
Does anyone know if the mp3 files you get via “Auto Rip” on Amazon are the “2017 Remasters”?
Just answering my own question –
It doesn’t totally matter, as the vinyl comes with a download card & they’re wav files (instead of mp3’s), so that’s nice.
The WIDE AWAKE IN AMERICA EP is £20 for 1 great song. That’s Bad.
great news. POP is the last great album they made, not a masterpiece like Achtung baby and Zooropa but pretty close on many moments (Mofo, Please, Playboy’s Mansion, Wake up Dead Man, Miami)
I’d love to own Pop on vinyl, but I have serious doubts about the quality of this remastered and whether it would sound any better than my original cd. Seems like most of the time, remastered just means more compressed and less dynamic range. Do we have any reason to believer orherwise here?
I’ll add my voice to those asking for a SDE of both Pop and Rattle & Hum. Pop was the last decent album until No Line – which was their last decent album in itself. U2 need to stop pandering to the American market and finish the remastering and deluxe editions that they started ten + years ago. Give us Zooropa as a stand alone, Pop and Rattle & Hum instead of yet another Joshua Tree remaster.
I
am totally with Francois on this, I want a SDE of POP include the tokyo sessions, year in pop with dennis hopper, and the Sarajevo show to get a sense of things. I love this album, this without a doubt in my mind deserved to be done. SDE are for fans the time is right.
It is easy to say WAR- UFF and Joshua are hight water marks but for me…Achtung Zooropa Pop are the pinnacle.
Please Paul speak to the powers that be and get Pop (and zooropa) the reissue they deserve!
I have both ‘Wide Awake in America – Japanese issue’, ‘POP’ and ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’ vinyl records already.
‘Wide Awake…’ is a perfect EP, with great Live versions! A must to own! Although not perfect, ‘POP’ will remain their last exciting album. ‘All That You…’ is a very so-so U2 album and Eno didn’t save it. The best track is ‘Grace’ and ‘The Ground Beneath Her Feet’ that didn’t come in the LP. The rest is a little bit of a disgrace.
For U2 completists, you might want to hunt down the Australian
12 inch of the ‘unforgetable / unforgettable’ fire.
from discogs : https://www.discogs.com/U2-The-Unforgetable-Fire/release/2675800
The Australian pressing of this single features different versions of “Love Comes Tumbling” and “A Sort of Homecoming” exclusive to this edition. “A Sort of Homecoming” is a different mix featuring an additional backing vocal by the Edge. “Love Comes Tumbling” features an entirely different lead vocal track with different lyrics. Again these appear to be exclusive the Australian 12″ edition and have never appeared anywhere else.
later
-1
The tracks/mixes are the same as the UK pressing of the Unforgettable Fire EP meaning that you can get the UK version for alot less 2nd hand on Ebay. The only difference is that Love Comes Tumbling is missing the false start on the Wide Awake in America EP. The live version of A Sort of Homecoming is identical on Wide Awake In America as it is on the unforgettable Fire EP.
Interesting story on u2songs.com : Rattle and Hum, All That You Can’t Leave Behind and Pop were the last albums remastered (directed by The Edge) in the period 2007-2011 but never released due to change of management and poor sales.
It appears that these 3 remastered albums have been released on iTunes “Mastered for iTunes” last year. And that those remasters are now used for the vinyl reissue.
Anyone having heard these remasters? I never use iTunes and I can’t find those 3 albums on there at all.
Skip that last sentence, they are all on iTunes.
Remastering information in the digital booklet :
Directed by The Edge
Remastering Engineering by Scott Sedillo at Bernie Grundman Mastering
Btw, the Wide Awake In America reissue will have the 2009 remaster previously included in the The Unforgettable Fire 25th Anniversary SDE.
Any news about a Rattle and Hum deluxe edition on CD? It’s the album’s 30th anniversary, after all. I’d love to get a 3CD+DVD special edition, or maybe a 3CD deluxe edition (the remastered album on CD 1, B-sides and rarities on CD 2 and extra live tracks, including those exclusive to the movie on CD 3) and the remastered movie on Blu-ray. I actually like the album, so it’d be nice to finally get a deluxe edition. Would like to get a stand-alone deluxe version of Zooropa, as well.
POP… the last decent U2 album.
Absolutely!
They should released it as a boxset just like the others.
I pre-ordered from Amazon.uk and the Pop, All That… prices dropped right after that :) Hopefully the US listings will be up soon and am hoping lower priced. Amazon.uk shipping is getting slower and slower lately to the US.
Such welcome news. May I also add my name to any list of those wishing on high for deluxe reissues of Zooropa and the Passengers album with Eno. Everything U2 touched (particularly during this magical period) seemed to turn to gold.
There must be reams of material left over from the Passengers sessions, instrumental and otherwise – they could even release a Purple Rain-esque budget Deluxe on the quiet, if they’re still unwilling to attach the U2 name to it. I just think it’s such a beautiful, comforting and underrated record, and it deserves much more love.
And the Zooropa sessions could surely offer more bonus material than simply the existing remixes – that we know of, they could include fabled early versions of Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me etc that were trialled at the time. I desperately want a Pop Deluxe, but feel that these two deserve the attention too. They might even be my personal favourites.
Des anyone else with the Uber Achtung Baby have issues with the big drawer being stuck? The last time I got it out, it would not shift and it made my blood run slightly cold.
Can’t wait for all these, I need to catch up on my U2 reissues and vinyl, the more the better at this point. Great move by the band/record company.
Miss Sarajevo and your blue room aside – I think the passengers album was poor – same as James wah wah was – so I blame brain eno
I honestly think it’s one of the greatest things they ever did, both Eno and U2… Bbt I know that many don’t. I just think it’s pretty close to perfection. That said, I know it’s unlikely… so, either way, bring on the mighty Zooropa and the almost-as-brilliant, kick-ass Pop. They’re just so good. So’s much of the new album, as well… their hungry, experimental side appears to be stirring once again, and I’m so thankful for that.
I’m not buying anymore U2 vinyl until they release a decently price Achtung vinyl. Pink Floyd, Zeppelin and U2 are absolutely ridiculous on vinyl prices, makes no sense that so many other artists manage to put out vinyl at a good price.
and they skip Achtung Baby and Zooropa!
There is a very interesting ‘Achtung Baby’ vinyl box released some years ago. With both LP and two blue colored vinyl remixes – The Uber Remixes. It is marvellous!
“Pop” remains an underrated gem. The problem was the narrative surrounding the album — “This is U2’s Dance/Pop record!!” — is actually a false narrative. Other than “Discotheque” (the worst song on the album) the rest of the album is pretty much a straight-foward U2 record and echos a lot of sounds and themes they mined on Achtung and Zooropa. Combine this dumb narrative with an equally dumb theme for the PopMart tour theme and the record was cooked.
Oh well, it allowed for the “U2 is Back!” narrative to happen with the next record. And while I agree that All That You Can’t Leave Behind is one of U2’s best three records, I don’t think fall from Achtung/Zooropa to Pop and the climb back up to ATYCLB is as steep or as far as popular wisdom suggests.
‘ATYCLB’ one of the best three records? How come?! The best of their last 5 albums maybe!
By the way, ‘Discotheque’ is amazingly good!
For a few hours this morning they were 5.95 euros each on Amazon.it . I was able to order them, will see if they are going to ship them for this price :)
As Paul told me last week there is something up with Amazon Italy and they have lots of things that price that invariably get cancelled a week later
Still if you don’t try you’d kick yourself if it had worked. My orders got cancelled at that price
Good luck
no more vinyl…..What we need is more CD deluxe reissues for POP & later…there are many unreleased tracks that need rounding up….Need Rattle & Hum reissue badly!
Yeah im waiting for Pop expanded reissue too. But U2 seems to be embarassed by Pop . They didnt Add any singles from Pop in 18 singles…year ago they completely ignored 20th anniversary … Instead we got another 30 th anniversary box of Joshua tree.
I’m with you! ‘POP’ expanded will be awsome! The album that needs a box more than everything they did! Also, a box for Passengers with also be as good as diamond!
I’m also sick of ‘Joshua Tree’…
Luckily I still have mine don’t need to buy reissues have so much vinyl I be looking to sell soon please don’t reply as am not ready yet to sell but when I am ready will look to record collectors that know the value of vinyls am awearness is key to value and am a collector so know what I want for them tryed e bay and the cost on there is too much so I will be going private with collection when I get a chance to get a PayPal account sorted
Going to pass on ATYCLB vinyl. For me the album contains The Ground Beneath Her Feet as it was on the CD & the album won’t feel complete unless its there. Hopefully they’ll sort that out when they finally do a boxset for it
That was a bonus track on European CDs – originally on the million dollar hotel soundtrack – and although a great track it’s not on the original vinyl either and these command high prices second hand so I’m really pleased with this re release – only u2 studio album I’m missing on vinyl
Thanks, Steve & Paul, for the clarification. Much appreciated.
Think some fans will hold off on ATYCLB on vinyl as there’s sure to be super duper deluxe box for 20th anniversary in 2020.
Not sure I want to be paying £20 for a 4 track ep though :(
I agree, that price needs to drop and I am sure it will.
Pop was originally released as a limited edition double lp. 33rpm. So this is a re release of that. Not 45rpm mastered Madman.
A vinyl ‘Achtung Baby’ would be very welcome. The scandalously priced 2011 ‘deluxe’ and ‘limited’ reissues meant a lot of fans missed out. It was actually cheaper to get a 1991 original LP than the 2011 vinyl version at the time of Achtung’s 20th anniversary. The ‘Wide Awake’ EP could have been extended: adding the tracks off ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ and ‘Pride’ 12′ singles (‘Sixty Seconds In Kingdom Come’ ‘Bass Trap’ ‘Boomerang I & II’ ‘Pride 12’ version).
Zooropa on vinyl (with a multiple ‘Numb’ ‘Stay’ and ‘Lemon’ mixes) would be lovely too…
Still no Pop reissue…
Apart from the vinyl Pop reissue.
I’ve never owned or heard “Pop” all the way through; maybe now I will finally will. Are both of these 45 rpm versions?
No they’re 33RPM.
the remixes of ‘Gone’ and ‘discotheque’ were inferior to the originals but i would say the single remixes/edits of ‘please’, ‘staring at the sun’, ‘last night on earth’ and ‘if god will send his angels’ were improvements. I’d also opt for the Bono/Jools Holland version of ‘if you wear that velvet dress’ which is stunning. I think ‘Pop’ is a classic (I also think that if you take Rattle & Hum and remove the live tracks you have a brilliant studio album – not to mention a wealth of top quality b-sides)
Whilst their output quality has been patchy i would say that throughout the noughties they have still released enough excellent songs/material that leave their peers in their wake, U2 always get judged to a different/higher standard than anyone else but i’d say they have enough armoury in that back catalogue to silence any critic.
Recordstore have Pop at £27.99 and All That You…. at £19.99
Personally I would like to see another Achtung Baby deluxe set on vinyl similar to the recent Joshua Tree box. The Uber box set was way out of my price budget and the JT box proves that it can be done well for a £120.
Regarding Pop, is it me or are those prices deliberately inflated for what are normal 1 and 2 lp sets, £38 for a double is ridiculous when most are sold at £25, I’m sure the Amazon price will come down to the same level as the What Records one when it is released.
I have the Uber box and whilst i love the musical elements the rest is just a complete waste of space (Badges,poster,magazine, fly shades, magnets etc) it is a beautiful box it is housed in though.
Forgot to say “as vinyl “.
Wide Awake was available here for a limited time (maybe as an import) in all record shops .
I have one .
Me too… Bought it off my sister in-law for 50p about 30 years ago…
Pop was a great album and I much preferred U2 during their 90s period, they have been treading water ever since although the recent album was something of a return to form. Ill pre order anyway and hope the price comes down.
How about an SDE of POP ? There is os much good material on this album. Last Night On Earth is a classic track !
There should be also “the best of 1980-1990” with release in July.
That would be great! And a Passengers! Nobody talks about ‘Original Soundtracks 1’!!!!
Any news on when Achtung Baby might be rereleased on vinyl? That’s the one for me.
I agree with the comment about Bad being great, I’m guessing that this EP was released on the back of the success of Live Aid with fans wanting a long live version of ‘Bad’. Live Aid though is the definitive for me. :)
I bought Wide Awake in America as an import on vinyl for £4.49 a week before the Live Aid performance . All the tracks except Bad were available on the Unforgettable Fire 7″ double gatefold sleeve single.
One of the B sides has different lyrics, Three Sunrises I think
It’s weird that Rattle & Hum has never figured in their reissue programs. There are some rare 12″ mixes from that period that I’d like to see reissued. A box set with those and the film remastered would be great. I guess they’re just not so proud of that period.
I guess this would be the year to do it (30th anniversary and all) and I would like to see at least some of the ‘Lovetown’ tour get a proper release.
Not going to hold my breath though…
Could also be a rights issue with the film, although presumably the music could be bundled together. It’d be a bit niche but there’d be enough for a box of just remixes; some were vinyl only, I think.
It’s a bit after this but as there was a Stop Sellafield tape released with some U2 performances from the Manchester gig mixed with their demonstration footage (and possibly some BAD, Kraftwerk, Public Enemy – it’s been a while) presumably the whole concert was recorded. (I know other Zoo TV concerts exist but not the ones I went to :)
Rights issue. Movie and soundtrack owned by Paramount Pictures. Probably no SDE forthcoming ever, unfortunately.
As I recall the ‘live’ Homecoming was actually culled from a soundcheck and audience noise was added! Great EP however.
Correct. A sort of Homecoming is from a Wembley Arena afternoon soundcheck with overdubs in the studio including audience from the evening show. And with a new arrangement proposed by Tony Visconti who produced this track. As described in his biography. You can find the story with a bit of googling.
Bad is live from Birmingham 1984
The way they do Homecoming for the Live set is not a patch on the record version.
that’s such good news, wanted to add ‘All you can’t leave behind’ for a while but the £100+ price tag was far too much to pay.
just seen AYCLB (as no-one is calling it) is £19 on What Records https://www.whatrecords.co.uk/items/82487.htm
Seen that as well but with an £8!!! P+P charge
Hopefully as they’re going to the effort/expense to remaster these, they will appear on CD or DE/SDE at some point.
Yes, I was wondering about a Pop (S)DE.
The live version of Bad on Wide Awake in America the definitive version of this song, imo.
Yes, it’s a great version.
100% correct, it’s superb.
Totally agree… stunning
….also….any plans to do another Saturday Deluxe video version – really enjoyed the last one.. Thanks
Pop was their last great album. I’ll definitely be buying this reissue.
Excellent, look forward to these. Hopefully they will come down to a better-value price.
Hi Paul…have you heard any rumblings or rumours about the Passengers project being re-issued on vinyl by any chance?
I hope they don’t use the later mixes of Pop tracks on this reissue. I think it was fine just the way it was – it’s the last album of theirs I really loved. After that they settled into a safer groove that, even though it has millions of fans and produced more than a few corking songs, just didn’t interest or grip me as much.
Totally agree, Jimi. Those later mixes were toothless.
Agree with Jimi and Wesley