"U22" - U2

Fan Club Album

Track Listing (Disc One):

Track Listing (Disc Two):

Background Information

U22 was the ninth CD release by the U2 fan club for subscribers, and the seventh through U2.com. U22 was a double CD of live tracks taken from the 2009-2011 U2360° Tour. The CDs are packaged in large-format booklet reminiscent of an LP-sized (12” by 12”) magazine.The discs themselves are housed inside the front cover of the magazine.

U22 was first announced by U2.com on October 24, 2011. The set was introduced as a 22-track live release, with the songs chosen by subscribers to the fan club. A total of 46 songs recorded during the tour were listed on the voting page, and subscribers could vote for 22 songs from that list. The 22 most popular songs overall would be included in the final release. Accompanying each song on the voting page was a 45-second audio clip. Voting was initially announced to close on December 2, 2011. The ability to view which tracks were ahead in the voting was removed on December 13, 2011, although voting was extended until early January, 2012. The final list of tracks that would make the cut for U22 was announced on January 20, 2012. Adam Clayton commented on the final selection, “This is really going to be a special CD. I wasn’t expecting some of these tunes, it’s a really fresh collection and it’s going to make very interesting listening.” On May 16, 2012, a final release date was confirmed for the end of May, and subscribers were informed by email that they would begin receiving the set shortly after that time. The first copies of U22 began arriving in fan’s hands on June 8, 2012.

During the lead up to the release of U22, U2.com made several tracks available for download. The first, “Even Better Than the Real Thing” and was made available on January 29, 2012. “One Tree Hill” followed on February 21, 2012. “All I Want is You – Love Rescue Me” was made available on April 4, 2012. All three of these songs are edited so that they fade in and out, and therefore differ very slightly from the final versions released on U22. On May 16, 2012, U2.com released a song that did not make the final cut for the CD, “Unknown Caller” which was recorded at the August 14, 2009 concert at Wembley Stadium in London. The track also contained a slight edit, with the line “in a place of no consequence, or company” taken from the August 15, 2009 concert, also in London. Finally, on May 30, 2012 eight additional songs were made available for download—all taken directly from the final U22 CD (they do not fade in and out like the earlier downloads). These included: “Magnificent,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Stay,” “Elevation,” “The Unforgettable Fire,” “City of Blinding Lights,” “Ultra Violet,” and “With or Without You.”

Of the 46 songs originally eligible for voting on U2.com, 24 did not make the cut for the final release of U22, although, as mentioned previously, “Unknown Caller” was released as a download. However, most, but not all, of the remaining tracks were included on the following year’s subscriber CD, From the Ground Up: Edge’s Picks from U2360, with a few others offered as downloads for 2013 subscribers. These included “40,” “Breathe,” “Angel of Harlem,” “Desire,” “Electrical Storm,” “Get on Your Boots,” “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me,” “I’ll Go Crazy (Remix),” “In a Little While,” “I Will Follow,” “Miss Sarajevo,” “New Year’s Day,” “No Line on the Horizon,” “Pride,” “Scarlet,” “Spanish Eyes,” “Stuck in a Moment,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “Vertigo,” and “Your Blue Room.” That left only three songs, of the original 46, that have not been released as of this writing: “Mothers of the Disappeared,” “Party Girl,” and “Return of the Stingray Guitar.”

Also of note, some of the 45-second sound clips used on the voting page on U2.com did not end up being the same recordings used on the final version of U22. At least two songs were substituted between voting and the final CD. The voting clip for “The Fly” was from Nashville, but the version on U22 was recorded in East Lansing. And the voting clip for “I Still Haven’t Found” was labeled as being from Boston, but the version on U22 was from Johannesburg. Not all of the 45-second clips were labeled with a location, so other substitutions may have occurred.

Although not credited in the track listing itself, several snippets are included among the live tracks on U22. “Need You Tonight,” “Never Tear Us Apart,” “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “Strangers in the Night,” “New York, New York,” and “Whole of the Moon” are all credited in the booklet. “Slide Away,” a track that Bono finished after Michael Hutchence passed away, is also excerpted but not credited in the liner notes. “Bad,” on CD 1, includes a significant snippet of “All I Want is You,” even though a full performance of that song also kicks off CD 2. And “Moment of Surrender” includes a piece of “Party Girl” at the start of the track. The booklet mistakenly lists “Even Better than the Real Thing” as being performed on November 15, 2011—long after The U2360 Tour had ended. The actual date of that performance, confirmed by U2.com, is May 15, 2011.

While most fan club CDs are offered on a one-time only basis, U22 was offered again the following year as part of a 2013 “subscription plus” bundle for U2.com subscribers. While the standard subscriber gift for that year was the From the Ground Up: U2.com Music Edition book and CD, the “subscription plus” bundle added two previous subscriber gifts: 2012’s U22 set and 2007’s Zoo TV Live. Although the “subscription plus” bundle was offered “while stocks last,” the offer continued to be available for several months after the initial announcement.

Liner Notes

Recorded by Alistair McMillan. Mixed by Declan Gaffney at Hanover Quay, Dublin, and Artillery Studios, London. Mixing Assisted by Ronan Phelan and Jack McKenna.
Keyboards by Terry Lawless (‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,’ ‘Beautiful Day,’ ‘Bad,’ ‘City of Blinding Lights,’ ‘MLK/Walk On,’ ‘With or Without You,’ ‘Moment of Surrender’)

Produced by Declan Gaffney. Project Managers Jeremy Joseph and Brian Celler. Project Co-ordinators Candida Bottaci and Tanya Davis. Mastering Pete Maher for 140dB

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