"Electrical Storm" - U2

Single

Track Listing:

Also included on DVD:
Electrical Storm (Video)
Interview with Larry Mullen
Photo Gallery

Background Information

“Electrical Storm” was released as the only commercial single from U2’s The Best of 1990-2000 compilation album. It was one of two new songs on the collection (the other being “The Hands That Built America”). The single was released on October 21, 2002 in Europe, and on October 22, 2002 in Canada (promotional CDs were issued in the USA, but there was no commercial release). The song found U2 working with a new producer, William Orbit, a British musician who had remixed tracks by Blur, Depeche Mode, Seal, Peter Gabriel, and many others, and who was best known at the time for his success rejuvenating Madonna’s career by producing her Ray of Light album. “Electrical Storm” was played heavily on radio prior to the release of the single. The song was first mentioned by Sarah HB, a BBC Radio One DJ who claimed to have been given a copy of the single by Bono himself. She repeatedly promised to play the track on air for about a month prior to actually doing so. Finally, on August 25, 2002, she played an early demo of the song that differed significantly from the finished versions released on promotional CDs only a few days later. The official release date for radio play was August 29, 2002.

In most territories, the single was issued in two different CD formats (except Japan, where the various tracks were combined onto one CD). A DVD single was also released in Canada and Europe. The first CD included “Electrical Storm (William Orbit Mix)” along with two remixes of the All That You Can’t Leave Behind track “New York”—the “Nice Mix” and the “Nasty Mix”—both by Jimmy Cauty of The KLF. The second CD contained a different mix of “Electrical Storm” (commonly known as the “Band Version,” although not labeled as such) along with live versions of “Bad” and “Where the Streets Have No Name” (joined by a brief snippet of “40”) recorded on June 6, 2001 in Boston, MA at the Fleet Center. These songs, which also appeared on the Elevation 2001: Live from Boston DVD, were combined into a single track, running 12:28 in length and labeled “Bad/40/Where the Streets Have No Name (Live from Boston),” for the CD release. Early versions of the single artwork listed another track, “Kite (Live from Boston).” For unknown reasons, this track ended up not being included on the eventual single release, although like the other live tracks, it can be found on the Boston DVD. In the UK, singles from the All That You Can’t Believe Behind album included a postcard that fans could send in to be placed on a U2 mailing list. When “Electrical Storm” was released, those who had filled out these cards received a special “Collectors Wallet” in the mail, designed to house the double case version of the CD and the DVD release of the single.

“Electrical Storm” was the first U2 DVD single released in North America (again, in Canada only). It was issued on October 29, 2002, a week after the CD singles. The DVD included the video for “Electrical Storm,” a photo gallery, and an interview with Larry Mullen from the set of the video shoot. Some copies of the Canadian DVD fell victim to a production error: instead of featuring the expected U2 content, the DVD contained a Nick Carter video! There was no external way to tell which DVDs contained the Nick Carter content.

The video for “Electrical Storm” was directed by Anton Corbijn, edited by James Rose, and produced by Richard Bell for State. It was filmed on location in Eze, France with additional footage shot in London. The Eze footage was captured on August 21, 2002 on a shoot that started at 6AM and continued until 3AM the following day. The storyline of the video follows Larry Mullen as he encounters a mermaid, played by Irish actress Samantha Morton. The video, with optional commentary by Corbijn, was included on The Best of 1990-2000 DVD.

Although released in 2002, “Electrical Storm” would not be performed live in concert until the second night of the U2360° Tour, in Barcelona, Spain, in 2009. The song appeared only twice more on the same leg of that tour before being dropped from the set. Even so, “Electrical Storm” was one of the 46 live tracks from U2360° for which fans could vote for inclusion in the 2012 fan club album U22. In the end, however, the song did not receive enough votes to appear on the final live compilation. The following year, the Edge picked his favorite tracks from the remaining 46 live tracks, and “Electrical Storm” recorded in Milan, Italy on July 8, 2009 was included on From the Ground Up: Edge’s Picks.

The demo version of “Electrical Storm” first played by BBC Radio One has never been released commercially. “Electrical Storm (William Orbit Mix)” was included on The Best of 1990-2000 CD, while the “band version” of the song (also produced by Orbit) was included on the disc of B-sides and remixes accompanying that release. An edit of the “William Orbit” mix was also issued on some promotional CDs. The live version of “Where the Streets Have No Name” from Boston—but WITHOUT the preceding performance of “Bad” or the snippet of “40”—had previously appeared on some versions of the “Walk On” single in Europe and Australia.

Liner Notes

Electrical Storm (William Orbit Mix):
Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono. Produced and mixed by William Orbit. Engineered by Carl Glanville. Assited by Chris Heaney. Mix engineering by Jake Davies and Iain Roberton. Additional keyboards by William Orbit. Protools Programming: Iain Roberton and Jake Davies. Recorded at the HQ, Dublin, The Leonard Hotel, London and Eze, France.

Electrical Storm (The Band Version):
Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono. Produced by William Orbit. Mixed by Carl Glanville. Engineered by Carl Glanville. Assited by Chris Heaney. Mix engineering by Jake Davies and Iain Roberton. Additional keyboards by William Orbit. Protools Programming: Iain Roberton and Jake Davies. Recorded at the HQ, Dublin, The Leonard Hotel, London and Eze, France.

New York (Nice Mix):
Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono and the Edge. Remixed by Jimmy “KLF” Cauty. Original production by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Engineered by Richard Rainey. Assisted by Chris Heaney.

New York (Nasty Mix):
Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono and the Edge. Remixed by Jimmy “KLF” Cauty. Original production by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Engineered by Richard Rainey. Assisted by Chris Heaney.

Bad / 40 / Where the Streets (Live from Boston):
Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono. Recorded live on 6th June, 2001, at the Fleetcenter, Boston, Massachusetts. Recorded by John Harris and Max Feldman. Mixed by John Harris and Steve Lillywhite.

Electrical Storm Video (Director’s Cut): Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono. Directed by Anton Corbijn. Produced by Richard Bell for State. Edited by James Rose. Filmed on loacation in Eze and London, August 20002.

Photo Gallery: Anton Corbijn Photographs.

Mastered by Arnie Acosta at The Mastering Lab, Los Angeles. Digital Editing by Pat Sullivan at Bernie Grundman. AUdio Post-Production by Cheryl Engels at Partial Productions Inc.

Artwork

Sleeve designed by Four5One Design, Dublin. Photography by Anton Corbijn.

Recognition and Awards

#1 Single, 2002 Awards (Hot Press Magazine, January 2003) #1 Music Video, 2002 Awards (Hot Press Magazine, January 2003)

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