"Mysterious Ways" - U2
Promotional Release
Track Listing:
- "Mysterious Ways" (Studio Version) - U2 (04:03)
- "Mysterious Ways" (Solar Plexus Magic Hour Remix) - U2 (08:14)
- "Mysterious Ways" (Solar Plexus Extended Club Mix) - U2 (07:02)
- "Mysterious Ways" (Apollo 440 Magic Hour Remix) - U2 (04:26)
- "Mysterious Ways" (Tabla Motown Remix) - U2 (04:27)
- "Mysterious Ways" (Solar Plexus Club Mix) - U2 (04:10)
- "Mysterious Ways" (The Perfecto Mix) - U2 (07:06)
- "Mysterious Ways" (Ultimatum Mix) - U2 (05:01)
Background Information
“Mysterious Ways” was the second single used for promotion of the album “Achtung Baby”. The single was released shortly after the release of the album. One of the more unique promotional items for “Mysterious Ways” came out of France where a box was released which contained both the commercial 5-inch CD, and the commercial 7-inch vinyl single. Both singles were stickered that they were promotional. The release was individually numbered from 1 – 1200. The outer box was very plain, with just a raised U2 in the centre of the front cover. Also included inside the package was a jigsaw puzzle. The image on the puzzle is that of the single covers for “The Fly”, “Mysterious Ways”, “Even Better Than the Real Thing” and “Who’s Going to Ride Your Wild Horses” as one larger image. This box is listed at number 55 in an article that Record Collector Magazine published in 2006 of the Top 60 Worldwide U2 Rarities.
Two unique 5-inch CDs were pressed for promotion in the USA market. One of them contained just the album version of “Mysterious Ways”, but came in a regular jewel case with a full front and back insert. The second promotional CD came with two rare mixes of the title track, “The Perfecto Mix” and the “Ultimatum Mix” and were released on a 5-inch CD with no inserts. The CD itself is just white with the U2 logo and track information in black.
In France a special promotional CD was also produced for DJs. On the front cover it was called “Special D.J. Collector” next to the title in red. The CD contained three remixes in this case, “The Perfecto Mix”, the “Ultimatum Mix” and the “Solar Plexus Club Mix”.
In Brazil a unique promotional CD was pressed, containing just the album version of the title track, but with a very unique cover. Instead of the image of the trabant, the image here was a black cover with a blue title, and a small tilted image of The Edge’s hand wearing the U2 rings. On the back cover of the CD were listed the lyrics for the release.
In the USA, some copies of the 12-inch commercial vinyl was stamped in gold with promotional information, but the more unique release was a 12-inch vinyl with a unique white label with information about the tracks handwritten. This promotional 12-inch was released in a generic sleeve, and contained a number of remixes.
Very few 7-inch promotional items were issued, with the exception of a 7-inch single made in France, and distributed throughout Europe and the UK. The label of this single is moulded right into the vinyl and is not stickered. These were made for use in juke boxes. The only other 7-inch promotional release was a release in the Philippines on the label Dyna, which featured the title track on both sides, again, produced for use in juke boxes.
For more information on the single “Mysterious Ways”, including information about the song, how it charted, and the songs included on international releases, please see our discography entry for the “Mysterious Ways” single.
Liner Notes
Mysterious Ways (Album Version):
Written by U2. Produced by Daniel Lanois with Brian Eno. Engineered by Flood. Additional engineering by Robbie Adams. Assisted by Shannon Strong. Mixed by Flood, the Edge and Daniel Lanois. Assisted by Shannon Strong. Additional percussion by Daniel Lanois.
Mysterious Ways (Solar Plexus Magic Hour Remix):
Additional production and remix by Howard Gray, Trevor Gray, Steve Lillywhite and Apollo 440.
Mysterious Ways (Solar Plexus Extended Club Mix):
Additional production and remix by Howard Gray, Trevor Gray and Steve Lillywhite.
Mysterious Ways (Apollo 440 Magic Hour Remix):
Additional production and remix by Apollo 440.
Mysterious Ways (Tabla Motown Remix):
Additional production and remix by Apollo 440.
Mysterious Ways (Solar Plexus Club Mix):
Additional production and remix by Howard Gray, Trevor Gray and Steve Lillywhite.
Mysterious Ways (The Perfecto Mix):
Remixed by Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne.
Mysterious Ways (Ultimatum Mix):
Additional production and remix by The Stereo MCs a.k.a. Ultimatum.
Artwork
Photography by Anton Corbijn. Design by Works Associates (Dublin). Car painted by Thierry Noir (Berlin).