"Previously" - U2

Promotional Release

Track Listing:

Background Information

“Previously” was a promotional release to radio in the late part of 1996, The purpose of the release was to remind people of the back catalog of U2 material and get people playing tracks in the lead up to the release of the new album “Pop” which was due in March of 1997. Two very different singles were produced under the “Previously” name.

The first 5-inch CD released in the UK was a five track release. The CD was released in a cardboard sleeve, and featured the image from the “Lemon” promotional single in the bottom right hand corner of the front cover. This CD was released under the catalog number “PRECD1” and contained “Lemon”, “Mysterious Ways”, “One”, “Desire” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. The CD is black, and uses the reflective backing area for the text. In France, copies of the UK promotional release were distributed in a red promotional envelope which listed “en attendant le 15 janvier 1997” or “Wait for January 15, 1997” which was the due date for the new single. A press sheet that accompanied some copies distributed in Germany read “Soon we will hear the long-awaited new album of Dublin mega-band U2 – for bridging the wait there is this “Previously” radio CD with five of their successes as a kind of refreshment of memories of the past until the arrival of the new title by Bono & Co.” (Translated from German)

The second 5-inch CD was released in the USA. In the USA it was a seven track release and contained “Desire”, “Bad”, “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses”, “Silver and Gold (Live)”, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, “Mysterious Ways (The Perfecto Mix)” and “One”. It did not contain “Lemon”, and it also did not contain the album version of “Mysterious Ways”, both of which had appeared on the UK release. As “Lemon” was not part of this release, the location where the lemon had been on the UK cover in the bottom right corner, was replaced with an image of Bono in silhouette in blue. The CD for the US release was red, with black print, with the song titles being with no paint so the reflection of the CD shows through.

In 1997 another CD was pressed titled the “WFM 96.9” promotional release. It was an exclusive for Mexico, and featured a similar cover to the UK release of “Previously” and also contained a similar track listing, with the addition of “Last Night on Earth”.

Liner Notes

Lemon (Album Version):
Words by Bono. Music by U2. Produced by Flood, Brian Eno and the Edge.

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.

One:
Words by Bono. Music by U2. Produced by Daniel Lanois with Brian Eno. Engineered by Flood. Additional engineering by Robbie Adams. Assisted by Shannon Strong. Additional keyboards by Brian Eno. Additional guitar by Daniel Lanois.

Desire:
Written by U2. Produced by Jimmy Iovine. Recorded by Paul Barrett at STS Studios, Dublin. Mixed by Shelly Yakus.

Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses:
Written by U2. Produced by Steve Lillywhite, Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno.

Silver and Gold (Live):
Recorded live by Thom Panunzio at McNichols Arena, Denver, Colorado, Nov. 8, 1987. Produced by Jimmy Iovine.

Mysterious Ways (The Perfecto Mix):
Remixed by Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osbourne. Produced by Daniel Lanois with Brian Eno.

Bad:
Written by U2. Produced by Brian Eno, and Daniel Lanois.

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For:
Written by U2. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Recorded by Flood. Additional Engineering by Dave Meegan. Assisted by Pat McCarthy. Mixed by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno.

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