"Two Hearts Beat As One / Sunday Bloody Sunday 40th Anniversary Edition" - U2

EP

Track Listing:

Background Information

April 22, 2023 is the 16th annual Record Store Day, and U2 have just announced that they will once again be participating this year, after having skipped the Black Friday event at the end of 2022. The announcement of this new release happened on February 16, 2023.

U2 will be releasing a special 40th anniversary EP featuring “Two Hearts Beat As One” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday”. It features both the original War versions and the Songs of Surrender versions of “Two Hearts Beat As One” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday”. Although not yet available, the Songs of Surrender versions of these songs will have been released prior to Record Store Day. This release is a 4-track EP, cut at 45RPM, and features a 180g white vinyl, with an outer sleeve and a poster. This release is a worldwide release, and should be available in any country that participates in Record Store Day.

We are told that the record will be pressed in the same quantity as past releases such as “Gloria”, “11 O’Clock Tick Tock” and “Three” and there will be 17,000 copies pressed for worldwide distribution, with 7000 copies expected for the US. More information about past quantities for Record Store Day releases is available here.

U2’s last participation in Record Store Day was last April, when they released a 40th anniversary edition of “A Celebration“ on black vinyl.

The original singles “Sunday Bloody Sunday“ and “Two Hearts Beat As One“ were released on March 21, 1983. The original cover design used a photo of Peter Rowen, much the same as the album cover. The original design was by Steve Averill using a photo by Ian Finlay. The original singles were produced by Steve Lillywhite. “Two Hearts Beat As One” was released in most regions, with “Sunday Bloody Sunday” being released in The Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Brazil. In Japan both singles were issued. “Two Hearts Beat As One” peaked at #2 in the Irish charts upon release, and was kept out of the top spot by David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”.

U2 have participated in every Record Store Day Event since the April 2017 event, and have participated sporadically before that. We maintain a full list of U2’s Record Store Day releases here. We also have a frequently asked questions feature that spotlights this new release available here. To date, U2 have issued 40th anniversary versions of the singles “Three“, “11 O’Clock Tick Tock“, “Fire“, “Gloria“ and “A Celebration“ on 12-inch vinyl.

Liner Notes

Two Hearts Beat As One / Sunday Bloody Sunday:

Bono: Vocals and Guitar. The Edge: Guitar and Vocals. Larry Mullen: Drums and Percussion. Adam Clayton: Bass
Electric Violin – Steve Wickham (Sunday Bloody Sunday); Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Engineered by Paul Thomas, Assisted by Kevin Killen. Recorded at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, Ireland. War Album Re-Mastering directed by The Edge (2008). Re-Mastering produced by Cheryl Engels, Partial Productions. Re-Mastering engineering by Arnie Acosta, at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Mastering assistance by Scott Sedillo. Technical support by Thomas “Beno” May.

Two Hearts Beat As One (Songs of Surrender):
Bono: Vocals and Guitar. The Edge: Guitar and Vocals. Larry Mullen: Drums and Percussion. Adam Clayton: Bass
Produced by The Edge and Duncan Stewart. Engineered by Duncan Stewart, Alastair McMillan and Richard Rainey. Assitional Engineering: Julian Shank, Jonathan Pfarr and Bobby Mota. Mixed by Duncan Stewart and Richard Rainey. Wurly, Additional bass guitar: The Edge. Additional backing vocals, hand claps and additional percussion: Duncan Stewart. Mastered by Scott Sedillo at Bernie Grundman Mastering.

Sunday Bloody Sunday (Songs of Surrender):
Bono: Vocals and Guitar. The Edge: Guitar and Vocals. Larry Mullen: Drums and Percussion. Adam Clayton: Bass
Produced by The Edge. Additional production by Duncan Stewart. Engineered by Duncan Stewart and Alastair McMillan. Additional engineering: Nicole Schmidt and Rab McAllister. Mixed by Duncan Stewart. Ukulele: The Edge. Mastered by Scott Sedillo at Bernie Grundman Mastering.

Creative director: Gavin Friday. Day to Day Manager: Jennifer Pitcher. Senior Management Associate: Kelly McNamara. Management / Director of Production and Operations: Nadine King. Thanks to Guy Oseary.

Artwork

Art direction and Design: Shaughn McGrath. Photography by Anton Corbijn. Poster Illustration by Bono.

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