"Alternative NRG" - Various Artists

Compilation Album

U2 Related Content:

Full Track Listing:

  • Drive – REM (4:16)
  • Ring the Bells – James (5:22)
  • Until the End of the World (Live from San Diego, November 10, 1992) – U2 (4:57)
  • Tell Me the Truth – Midnight Oil (3:27)
  • Everyday Life has Become a Health Risk – Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy
  • New Damage – Soundgarden / Brian May (5:20)
  • New Kind of Kick – The Jesus and Mary Chain (2:49)
  • Sing Our Own Song – UB40 (5:36)
  • Cold – Annie Lennox (5:04)
  • Looking Through Patient Eyes – P.M. Dawn (5:20)
  • Sweetmeat – The Soup Dragons (4:25)
  • Search and Destroy – EMF (4:04)
  • Yolngu Bay – Yothu Yindi (4:41)
  • JC – Sonic Youth (4:57)
  • Fam Bam – Boo-Yaa Tribe (2:24)
  • Shitlist – L7 (3:17)

Background Information

This compilation album was produced by Greenpeace to promote alternate sources of energy which would be more environmentally friendly than those used most commonly. All of the tracks on this album were recorded in the USA using a solar powered mobile recording studio called “Cyrus” with the exception of the Annie Lennox track. Cyrus is a converted 28-foot aluminum box trailer, upon which is mounted a 160 square foot, 1,920-watt solar panel array, consisting of 40 1×4-foot solar modules. The entire solar array can be hydraulically tilted to track the sun’s seasonal variations and capture the optimum sunlight. The power produced by the solar array is stored in two 48-volt, sealed, long-life batteries totalling 2,500 amp-hours or 110,000 watt-hours when fully charged. This whole shebang, once converted to AC (the sun is DC), can generate the electricity needed for an average-size house for several days. It was certainly enough to power the mobile recording setup used for Alternative NRG. The CD was packaged in an environmentally cardboard sleeve which folded out. The interior is filled with information about sustainable clean energy, and climate change.

U2’s contribution was a live performance of “Until the End of the World” taken from a concert held at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California. The performance itself was recorded on November 10, 1992. The exact date is not contained in the release notes for this album, but is noted in promotional material released by Greenpeace at the time. The concert was part of the Zoo TV tour, and was held on the third leg of the tour, known as the Outside Broadcast. No steps are taken to hide the fact that this track was recorded live, and the crowd noise is mixed in at the start and end of the song.

Other live performances of “Until the End of the World” can be found on the “Zoo TV Live” fan club album (Sydney, November 1993), on the “Go Home: Live from Slane Castle” fan club album (Slane, September 2001), on the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live Vol. 8” digital album (New York, March 2005) and on the “U22” fan club album (Mexico City, May 14, 2011).

Robbie Adams who recorded and mixed the U2 track is misspelled in the liner notes as “Robby Adams”.

Liner Notes

Until the End of the World:
Written by U2. Recording and Mix: Robby Adams. Venue: Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, CA.

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