"Johnny Mnemonic" - Various Artists
Soundtrack Album
U2 Related Content:
Full Track Listing:
- Lost – Stabbing Westward
- 3 AM Incident – Cop Shoot Cop
- Complete – Helmet
- Sad But True – Orbital
- Virus – KMFDM
- I See Through – Rollins Band
- No More Love – God Lives Underwater
- Alex Descends Into Hell For A Bottle Of Milk / Korova 1 – Bono And The Edge
- Nothing – Stabbing Westward
- Send It Out – Brad Fiedel
Background Information
The 1995 film “Johnny Mnemonic” was a science fiction movie directed by Robert Longo, and was based loosely on the short story of the same name written by William Gibson. The film premiered in Japan on April 15, 1995, and was widely released on May 26, 1995 in North America. The movie is seen as a disappointment. Gibson commented, “Basically what happened was it was taken away and re-cut by the American distributor in the last month of its pre-release life, and it went from being a very funny, very alternative piece of work to being something that had been very unsuccessfully chopped and cut into something more mainstream.”
The soundtrack album, released the same week the film was released, features one song with U2 content, “Alex Descends Into Hell for a Bottle of Milk / Korova 1” as performed by Bono and The Edge. The song had been written by Bono and The Edge for the Royal Shakespeare Company production of “A Clockwork Orange” directed by Ron Daniels. Bono and The Edge had scored the entire production. In September of 1989 Bono and the Edge spent five days in the studio in Dublin doing demos while the band was rehearsing for the LoveTown Tour. They left the music with producer Paul Barrett to add structure to, and once the LoveTown tour had finished they returned to the work. “Alex Descends” is the only track from the score which has ever been released. The play opened in February 1990 at the Barbican Theatre in London.
“Alex Descends Into Hell” was first released on the single “The Fly” in the Fall of 1991. The version included here on the soundtrack to Johnny Mnemonic, and the version which was released on “The Fly” are the same.
Liner Notes
From Soundtrack:
Alex Descends into Hell for a Bottle of Milk / Korova 1:
Performed by Bono and The Edge. Written by Bono, The Edge. Produced and arranged by Paul Barrett. MIxed by Ingmar Kiang.
Full Credits taken from “The Fly” single:
Written by Bono and the Edge. Produced and arranged by Paul Barrett. Assisted by Ian Bryan. Mixed by Ingmar Kiang. Programming by Dave Clayton. Percussion by Noel Eccles. Boy Sopranos: Noel and Jerry O’Gorman. Special thanks to Dr. Albert Bradshaw. From the RSC production of “A Clockwork Orange” directed by Ron Daniels.