"Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" - Various Artists

Soundtrack Album

U2 Related Content:

Full Track Listing:

  • All tracks have U2 content between Edge performing on guitar and both Edge and Bono producing and writing.

Background Information

In early 2004 it was rumoured that Bono was shipping around a new U2 song called “Sky Hawk” with initial rumours saying it was destined for the “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” soundtrack. But in October 2003, Bono supposedly met with the team working on the “Spider-Man 2” movie, and the song was destined for there. Early in 2004 it was revealed that Bono and the Edge were actually in talks with producer Tony Adams and Marvel comics to work on a Spider-Man musical. By 2007 Julie Taymor had been hired as a director, and auditions were taking place.

Initially planned for an October 2009 opening, many of the songs had begun to take shape, in late 2008. By February 2009, that date had been pushed to a February 2010 opening. The musical however started to spiral out of control. Budgets grew unwieldly, the production ran out of money, opening dates kept getting pushed back, the story wasn’t working, and there were a series of highly publicized injuries while practicing the musical. Previews were pushed back to October 2010, with opening set for November 2010. Opening night was later pushed out to June 14, 2011, continuing in previews and making it the musical with the record for most number of previews ever (182 preview performances). The director, Julie Taymor was replaced from the project.

This album of music was produced by Steve Lillywhite, and involves Bono and the Edge performing music from the play in studio. The album was released at the same time the musical was officially opening. Bono and The Edge are listed on the album as executive producers, as well as co-writers. Further, Edge is listed as performing “Additional Guitars” throughout the album, musical credits for the individual songs are not broken out. Bono and The Edge also add their vocals to a number of tracks, including “Picture This”, “Rise Above 1”, “A Freak Like Me Needs Company”, and “Sinistero”. Finally the song, “Boy Falls From the Sky” is credited as having been written by all of U2, and indeed U2 would play the song on the 2010 leg of the U2360 tour.

A number of other songs are used in the musical, which are not featured on the soundtrack CD. These include the following: “The Myth of Arachne”, “Behold and Wonder”, “Bullying By Numbers”, “Venom”, “Spider-Man!”, “I’ll Take Manhattan” and “Finale – A New Dawn”.

The soundtrack album was promoted with the release of a promotional single to radio of the song “Rise Again 1” which could also be purchased from iTunes starting on May 25, 2011. A commercial single was available, but could only be purchased at the theatre, or through the Turn Off the Dark merchandise site.

Liner Notes

Executive Producers: Bono and The Edge.

Engineers: Lawrence Manchester, Angie Teo. Assitant Engineers: Ryan Kelly, Derik Lee, Gloria Kaba, Peter Wolford. Additional Mixing by: Lawrence Manchester. Mixed by Steve Lillywhite.

Guitars: Zane Carney, Matt Beck, Ben Butler. Additional Guitar: The Edge. Basses: Aiden Moore, Richard Hammond. Keyboards: Billy Jay Stein, Charles duChateau. Drums: Jon Epcor. Percussion: John Clancy. Hammered Dulcimer: Bill Ruyle. Concertmaster: Antoine Silverman. Violin / Viola: Christopher Cardona. Cello: Anja Wood. Trumpets: Don Downs, Tony Kadleck. French Horn: Thersa MacDonnell. Bass Trombone / Tuba: Marcus Rojas. Reeds: Aaron Heick.

Additional Musicians: Additional keyboards / programming: Shea Taylor. Violins: Michael Roth, Matt Lehmann, Entcho Todorov, Laura Frautschi, Lisa Matricardi, Dale Woodiel, Mary Whitaker, Sylvia D’Avanzo, Max Moston, Amy Kauffmann, Hector Falcon, Ann Lehmann, Claire Chan, Suzy Perelman, Louise Owen, Sean Carney. Violas: Hiroko Taguchi, Jonathan Dinklage, David Creswell. Celli: Sarah Carter, Wolfram Koessel, Emily Brausa, David Heiss. Bass: Pete Donovan, Dick Sarpola. French Horn: R.J. Kelley. Tombone / Bass Trombone: Timothy Albright. Trumpet: Michael Leonhurt. Tenor Sax / Alto Flute: David Mann. Baritone Sax: Roger Rosenberg.

Conductor: Kimberly Grigsby. Associate Conductor: Chales duChateau.

NY Debut (Instrumental):
Music by Bono and The Edge.

Boy Falls From the Sky:
Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono and The Edge. Vocal performance: Reeve Carney.

Rise Above 1:
Music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge. Produced by Alex Da Kid for KIDinaKORNER. Additional Vocal production by Steve Lillywhite. Additional Bass and Guitars by J Browz. Additonal Keyboards by Mark Foster. Recorded at MSR Studios, New York. Vocal performance: Reeve Carney featuring Bono and The Edge, with Gerald Avery, Collin Baja, Marcus Bellamy, Emmanuel Brown, Jeb Brown, Matt Caplan, Dwayne Clark, Luther Creek, Craig Hennigsen, Dana Marie Ingraham, Ayo Jackson, Isobel Keating, Natalie Lomonte, Ken Marks, Kristen Martin, Jodi McFadden, Bethany Moore, Kristen Faith Oei, Kyle Post, Brandon Rubendall, Sean Samuels, Dollar Tan, Matthew James Thomas, CHristopher W. Tierney, Laura Beth Wells.

Picture This:
Music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge. Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Recorded at MSR Studios, New York. Vocal performance: Bono, The Edge, Jennifer Damiano, Reeve Carney.

I Just Can’t Walk Away (Say it Now):
Music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge. Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Recorded at MSR Studios, New York. Vocal Performance: Reeve Carney, Jennifer Damiano, TV Carpio.

Bouncing Off the Walls:
Music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge. Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Recorded at Henson Recording Studios, New York by Nicolas Essig. Vocal performance: Reeve Carney with Matt Caplan, Luther Creek, Kristen Faith Oei, Sean Samuels.

Pull The Trigger:
Music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge. Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Recorded at MSR Studios, New York. Vocal performance by Patrick Page, Jeb Brown, Dwayne Clark, Luther Creek, Ken Marks with Gerald Avery, Collin Baja, Marcus Bellamy, Emmanuel Brown, Matt Caplan, Craig Henningsen, Dana Marie INgraham, Ayo Jackson, Isobel Keating, Natalie Lomonte, Kristen Martin, Jodi McFadden, Bethany Moore, Kristen Faith Oei, Kyle Post, Brandon RubenDall, Sean Samuels, Dollar Tan, Matthew James Thomas, Christopher W. Tierney, Laura Beth Wells.

No More:
Music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge. Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Recorded at MSR Studios, New York. Vocal performance by Reeve Carney, Jennifer Damiano.

DIY World:
Music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge. Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Recorded at MSR Studios, New York. Vocal performance by Patrick Page, Reeve Carney, Laura Beth Wells with Gerald Avery, Collin Baja, Marcus Bellamy, Emmanuel Brown, Jeb Brown, Matt Caplan, Dwayne Clark, Craig Henningsen, Dana Marie Ingraham, Ayo Jackson, Isobel Keating, Natalie Lomonte, Ken Marks, Kristen Martin, Jodi McFadden, Bethany Moore, Kristen Faith Oei, Kyle Post, Brandon Rubendall, Sean Samuels, Dollar Tan, Matthew James Thomas, Christopher W. Tierney.

If the World Should End:
Music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge. Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Recorded at MSR Studios, New York. Vocal performance by Jennifer Damiano.

Sinistereo:
Music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge. Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Recorded at MSR Studios, New York. Vocal performance by The Edge, with Jeb Brown, Dwayne Clark, Luther Creek.

A Freak Like Me Needs Company:
Music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge. Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Recorded at MSR Studios, New York. Vocal performance by Patrick Page with Bono and The Edge, Gerald Avery, Collin Baja, Marcus Bellamy, Emmanuel Brown, Jeb Brown, Matt Caplan, Dwayne Clark, Craig Henningsen, Dana Marie Ingraham, Ayo Jackson, Isobel Keating, Natalie Lomonte, Ken Marks, Kristen Martin, Jodi McFadden, Bethany Moore, Kristen Faith Oei, Kyle Post, Brandon Rubendall, Sean Samuels, Dollar Tan, Matthew James Thomas, Christopher W. Tierney, Laura Beth Wells.

Rise Above 2:
Music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge. Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Recorded at MSR Studios, New York. Vocal performance by Reeve Carney, TV Carpio, Jennifer Daminano with Collin Baja, Jeb Brown, Matt Caplan, Dwayne Clark, Luther Creek, Dana Marie Ingraham, Ayo Jackson, Isobel Keating, Heather Long, Natalie Lomonte, Ken Marks, Jodi McFadden, Kristen Faith Oei, Jennifer Christine Perry, Sean Samuels, Laura Beth Wells.

Turn Off the Dark:
Music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge. Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Recorded at MSR Studios, New York. Vocal performance by TV Carpio.

Artwork

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