New Reissues on Coloured Vinyl: Zooropa and The Joshua Tree

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2018-11-05)

Updated: November 23, 2018:

We’ve updated our article with a number of additional locations where the album can be purchased:

Belgium: FNAC is now taking orders for the albums (November 23, 2018 Release)
Canada: SunRise Records will be selling the albums in store on November 23, 2018.
France: FNAC is now taking orders for the albums (November 23, 2018 Release)
Germany: Saturn / Media Markt are selling both (October 26, 2018 Release)
Greece: Public.gr are selling both (November 23, 2018 Release)
Hungary: Media Markt in Hungary is selling both (November 23, 2018 Release)
Ireland: Tower Records (November 23, 2018 Release, in store and online.)
Israel: Disc Center is carrying these releases (November 23, 2018)
Italy: Mondadori is now taking orders for the albums. (November 23, 2018 Release)
Japan: HMV in Japan is taking orders for the albums (November 23, 2018 Release)
Netherlands: North End Haarlem is taking orders for the albums (November 23, 2018 Release) (Thanks Edgar!)
Portugal: FNAC is carrying the vinyl (November 23, 2018 Release)
South Africa: Echo’s Records are taking orders for the albums (November 23, 2018 Release)
Switzerland: FNAC is now taking orders for the albums (November 23, 2018 Release)
UK / Northern Ireland: HMV Stores are the exclusive retailer (Zooropa: October 12, Joshua Tree: October 26, and now available online!)
USA (In Store): Not known, visitors to Target (rumoured to be where it would be carried) have not found these releases today. See next line for online availability for US Addresses.
USA (Online): Available at The Sound of Vinyl (November 23 release date) (Thanks Ricardo!)
Worldwide: U2.Com has these releases available to purchase.

Content from October 15, 2018:

Two new pressings of U2 albums will be released this fall. This includes Zooropa on blue vinyl and The Joshua Tree on gold vinyl. Zooropa is already available in the UK and will be available shortly in other countries. These vinyl releases will be released in different countries around the world, and in each case we are told that the vinyl will be exclusive to one retailer. This is a common practice these days in music marketing. For example in the USA, only one chain will sell these special coloured releases, similar to how Urban Outfitters sold the recent coloured vinyl pressing of Batman Forever, while it was available on black vinyl everywhere else. We are told that Target will likely be the retailer with the exclusive for the USA.

Although we expect these will be pressed once, and not repressed at a later date, the initial pressings should be quite large to fill orders for several chain retailers who will be carrying these items.

Not all details about these releases have been available at this time, but we have had some information on where they will appear in some countries. Confirmed and rumoured locations to buy these releases:

All Regions: U2.Com is taking pre-orders for both items now, and has already started shipping some copies of Zooropa.
HMV will be selling both in the UK and Northern Ireland (The blue vinyl Zooropa is available now, The Joshua Tree will be available October 26.)
FNAC will be selling both in France (Nov. 23, 2018 release)
FNAC will also be selling both in Belgium and Switzerland (Nov. 23, 2018 release)
In Germany these releases were initially listed on CeDe, with a November 23, 2018 release date listed for both. The listing for Zooropa no longer appears on CeDE. These are now listed on the Saturn / Media Markt sites with the release date of October 26, 2018 for both releases, which matches the release date posted to U2.Com.
Echo’s Records will be selling both in South Africa (Nov. 23, 2018 release)
Target is rumoured to be the USA retailer who will have this exclusive (Nov. 23, 2018 release)

According to U2.Com the release dates for these vinyl are as follows:

Zooropa: UK (October 12); Germany (October 26); Rest of World (November 23)
The Joshua Tree: UK (October 26); Germany (October 26); Rest of World (November 23)

U2.Com lists Zooropa as a 180 gram Opaque Blue Vinyl 2LP including the two bonus tracks, “Lemon” (The Perfecto Mix) and “Numb” (Gimme Some More Dignity Mix) which were available on the recent remaster on black vinyl. The Joshua Tree is listed as a 180 gram Gold Vinyl 2LP. Both are now available for pre-order now at U2.Com but it does not say when these will ship if ordered from their store

IMAGE: Blue Vinyl Release of Zooropa

Both releases are expected to be the most recent audio versions of these albums. The Joshua Tree was released in 2017, and Zooropa was released just a few months ago on black vinyl. Both will be sold with a download card, allowing you to download the audio in wave format. We can confirm that the download card included with Zooropa is the same audio that was available to download with the black vinyl release earlier this year.

The catalog number listed for these items is different than that of the earlier pressings on black vinyl on the front sticker. Zooropa lists 00602567891291, and The Joshua Tree lists 00602567891239. Both also contain a different UPC. However, the labels inside Zooropa at least contain the same catalog numbers as the black vinyl issue.

The British music community have come together to announce a new annual event, the National Album Day, celebrating the 70th birthday of the album. This years inaugural event took place on Saturday, October 13, 2018. There were events throughout the country to celebrate “the UK’s love of the album”. This included programming on the BBC, retail events, listening parties, and the hashtag #NationalAlbumDay on Twitter. The release of the blue version of Zooropa was pushed out early in the UK to meet this release day. Copies of the vinyl were available at HMV stores throughout the country, and most stores chose to limit these to one copy per customer, and did not offer online sales.

In most countries these will be released on November 23, 2018. This is the same day as Record Store Day’s Black Friday event where “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me“ will also be available.

IMAGE: Gold Vinyl Release of The Joshua Tree

Thanks to u2vinyladdict for some of the information used in the report above.

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