The Reissued Singles

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2024-08-07)

Since 2022 U2 have been refreshing their offerings on streaming services, sharing new versions of their singles on these platforms. In 2022 there were 12 singles done, covering the time period from 2004 (“Vertigo”) to 2019 (“Ahimsa”). In 2023, things were a little busier with the Sphere performances and the release of “Atomic City”, but U2 managed to do two additional singles, “Lemon” and “Stay (Faraway, So Close)”, both from 1993’s Zooropa album. And this year, the band has been working on another 12 singles, covering from 1997 (“Discothèque”) to 2002 (“Electrical Storm”). We are covering the whole project in more detail here in our “To Love and Only Love” entry. With three singles left in the series to be released this year, we’re taking a little look at what U2 have missed with these singles collections.

First of all, what are U2 releasing? These singles are remastered versions of the original commercially released singles. They feature the songs from the original releases. The band have not been adding new unreleased material, and are also not including promotional-only mixes of songs from the same period. But there’s been plenty of interesting songs hitting streaming services for the first time ever. This represents a wealth of material that just didn’t exist on streaming services before these projects. For those who have made the switch to different online platforms, they’ve finally caught up to your old CD collections, and it has been a chance to relive a few favourites along the way. U2 is expected to continue refreshing material online soon, but in the meantime let’s take a little look at what they have missed to date.

We’ve taken our U2 discography entries for U2’s singles and compared them to these new singles, and have come up with a list of missing materials based on those comparisons.

Album Versions

“All Because of You” (Studio / Album Version) – U2 (03:36)
“City Of Blinding Lights” (Studio Version / Album) – U2 (05:48)
“Discothèque” (Studio / Album Version) – U2 (05:19)
“Lemon” (Studio / Album Version) – U2 (06:58)
“Magnificent” (UK Edit) – U2 (04:22)
“Stuck in a Moment” (Studio / Album Version) – U2 (04:35)
“With or Without You” (Studio / Album Version) – U2 (04:55)

Nothing that exciting here to be honest, as these are just album versions of the songs, and all of them are available in that form on streaming services already. Not surprising that some of these got the cut, especially when there is an edited version of the track already available as part of the new single. The Single Mix is included for “All Because of You”, the Edit for “Lemon”, the Radio Edit is included for “City of Blinding Lights”, “Discothèque” and “Stuck in a Moment”. “Magnificent” makes use of the Edit version of the song instead of the slightly different UK edit. “With or Without You” had been a bonus track for Japan on the “Sweetest Thing” single, and was not included here. It’s a bit of an odd ball for the time period, included on the Japan single, because in 1998 it was being used in a Japanese television program and was drawing interest to the band.

Live Versions

“Bullet the Blue Sky” (Live from Dublin, Aug. 28, 1993) – U2 (05:36)
“Magnificent” (Live from Boston, MA, Mar. 11, 2009) – U2 (05:07)
“Out of Control” (Live from Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 22, 2004) – U2 (05:05)
“Tower of Song” (Live from New York, May 19, 2005) – Leonard Cohen and U2 (05:43)
“With or Without You” (Live from Edmonton, Jun. 14, 1997) – U2 (04:41)

While missing a few album tracks that are available elsewhere isn’t too deeply felt, these live tracks are missed. Each time one is missing we hear from people who wished they hadn’t been dropped. Nor has any reason been given why these particular live tracks are missing, while others have been included.

“Bullet the Blue Sky” from August 28, 1993 is from the same show that the Zoo TV EP coming at the end of August is being taken from. It was originally included with “Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” as a B-Side but not included on this new release.

“Magnificent” live from Boston was on the original “I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” single. It is dropped here, and the new version of that single is filled out with remixes and a live track of the title track. “Magnificent” could have easily been moved to that single instead, which includes performances of “Breathe” and “Vertigo” from the same night, but alas, “Magnificent” remains missing.

The performance of “City of Blinding Lights” from the Brooklyn Bridge is included on the single of the same name. But the performance of “Out of Control”, once part of that single as well, has been dropped. Likewise the performance with Leonard Cohen in New York of “Tower of Song” has been missed on the “Window in the Skies” single. And finally U2’s performance of “With or Without You” from Edmonton in 1997 is missing from the “Please” single.

Remixes and B-Sides

“I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” (Dirty South Radio Mix) – U2 (04:27)
“Lemon” (Oakenfold Jeep Mix) – U2 (05:33)
“Lemon” (The Perfecto Mix) – U2 (08:58)
“Magnificent” (Dave Audé Club Dub Mix) – U2 (07:47)
“Magnificent” (Adam K and Soha Dub Mix) – U2 (06:16)
“Magnificent” (Redanka’s 180 Version) – U2 (08:19)
“Magnificent” (Wonderland Dub Remix) – U2 (06:55)
“Magnificent” (Fred Falke Instrumental) – U2 (7:20)
“Magnificent” (Fred Falke Radio Remix) – U2 (03:58)
“Magnificent” (Dave Audé Instrumental) – U2 (7:30)
“Magnificent” (Richard Vission Solmatic Remix) – U2 (06:04)
“Staring at the Sun” (Lab Rat Mix) – U2 (05:06)
“Vertigo” (Jacknife Lee 7”) – U2 (03:07)
“Vertigo” (Jacknife Lee 12” Instrumental) – U2 (05:36)
“Vertigo” (Trent Reznor Remix) – U2 (03:39)

A number of remixes were missed in the set, possibly because the mix in question is very similar to another mix. In many cases the instrumentals noted above are the same as the non-instrumental mix with the exception of vocals, so it’s perhaps not a surprise that some of these have been skipped. Likewise the full Fred Falke mix was included instead of the shorter edit done for radio.

Truly original remixes that have been missed? Two remixes of “Lemon” by Paul Oakenfold, the Oakenfold Jeep Mix and the Perfecto Mix are left out of these releases. With “Magnificent” the original Richard Vission Solmatic Remix is missed. “Staring at the Sun” neglects the “Lab Rat Mix”. And “Vertigo” leaves out the Trent Reznor Remix of the song.

Configuration Changes

A few changes to the singles have been made for these new releases, with some songs moved around to make for a more thoughtful listening experience. Many of the “Beautiful Day” remixes for instance, were released on “Stuck in a Moment” or with the “Elevation” single. These have now been moved to the “Beautiful Day” single instead.

“Please” was released as two releases in most regions, the “Please” single and the “PopHeart” EP. One featured B-Sides, while the other featured live tracks. However, for this new single the two release are combined, which was also done in 1997 for the US market.

“If God Will Send His Angels” has been reconfigured for these new releases. The original commercial single had included the Romin Remix of “Mofo”. That track is omitted here, however, it was included on the “Mofo” single where it had also been released in 1997. The Grand Jury / Big Yam Mix of “If God Will Send His Angels” which had been released on the “Mofo” single in 1997 has been moved to this release instead. Between the two new remastered singles, “Mofo” and “If God Will Send His Angels” are complete.

For those asking about the Radio Edit of “Pop Muzik” or the Phunk Phorce Edit of “Mofo” those were never commercially released in 1997, and are not included here in these newly mastered releases.

“Walk On” and “Stuck in a Moment” have always been a bit messy as each of those singles were released twice. “Walk On” was released first in North America, while “Stuck in a Moment” was released first in the rest of the world. And for the final single for All That You Can’t Leave Behind those singles were reversed. For this set of singles, the band are following the release pattern used in Europe.

Skipped Singles

Currently the singles released cover from 1993 to 2017. Most of the single have been done. But a handful are missing. Songs of Innocence is missing the most, with no single for “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)”, “Every Breaking Wave” or “Song for Someone” in these recreations. Also missing are “Invisible” and “Ordinary Love” from this era.

Also missing is “Get On Your Boots” (2009), “The Saints Are Coming” (2006), “Original of the Species” (2006) and “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” (1995). Likewise the Passengers single “Miss Sarajevo” (2005) has also not been done.

The Songs of Innocence tracks have little in the way of additional material, although “Song for Someone” did include a live version of the song. And both “Song for Someone” and “Every Breaking Wave” had alternate mixes of the title track. The alternate version of “Every Breaking Wave” was uploaded to streaming services in 2019, and remains there.

Added Tracks

This set of new singles has added two tracks which were not previously released on the commercial singles the first time around, with “All Because of You” (Live from Chicago) and “Get Out of Your Own Way” (Album Version) included for the first time.

We’ll be back with an update to this article after the To Love and Only Love collection wraps up. The next three singles, wrapping things up will be “Elevation”, “Walk On” and “Electrical Storm” with the next release expected next week.

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