U2 Duals, continuing a tradition of fan-club releases that have included special CD singles, remix albums and vintage live shows, collates some of the group's most notable duets. From "When Love Comes to Town," the 1988 single featuring B.B. King, to a live show this past November with a guest appearance by Jay-Z, U2 have gotten around with multiple collaborators including Johnny Cash, Green Day, Luciano Pavarotti and Mary J. Blige.
All but three of the tracks have been previously released - the aforementioned "Sunday Bloody Sunday" featuring Jay-Z and two tracks cut with The Soweto Gospel Choir to commemorate the 2010 FIFA World Cup are new to CD - so collectors who'd rather not spend extra money on a membership for one CD aren't missing much. For completists, though (you know who you are), this is a noteworthy release indeed.
More info is available at the band's official Web site, and the track list is after the jump.
U2, Duals (Interscope, 2011)
- Where the Streets Have No Name - U2 and The Soweto Gospel Choir
- The Wanderer - U2 and Johnny Cash
- Falling at Your Feet - Bono and Danny Lanois
- Miss Sarajevo - Passengers and Luciano Pavarotti
- Slow Dancing - U2 and Willie Nelson
- The Saints Are Coming - U2 and Green Day
- Sunday Bloody Sunday (Live @ Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand - 11/25/2010) - U2 and Jay-Z
- One - U2 and Mary J. Blige
- When Love Comes to Town - U2 and B.B. King
- Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out of (Live @ Madison Square Garden, New York City - 10/30/2009) - U2 and Mick Jagger
- The Ballad of Ronnie Drew - U2, The Dubliners, Kila and A Band of Bowsies
- I'm Not Your Baby - U2 and Sinead O'Connor
- Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour) (Hybrid Mix) - Jay-Z, Bono, The Edge and Rihanna
- Drunk Chicken/America - U2 and Allen Ginsberg
- Amazing Grace - U2 and The Soweto Gospel Choir
Tracks 1, 7 and 15 previously unreleased
Track 2 from Zooropa (Island, 1993)
Track 3 from The Million Dollar Hotel: Music from the Motion Picture (Island/Interscope, 2000)
Track 4 from Original Soundtracks 1 (Island, 1995)
Track 5 from "If God Will Send His Angels" single (Island, 1997)
Track 6 from U218 Singles (Mercury/Interscope, 2006)
Track 8 from The Breakthrough (Geffen, 2005)
Track 9 from Rattle & Hum (Island, 1988)
Track 10 from The 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concerts (Time-Life, 2010)
Track 11 from CD single (Universal, 2008)
Track 12 from The End of Violence: Songs from the Motion Picture Soundtrack (Outpost, 1997)
Track 13 from Hope for Haiti Now (Universal, 2010)
Track 14 from The Joshua Tree: 20th Anniversary Edition (Island/UMe, 2007)
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Painful. This "exclusive fan club CD" contains SEVEN tracks that are readily available on regular, in-print albums (The Wanderer, Falling at Your Feet, Miss Sarajevo, The Saints are Coming, One, When Love Comes to Town, and Drunk Chicken). Hopefully at least a couple of these will be rare or previously unheard mixes (the soundtrack version of "The Wanderer" has an extra verse, for example), but that's not likely.
As for the other tracks:
Slow Dancing (IGWSHA CD single... $1.00 and up from amazon sellers)
I'm Not Your Baby (Sinead O'Connor Collaborations CD... $3.52 from amazon sellers)
Stuck in a Moment (R&R Hall of Fame Night 2 CD... $13.58 and up from amazon sellers)
Ronnie Drew (this is the only CD track that might be tough to get... the current lowest price on amazon is near $60).
So yeah, maybe three or four tracks that are truly rare/desirable, surrounded by ten or more tracks that are extremely common. Ick.
Better than U2 demo-ing the Spider-Man musical score.
...Too soon?
Mr. Mullen and Mr. Clayton are maintaining a safe distance from the goings-on at The Foxwoods Theatre these days...no fools, they.
This reeks of a record company putting out a disc with the only purpose being that of making a quick buck.
or a fan club (not a record company) in this case,